URHOBO: THIS HOUSE MUST NOT FALL A KEYNOTE ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE MAIDEN ATAMU SOCIAL CLUB PAN-URHOBO CONFERENCE AT THE PETROLEUM TRAINING INSTITUTE (PTI) CONFERENCE CENTRE, EFFURUN, DELTA STATE ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2013. BY DR. SUNNY AWHEFEADA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY, ABRAKA. INTRODUCTION I must begin by confessing that I felt a sense of unease when I was invited to deliver this lecture. But then my spirit was bouyed by the hope which the affirmation of a house that must not fall inspires. In thinking about this lecture I remembered Karl Maiers depiction of Nigeria as a house that has fallen in his book, This House has Fallen. I am glad that Atamu Social Club did not buy Meirs pessimism. The Urhobo nation is assailed by uncertainty and a strong marginalization complex. We have never been more overwhelmed by socio-economic and political currents. But then I must submit quite early that we are not alone in this crucible. Nigeria is passing through a tempestuous moment in her historical sojourn. The Nigerian project is under threat and it demands that we all put our acts together to redeem the situation. The trouble with Nigeria is the sum total of what is wrong with all Nigerians irrespective of their tribes and tongues. All is not well with Nigeria, that is why poverty stalks the land, that is why insecurity prevails, that is why unemployment is on the prowl, that is why corruption is ruining us, that is why ten million children are out of school, just as another eleven million are underfed. Nigerias problem are legion. We should look at the Urhobo predicament in the context of the general condition of the Nigerian state. I must at this point congratulate the Atamu Social Club for having the foresight and courage to convoke this assembly. The club has over the years promoted Urhobo interest in many ways. I commend and urge them to continue the patriotic work as all hands must be involved in ensuring that the Urhobo house does not fall. I do hope that Atamu will evolve an Urhobo think tank as the Aka Ikenga has done for the Igbo. My standing here today is borne out of the optimism that Urhobo has a great future and that the Urhobo house will not fall. My optimism derives from an awareness of our many struggles as a people from time immemorial. The peculiar nature of our migratory origin which was as a result of strife in the kingdom of Ogiso, the menace of Slave Trade, the many wars we waged, the encroachment by colonialism, the fierce ethnic rivalry with our neighbours, the crisis of the independence struggle, the agitation for the creation of the Midwest Region, the encroachment on Urhobo political rights in the First Republic and how we have triumphed over all these with time, infuse me with optimism that the Urhobo house will not fall. The fact that we are gathered here today is a testimony that our house will not fall. My overcoming the unease I felt at the invitation was not just a function of the optimism I have so far romanticized. My confidence in standing before you today is because I have intellectual precursors to lean on. These intellectual forerunners belong to the first two generations of Urhobo intellectuals whom I call Otite to Darah. The fact that I am able to mount this podium is a testimony to their intellectual labour whose fruits have nourished my generation of scholars of Urhobo descent. The stellar constellation of the academic avatars who privileged Urhobo history and culture include Professors Onigu Otite, Peter Ekeh, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Omafume Onoge, Samuel Erivwo, Andrew Onokerhoraye, Bright Ekuerhare, G. G. Darah, Tanure Ojaide, Michael Young Nabofa, Rose Aziza, Albert Aweto, among others. I must not fail to acknowledge the monumental contribution of Chief T.E.A. Salubi (Akaba Re Ode) to the foundation of modern Urhobo history. These intellectual labourers deserve laurels for tirelessly excavating Urhobo histories that were almost forgotten. I do obeisance to them, for without them my generation would have been ignorant of Urhobo heritage. It is in this regard that I also remember the peerless contribution of the Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) to the concretisation of Urhobo history and its validity. The profoundly authoritative insight which the UHS annual conferences brought to bear on Urhobo affairs remain unparalleled even among other ethnicities. The conference afforded participants the opportunity to drink from the well spring of knowledge. Unfortunately, the conference has not held since 2007. THE NATIONAL QUESTION AND ETHNIC NATIONALISM The inadequacies of the Nigerian state has thrown up the National Question and this is manifest in the restiveness and agitation by the various ethnic nationalities that constitute Nigeria. These agitations stem from a deep feeling of marginalization and oppression by sections of the country who began the clamour for constitutional reforms via a national conference that will afford them the opportunity to affirm their identity, negotiate the basis of the nations continued co-existence and attain self-actualization. The foundation of the Nigerian house was faulty ab initio. We can glean this from the utterances of some of the nations founding fathers. While the late Sir Ahmadu Bello described the birth of the Nigerian nation as the mistake of 1914, his counterpart Chief Obafemi Awolowo described Nigeria as a mere geographical expression. These statements betray lack of faith in the Nigerian project. Since the 1990s, especially after the annulment of the June 12 1993 election, the rupture in the Nigerian house led to agitations which underscore the truth of the sloppiness of our federation. A corollary to this, is the remarkable increase in the activities of ethnic nationalities and the tendency of ethnicity to command the citizens primary loyalty. There is presently no ethnic nationality that appears contented with Nigeria as every group feels short-changed. It cannot be well with the Urhobo house if it is not well with the Nigerian house! The truth is that there is no ethnic nationality in Nigeria for whom all is well. It is in the context of the general disillusionment among the different ethnic groups that make up Nigeria that I locate the Urhobo conundrum. We are not alone in this situation. Every other ethnic group is struggling to come to terms with its predicament and overcome it. As we are gathered today to discuss the Urhobo house and ensure that it does not fall, other ethnicities all over Nigeria are also brainstorming to ensure that their own houses do not fall. We must therefore, brace up and ensure that our own house, the Urhobo house does not fall. We must not conceive of the idea of it falling, because if it does we shall have no other house to call our own and we shall bear the embarrassment of homelessness. God forbid! THE URHOBO HOUSE The word Urhobo designates us as a people as well as the language we speak. Urhobo is one of Nigerias three hundred and eighty-nine ethnic nationalities. Its landmass is 5000 sq km. There are eight rivers in Urhoboland that access the Atlantic Ocean. There are streams and creeks in Urhoboland which constitute one of the worlds most endowed wetlands and rich bio-diversity. With a population of over two million and twenty-four officially recognized kingdoms, it is regarded as Nigerias