By John Dugbe Special Correspondent, Ughelli
President of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), Chief Bello Oboko, has appealed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of delta State to help project the re-election credentials of President Goodluck Jonathan who, he said, envisioned the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) project to create millions of jobs and advance Nigeria’s economy.
Oboko said Uduaghan needs to assist Jonathan to act fast to save Okpeleama community, especially Gbaramatu Kingdom, from yet another avoidable inter-ethnic crisis, which the EPZ land/project was fast leading to.
“It may not be most complimentary for the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan for the second time to postpone groundbreaking ceremony of the Escravos EPZ project.
“Worse still, the postponement is based on alleged consultations bedeviled by half-truths shared between Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan who is said to be taken aback, and his kinsmen, the Itsekiri ethnic nationality, threatening secession,” Oboko said.
Providing insight to what he meant by “half-truths”, Oboko hinted of different sets of land acquisitions by the state government that may not be generally known.
“The Governor has been saying the land size that he acquired for the project is 2700 hectares.
“Following notice of revocation of Rights of Occupancy duly signed by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, November 11, 2013, the Kpokpo/Okpeleama land covering 335.554 hectares was acquired for the purposes of the EPZ project.
“If you subtract 335.554 hectares from 2,700 hectares claimed as the entire land acquired by Governor Uduaghan, it does not amount to 2,560 hectares the Itsekiri are claiming was acquired from their territory.
“The whole thing remains a chaotic mass which Governor Uduaghan, for peace, needs to clear up for the knowledge of his Itsekiri kinsmen and the world.
“Between the shroud of clouds on land acquisitions given the varying claims and shifts in groundbreaking ceremony, we cannot now categorically fix the root of alleged ethnicisation of the Escravos EPZ project,” Oboko noted.
Oboko, who had been advancing claims of Okpeleama-Ijaw community in the EPZ project, said it would be unfair for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to insinuate as alleged in some quarters that they were unaware of any Ijaw stake in the project.
Oboko said information on EPZ stake-holding of Okpeleama-Ijaw community was communicated via DHL to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in a letter received by one Mr. Paul Ebiloma on 06/08/14 while the letter to the NNPC headquarters was also sent via DHL and received by one Mr. Johnson on the same date.
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