By Zik Gbemre
The outpouring of anger and resentments in alignment with the debate I set on the inciting visit of Ese Gam led Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) to former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa after his bail from EFCC Cell over corruption allegations have been overwhelming.
However, my sense of fulfillment in all the critical feedbacks received does not warrant any self glorification. The real satisfaction lies in being vindicated by many, ignorant and informed, who had lashed me when I first expressed my suspicions about the dangers of the politicisation of the UPU.
For those who could recall, I raised the concerned when the willful hijack of the UPU by the PDP hegemony in Delta state started with Olorogun Moses Taiga.
After receiving much patronage and gratifications, including jeep from Okowa, Olorogun Taiga as UPU President-General (PG) declared Okowa as godsent. As if that was not offensive enough, he publicly decorated Okowa as ‘Ochuko’ of Urhobo Land when Urhobo Land was the most neglected and derided by Okowa’s administration among ethnic groups in his time as governor.
Sensitive that UPU had no such authority to usurp the functions of Urhobo monarchs in awarding chieftaincy titles, Taiga mobilised ‘Ivie Urhobo’ to jointly seal the stomach infrastructure glorification of Okowa as ‘Ochuko’ of Urhobo, by which criteria they could not justify.
Carrying on with the bootlicking, shameless Taiga, a supposed accomplished but greedy man, was funded by Okowa to spread gratifications to ‘Ivie Urhobo’ to impose delegates who in turn imposed a gullible Ese Gam as UPU President General to succeed Taiga.
When I raised the concern about the steady desecration of the UPU at that point many tended to oppose me. Today what is the result? I said it that by allowing the Governor in power to hijack UPU, the body has become an appendage of the PDP hegemony in the state.
Anytime the governor needs hype men to sing his undeserved praises, UPU PG and EXCO come handy as the errand boys. So, of all concerned stakeholders in Delta, it was Ese Gam and his scam UPU that were most sympathetic to the Okowa’s plight as an EFCC suspect. So painful.
While all energy is being dissipated on cursing and vilifying gullible Ese Gam and co for the repulsive solidarity with Okowa, the new angle to the show of shame we must worry about was that the vexed visit and utterances by the UPU of scam at Okowa’s home in Asaba had the seal of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori all over.
Make no mistake about it, Ese Gam and his disciples were playing the script, strict bidding of Oborevwori. That has been their disposition since Oborevwori came. UPU does not blink, open mouth without the endorsement of the incumbent governor.
UPU has sustained the bell ringing and hyping from Okowa to Oborovwori. As proof of this reality, recall Ese Gam’s utterances since the Okuama saga. Not only do all his opinions align with Oborevwori, Ese Gam shuts his mouth till Oborevwori has spoken.
That is why till today, a noble Urhobo son, respected Professor of Physics, Arthur Ekpokpo, has been thrown into military dungeon for months and UPU is unperturbed. Ekpokpo’s only sin is that he’s President General of Ewu whose domain covers Okuama where soldiers were killed in doubtful peace mission.
That was same way ‘Ovie Ewu’ was bundled like a common criminal and humiliated in military cell for weeks. Same military that professed from their intelligence report that a Niger-Delta militant masterminded the killing of soldiers to settle scores over perceived military disruption of his oil theft escapades.
Today the army, strong only against the weak, have not been able to catch the Niger-Deltan militant mastermind. It is an innocent, harmless university don’t they have kept indefinitely in captivity. Like the ordeal of the monarch, UPU has been mum over the unlawful military arrest of Prof Ekpokpo.
When the monarch was arrested, Governor Oborevwori cared less, even hailed the military as being in order with their ethnic cleansing against Okuama. So Ese Gam and UPU too didn’t say a word. It took the agitation of well meaning Urhobos and the intervention of a stranger, Sen Ned Nwoko to negotiate release of the ‘Ovie Ewu’.
So now, for Oborevwori and Ese Gam led PDP UPU, Prof Ekpokpo and fellow community leaders’ lives don’t matter. It is the arrest of Okowa for alleged looting of Delta’s money that should bother Urhobo.
For this reason, I am calling for a mass movement across Urhobo to cleanse the UPU, our common heritage, and rescue her from the grip of political desperados.
On this reformist movement, I urge all Urhobo sons and daughters to boycott the PDP bankrolled 2024 UPU National Day gullible Ese Gam and his scam of EXCO have planned for December 2024.
All Urhobos should boycott the entire event intentionally meant to glorify Governor Oborevwori. Let Ese Gam, his gullible gang, seek the company of Delta treasury looting suspect and Okowa attend their maliciously planned UPU Day alone and glorify selves.
Following this first move, Ese Gam and his UPU scam EXCO should be declared persona non granta across Urhobo Land. For bringing Urhobo into such disrepute, we pass a vote of no confidence on Ese Gam and his bootlicker EXCO.
This is not the first time this betrayal would happen. Urhobo cannot stomach the mockery any longer.
Continuing, there must then be a deliberate action to sanction gullible ‘Ivie Urhobo’ who have no character to be made chiefs but are imposed by the PDP hegemony over Delta government on their kingdoms.
These are the ‘anywhere belle face’ Urhobo Kings with no meaningful background, no honour among their people they imposed them to rule, who then go cap in hand begging and praise singing any governor in power before they can acquire cars,build private houses and feed selves.
We must reject Urhobo monarchs who can’t attend the functions of fellow Urhobo monarchs, but were quick to rush to Gbaramatu Kingdom to worship Egbesu just to collect stomach infrastructure at a time an Urhobo community was under oppression from the military and Okoloba community in Bomadi LGA.
Above all, a new UPU leadership of men of proven integrity, not PDP or APC card carrying members, should be installed to start a revival of the UPU of our past heroes. In the enthronement of this revived UPU, the greedy, gullible ‘Ivie Urhobo’ must be divorced from participating to stop the rigging of the selection process of the UPU EXCO.
I challenge all Urhobo sons and daughters to begin to support this mass movement and campaign to rid UPU and Urhobo Kingdoms of the scam of EXCO and gullible ‘Ivie’.
Misiawhare!!!
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
