18022020

28 —Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, , 2020
VOL. 1: NO. 225 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
IJAW LEADERS TO BUHARI:
Stop NIMASA from relocating Maritime
University, Okerenkoko floating dock
DELTA... THE BIG
HEART OF THE NATION
WARRI — IJAW leaders
in Delta State have
appealed to President
Muhammadu Buhari to
intervene and halt the
Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety
Agency, NIMASA, from
removing the Floating Dock,
designed and custom-built for
the Nigerian Maritime
University, NMU,
Okerenkoko, Delta State, to
an unknown place for
unacceptable reason.
Former Minister of Police
Affairs, Alaowei
Broderick Bozimo, who
spoke for Ijaw leaders,
told NDV in an interview:
“We appeal to the
President to save the soul
of the university, for floating
dock is the hub of the
Maritime University and the
Federal Government
approved it for the purpose.”
EXCERPTS:
Ijaw royal fathers,
chiefs,leaders and youths
from all walks of life met
recently, what were the crucial
decisions?
Several meetings of the
Forum were held in Warri
between 2018 and 2019. The
most nagging issue was the
rumoured relocation of the Dry
Dock. It was decided that visits
be made to the Delta State
Government and the
Presidency to register our
concern that the dock should
remain at the Maritime
University as planned. The
Forum similarly protested to
the Delta State Government.
Forum is aware that the Delta
State Government is doing its
best to convince NIMASA that
relocation is ill- advised. Our
application since 2018 to visit
the Presidency to present the
Forum's position is yet to
receive attention. We will
continue to seek a meeting
with Mr. President. Other
matters included modular
refineries to arrest the
indiscriminate pollution of the
Alaowei Broderick Bozimo
environment as well as
relocation of oil and gas
prospecting multinationals to
be present at their areas of
CROSS RIVER…
THE PEOPLE’S PARADISE
operation to boost youth
employment.
They are very concerned
about the unconfirmed
relocation of the Floating
Dock from the Nigerian
Maritime University,
Okerenkoko, why and did
Ijaw leaders confirm such
plan from NIMASA
authorities?
NIMASA's recent publication
on the relocation confirmed
Forum's fears that indeed, the
Maritime University could lose
its main asset and thereby
further impoverish the region.
Ijaw people want President
Buhari to prevail on Shell to
return to Warri, although it was
not him that asked Shell to
leave Warri in the first
instance. However, the Pan-
Niger-Delta Forum, PANDEF,
our umbrella organisation,
was able to persuade the
proactive Vice- President to
order their relocation. That
order remains ignored by the
multinationals. We believe that
the economic outlook will
certainly improve with such
relocation.
What stops Ijaw leaders
from taking the case of the
abandoned Gbaregolor-
Ogulagha roads and others to
the NDDC management
instead of calling on
President Buhari to direct
them?
It is a notorious fact that in
many years of its existence,
NDDC remains a toddler. The
Presidency has quite rightly
continued to intervene in its
affairs. We believe that nothing
short of a presidential order or
directive can bring about the
radical intervention on these
crucial infrastructure that will
lift us from the sorry state we
find ourselves.
Why did Ijaw not table the
demands you are making
now under former President
Goodluck Jonathan and if
you did, why were they not
handled then?
The Ijaws did not spare our
son, President Jonathan. At
different fora, ljaws and
indeed, Niger-Deltans, made
demands. He recognised he
had many children not only
Niger- Deltans. He answered
some of our demands
significant amongst which was
Nigeria Maritime University
Okerenkoko and the EPZ at
Ogidigben located in Itsekiri
territory. These projects are
crying for attention
particularly the Dry dock, the
soul of the Maritime
University now threatened
with relocation. We appeal to
Mr. President to save the soul
of the university.
Cross River community where trade by barter still thrives
By Emmanuel Una
IKOT EDEM: THE Esuk
Mba market in Akpabuyo
Local Government Area of Cross
River State is still practising
trade by barter.
The market, which is at Ikot
Edem Odo, a remote Efik
community, about 30 kilometres
east of Calabar, the state capital,
starts from 7am and ends at
noon every Saturday to allow
the villagers go to farm. Items
for exchange are mainly food
stuff such as cassava,
periwinkle, palm oil, cocoyam,
plantain, crayfish, smoked fish,
vegetables, salt and pepper.
“Most of the people you see
here are farmers so they have
to come here early and
exchange whatever they have
with what they need before
heading to their farms. The
items for exchange are loaded
in containers and placed on the
bare floor while those seeking
to barter their own items bring
theirs for the owner to select
from,” said an elderly woman,
Deacon Makamba Edem Odo,
who claimed to be the great
granddaughter of the founder
of the market.
How it started
According to her, “there was a
time the nearest market was in
Calabar and considering the
distance, people who had some
items they could part with simply
went round the village
announcing what they had and
what they needed and anyone
who needed what was being
advertised would call on the
announcer to come forth with the
product and strike a bargain and
exchanged the items.”
She said gradually, people
started converging at the junction
and anyone who had some items
he or she could exchange will
come with such items and others
too will come with theirs and they
exchanged. “You can see the
market is a T-junction. People
converged there at dawn and
exchanged what they had and
gradually, the market evolved to
a Saturday morning market,” she
added.
One of the
women seen
trading cassava
for crayfish, who
simply gave her
name as Ubong
said: “It is only
recently that
people started
buying items like
palm oil,
vegetables and
even at that, the
prices are so low that people
prefer exchange to selling.” The
only government presence in
the market are the toll collectors
who tie a rope across the major
entrance to the market.
Mr. Oliver Orok, the Cross
River Commissioner for Social
Welfare said: “The market has
been in existence long before I
was born and so long as it is
helping the people, so be it.”
•Market in full swing
Delta
school
where
students
learn on
bare floor
—PAGE 29