By Harris-Okon Emmanuel / Warri
Uduaghan and Jonathan
Immediately they were sworn in, in 2007, President Goodluck Jonathan, then Vice President, was sent as an emissary by his boss, late Musa Yar’Adua to Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South West council of Delta State to plead with Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo to accept the Abuja olive branch.
The Escravos strait was a no-go area as the militants took it by the jugular. The infamous Camp 5 was dreaded. Oil production tumbled and the nation’s mono economy was clobbered as militant activities escalated. As the saying went, it took somebody on a suicide mission to venture into the area best described as volatile.
Tompolo assumed a fabled cult-like figure and any mention of his name could send jitters down the spine of the weak and the feeble. He was fearless with a kind of myth of invincibility weaved around him.
But a few years after that meeting Tompolo remained pigheaded thus forcing the federal government to exert its might by ordering a full military operations spearheaded by the Joint Task Force commanded by Major General Bello, an affable but ruthless soldier, against the warlords. After heavy bombardment, Camp 5 fell and Ijaw villages with traces of militants were also torched resulting in massive destruction of property and loss of human lives even as many people were displaced from the communities. The operations posted a huge humanitarian crisis.
As this was going on, his kinsmen continued to talk to him to see the need to lay down arms and unexpectedly, with teary eyes, Tompolo accepted the amnesty on the final day of the exercise. However, he bemoaned that he was cajoled into agreeing to the presidential pardon otherwise his Ijaw kinsmen would have given him out. That was in 2009.
The unassuming Ijaw High Chief has since moved on into other things and has remained a pivot in the development of his Ijaw communities. The Tompolo Foundation has been instrumental in providing educational, health and other benefits to the Ijaw communities. Many Ijaw students have benefited from his scholarships scheme and humanitarian gesture.
On May 11, Tompolo through his soaring influence, brought the President and top government officials including governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to Gbaramatu kingdom for a ground breaking ceremony for a first maritime university, the Nigeria Maritime University at Okorenkoko, and flagged off activities at the university’s temporary site, Kurutie even as he also performed similar functions for the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency’s (MIMASA) shipyard and dockyard projects at Okenrenkoko.
At the occasion, the President commended all those who made the vision of the Maritime University a reality, just as he urged the people of the Niger Delta region to sustain the peace, saying only peace could bring meaningful development to the region.
He lamented that Nigeria as a nation has neglected the maritime industry for a long time, adding that one of the reasons the school was established was to revive the maritime industry and produce professionals who will revolutionize the industry.
President Jonathan promised that the Federal Government was going to develop all the ports in the country, adding that maritime business was a lucrative business and that development of manpower was key to the success of the maritime industry.
President Jonathan promised the people of the Oporoza that the Federal Government was going to help them in rebuilding the community that was once destroyed by soldiers during the Niger Delta crisis.
He revealed that the Federal Government had budgeted about 15 billion naira to build coastal rail system that will run from Lagos to other parts of the country, stressing that rail system was the only way to checkmate the issue of our bad roads.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, in a remark, lauded the president for the landmark projects of a maritime university, dock and shipyard among others in the area.
“We want to thank you Mr. President because today you are starting a movement in Warri South West that will make it the most educated, the most industrialized and the most empowered local government in Nigeria,” he said
Uduaghan seized the opportunity to campaign for Jonathan whom he pleaded with Nigerians to vote for come 2015.
He said: “I must say that we must all together give the maximum support to the president. Yes, Mr. President is from the Niger Delta and we thank the other parts of Nigeria for supporting him to become the President in 2011.
“We thank them for their support so far, we plead with them that they should continue to support him now and beyond 2015. I did say that we of the Niger Delta have no reason to oppose Mr. President, some people challenged me. I still stand on that statement. You do not know what you have until you don’t have it.
“We have a president that has been brought to power by every part of Nigeria, for us from the Niger Delta we must continue to be in the forefront to be in the support. We must continue to extend our hands of fellowship to other parts of Nigeria to continue to support him not just in 2015 but beyond 2015.”
In his welcome address, Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, thanked the President for spreading development to the people of the Niger Delta region, saying that the Maritime University will put the country among the league of major economy in the world.