fifth largest ethnic group and the largest in Delta State. It presently constitutes what is called Delta Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate. The Urhobo have three federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, eight local governments areas and ten constituencies in the Delta State House of Assembly. Religiously, we have traditional modes of worship, but Christianity has gained grounds. Urhoboland hosts an airport, one refinery, one petro-chemical plant, a gas company, a steel company, a glass factory, two power stations, a gas plant, over eighty bank branches, three universities, one Polytechnic, two colleges of education, two schools of nursing, over one thousand primary schools and about five hundred secondary schools. The Urhobo people are highly republican, assertive, hardworking and resourceful. We have contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria in all spheres of human endeavours: the economy, education, law, medicine, media, entertainment, arts and literature, military and more. We cannot forget the strategic roles played by the Urhobo people to ensure that Nigeria survived the Civil War of 1967-1970. THE URHOBO HOUSE AND THE URHOBO PROGRESS UNION (UPU) The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) which is the umbrella socio-cultural organization of all Urhobo people was founded in 1931 and it is today Nigerias oldest socio-cultural association. The UPU has done a lot for the Urhobo in its eighty-two years of existence and we should salute the vision of its founding fathers namely Chiefs Omorohwovo Okoro, Mukoro Mowoe, T. E. A. Salubi and others. The fact that the Urhobo house has not fallen is as a result of what the UPU stood for over the years. During the colonial period, the UPU worked to reverse British colonial policies that were inimical to Urhobo development. For instance it ensured that the term Sobo with which the British addressed us was changed to its correct and current form Urhobo. The UPU recovered lost Urhobo territories in Oghara, Okpe, Sapele through litigation. It ensured that Urhobo communities like Orogun, Abraka, Idjere and others which the British erroneously grouped into Aboh and other Divisions were returned to Urhobo. UPU it was that showed the way to western education, with the founding of Urhobo College, which was the final stage of Urhobo coming of age. This is in addition to the several steps it took to rebrand the Urhobo image. Let us pause and ask ourselves, how would it have been for us today without the UPU? The UPU has grown to become a reference point in Urhobo affairs. It has promoted the Urhobo identity. Today, we have an edifice called Urhobo Cultural Centre that is nearing completion at Uvwiamughe-Agbarho just as there is now an annual Urhobo day which comes up every December. Yet, I must submit that the UPU is facing some challenges which should be addressed for the interest of Urhobo. First, is the threat of disintegration of some kingdoms in Urhoboland through the arbitrary creation of new kingdoms. This trend will weaken Urhobo unity if it is not checked. Another challenge is that many politicians as a result of money and influence have had cause to undermine UPUs authority in recent times. Some Urhobo have been nonchalant in supporting the Union especially when it comes to finance. There is also the believe that the UPU took some unpopular political decisions in 2006/2007 to which many Urhobo objected. However, the biggest challenge facing the UPU is the burning need for it to enter national consciousness and mount the same platform with Afenifere, Ohaneze, Arewa Consultative Forum, Ijaw National Congress among other ethnic organizations in Nigeria. Many of us are ill at ease that the voice of the UPU is not heard on national issues. Urhobo should express opinion on all national issues and our voice must be loud and clear so that no other group or government can undermine us. I urge all Urhobo sons and daughters to regard the UPU highly because it is the only body we have. We must prove our Urhobocentrism by identifying with it because we are first Urhobo before we are Nigerians. URHOBO AND CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN POLITICS If the truth must be told, we have become a people with an uncertain political future. Our political orphanage status is one of the consequences of prolonged military rule from 1983 to 1999. A recall of that era would beget memories of endless transition to civil rule programmes. Between 1987 and 1998 Nigeria experimented with many unsuccessful transition programmes to the extent that Nigerians became wary and weary of politics. When General Abdulsalami Abubakar inaugurated another transition to civil rule programme in 1998, not many Nigerians believed that it was going to be conclusive. Many people of goodwill stayed away from the politics of 1998/1999 and only those who could gamble threw their hats into the ring. Furthermore, the few people of integrity who dared to join the political fray were intimidated by strong arm tactics which the long stay of military in politics had privileged. Thus political entrepreneurs took charge and held the reins of power at the dawn of the Fourth Republic. Once these fellows settled down in office, it became impossible to dislodge them. The only means of dislodging them is election. Unfortunately, our electoral history since 1999 has been very warped. More painfully, the judiciary which ought to adjudicate without fear or favour was also compromised so that the electorate who constitute the disenfranchised and suffering masses remain at the mercy of political soldiers of (mis)fortune. The foregoing scenario holds for the Urhobo nation. Many of our politicians see politics as hustling as they cherish the ethos of transactional leadership. They have also not negotiated on a collective platform. They promote personal interest at the expense of the overall Urhobo interest. It is for this reason that we feel undermined and cry about marginalization. The question to be asked at this point is: has it always been like this for Urhobo to be marginalized into silence and docility? The answer is no! Urhobo politicians of old were reckoned with at the centre even as far back as the era of the anti-colonial struggle. Nigerias foremost nationalist and first ceremonial President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a great friend of legendary Urhobo leader, Chief Mukoro Mowoe. Azikiwe respected Mowoe whose views he sought on matters concerning the only national party of that period, the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC). Azikiwe visited Mowoe in Warri and the latter gave him accommodation to serve as office for one of his newspapers. It was the trail blazed by Mowoe that the likes of Okotie-Eboh, S. J. Mariere, T. E. A. Salubi followed in their sojourn to political stardom in the First Republic. The events leading to the creation of Midwest Region, which Urhobo championed, was to lead to some schism as a result of an attempt by an individual to establish his over-lordship. The Urhobo in NCNC stood their ground and the partys national executive waded into the matter. When it became deadlocked some Urhobo political leaders led by Chief Salubi founded the Midwest Democratic Front and gave a good account of themselves as true-born Urhobo. The NCNC had no option, but to appeal to them for eventual reconciliation. The Urhobo played