‘In Itsekiri Land, The Olu Of Warri Is Second To None’...

In an interview with, Mr. Hosannah Jalogho Williams, an environmentalist and close friend of the palace of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli I, Godfrey Emiko. speaks on how the monarch is bringing peace and development to Itsekiri land.

I am aware that some Itsekiri have taken the Ogiame to court over community issues. How do you view this development?

This is a complete diversion from the Itsekiri spirituality. Once they tried it but it did not hold waters. The Itsekiri nation is like a building that is covered by one single roof and the apex or the lordship is the Ogiame.

So anything that pertains to the Itsekiri as a people, his decisions on any matter is final.

When the issue of the Itsekiri Regional Development Council, IRDC, came up, the Olu saw that there was rancor here and there. In his wisdom, he decided to invite three people from each community and they chose the people they wanted as their leaders.

The Olu asked all those that had been in power to step down because the people had not seen any meaningful development in Itsekiri communities. If you go through the water line, most of the Itsekiri communities have no jetties yet Chevron is doing heaven on earth.

The impression that people have about the riverine area is that the whole of Itsekiri land and communities is like that of Lekki in Lagos, but, to our utmost dismay, it is not like that. Instead of them to build structures, they will rather rent houseboats to Chevron and collect $3,000 every day.

So the new dispensation said no and asked them to step down as the Itsekiri have not seen any remarkable development, let a new set of people take over the leadership of these communities.

These same people who have been at the helm of affairs and have failed colossally are the ones saying that the king does not have power to effect authority or take decisions for the IRDC. But they forget to remember that the acronym IRDC means Itsekiri Regional Development Council and who is the head of the Itsekiri? It is Ogiame the king, that is where they are making the mistake.

There seems to be disunity amongst the Itsekiri as a people. Do you see the new monarch bringing about the much needed unity?

It is the move by the Ogiame to bring about the needed unity that led to the current belly-aching situation. Some people believe his coming to bring about unification amongst the Itsekiri is not to their own benefit; that is the reason they are becoming obnoxious to whatever the Ogiame says.

Before now, the typical Itsekiri person would always stays away from trouble or anything that will bring any form of embarrassment to him. Do you think the situation is still the same?

There is what we call nature nurture controversy; the day a child is born there is nothing on the mind of that child, it is called Tabular Rasa. Sometime ago I was made the Secretary to the Education Committee of the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), and N250million was budgeted as scholarship for Itsekiri students.

This was N250million each year for four years. As I speak to you, nobody knows what has happened to the money. If that N1billion had been put into the education of the Itsekiri children, the issue of giving them guns to unleash attacks on communities will not be seen in our environment. It also because the youths have been removed from the scheme of education that they do not see education as important anymore. What they want to see is to have a leader who will give them peanuts once a while.

Have those in leadership accounted for the money?

Nobody has done that because they are scared to ask, but, taking this upon myself, I have alerted the authorities and, ever since, I have been receiving threat calls with hidden numbers you cannot call back.

What about the management of DESOPADEC ?

DESOPADEC is not run to the satisfaction of many oil communities in Delta. I am even thinking of getting a court order compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the body. Some of the contracts that have awarded to people have not been done, yet payments for the contracts have been made.