By Zik Gbemre
Amidst the profound conspiracy of silence or acquiescence among Urhobo elite to the resentful politicisation and derailment of the ideals of UPU that has made it a laughing stock under narrow-minded leadership currently headed Ese Gam, I feel deep sense of fulfillment in the massive boycott of the 2024 UPU Day called by Ese GAM.
We monitored the Opening Day, Friday. Seeing the UPU House, Ovwiamuge so empty with only Ese Gam, his scam of EXCO, few collaborator Ivie seated with their wives alone, it is great relief that an overwhelming majority of Urhobo patriots align with the imperative to kick the partisan, Delta state ruling PDP hijacked UPU leadership out of office.
They even shamelessly invited leaders of Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic neighbors to the event. How does it feel, Ese Gam, when a UPU Day is so empty, your EXCO ignored by Urhobos? A UPU membered only by PDP card carrying Ivie and officeholders?
Where were Urhobo key opinion leaders? Where were Urhobos in big businesses, key public offices, home and abroad? The overwhelming vote of no confidence gives hope that we can restore the UPU founded by our heroes passed.
All aspects of the usually charged opening day were puerile, boring. Hearing Charles Akpoki reflect on the theme: Repositioning Urhobo Nation For More Prosperity tells you how narrow minded a UPU pocketed by every governor in power since era of James Ibori has become.
Hear Akpoki’s sense of repositioning Urhobo for prosperity. “The way forward is a redefinition of who we are, a recognition of who we are, and determination of what we want to become and then concerted and intentional efforts that we will put in to become who we want to become. It is a realisation of the resources we have.
“Our traditional festivals, we can turn them to tourist attraction. We have Umalokun Festival, Ughelli Marathon Race, then you bring people like Gordons, Whalemouth and the rest. The town will be filled, all the hotels will be filled.
“He went on to say he made a social media post on Ethiope River and some Urhobo investors, not external entrepreneurs are willing to buy 355 Acres” some person own by the Rivers Ethiope. None of his so called interested Urhobo investors was present as he delivered his lecture.
For Akpoki, the challenge before Urhobo is that we are not aware of who we are, can’t determine what we want to become. And to redefine who we are, we should harness Omalokun and Ethiope River for tourism as the signature potentials or discovery for Urhobo greatness. ‘Eh Urhobo rioja iphovwen’.
I have nothing against maximising our tourism potentials, but did talkative Akpoki forget the concept of comparative cost advantage.
Does Akpoki know that against the sentiments and censored rating of production quantum, no ethnic neighbor has more oil and gas potentials than Urhobo land?
But today, because we have reduced ourselves to beggarly minority in a state we are overwhelming majority, federal government and external stakeholders see everything oil and gas in Delta as belonging to Ijaws and Itsekiri.
Urhoboland has one of a kind Utorogun Gas Plant without which Egbin Power Plant and several huge industries and production lines on the Abeokuta-Lagos corridor cannot thrive. The plant supplies beyond the shores of the country. Inside Urhobo we have Seplat and other marginal fields, several flow stations producing from vast oil and gas wells and other key assets. Today external stakeholders think all of these are in Ijaw land.
Assuming without conceding to Akpoki’s narrow minded proposals, just like Ese Gam’s narrow mindedness of feeling like the only objective of UPU is for he and his scam of EXCO to hero worship any governor in power, begging for pity and stomach infrastructure, do the custodians of our culture, Ivie Urhobo even have faith in building tourism with our festivals that Akpoki talked about?
These are Ivie who demonise Omalokun, Ogba Urhie and other notable Urhobo festivals which use to attract white tourists yearly. Ivie Urhobo now see Omalokun festivals as fetish, but for stomach infrastructure, they rather risk their lives going on a boat ferry to Gbaramatu to worship Tompolo’s Egbesu. Are these the people Akpoki expect to embrace exploring Omalokun for tourism?
If Akpoki and Urhobos who care must know, we must first draw strength in comparative cost advantage. The reawakening Urhobo needs is to address why we have insignificant or no ownership stake in the companies farming the Oil Mining Leases on our soil. We must interrogate why we have oil and gas in our backyard and would cost us less to invest in Modular Refineries, Gas powered power plant and discos as the law now allows much private participant.
Of course under the clueless, partisan UPU led by Ese Gam, Urhobo can’t look beyond ‘PDP share the money’. A UPU that mopped up required starting capital from Urhobos to start a microfinance bank and locked same down for years now because they can’t secure common government approval to run the Okugbe Microfinance Bank. What a shame.
Imagine insensitive Ese Gam UPU. They plan their rejected Urhobo Day to clash with the 1st Coronation Anniversary of Ovie of Agbarha Warri Kingdom. They didn’t consult with Ivie Urhobo to ensure there was no clash of events.
To all Urhobo patriots who joined the mass boycott of Ese Gam’s UPU Day, I salute your commitment to genuine Urhobo progress. Ese Gam and his greedy EXCO must face probe and be sanctioned and thrown out.
Saturday, Day II, Governor Oborevwori will stand before isolated Ese Gam and gang where they will gift Sheriff the title of Ochuko Urhobo 2, having first awarded Governor Ifeanyi Okowa Ochuko Urhobo.
Ese Gam will sing praises of Oborevwori when Urhobo nation is mourning the death of Okuama PG in military detention in Port Harcourt. The late Okuama leader was not a prisoner of war. He doesn’t deserve to die in military cell.
And Ewu politicians led by Ughelli South Council Chairman, Lucky Avworomre, are busy putting words in Oborevwori’s mouth expressing how deeply touched he is when he really doesn’t care whatever happens to Okuama people.
Fellow Urhobos, boycott the Day 2 UPU 2024 Day as well. Enough of the mockery of UPU.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
