Ekporo Resettlement:The Opinion Of A Fractured Party

Our attention has been drawn to a recent press release titled: “Ekporo resettlement: Wike goofed – APC” signed by Chief Ogbonna Nwuke, the spokesman of a factional strand of the fractured and dismembered Rivers State All Progressives Congress, APC.
The press statement apparently refered to the highly commendable and well received release of N400million for the resettlement of the people of Ekporo, in Eleme Local Government Area, who had been sacked from their homestead for over seven years now.
Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have glorified such purile, juvenile tripe with a response but we are indeed amazed that Chief Ogbonna Nwuke is still inebriated and wallowing in the psychological hangover of a brotherly donation by Rivers State to Sokoto state; a matter over which many discerning Rivers people have already had their say one way or the other and since moved on to other pressing issues.
Ogbonna Nwuke said in his press statement that: “We are shocked by the move made by the State Government to release the sum of N400 million for the resettlement of the Ekporo people…” and we are left wondering why he and his people are shocked. Is it that Ekporo people do not deserve to be ressettled with N400million or that the money is too much for them?
First of all, there’s absolutely no basis for comparison between what the Rivers government did for the government of Sokoto state and what it has done for the people of Ekporo community. The communal conflict that displaced Ekporo people predates the Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration and while the major clash that sacked the people from their homestead occured about eight years ago, Ekporo people are still bonafide Rivers people and have been living and operating in different parts of Rivers State.
Prominent sons of Ekporo like Chief Precious Ngelale, who served in the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999-2003, first as Minister of State, Water Resources and later Minister of Commerce as well as his son, Ajuri Ngele, who is one of the more vociferous spokespersons of the APC and the President Buhari regime, are all very much aware of the long drawn conflict in the community because this is and has been a purely Rivers problem over the years.
We are quite astounded therefore by the sheer magnitude of narcissism in a logic that says “Our thinking is that the action of the Rivers State Government…. has justified our principled position that Rivers money is not good enough for the use of Rivers people’ and then proceeds to equate a one-off brotherly donation of N500million to another state government, with the release of N400million to resettle one small community in a state where the government is building flyovers, roads, markets, hospitals, legacy infrastructure, paying workers salaries regularly and addressing all manner of expenditure issues, all worth several billions of naira every month.
It is indeed quite obvious, from this kind of thinking, grounded on the flippant cliche of “charity begins at home not abroad,’ that Chief Ogbonna Nwuke has probably lost his marbles temporarily, after putting forth this kind of skewed and jaundiced reasoning.
We are quite surprised that a man like Ogbonna Nwuke, who has been in government before and even held the sensitive position of Information Commissioner, is well aware of the fact that government does not just wake up and pronounce a donation or the release of funds for a major initiative like the resettlement of an integral community whose indigenes have been dislocated and dispersed by a communal conflict.
Unfortunately, Ogbonna Nwuke is feigning pathetic ignorance that he is not privy to the kind of comprehensive discussion and the steadfast negotiations, commitments and agreements which has now culminated to this first step of resettling the Ekporo community and is ultimately structured to achieve the desired objective of the Governor Nyesom Wike administration which is entrenching a more sustainable and harmonious coexistence of the communities involved and ensuring a satisfactory, mutually agreeable closure to the conflict that has reoccured sporadically in that area for over 60 years.
Of course we will not join issues with the brazen lie that: only 16 stalls were burnt in the Sokoto market in which the Rivers State Government doled away N500 million”, but suffice it to state categorical that the tour of the burnt makert which Governor Nyesom Wike, his host, Governor Aminu Tambuwal and many distinguished and responsible individuals and the collosal damage and destruction caused by the carnage, was beamed on national television networks for Nigerians to see.
We are rather disappointed by the fact that Chief Ogbonna Nwuke would opt to mortgage and diminish whatever modicum of the last vestiges of his hitherto respectable reputation on the altar of partisan propaganda by spewing such hogwash, in order to score cheap political points over a matter as weighty as a clear threat to the existence of a proud Rivers community. Pity.
As for the N400million released by the Rivers State Government for the Ekporo ressetlment programme, we are at a loss to understand how, according to Ogbonna Nwuke, Governor Wike could have “goofed” by releasing money to facilitate the speedy resettlement of Rivers people in Rivers State, who had been displaced from their traditional homestead for so many years.