very significant roles in the Second Republic which spanned 1979 to 1983. Olorogun Michael Ibru and his younger brother Mr. Alex Ibru were financiers of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) which was the ruling party of that era. Beyond that, Urhobo sons and daughters took the front seat at the centre. For example Chief (Dr) Mudiaga Odje (SAN) was the partys National Legal Adviser, Chief Patrick Bolokor was a Federal Minister, Chief Daniel Okumagba was not only President Shehu Shagaris confidant, but also Chairman of Ajaokuta Steel Company. Dr. Fred Esiri was the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. In the Nigerian Senate, the voice of Senator David Dafinone was among the most respected. It was also in that era that an Urhobo daughter Chief Elizabeth Ogbon-Day became not just Nigerias, but Africas first female ambassador. It is apt to describe that era as the golden moment of Urhobo in national politics. What then happened that we have become so marginalized and traumatized politically? The answer is found in a reappraisal of our political choices since 1999. The trend among Urhobo politicians since 1999 has been to rush to Asaba. A phenomenon I choose to call mi kpe Asaba, I dey go Asaba consciousness became the order of the day among our politicians to the extent that they forgot the road to Abuja the epicentre of national politics. An Urhobo, Chief James Ibori was then the Governor of Delta State and all our politicians trooped to Asaba for appointments and patronage. The Urhobo politicians of the Second Republic who stood tall among their peers had become old and also lacked the financial wherewithal to contest for space with the new breed politicians. So the mi kpe Asaba,I dey go Asaba politicians took over. We recall that in the era of Chief Ibori as Governor, the Urhobo held the most significant appointments in the state. Our sons and daughters held the offices of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Judge, Chief of Staff Government House, Commissioners for Finance, Education, Works, Housing, Water Resources, Justice, Commerce & industries, Head of Service, Acting Speaker of the State House of Assembly and more. One Urhobo musician in his reminiscence of that period sang that the greeting at Asaba then was kedu mavo?. Thus we followed the overbeaten road to Asaba and forgot Abuja where the real action is, to our own undoing. The consequence of our abandoning Abuja is in part responsible for our marginalization at the national level today. Some commentators have argued that our marginalized status stems from the fact that the Urhobo voted for an opposition party. I beg to disagree on this score. Many Urhobo politicians are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains and our people voted en masse for President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 presidential election that brought him into office. It is on recorded that he secured about 850, 000 votes in Urhoboland which was some 300, 000 more than what he got from the entire Bayelsa State, his home state. A review of the election result indicates that the Urhobo people, apart from the Ijaw, gave President Jonathan the highest ethnic bulk vote in the whole of the South-South. Should such an act not deserve an IOU in the form of federal appointments for Urhobo people at the national level? In further appraising the cold treatment we receive from Abuja, let us look at the South-West zone which is the bastion of political opposition in todays Nigeria. The Yoruba of the South-West are well represented in the Federal Executive Council. They also hold other plum appointments. The same thing goes for some Northern states where the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) held sway. Why then is the case of the Urhobo people different? Could it be that there is a primordial sentiment at work? A sentiment of a neighbour being envious of another neighbour and the perceived sins of Ibori that is making the Nigerian government to marginalize the Urhobo people? Until a month ago when an Urhobo was appointed to chair a sinecure federal board we counted about 435 federal posts without any one being chaired by an Urhobo! This is unacceptable. No matter the reasons being adduced, Urhobo politicians should make the right political choices, network among their peers elsewhere and be reckoned with in national politics. They have had enough run as local champions. The Urhobo personality, noted for its vibrancy, astuteness, resourcefulness and courage, must be reinserted into Nigerias national consciousness. Now that the Delta Central Senatorial seat has been won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) let the rain of federal appointments begin. Our people are waiting! At the state level I have had cause to contradict the claim in some quarters that we are presently marginalized in Delta State. A look at the political configuration at the moment does not portray any indices of marginalization of the Urhobo compared to other ethnic nationalities in the state. The Urhobo presently occupy the offices of the Deputy Governor, Commissioners for Finance, Economic Planning, Basic and Secondary Education, Higher Education, Housing, Culture and Tourism, Transport, among others. There is also the Senior Political Adviser, Political Adviser and a battery of other Special Advisers of Urhobo origin. These are in addition to the ten Urhobo members in the Delta State House of Assembly. There is the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) where we also have three Urhobo commissioners. This is besides the fact that its founding Executive Secretary who held sway for over four years is of Urhobo extraction. In the distribution of public infrastructures there is also no evidence that the Urhobo have been marginalized at the state level. Compared to other places, there is a vast network of roads linking almost every Urhobo community. Electricity transformers have also been distributed in the same way that an Independent Power Project is being built at Oghara in Urhoboland. There are many water projects quenching the thirst of our people. Some schools are being renovated in Urhoboland. The many government owned hospitals as well as other health programmes have been beneficial to Urhobo people. I however, agree with the opinion that the execution of government projects has been slow. I must at this point say that I am not holding brief for government. Government should do more not just for Urhobo people but for all Deltans. The responsibility of government is to make life worth living for the citizenry. The underdevelopment of Urhoboland is not peculiar to us. Underdevelopment is the common currency in Nigeria and it is a by-product of poor leadership to which Urhobo political leaders also contributed in ample measure. In a way the Urhobo people like other Nigerians have also failed in their civic responsibility of not calling their leaders to question. What is at the core of our problem is failure of leadership as a result of the inability of the led to rise up to the burden of followership which inheres in demanding accountability and standing up for their rights. THE URHOBO AND DELTA GOVERNORSHIP The Urhobo people are divided regarding the claim to the governorship of the state. Some think that as a result of the population of the Urhobo which makes us the majority we should produce the governor perpetually. Others