■ Godspower Gbenekama, Ag Scribe, Gbaramatu Traditional Council
Chief Godspower Gbenekama is the spokesperson of the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West LGA of Delta which is regarded as the most dreaded community along the Delta creek. He’s the Acting Secretary, Gbaramatu Traditional Council. In this interview with Ben Dunno, Warri, he bares his mind on a lot of issues concerning the deployment of troops to the region on the military expedition dubbed Operation Crocodile smile by the Federal Government, other issues that border on how to resolve the Niger-Delta crisis and, the commitment of stakeholders to ensure peace returns to the troubled region.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu in Kenya threatened that the Federal Government would not hesitate to treat Niger-Delta militants like Boko Haram insurgents, if they refuse to embrace dialogue. What’s your reaction to this?
Threats? They’re not new to us, but it’s really unfortunate that it’s coming from the presidency because, while people are ruminating on how we can resolve the issue and others, the presidency which we expected should have keyed in to our resolve to dialogue is issuing threats. It doesn’t speak well of the ruling class in this country. They should know that it’s the people that voted them into office, they should work with the people rather than issuing threats here and there. We have been trying our little best to see how we can bring calm to the region and as leaders, kings and people, vandalism has subsided a bit, so why threaten us at this time? I think they should withdraw threats and allow dialogue to begin. There has never been any dialogue and another thing is that the presidency is yet to set up anything and Niger Delta people are struggling even in the face of being labeled sell-outs. We have been trying to organize a team to discuss with the Federal Government and the young men are now listening to us.
If they have a hidden agenda for the Niger Delta, they should just execute it and not use military as a pretext to deal with the people, that is my take.
Just recently, we saw heavy movement of military personnel and hardware into strategic locations in the state following the launching of Operation Crocodile Smile by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai in Sapele. What do you make of this massive military presence?
Well, the military has always been in the Niger Delta especially in our area Gbaramatu. The Army has always been there, the Navy has been there, the JTF has been there. I think they have been able to maintain law and order in the region enough for the Federal Government to deploy other troops outside the JTF, outside Operation Delta State and called the team Crocodile Smile or Crocodile Cry or whatever, what’s all these? I think the Federal Government should know that we belong to this nation and we have resolved to remain in this nation.
All these formation of “crocodile tears” doesn’t help. The presence of the military in our region is enough threat to people, to run, not to talk of going for operation or whatever. The presidency should rescind its decision to deploy troops to our communities. I understand they are in Koko in Warri where there are criminals everywhere. They almost kidnapped me in Warri, took my car, kidnapped my wife but has Warri been militarized? During the day and at night in Warri, the roads are free and the police are not doing anything. Soldiers are not doing anything too, because in Warri, kidnapping is still rife. I don’t know what they want; they should leave our people alone as they are resolved to talk. Talking is better than war because, after bombarding everywhere, they will still look for a way to talk. They have bombarded Boko Haram for how many years and they are now inviting them for a round table discussion. If there was an opportunity for a round table, why didn’t they explore that opportunity initially instead of bombarding Boko Haram? Deployment of military hardware and personnel will not do anyone any good, it’s only killing our people, making our environment unsafe and stoking distrust in the government of the day so they should look for a better way to manage the situation.
There appears to be division in the region among the stakeholders over dialogue with the Federal Government. Notable was what transpired in the house of Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark, where he disowned some groups which went to Abuja to seek audience with the Minister of State for Petroleum. How prepared are Niger-Delta people to engage the government in a dialogue?
For the past five or six months, various groups in the Niger Delta have been coming together to ensure that our people agitating should lay down their arms, stop the bombing of oil installations and till date, we are still resolute about that and that’s why there is a cessation of bombing.
