Delta Ijaw Reject Okumagba As NDDC MD

By Editor

Asserting that they had been consigned to oppression and marginalization in the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, the Ijaw in Delta State have rejected the appointment of Mr. Benard Okumagba as the next Managing Director of the intervention agency.

The Ijaw under the aegis of the Western Ijaw Consultative Assembly in a statement obtained by GreenWhiteGreen averred that it was illogical for another Urhobo to occupy an executive position after four previous Urhobo had taken executive positions to the exclusion of the Ijaw which the group said is the highest oil producer in the country.

While observing that the NDDC was the product of the struggle of all ethnic groups but for which the Ijaw paid the highest price, the Ijaw Consultative Assembly said the exclusion of the Ijaw in the appointments into the NDDC was discriminatory and directed at making the ethnic group second class in the country.

The statement signed by Chief Ebipade Gbegha, Chairman and Ogbein Zidideke, Secretary averred thus:

“The Ijaws in Delta state wish to strongly notify President Mohammadu Buhari and the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives) that the nomination of Bernard Okumagba, of the Urhobo extraction of Delta state as the Managing Director (MD) in the new Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board, instead of an Ijaw nominee from Delta state has been rejected in its entirety.

“This is unacceptable to us and it is a clear indication of oppression, injustice and the alienation of Ijaws in Delta State by the present administration. We state this without fear or favour that any executive position meant for Delta State should be given to the Ijaws as it is our due turn, in line with the rotational arrangement as prescribed by the NDDC Act of 2000 Section 12 (1) which states that “There shall be for the Commission, a Managing Director, and two Executive Directors who shall be indigenes of oil producing areas starting with the member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and shall rotate amongst member states in the order of production”. The emphasis on the rotation within member states with the highest production quantum of oil is to ensure equity, justice and fairness in states like Delta state where there are more than one ethnic group producing oil.

“The Ijaw riverine communities are the highest producers of oil and gas in the region, and by consequence, the highest revenue generators in Nigeria. We also bear the brunt of the pollution, degradation and environmental impacts of the oil and gas exploration, production and transportation. In spite of our enormous contributions and sacrifices, we are still the most underdeveloped part of Nigeria.

“The NDDC, which is an offspring of the Niger Delta struggle, was birthed as an interventionist agency to cater for the oil-bearing/impacted communities from age-long neglect. Though all members of the region contributed to the struggle, the Ijaw, without any iota of doubt, sacrificed and contributed the most to the struggle. Ijaw sacrificed the blood of their children to agitate for the creation of the NDDC and were tagged all sorts of names in the process.

“We were called militants, trouble makers, armed robbers, barbarians, and all sorts, but today, forces that are against the progress of Ijaw are gradually scheming to erase us out of the equation, and prevent us from enjoying the dividends of the struggle. From the time of state creation, the Ijaw have always been prejudiced because of our geographic location and the crude oil God blessed us with. Ijaw are balkanize in bits in almost all the states in the Niger Delta and in all these states we have been maliciously distributed as minorities (except Bayelsa state), though we generate the highest revenue from our God-given crude.

“As minorities, we suffer oppression, have very weak political voices and tiny political space for survival. As a result, the 13% derivation accruing to the state treasury directly from our soil and waters are also used to develop other non-oil producing areas with plenty political powers. We are the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria with no strength and have been forced in the past to thread the path of violent agitation to get what is due to us or wait for the leftovers of others. This injustice and blatant disregard for the legitimate rights of the Ijaw in Delta state is unacceptable and we will resist it with everything God has empowered us with.”

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