For the records, Governor Nyesom Wike, on February 18, 2021, released the sum of N400 million for members of Ekporo community in Eleme Local Government to rebuild the Ekporo community and compensate families who were fatally affected by the inter-communal clashes eight years ago.
Governor Wike, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo at a meeting in Port Harcourt, with the Elders and Stakeholders of Eleme community said the money is for the development and resettlement of the Ekporo people who have suffered as refugees in other communities as their own community was rendered uninhabitable.
While stressing that it is the desire of the Nyesom Ezenwo Wike administration to ensure that communities remain peaceful and enjoy the infrastructural prosperity of the state, Dr. Danagogo urged indigenes of the state to continue to toe the line of peace as conflict and war will only brew devastation and under-development, even as he pledged that the Rivers Government will continue to foster inter-communal coexistence and peace in order to build a safe and secure state for all.
“We expect you to work with Government on beneficial plans to utilize this funds in terms of primary infrastructure and resettlement of the people back into their community”, he said.
Former Senator representing Rivers South-East, Senator Olaka Nwogu, who was present at the meeting thanked the Governor for his magnanimity, and for remembering to resettle the people of Ekporo back into their community.
“It is with profound gratitude we are here to thank His Excellency for what he has done. It is historic and important because it touches each and every one of us that it is in our time, we lost one of our most vibrant communities and also in our time that this community is being recovered. The entire people of Eleme are grateful”, he said.
Others who attended the meeting included the member representing Eleme Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Igwe Aforji, the former Commissioner of Culture, Mr. Marcus Nle-Ejii, a Former Eleme LGA Chairman Chief Ejoor N. Ejoor; the Paramount Ruler of Ekporo, His Royal Highness, Emere Samuel Obe in addition to other stake holders.
Infact Ogbonna Nwuke’s unhappiness and disenchantment with the commendable initiative to return and resettle the long suffering people of Ekporo, who have been living in exile for many years, is not only a glaring reflection of the wickedness and disdain which his faction of the APC has for Ekporo and by extension Eleme people, for obvious reasons, but is also a clear confirmation and indictment of the previous administration’s complicity in instigating the provocations and tacitly fuelling the aggravations which accelerated and escalated the crisis.
Rivers people will recall that the Ekporo crisis which sacked the indigenes and scattered them all over Rivers State, occured in the middle of the second term of the last administration and because the leaders of the state at that time were more embroiled in their war of attrition and crude obsession to pull down President Goodluck Jonathan and attack everyone and anything associated with him, they only paid lip service to the conflict, with a dubious show of tokenism by setting up a laughable committee comprising the Divisional Police Officers in the area, with representatives from the troubled communities, for such a serious matter over which lives had been lost, properties destroyed and people displaced.
Of course nothing tangible came out or was even meant to come out of the Committee and the great exodus was intensified. Ekporo community was deserted during Amaechi’s regime and the people who dispersed to other parts of the state are still in exile to date, until this laudable, courageous initiative and timely intervention by Governor Nyesom Wike to bring them back home.
This overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness at the imminent return of Ekporo people to their community, was succinctly captured during the meeting between the Rivers Government with Eleme stakeholders, by the King of Eleme, His Majesty King (Dr) Philip Osaro Obele, Oneh-eh Eleme XI, who affirmed that what Governor Wike has done is very historic because the people of Ekporo can be peacefully settle back into their homes after years of living as refugees.
“We lost one of our communities for over seven years and today we are bringing back that community. Members of the Ekporo community have been refugees in other areas despite the situation that there is no war now. What has happened today is very historic.
“I use this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to His Excellency Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike for this historic decision and also congratulate the Eleme political class that you have added another cap to your feathers as you did not allow one of your communities to be extinct for life”.
Indeed, what the gesture to resettle Ekporo people has shown is that no matter what he does outside, the protection, welfare, unity and harmonious coexistence of all Rivers people and communities, no matter how small, remains a top priority for Governor Nyesom Wike, in addition of course to the delivery of democracy dividends and the inauguration of amazing and fantastic legacy infrastructure projects to Rivers people, with the next round of commissioning set to commence on March 1st, 2021.
Ibim is Special Assistant (Media) to the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State.