For instance, myself with other people have been meeting others and we met with the Minister of Petroleum in Asaba and in Warri. During some of these meetings, I heard some people went to Abuja and it’s a normal thing that has been happening, nothing serious. There was just a misunderstanding and it’s being settled. We don’t have factions, we just have a team and the team is pan-Niger Delta and comprises royal fathers, Niger Delta opinion leaders, youths and militants, so there are no factions. If there were factions yesterday, I’m saying today there are no factions. It was just a misunderstanding between brothers, royal fathers and opinion leaders and it has been resolved, because the royal fathers, with all sincerity have been meeting with the Minister of Niger Delta. This is nothing new, and Chief E.K. Clark is an Ijaw and Niger Delta leader in his own right. Maybe there was a small misunderstanding and I believe that has been resolved.
Nobody should capitalize on that and if some people are still aggrieved about what happened at Chief E.K. Clark’s house, I am appealing to them to calm down so that we can be of the same consciousness and as I speak, the issue is being resolved and the royal fathers will always be on board because without them we cannot move forward.
Chief E.K. Clark who is the convener of the meeting at PTI is on board, because we also need leaders, everybody is on board, the youths are on board, the agitators have come out openly to endorse the royal fathers and Chief E.K. Clark, so there is no division whatsoever. Even husband and wife misunderstand themselves, does it mean the marriage has been destroyed? No. As far as I’m concerned, what happened at Chief E.K. Clark’s house was due to misunderstanding and it has been settled. The people are coming together with one voice in the pan-Niger Delta dialogue team.
Let’s also look at the militants. We now have different groups springing up everyday and everywhere seeking relevance. How ready are these militant groups to embrace the pan-Niger Delta dialogue effort?
Let me specifically address the issue of MEND and the desperation of some of its members to be part of the negotiating team. The man that spoke at Chief E.K Clark’s house introducing himself as the secretary of Aaron team II and claiming to be secretary to the delegation to the proposed dialogue with the Federal Government must be a clown. Can you imagine the man actually suggesting that the committee should comprise six people including himself and two others he mentioned? What this means is; after nominating Chief E.K Clark as leader, himself as secretary and the two others he mentioned, the entire Niger-Delta region has just two slots to fill and that to me, does not make any sense. It’s too parochial. I don’t want to comment too much on MEND, if MEND wants to be part of the team, they should allow the leaders to select those to be in the dialogue team.
In fact, right now, we are not carrying members of the militant groups along as members of the dialogue team. The Avengers are not part of the team, the Adaka Boro Avengers are not also. It’s an agitation of the Niger Delta unless people want to make it personal, so no militant groups should dictate by saying we’re nominating the secretary and other components of Niger Delta should nominate two other people. I don’t think that’s the way to go. MEND should subject itself to traditional rulers and if leaders want to pick one among them, fine. This is not a militant negotiation dialogue, or team.
It’s a team of Niger Delta people and Niger Delta people have leaders and kings who will nominate people to represent them to dialogue with the Federal Government which they are already doing. Those who want to key in should please key in, if you think the team does not capture your interests, bring your interests on board, nobody is indispensable. The statement by MEND shows that the delegate they sent was arrogating too much authority to himself, else they should know that they are Niger Deltans, they should not make statements that will annoy other people. Those who come to equity must come with clean hands, so that Niger Deltans will look at their demands and incorporate them into the agenda.
Let’s come back home now. An Ijaw group just alleged that the Iteskiri are fanning the embers of war over the land dispute between Gbaramatu and Itsekiri along the Delta coastal area. What do you say about this?
My take is that all those shouting here and there had their own agenda. I can’t say specifically if what we are seeing is Itsekiri agenda or the interest of a very few who are out to stoke trouble between Ijaws and Itsekiris. For some people to come out to say we own Gbaramatu land, we own this and that and that Gbaramatu people should stop paying tenement to them since 1999 is shameful. It’s the worst lie from the pit of hell. Who paid tenement to them in 1998, 1980, 1970, 1975, 1966, 1963? Who paid tenement to Itsekiris in Gbaramatu? Nobody! I think that statement is enough to annoy every right thinking Ijaw man and Gbaramatu man especially, it’s creating more insecurity in the area. I think these claims need careful examination. Are they promoting Itsekiri agenda or personal agenda? If it’s Itsekiri agenda, it is
too bad, because we don’t want to go back to those days in 1999 when we were dealing with each other. It’s bad and unfortunate but if it’s a personal agenda, Itsekiri leaders should call them to order, if they don’t, it means it’s an Itsekiri nation agenda which is very bad.