who are accommodating argue that if the Urhobo cannot produce the governor they should be major stakeholders in determining who assumes the office. I choose to align with the latter view. Promoting the first view is an invitation to other ethnic nationalities to label us as hegemonists with the born to rule mentality and it can instigate hostility against us. It is also untenable in the context of morality. The second view recognises all Deltans as stakeholders in the project Delta and anybody irrespective of his ethnicity can aspire to become governor. What we should yearn for is good governance. It is true that our population which is about half the population of the entire state confers electoral advantages on us, but it is sad to note that we have not been politically mobilized enough. Many of our politicians are ever ready to sell the Urhobo patrimony for a mess of potage. It is for this reason that some of our insensitive detractors gloat over us. One of them was reported to have made the careless statement that anybody can become governor without Urhobo votes. This is true and untrue. It is true for as long as we are not well mobilized. It is true for as long as we lack atamu no pun intended. But it is untrue once we decide to go it together as one. A simple example will suffice. The total number of votes cast in the 2011 governorship election in the whole of Delta State was less than a million. Whereas the Urhobo electorate gave President Jonathan about eight hundred and fifty thousand votes which is approximately the total haul for the whole of Delta State in the governorship election. The import of this analogy is that the Urhobo population when harnessed can translate into political advantage. This brings us to another salient point which has to do with the deliberate disenfranchisement of the Urhobo electorate by the political class. It has become public knowledge that apart from the elections of 2011, our people are usually not allowed to vote in many places in Urhoboland. It is a matter of grave embarrassment that Urhobo sons and daughters engage in ballot box snatching, mass thumb printing and other electoral crimes to deny their people the benefit of the right to vote. Ballot box snatching has been valorised to the point that in contemporary Urhobo political parlance the number you snatched is what qualifies you to proclaim irawhoko. This act has eroded the confidence of the electorate and bred voters apathy. 2015 AND BEYOND Our political future is bleak and our politicians are a stranded elite. We should do the needful to redress this condition. The late Senator Pius Ewherido had embarked on a mission of Urhobo political irredentism before he passed on. As 2015, which is a decisive election year, draws nigh we must go back to the drawing board and evolve strategies to mobilize our people. We must restore their confidence and ensure that we reclaim our rightful place not only in Delta State, but in Nigeria. This is the only way we can overcome the neo-hegemonic tendencies of some of our neighbours who are bent on holding us down politically and economically. There is an interface between politics and development. We should network, make the right alliances and take the right decisions. We remain politically strategic in Delta State as well as Nigeria and we can use our population to determine the outcome of elections. We must do all we can to get it right politically so that we can get it right in every other sphere. Yet, we should not forget to take our neighbours into consideration. Politics is central to achieving a peoples collective aspiration. We must not forget the admonition of the founding President of Ghana, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, seek ye first the political kingdom and every other thing will be added onto you. THE URHOBO AND THE NIGER DELTA STRUGGLE It is true that we provided the intellectual and ideological basis for the Niger Delta struggle especially in the writings of Professors Peter Ekeh, Omafume Onoge, G. G. Darah, Tanure Ojaide and others. Unfortunately, the Nigerian state does not understand the language of constructive engagement. It only yields to the force of violence. It is for this reason that the intellectual contribution of the Urhobo people to the Niger Delta struggle has been relegated to the background and unrewarded. Urhobo helped In stabilizing the Nigerian economy when it was no longer possible to drill oil in the creeks and on the high sea because of the armed conflict that made those zones no go areas for exploration activities. It was the oil drilled from Urhoboland and other peaceful zones that sustained the Nigerian economy. Today, all that is forgotten and we are given no consideration in the appeasement largesse that came to the Niger Delta region. Urhobo should not relent, we should continue to draw attention by every legitimate means to the damage done to our homeland by many years of oil exploration. We should demand for reparation and the cleaning up of our environment. THE QUEST FOR AN ACCURATE CENSUS Census has been a very controversial issue in Nigerias history. This is so because there is a strong connection between population, politics and revenue allocation. Thus every census in Nigeria is fraught with manipulation. The 2006 census which is the most recent, drastically reduced Urhobo population. The Urhobo accounted for 55% of the population of Delta State when it was created in 1991. However, when there was substantial increase in the general population of Delta State in the 2006 census, Urhobo population dropped to 48%. This is something that must be redressed for the socio-economic and political survival of the Urhobo house. We should remember that population is a sine qua non for state, local government and ward creation, electoral advantage, delimitation of constituencies at both federal and state levels, allocation of public infrastructure and amenities. We must ensure that we are not short-changed in subsequent census. AN ECONOMICALLY EMBATTLED HOMELAND Urhobo had a thriving economy in time past. We are a hard working people who cherish the dignity of labour. Our people were great farmers, hunters, fishermen, distillers and palm oil producers. They were self-sufficient in food production and markets and households were bursting with food items and varieties of fish. There were also cash crops. Agricultural products from Urhoboland found their way to Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone, Liberia and even Britain and other parts of Europe. Some of the palm oil that lubricated the Industrial Revolution in Europe came from Urhoboland. Our people prospered from their labour. There was poverty, but it was only associated with the lazy. However, the advent of a modern economy ruptured the foregoing. The new economy which is subject to government policies brought endemic poverty to our people. The over reliance on oil money, the nagging question of corruption and mismanagement of oil wealth and a grossly distorted federalism have all conspired to put Urhoboland under economic pressure. In clear terms, the abundant crude oil in Urhoboland ought to translate into unimaginable prosperity for the people. But very sadly this has not been so. The Federal government and oil multinationals continue to plunder the oil wealth of our people and the Urhobo landscape bears the scars of brutal and inhuman economic exploitation. The amount of money