Rivers: As Ogonis Take 2015 Guber Project To Orashi Region

It is no longer a secret that the people of Ogoniland in Rivers State are struggling to ensure that they produce the next governor of the state after the expiration of the tenure of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in 2015.

Ogoniland, comprises four local government areas, of Eleme, Tai, Gokana and Khana in the heart of Rivers South-East senatorial zone that presently has an Ogoni son, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, as its representative in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Interestingly, Abe who was the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) during the first tenure of Governor Amaechi between October 25, 2007 and May 29, 2011, is one of the few from the Rivers South East senatorial zone warming up to take over the Brick House, Port Harcourt, from the incumbent governor.

Being a part of the state that has not produced the state’s number one citizen before, the people of Ogoni, divided into five kingdoms of Babbe, Nyokhana, Ken-Khana, Tai, Eleme and Gokana, seem to have taken up the campaign to produce the next governor to other parts of the state.

With the flood that recently ravaged some parts of the state, especially communities within the Orashi region, including Abua/Odual, Ahoada-East, Ahoada-West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas of the state, the people of Ogoni apparently thought it wise to use the opportunity to reach out to help the affected communities and at the same time, solicit for their support in the effort of the Ogonis to produce a successor to Amaechi.

Although the Ogonis denied that there was no political undertone in the over N4 million worth of relief materials which they donated to the people of Orashi Region in December last year, but their decision to make the presentation few weeks after the closure of camps set up for flood victims by the state government speaks volumes.

Also, a look at the calibre of persons who represented various Ogoni groups during the presentation of the relief materials showed that there was more to that.

Some of the prominent Ogoni personalities in the delegation included the Chairman, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers (SCOTR), King Godwin Giniwa, President of KAGOTE, Justice Peter Akere (rtd) and the member representing Khana constituency 1 in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Legborsi Nwidada, who represented all elected representatives of Ogoni people in both the federal and state legislative houses.

Others were the Chairman of Khana Local Government Council, Chief Gregory Nwidam, who represented the chairmen of all the four local government areas in Ogoniland, Mrs. Julie Nwika, who represented Ogoni women as well as a representative of the pan-Ogoni group, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP).

Making the presentation of the relief materials at Ahoada Town, the headquarters of Ahoada-East Local Government Area and the traditional capital of Orashi Region, leader of the Ogoni delegation, King Giniwa, said they were there to console those affected by the flood.

His words, “It is a very simple matter. Our people say that once your brother is in trouble, you look for your own brother. Somebody must be your brother. The Orashi people are the brothers of the Ogoni people. We are so sorry that we have to sympathise with you for what has happened to you. We decided in our meeting that we have to come to console you. Silver and gold, we have none but whatever we have here, it is not the things that we brought that matters but the sympathy we have for our brothers in the Orashi region.

“We decided to come and console the Ahoada-East, Ahoada-West, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni.  Again, Eze Ekpeye Logbo is my personal friend, Oba of Ogbaland is my personal friend, Eze-Egi is my personal friend and Ooda Abuan is also my personal friend. I got in touch with all these traditional rulers. By right, they are supposed to be here but as they are not here, our children who are chairmen of councils can deliver these materials to the grassroots.

“We just want to say sorry for what had happened and we were delegated from the Ogoni Kingdom. When I say Ogoni, I am talking about Eleme, Tai, Gokana, Babbe, Ken-Khana and Nyokhana Kingdoms. We have six local government councils in Ogoniland instead of four. So, all of us are fully represented here and we say sorry for what has happened. Tell your people that we are so sorry because we are brothers of the Orashi people. That is why we are here.”

To Justice Akere, President of KAGOTE, a pro-Ogoni elitist organization, the people of Ogoni had come to sympathise with the people of Orashi Region over the loss of their sources of livelihood, farmlands, and other things as a result of the flood.

Akere said; “We felt very sorry for what had befallen our brothers and sisters in this part of Rivers State. We are very sad that it happened. It can happen to any other person. It happened in several areas of this country. We may not have felt it directly but we saw it on television and we are surprised that houses were swallowed, farmlands were devastated, and fish ponds were taken over.

“Based on what people narrated and their experiences in the disaster, we felt that we should come and show this sympathy to our brothers here. You lost farmlands and we look at ourselves, we could have lost farmlands also. What happened to you people is going to affect the price of food stuff in this state because you are the prime producers of food in this area and we miss a lot as a result of what happened. So, on behalf of our people, I join this delegation to say sorry. We express our deep sympathy for all the things that happened and to say we are together.”

For Hon. Awori Miller, the Chairman of Ahoada-West Local Government Area, who received the relief materials on behalf of all the chairmen of the local government councils in Orashi Region, thanked the people of Ogoni for showing love to the people of the region during the time of need.

Miller said; “We thank you because, all through the period of the flood, we have records of those who identified with us during the time of our travails, during the time of our distress, during the time of our sufferings. We have them on record and we can assure you that you are unique. You have showed us love especially at this time when you came, being the time people are preparing to celebrate Christmas and you have brought all these for our people.

“We want to thank you, we appreciate you, and we assure you that we will ensure that these things go down to the grass roots. We will communicate to our traditional rulers to intimate them that you were here. You know it is not all about giving; it is all about the heart of the giver. What does the person think about you? That is what matters. So, we take these gift items whole-heartedly, we take them with joy and we assure you that we will continue to appreciate you. We will continue to recognise you for this singular gesture.”

Source: Leadership

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