Buhari’s Preference For Urhobo In Delta Stokes Ethnic Rivalry

Patrick Adamagu

TWELVE months after President Muhammadu Buhari assured the Urhobo nation of Delta State that he will not forget them in his developmental agenda; the President fulfilled his promise to them with the nomination of one of their own, Festus Keyamo as a ministerial nominee.

President Buhari in June last year while playing host to some Urhobo traditional rulers, leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU and Urhobo members in the All Progressives Congress, APC at the council chamber of the presidential villa, Abuja, told the delegation who wanted an Urhobo in his cabinet that their demand may not be possible as at then because the  constitution specified that there will be one person from every State of the federation without mentioning a particular community the person should come from.”

UPU President General, Olorogun Moses Taiga had in his address during the meeting, demanded that President Buhari appoint an Urhobo indigene in his cabinet, stressing that Urhobo is the biggest ethnic group in Delta State and the fifth biggest ethnic group in the country.

Yielding to their demands while keeping to his words, Mr. President not only nominated an Urhobo in his second term cabinet, he also appointed other Urhobo namely; Austin Enajemo-Isire as board chairman, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, Chief Frank Kokori as chairman, Michael Imoudu Institute of Labour Training and Sam Adjogbe, acting Executive Director, Projects on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

On top of these appointments, the presidency and the party also backed the candidacy of the lawmaker representing Delta Central Senatorial district, Senator Omo-Agege to emerge as Deputy Senate President.

It will be recalled that the last time the Urhobo nation occupied a seat in the Federal Executive Council was in 2014 when Chief Steve Oru served as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

However, the recent political benevolence that has befallen the Urhobo nation is making other ethnic groups in the state green with envy with the Isoko people of Delta South demanding that they get a ministerial appointment to compensate them for the decades of marginalization that has befallen them.

Silas Buowe, a chieftain of the ruling APC and convener, Isoko Equity Group, stated that from 1999 to date, none of the 10 ministers so far appointed from Delta State is from Isokoland, whereas Urhobo, Anioma, Itsekiri and Ijaw people have had their fair share.

He added that while many ethnic groups in the Niger Delta believe in violence as a tool to attract attention, the Isoko people believe in constructive engagement.

He said, “We believe that by appointing an Isoko man into the federal cabinet, Mr. President will be correcting the wrongs of many decades.

“More importantly, even in the recently concluded General Election, the Isoko nation massively supported Mr. President in a politically difficult terrain as Delta State. While it is the President’s prerogative to appoint whoever he deems qualified as his minister, we want to state that the Isoko nation parades some of the most qualified persons.”

Reacting to the position of other ethnic groups in the state, former labour leader, Chief Frank Kokori who feigned ignorance on the issues, said: “The last ministerial representative from the state was from Anioma. As for Omo-Agege, he won his election, hence it wasn’t an appointment.”

Justifying the federal appointments accrued to the Urhobo, Kokori said: “The people from Delta Central precisely Urhobo, produced a senator, house of representatives and house of assembly for the APC while those from the north and south could not even produce a councillor and this is how party patronage ought to be and that is why the Urhobo are operating on that level in terms of political appointments.

“If you look at the state government today, those from Delta North are holding all the powerful positions in the state hierarchy and were even having the Minister of State for Petroleum even though Delta Central is the base of APC in the state, so those from the south and other regions should wake up politically to get their own benefits.”  

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG