Quest for better representation for Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency

Former Speaker, Delta State House Assembly, Olise Enebeli Imegwu, who writes from Aboh, Ndokwa East Local Government, is concerned about the quality of representation Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency is currently receiving. Imegwu who is writing on behalf of Concerned Leaders of Aboh is calling for equity and fairness in the share of democracy dividends within his constituency

Though Ossai N. Ossai represents Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly, which comprises Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West and Ukwuani Local Government Areas, he goes about his mandate as if he is representing only Ndokwa West, his immediate constituency. He thereby neglects the other two local governments in the constituency.

As a result, his representation has brought in its wake a tale of woes that dates back to 1976 when the defunct Aboh Division was renamed Ndokwa Local Government, later divided into the current three councils in Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency.

Chief Enuenwosu of Ukwuani descent began the change in the 1970s.  Since then, it has been a tale of hope, patience, perseverance and disappointments for the rest of the tripod. As a result, the popularity of Aboh Kingdom has waned. At the height of its fame, the Obi of Aboh, Oba of Benin and the Olu of Warri were the only kings from the defunct Midwest Region that attended meetings at the Western House of Chiefs in Ibadan.  A series of other acts, in rapid succession, multiplied to ensure the descent of the kingdom into oblivion. The larger Ndoshimili people of Ndokwa East Local Government suffered the same fate.

Ukwuani as a dialect became foisted on us without our consent. Still reeling from the wounds of the decades past, a neo-20th Century ethnic cleansing scheme under Ossai is rearing its ugly head in Aboh, by extension, Ndokwa East.

It comes in the form of domination in our socio-economic-political-policy/programmatic sphere of government benefits. This oppressive and imperialistic attitude has been ongoing since 2019 and it reached its crescendo when Ossai, a PDP legislator, decided to take the obnoxious step of scuttling the establishment of the University of Agriculture and Technology, Aboh. His reason is that it was not cited in Ndokwa West, his local government. Ironically, a PDP lawmaker elected into office by our joint votes would turn around to oppose a programme or policy supported by an APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC leadership in the National Assembly, led by Senator Ahmad Lawan, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and our distinguished senator from Oshimili North and the sponsor of the bill, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi. It is noteworthy that Ossai’s opposition arises from the fact that the said University of Agriculture and Technology was not cited in his local council of Ndokwa West.

How many tertiary institutions do Ndokwa West want to have? The School of Maritime Technology is situated there. It also has other institutions of higher learning, including the University of Novena (a private institution), and two polytechnics. The idea of establishing the University of Maritime Technology in Aboh at Okerenkoko was first initiated by a group led by Prof. B.I.C. Ijomah during the tenure of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. Unfortunately, the Federal Government built the same for Burutu, the Abohs applauded and supported it because Burutu, like Aboh, is a long-neglected and marginalised Niger Delta and oil-producing local government.

Ossai’s ignoble act has now opened the door for an Anioma co-legislator in the House of Reps, Ndudi Elumelu, to canvass for the same University for Asaba, a non-non-oil producing area. This is not justifiable. For, only this year, March 2021, the Delta State University of Science and Technology was established and the same have since been inspected and accredited by the National University Commission (NUC).

What portion have we in the union called Ndokwa or Anioma?

Thus, the attitude being put up by Ossai patterned after the obnoxious acts of the decades of the ’70s and ’90s and it is becoming unbearable by the day. First, this year, Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU) which Ndokwa East belongs, carried out what many considered a disguised form of a neo-20th Century ethnic cleansing when it amended its 2006 constitution and wiped out the delegate representation of Ndokwa East by 100 per cent and increased those for Ndokwa West and Ukwuani by 100 per cent each. The 2006 NNU Constitution, approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2013, distributed the delegate representation on basis of the number of clans in each local government.

The baseline figure was two,   multiplied by the number of clans per local government. Ndokwa East with its 22 clans had 44 delegates. Ndokwa West with its six clans had 12 delegates, while Ukwuani with its nine clans had 18 delegates. Alas, the so-called 2020 NNU amended constitution, which of course is illegal and unconstitutional, increased the clan delegate representation for Ndokwa West and Ukwuani to 44 delegates each, while Ndokwa East with 22 clans remained 44. We are bitter and angry about this impunity as it was done against our protestation.

Secondly, the attempt by NNU to present a position paper on behalf of Ndokwa Federal Constituency at the recently concluded Senate Constitution Amendment Review Committee at Grand Hotel was stopped by Dr Olisa Enebeli Imegwu, when it was discovered that Ndokwa East was again to be short-changed. The position paper to be presented that morning was different from the advanced copy in his possession. In the smuggled position paper, NNU proposed that Ndokwa West and Ukwuani with six and nine clans, respectively, be divided into two local governments each, that is, four. Ndokwa East with 22 clans, much larger in size and population, on the other hand, was proposed to be divided into two local governments, Inyi town excluded. It is to be noted that, apart from the large size and population, the other important fact is that our terrain, a typical Niger Delta terrain is not contiguous and difficult to access. With these acts, what has now set in irretrievably is a deficit trust in the union, a sick Ndokwa Neku amalgam.

In 1991, Ndokwa East had two state constituencies and Ndokwa West had also two. Today, while the state constituencies for Ndokwa East are reduced to one Ndokwa West remains two. Meanwhile, Ukwuani, which was created from it remains. Fourth, we want the oil wells in Ndokwa East: namely Beniku, particularly those of Kwale, Kwale East, Umuseti/Igbuku (named after towns in Ndokwa West), to be renamed with the names of towns in Ndokwa East where they are located and the production quantum and revenue to be credited to us. All of the listed grievances amount to a case of one injustice nullifying the other. Is this a true union of equals; one of a brother’s keeper?

 

 Our appeal

The National Assembly should ignore Ossai and approve the University of Agriculture and Technology, Aboh, the headquarters of the only oil and gas producing local government in Delta North, as it did for Burutu Local Government and Amasoma, and Otuoeke, in Bayelsa State. From the inception of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to date, Aboh and Ndokwa East have not had any major NDDC project awarded and completed, and it is a typical Niger Delta, oil and gas producing area.

In conclusion, the elders of Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency should encourage and the election of candidates that would be consensus builders. They should do away with “electoral banditry”, “occultic politics” and too much emphasis on money. They should also do away with any form of imposition of candidates and those who get appointments, whether or not they ate fit and proper persons. The failure of Ndokwa statesmen to hearken to this admonition will invoke the biblical lesson in 1 Kings 12:16, “for you cannot build a nation on the back of a people and then refuse to give them a place in it”. This is a call for active citizenship and Ossai should join us to build a virile and united Ndokwa nation and not push us over the cliff.