Senator Umar said the proposed Maritime University project was a welcome initiative by the Federal Government, noting that it shows the President’s resolve to spread development to all parts of the country.
While commending Governor Uduaghan for supporting the University project, Senator Umar also commended the community for their supportive role in bringing the dream to reality.
In his goodwill message, the regent of Gbaramatu Kingdom, HRH Oyagha P.T. Heavens who lamented that the Gbaramatu Kingdom had been neglected and marginalized over the years, said the ground breaking ceremonies of NIMASA Shipyard/Dockyard and Nigeria Maritime University by President Jonathan had confirmed his desire to develop the Niger Delta region.
He described the establishment of the University as a dream comes true to the people of Gbaramatu kingdom and first of its kind in Africa, praying that the two major projects should be properly funded for them to start functioning.
He said; “We wish to appreciate and commend our amiable Hon. Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar and the DG, NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Zeghakide Akpobokemi and their respective staff for the support and role they individually and collectively played to ensure the realization of these projects in Gbaramatu Kingdom. We like to appeal to them for their continuous support and co-operation to Mr. President for the continuity of his transformation agenda to continue to move the country forward.”
Also speaking, the Director General, NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Zeghakide Akpobolokemi said incidents of insecurity in the waterways had reduced drastically, just as he revealed that NIMASA had arrested about 245 vessels in the past few years.
Mr. Akpobolokemi said the Shipyard and dockyard were meant to build and maintain vessels, ships and others, adding that the university will motivate training for enhanced productivity in the maritime industry in the country.
However, opinions are divided of the choice of a maritime varsity, a specialized institution in another Niger Delta state given the fact that process is ongoing to upgrade the Maritime Academy in Oron to a university status.
Cletus Ukpong vented his spleens over the development, accusing the government of policy somersault and alleged that the DG of NIMASA was using his position to corner government benefits to his area.
He queried: “I wish to ask, now that we have the Nigeria Maritime University that is being promoted by NIMASA, what is the fate of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron which I am aware was on the process of being upgraded to the status of a university? The DG/CEO of NIMASA is Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi. ‘Akpobolokemi’ sounds very much like Delta name. Could it be that this man called Akpobolokemi used his position and influence as the DG of NIMASA to ‘rob’ the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron of a much needed and expected upgrade to a university status, in order to ‘bless’ his own state with the Maritime University of Nigeria? Is there a great conspiracy against MAN, Oron, and Akwa Ibom State?
Is there anyone out there that is knowledgeable about maritime development and politics in Nigeria that is willing to volunteer information on this issue?” Meanwhile, a Non-Governmental Organization, Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) has tasked Delta State government on the completion of the abandoned Okerenkoko–Pepeama-Kokdiagbene road and township project in Gbaramatu kingdom.
Its National Coordinator, Comrade Sheriff Mulades, who stated this, said the contract for the road was awarded since 2008 but the contractor abandoned construction work after expending well over N2 billion.
He expressed dismay that the project designed by the former administration to make life easy for the riverside communities has since not seen the light of the day, noting that ‘’the assessment for the acquisition of this road has long been completed but not paid for and the sand that was dredged has washed away,” adding that part of the road which had been sand filled was overgrown with weeds.
He disclosed that the proposed Maritime University at Okerenkoko is sited on the only road in the area, noting that “the would-be students will have nowhere to walk around except on this all-important road. The students cannot be on the river all the time.”
While commending the effort of NIMASA in the establishment of this specialized university, Mulades said the effort cannot be appreciated when students will reject the school due to poor road network and of course lack of recreational infrastructure.
He appealed to the governor of Delta state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan to complete the road to synergize with NIMASA’s effort in the establishment of Maritime University in Delta State.
“No sacrifice will be adjudged to be too much in the effort of this present administration to bring enduring peace to the riverine area through developmental project,” he said.
He added: “We, as indigenes of the area, assure the present government of our unflinching loyalty and support in her effort to develop the state. We also call on NIMASA to partner with the state government to ensure the realization of the township and highway road as contained in the design awarded to Wokson Nigeria Limited.”
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