We are not slaves to anybody, we are not customary tenants to anybody. I was born in 1963 and I have lived my life and schooled in Itsekiri environment, in Ogidegbe and as I was schooling, I never paid any tenement. I never saw anybody pay any tenement to an Itsekiri man as a young man and I became a chief in 1986. Since 1986 till now, it’s 30 years I have been in Gbaramatu Council and I have not seen any Itsekiri man coming to take 50 kobo from Gbaramatu people least of all for anybody to say Gbaramatu people pay tenement to them since 1999. It’s shameful. When will all these lies stop? They have tried the court and failed and now they are resorting to this cheap blackmail. The Federal Government should know that the Ijaw in Gbaramatu are indigenes of Gbaramatu, we don’t live in anybody’s land. In fact, there are documents by Chief Dore Numa, a paramount ruler of Itsekiri Kingdom which suggests that Ugborodo people came to meet Ijaw people, that they are the owners of the Escravos land and there are documents that prove the Ijaws have lived around Benin River before the Itsekiri people came to live there.
Let’s forget about that, what are the Itsekiri up to? They have some spurious judgment from some customary courts giving them partial ownership of some small camps in Gbaramatu and Gbaramatu people have challenged them at the Court of Appeal and won. As I speak, it’s Itsekiri people that are appealing. Let me tell you, my father was among people that cleared Madagho opposite Chevron Tank Farm because there was need for them to go to court. Itsekiri people from Ogidegben and other adjourning communities had to come to court in Madagho. The Ijaw people from Kpokpo down to Kokodiagbene need to come to court for their cases, so the Itsekiris and Ijaws came together and said let’s have a place where we can all gather without traveling a long distance and they came together and cleared the portion now called Madagho. My father participated in the clearing of Madagho.
Unfortunately for the Ijaw people of Gbaramatu, they were not into giving out children in marriage even though they’re adults and they don’t mind. The Ijaw man’s private part was regarded as gold and they don’t expose themselves, so they did not embrace Westerners when they came to take people for training in UK who wanted to marry them and that’s how the Itsekiri people embraced education and not because we felt we are autonomous and our livelihood is good for us and there was no need to go and borrow somebody’s culture but the Itsekiris went and
borrowed, that is why you have a cross in their crown. There is nothing like a cross in our culture. The cross was borrowed from Europe, so they borrowed European culture, we did not borrow and we shall remain Ijaw people.
For us, we didn’t have any roles to play in court because we couldn’t interpret. The court clerk was an Itsekiri man, the president,an Itsekiri man too. So, they built houses round the courts and they started dominating Madagho and that was how the place became an Itsekiri enclave. We have not laid claims to those places, we co-opened up Madagho and because of live and let live, we have left all those places and if they are claiming it we will also say Madagho is Ijaw land. They should stop all this rubbish they are doing and face facts. We want to live with our brothers in peace, if they so desire, but if they don’t, so be it.
They have the military might, they have everything but God will stand for us and also I want to say the military is not doing well, we don’t have one paramount ruler in Warri South-West.
I have my king from Gbaramatu. Anybody can pay homage to any ruler, I don’t care. You should not think the homage you paid to the Itsekiri king should suffice for all, it doesn’t. If the military wants to address us, they should address us. Actually we have not been briefed on military invasion, we don’t know what they want to do. If they have briefed their friends, I think they have an agenda and if their agenda is good, for us to be on the same page, we were supposed to be briefed, so that we can tell the military our part of the story.