that Nigeria made from Urhobo oil and gas since 1959 should be over N7 trillion, an amount that was enough to make Urhobo an el dorado. The quantity of gas that is flared in Urhoboland daily is about three hundred million naira. Paradoxically, these brought us poverty, disease, death and hopelessness. The most significant indicator of our economic underdevelopment is the problem of unemployment which breeds poverty among our people. This has engendered an okada economy, a motorcycle transport survival strategy which further impoverishes our people. The spate of criminality such as thuggery, armed robbery and kidnapping are consequences of unemployment, poverty and their attendant frustrations. The foregoing was not the case in the past. Agricultural and industrial activities which provided gainful employment flourished in Urhoboland up to the mid-1980s. Urhoboland was a big industrial hub with industries in Ovwian-Aladja, Oghara, Ughelli, Effurun, Warri, Agbarha-Otor and Sapele. Steel company, glass factories, breweries, salt factories, power stations, a petrochemical plant, rubber processing plants registered their presence in Urhoboland. The African Timber and Plywood (AT&P) made Sapele the most important city in Nigeria after Lagos before the advent of the oil economy. However, the foregoing changed as a result of the failure of government policies which privileged petroleum over agriculture and the inability of corporate bodies and individuals to tap into the prosperity (efeturi) which abound in agriculture. The parlous economic condition of Urhoboland is also traceable to the problem of insecurity which has scared away indigenous and foreign investors. As much as 90% of the wealth of Urhobo indigenes are concentrated in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Jos and other places within and outside Nigeria. If only a quarter of that wealth was invested in Urhoboland it would go a long way in alleviating unemployment and poverty. AGRO-ECONOMY TO THE RESCUE For us to get it right economically, we must go back to agriculture and seek agro-prosperity which is where efeturi is located. Urhoboland is endowed with arable land which enjoys adequate rainfall. The land is capable of sustaining more than one hundred food crops, fruits and cash crops which when subjected to modern farming methods can engender a conurbation of agro-allied industries which can yield over one trillion naira per annum and also give employment to over one million people. Interestingly, we have the population that will provide ready market for the products. The states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Lagos and other destinations outside Nigeria will also provide ready markets. The fact that eight rivers in Urhoboland can access the Atlantic ocean opens up the sea routes for international agro-business. This agro-prosperity might first appear unbelievable, but it is possible. Urhoboland yields the following food crops: cassava, yam, cocoyam, plantain, maize, beans, groundnut, etc, fruits: pawpaw, banana, orange, mango, coconut, pear, guava, pineapple, etc, vegetables: bitter-leaf, okra, pepper, pumpkin, water-leaf, okra, etc, cash crops: rubber, oil palm, raphia palm, bamboo, timber, etc. Some of the items listed in this assemblage of Urhobo agricultural endowments are capable of sustaining multi-billion naira industries if well harnessed. Let us begin with the imidaka (cassava) industry. In 2005 the Federal Government estimated that cassava was to earn Nigeria N675 Billion. That year Thailand produced 25 million tone of cassava which earned it $8 Billion! Nigeria produced 40 million tone and Urhobo being the highest cassava producers in Nigeria probably accounted for up to 15 million tone. The painful reality was that Nigeria didnt earn a dollar from cassava that year. The point I am making is that a well co-ordinated investment in the cassava industry will likely generate more revenue than what oil presently does and no government or oil multinational will rob us of the money. The industry will give birth to other ancillary firms, since there are over fifty products that can be made out of cassava. The fruits which abound in Urhoboland can sustain fruit processing industries which will generate employment for our people. Added to this is the availability of the soil type and wetland that can sustain the cultivation of cereal which again can produce raw materials for breweries in Urhoboland. Orie, the oil palm, is the richest of cash crops. It can support about over thirty industries. The rubber tree can sustain another twenty, just as the timber can also sustain the same number. The oil palm and rubber account for the prodigious wealth of Malaysia and Indonesia two leading Asian Tigers. I think Urhobo can take a cue from these two countries and make Nigeria an African Tiger! What about the raphia palm which apart from producing mouth watering edon is capable of sustain breweries and distilleries? Our forebears produced liquor in the equivalent of rum, gin, whisky and schnapps which we call ogogoro. Urhoboland also supports livestock such as chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, grass-cutters and rabbits. Our rivers, though dying, are known to sustain over one hundred fish species including shrimps, crabs, periwinkles and more. Urhobo entrepreneurs can set up an aqua-culture enclave which will sustain a thriving fish processing industry. What I have done here is to isolate a few items from our teeming natural endowments. If we were to carry out an analysis of what each can generate we will discover that the wealth of nations is trapped in Urhobo soil and rivers. The terrain is endowed with unquantifiable clay, sharp sand, silica and drilling mud for the production of tiles (wall, roof and floor), ceramics, pottery and road construction. We should kick start a process to revive all the moribund industries in our land. In recent times, the Delta State government has been promoting a commendable concept of Delta Beyond Oil. The Urhobo people should face it more squarely and talk about Urhobo Without Oil and move towards the realization of efe Urhobo turi. It is possible. Urhobo industrial potentials when maximized can lead to the creation of at least three industrial zones with viable seaports in Warri, Sapele and Okwagbe. The Osubi airport is on hand to help investors connect Lagos and Abuja in forty to forty-five minutes. EDUCATION AND HUMAN CAPITAL Our contact with white missionaries, explorers, traders and colonialists was belated and this led to the late introduction of western education in Urhoboland. Nevertheless, we braced up to the challenge and took our rightful place in the gathering of tribes called Nigeria. Today, the Urhobo number among the most educated in Nigeria. I must remark here that the giant strides we achieved in education and human capital development was the result of the desire of the UPU to pull Urhobo people from obscurity. It was that zeal that inspired the establishment of Urhobo College, Effurun in 1948. It also went further to award scholarship to deserving Urhobo who went overseas to acquire university degrees. It is to the credit of the UPU that the first two Urhobo graduates, Macneil Gabriel Ejaife (graduated in 1948) and Ezekiel Norucho Igho (graduated in 1950) were also the earliest beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme. They returned home to become Principal and