UPU Sets Urhobo Agenda, Demands N1 Trillion Reparation From FG - Green White Green - gwg.ng

National

UPU Sets Urhobo Agenda, Demands N1 Trillion Reparation From FG

Published

on

The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the apex leadership organ of Urhobo people of Delta State, has set agenda for the Urhobo nation, tagged the Urhobo Agenda.

It is also demanding for reparation of N1 trillion from the Federal Government for the many years of resource plunder and environmental degradation through crude oil exploitation and exploration.

President General of UPU, Olorogun Moses Oghenerume Taiga, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a pre-event press conference to officially announce preparations for the 90th anniversary of UPU sched­uled for November 29 to Decem­ber 5, 2021 at Uvwiamuge-Ag­barho with notable Urhobo personalities in attendance.

Olorogun Taiga explained that the UPU as the “rallying point that succeeded in uniting the Urhobo people, giving them a sense of identity, pride, direc­tion, and more over the years” was nurturing the Urhobo Agenda to galvanise Urhobo into taking her place in an an­ticipated new dawn in Nigeria so as not to be caught napping when events begin to unfold at unimaginable speed to the dis­comfiture of the unprepared.

“In crafting an Urhobo Agenda we took a hard and dis­passionate look at the Nigeria of yesterday, today, and what it would be like tomorrow. What we offer as the Urhobo Agenda will begin by evaluating our present predicament in Nige­ria and then come up with a blueprint of a new deal with Nigeria.

“An Urhobo Agenda must of necessity focus on our en­dangered environment which has been laid waste by years of crude oil exploitation and explo­ration. To begin with, the Urho­bo people will be demanding reparation of N1 trillion from the Federal Government of Ni­geria and the oil multinationals for the many years of resource plunder and environmental degradation.

“In line with this, we de­mand an environmental reme­diation programme for com­munities that were negatively impacted by oil exploration such as Erhoike, Erhobaro-Oro­gun, Imodje-Orogun, Afiesere, Evwreni, Erhuemukohwarien, and many others,” Taiga said.

In a veiled reference to the novel Wado City Movement which strived to redefine the identity of Urhobo in Warri, Olorogun Taiga disclosed that the Warri factor was an integral issue in the Urhobo Agenda.

“The Warri factor is also an item on the Urhobo Agen­da. The Urhobo presence and identity in Warri can never be undermined. While we will continue to live peacefully with our neighbours in Warri, we will not allow the erasure of what Warri is to the Urho­bo and what the Urhobo are to Warri,” he said.

The UPU president-general emphasised that the Urhobo Agenda was going to address is­sues of Urhobo unity, language, history, and culture, “redirect our interest to agriculture and the attendant empowerment and wealth creation advantag­es tied to it. This will culmi­nate in the industrialisation of Urhoboland.

“Urhoboland can be an investors’ destination and production hub. The Okug­be Micro-Finance Bank will drive a revolution in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Urhoboland. The Sapele Port has to be revived, the moribund Delta Steel Com­pany must come alive, and the African Timber and Plywood in Sapele must be made to work. An Urhobo Agenda will en­courage Nigerian and foreign investors to revive the many other moribund industries across the length and breadth of Urhoboland”, he added.

Olorogun Taiga also addressed the question of insecurity in the land and the menace of Fulani herdsmen, while seeking to build alliances with our neighbors and other ethnic nationalities in the South- South and beyond to work out a new destiny for Nigeria as she totters towards a new be­ginning.

“To this end, while the Urhobo Agenda does not support secessionist agitation, it aligns with the call for the restructuring of Nigeria, in line with the tenets of federalism. We support the call for the relocation of the headquarters of all oil companies to the Niger Del­ta. We align with the position that election results should be electronically transmitted. We support the state’s collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the enactment of anti-open grazing laws, the establishment of state police, and other such progressive factors that will make Nigeria great,” Olorogun Taiga added. 

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG

Click to comment

Trending

Exit mobile version