Vice-Principal, respectively, of Urhobo College. The founding of Urhobo College gave Urhobo youth the opportunity for secondary education. Its effort complemented that of Govenment Colege, Ughelli which opened in 1945. When the University of Ibadan matriculated its first set of students in 1948 an Urhobo, Victor Erereko Ovie-Whiskey was one of them. By the 1950s, more Urhobo had become graduates while the golden moment came in 1964 when two Urhobo, Frank Ukoli and Robinson Imishue obtained doctorate degrees. Mudiaga Odje followed in 1965 and since then there has been no looking back. We have made considerable advancement in education. The youth of today are particularly fortunate as a result of easy access to education. The problem at the moment is the poor quality of education which is not just an Urhobo problem, but a national one. You find a school everywhere you turn to in Urhoboland as public and private primary and secondary schools are in the realm of the uncountable. We have two technical colleges at Ogor and Sapele, two colleges of education at Warri and Mosogar, a polytechnic at Oghara, a petroleum institute and a federal university at Effururn, a state university at Abraka, a private university at Oghara and another one soon to be opened at Agbarha-Otor. I think we can count our blessings in the field of education. Yet, we must pause and think of many of our children and youth who are out of school for one reason or the other. We cannot run away from the reality that Urhobo children are among the 10.5 million Nigerian children which the United Nations statistics claim to be out of school. We must do something about their education or at least hook them up with a vocation which can blossom into entrepreneurship. We should not forget to inculcate the knowledge of Information Technology in our children and youth. We would have secured their future by doing so. We might know no peace in future if we dont do this. The Urhobo are endowed with a highly resourceful manpower within and outside Nigeria. I am convinced that there are Urhobo descendants whose ancestors were taken to the Diaspora by the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade who are doing exceedingly well. Our shortcoming has been our under-representation in the Federal Civil Service comprising of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the Armed Forces. Our representation in terms of the ratio in comparison to other ethnic nationalities leaves much to be desired. This disadvantage can be remedied by a deliberate and strategic networking by our people. Now is the time. URHOBO WOMEN: OUR MOTHERS, WIVES AND DAUGHTERS For a long time, Urhobo women were relegated to the background in the scheme of things. This is also the case in other places in Nigeria as a result of patriarchal encumbrances. But today, we can say that our women have arrived. The multifaceted accomplishments of the Urhobo woman is not by happenstance. We must salute the missionaries who established girls schools such as Our Ladies High School, Effurun, Anglican Girls Grammar School and St. Theresas Grammar School in Ughelli where many Urhobo daughters enjoyed the benefit of western education. It was always a difficult search in the 1950s and 1960s to get young ladies with secondary education for male Urhobo graduates to take for wives. But this is no longer the case today. Since 1962 when Joan Iboje became the first Urhobo female graduate, the Urhobo nation can now boast of a horde of female graduates many of whom are university professors, doctorate degree holders, teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, bankers and more. Managing Directors of Banks, Permanent Secretaries, a Head of Service, an ambassador, a minister, Chief Judges, etc number among them at one time or the other. I recognize the industry of the uneducated Urhobo woman. We must take her into consideration if the Urhobo house must not fall. As a trader, a farmer or an artisan she has played her role commendably as a mother, wife and the quintessential home nay nation builder. Our women are in the progressive evolutionary movement for the socio-economic emancipation of the Urhobo people. I recall the different women uprisings in Urhoboland against oppressive and exploitative tendencies in Ekpan, Eghwu, Ughelli and Oghara. Where would our men be without our women? Our women remain among the virtuous in the world. The myth of Ayayughe the self-sacrificing mother provides a veritable symbol for the Urhobo woman. The virtuousness of our women made it possible for them to bring up daughters who didnt follow the international prostitution syndicate at a time when it was financially profitable to do so. Our mothers didnt allow the appetite to live to kill the dignity of living. I salute them! URHOBO YOUTH AND THE URHOBO HOUSE There is a national youth crisis in Nigeria. Issues involving youth in Urhoboland take on the character of ambiguity; the constructive and the destructive. There has been a devaluation of the Urhobo youth over the years. The erosion of traditional values by encroaching forces of modernity, insensitivity of government policies, unemployment and lack of socio-economic empowerment opportunities, poverty and manipulation by politicians remain the Achilles heels of our youth. Urhobo youth are despondent and desperate. The immediate option available to them is the okada economy which is a sentence to poverty. Others that cannot cope with the ruggedness of the okada vocation turn beggarly and chant the refrain ose, ose, ose for small monetary favours. There is a snag in determining who a youth is among our people. The National Youth Policy pegs the upper limit at thirty years of age. It is however permissible, due to contemporary socio-economic challenges to be elastic and raise the bar to forty. Unfortunately, among our people we find fifty years old men, some of them grand-fathers and chieftaincy title holders, parading as youth. Many of them see youth activism as a means of economic survival. This has bred a motley of innumerable youth groups constituting embarrassment to our people. There is an urgent need to re-invigorate the youth wing of the UPU (Ighelle re Urhobo) for it to play an active role in local, national and international affairs where our youth have been grossly under-represented. The time for docility is over. We noticed that Urhobo youth were short-changed in the Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta youth on the ground that they were not combatants during the oil war of 2005-2009. That was also the case with the distribution of slots for oil facilities surveillance contract. The disadvantage suffered by our youth in the distribution of patronage by the federal government and multinational oil firms derive from the fact that they have not been well organized. Our youth must learn how to develop the capacity and strategies that will make government at all levels take their welfare seriously. Many indices of delinquency have also reared their heads among our youth. The phenomenon of youth restiveness which manifests in violence and conflicts is one of such. Socio-economic injustice, intra and inter-communal dispute, exploitation by community elders, politicians and oil companies all fan the embers of youth restiveness. The deve mentally which has eaten deep into the consciousness of our youth has turned them into neighbourhood extortionists harassing property developers and making the Urhobo environment unfriendly to investors. I have often remarked that our youth should re-channel their energy and resourcefulness and focus on Abuja where our neighbours collect oil deve in millions and billions. More sinister demonstration of youth delinquency are the menace of armed robbery and now kidnapping. We also must look in the direction of our politicians in tackling the youth crises in Urhoboland. The politicians procure arms for the youth to win elections after which they abandon them. These boys later turn the guns on the society. What follows is the promotion of a lumpen culture which encourages dare devilry, brutality and gangsterism. The get rich quick mania which politics promotes has also inculcated the hammer culture in our youth many of whom now scuff at hard work. We must give our youth a re-orientation before the situation goes out of hand. We are toying with a time bomb if we do not intervene in their predicament. The youth of any society constitute its most important asset. There can be no future without the youth. The notion that the youth are the trustees of tomorrow should not be taken for granted. Urhobo youth have the energy, verve and vigour to negotiate our today into a great future. All they need is the support. I must at this point draw the attention of the Urhobo people to the onerous task embarked upon by the Urhobo Progressive Youth Association (UPYA) led by Marcus Ekure. UPYA has developed an Urhobo youth data base and also established an institute in Ughelli where ICT, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills are taught. The goal of UPYA is the economic empowerment of our youth. Urhobo business and political elite and government at all levels should invest in this noble and visionary intervention to help our youth. We need a deliberate attempt to reposition our youth for them to play responsible roles tomorrow. The Urhobo heritage will be lost and our space in the Nigerian project seriously diminished if we do not prepare our youth for the challenges of the future. Let us therefore begin by becoming good role models to our youth, carry them along and re-invent in them a consciousness that will promote Urhobo interest wherever they find themselves in the world. The time is now. OUR ENDANGERED HOMELAND The endangerment of the Urhobo homeland is one of the devastating consequences of crude oil exploration and exploitation which began around 1959. Apart from the depletion of farm yields, shrinking of flora and fauna, there have been too many incidences of oil spill, pipeline fire, acid rain and endless gas flaring. Ours is a polluted homeland. The very sad reality is that crude oil is found in all the eight local government areas which make up Urhoboland. The different oil firms that operated and still operate in Urhoboland put the environment under severe pressure and further dehumanize and impoverish our people. How can we forget the Jesse pipeline fire disaster of 1998 which left over 1000 Urhobo people dead? What about the inferno in Ekakpamre, Adeje and other places in Urhoboland? We still bear the physical and psychological scars. After many years of perpetrating human and environmental degradation, Shell the leading oil firm decided to quit and was put on sale. Quite sadly, the Urhobo people were outplayed in the process leading to the acquisition by new owners. The implication is that more environmental and human injustice will be done to our people by outsiders who are the new owners of what was left of Shell. The Urhobo environment also suffers from annual flooding and erosion to which we must find solution. We cannot forget in a hurry the devastation the flood of 2012 did to our homeland. The problem of rapid urbanization and congestion of urban centres is also exacting pressure on our environment. Too many slums are developing in Urhobo urban centres coupled with the nuisance of waste disposal and management. It will be rewarding to develop the rural areas with the necessary social amenities and public infrastructure so that they can become attractive for people to live in and stem the tide of urban migration. Our rivers are also drying up and dying. There is an urgent need to protect them for agriculture, fishing, transportation, commerce and as part of our natural heritage. We can mount pressure on government to dredge the rivers and make them useful. INSECURITY AND A HOUSE UNDER SIEGE The phenomena of armed robbery and kidnapping have put Urhoboland under siege. The trend is the culmination of many years of poor government planning and socio-economic injustice. For many years, Nigeria failed to plan for the future of the youth and many of them took to crime and other deviant behaviours out of frustration. Among our youth is also the stinging sense of socio-economic injustice arising from neglect by oil firms operating in Urhoboland. We recall that when the menace of kidnapping began around 2005, the targets were usually expatriate oil workers. Eventually, the expatriates pulled out and the aggrieved youth focused on our people especially those considered as rich. Today, kidnapping has become a vocation. A dire consequence of insecurity is that it under-develops Urhoboland and instils a siege psychology in our people. Local and foreign investors are staying away from Urhoboland. Even our well to do sons and daughters are afraid of coming home for fear of being kidnapped. Many of them who have the means to invest in Urhoboland are afraid to do so. Can the Urhobo house stand with the present state of insecurity? The answer is no! I wish to appeal to those perpetrating insecurity to lay down their arms and embrace a more meaningful way of life. I do call on Urhobo leadership, made up of the intellectual, business and political classes to urgently put together a summit that will proffer ways of putting an end to insecurity in Urhoboland. Our people are living in fear. Apart from the fear of being abducted, there are soldiers all over Urhoboland brutalizing and frightening our people. Governments at all levels should also take genuinely humane steps to end insecurity so that the Urhobo house can thrive again. Once the insecurity problem is resolved Urhoboland will become investment friendly and I know that every Urhobo clan has enough business moguls who will bring a wave of agro-industrial revolution to Urhoboland. THE QUEST FOR A STATE OF OUR OWN Urhobo deserves a state of its own. We have a population that is bigger than that of eight states in Nigeria as well as a commensurate landmass. We have the skilled manpower, natural resources, infrastructure, ethnic, linguistic and cultural homogeneity that will augur well for the creation of an Urhobo State that will also be economically viable. URHOBO LANGUAGE, HISTORY AND CULTURE If we are desirous of survival, we must jealously protect our language, history and culture. There is the fear of the extinction of the Urhobo language in the future as its speaking base gets eroded every day that dawns. We must reverse this trend. Fortunately, there are efforts at making sure that the language does not die. There is now a fully accredited Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree programme in the Department of Linguistics at the Delta State University at Abraka. There is also the Urhobo Studies Association (USA) based in the same institution. I must not fail to mention Aridon: the International Journal of Urhobo Studies which through the efforts of Professors Darah, Ojaide and Aziza is domiciled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the United States. There is an ongoing effort by the USA to put Urhobo Language, just like Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik and Ijaw Languages, in the curriculum and syllabus of the West African Examination Council so that it can become a subject in national and international examinations. I must at this point report the stress and humiliation we experienced in the hands of Urhobo elite while soliciting for funds to meet these financially tasking obligations. We wrote more than three hundred letters, made over five hundred calls to Urhobo business and political elite and in the end we received no support from them. It was the late Senator Pius Ewherido, Dr. Nyerhovwo Tonukari, the Atamu Social Club and a few other clubs and individuals who gave us some money that saw us through the first three stages. We also levied ourselves heavily. We still have about three stages to go before Urhobo Language can enter the syllabus. I therefore call on all Urhobo sons and daughters to support this task. Between 2010 and 2012 the USA also established Urhobo Language centres at Udu and Abraka with the vision that they will spread to other towns in Urhoboland, but the financial demand has stalled that dream. Again I call on you all to support the initiative financially. I should also recall the Senator Pius Ewherido Urhobo Language Competition which held last year. Urhobo history suffered scholarly disadvantage until Professor Onigu Otite published The Urhobo People in 1982 in conjunction with other patriotic Urhobo scholars. A new edition came out last year. The Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) founded in 1999 and led by Professor Peter Ekeh is the most important phenomenon to have happened to Urhobo history and culture. For the period that it was active it promoted a lot of enthusiasm about Urhobo historiography and held annual conferences which always turned out as Urhobo academic fiesta with eminent Urhobo personalities from all walks of life within and outside Nigeria attending. The UHS publishes insightful monographs and runs a website which is a mine of knowledge for Urhobo history and culture. The Urhobo have a rich cultural heritage. Our names, our appellations, dressing, cuisine, festivals, entertainment, myths, legends, songs, ceremonies and other ancillaries of culture make us unique. The richness of our cultural heritage has engendered a booming entertainment industry that is making waves all over the world. Apart from minstrels like Omokomoko, Adjan, Okpan, Sally Young, Urhobo has produced leading artists in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Urhobo are also the moving spirit in the stand up comedy genre. The world renown poet Tanure Ojaide continue to regale the world with enchanting lyrics from Udje, the Urhobo song poetry. Our cultural endowments can make Urhoboland a tourist haven. URHOBO AGENDA AND THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE/CONFERENCE I had mentioned the vexatious issue of the national question. It is in resolving that question that President Goodluck Jonathan initiated the process for a national dialogue. This is a welcome relief and an opportunity for Nigerians to re-examine the purpose of our togetherness and the way forward for the federation. It is true that we have had many of such in the past, the most recent of which was the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference, which yielded nothing. Urhobo people should join other Nigerians at the conference and canvass germane issues that will privilege Urhobo in the Nigerian project. Most Nigerians are agreed on the need for the conference and we should insist that its resolutions are implemented for the good of present and future generations of Nigerians. I urge the UPU to set up a think tank that will come up with an Urhobo Agenda which should constitute our position during the National Dialogue. The think tank should be made up of competent sons and daughters drawn from the academia, civil society, the media, business and political classes who can hold their own in the comity of ethnic nationalities. Urhobo certainly has so many issues to canvass. The practice of true federalism, devolution of powers, resource control and management, abolition of obnoxious laws (petroleum decree of 1969, land use act of 1978, etc) state and local government creation, census, recreating our environment, electoral reforms, among other burning issues should be put on the conference table. I wish to advise that Urhobo should not succumb to the call for regionalism which I fear is bound to breed a new hegemony by any ethnic nationality with numerical advantage. We should insist that states should be the component units of our federalism and argue for the creation of Urhobo State. Part of the Urhobo agenda would be the articulation of an Urhobo aspiration and vision, the defence of the Urhobo personality and promotion of Urhobo interest. We have to make maximum use of the mass media in this regard. What we encounter in the writings of many newspaper columnists in Nigeria today are essentially the defence of ethnic agendas. Unfortunately, journalists and intellectuals of Urhobo extraction, with the exception of Abraham Ogbodo, have been too shy of promoting Urhobo interest in the media. Back home we have witnessed an upsurge in community tabloids, Urhobo Voice, Urhobo Times and Urhobo Vanguard all of them defending Urhobo interest. I commend them. CONCLUSION I have so far drawn attention to the condition of the Urhobo house and how to ensure that it does not fall, but wax stronger. I am optimistic that the house will not fall. But then it will not be so if we sit by and do nothing. All Urhobo people should get involved. We must begin to ask political appointees and elected representatives the right questions about performance indices. We should also ask ourselves what role we played individually for us to have arrived at this unsavoury situation. We must carry out an honest assessment of where we are and where we want to be in future and how we will get there. This calls for a critical appraisal of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The time is now. Many changes are taking place in our mother continent, Africa. In 1998, the forthright Thabo Mbeki, then South African President had this to say about Africa: Those who have eyes to see let them see. The African Renaissance is upon us. As we peer through the looking glass darkly, this may not be obvious. But it is upon us. Nigeria is part of the Africa Mbeki talked about and there cannot be an African Renaissance without Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria is undergoing turbulence. This is change and I foresee a new dawn. Urhobo must mobilize our people for a constructive engagement with Nigeria and take our rightful position at the dawn of the envisaged Renaissance. It will not be long. What we need now is a tripartite synergy of intellectuals (academics, lawyers, journalists), the business class and political elite to form a vanguard that will chart an agenda for Urhobo. No one group can do it alone. We should ensure that the URHOBO HOUSE DOES NOT FALL. Thank you for your patience!
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:00:30 +0000
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