04042021 - Tension as gunmen kill Miyetti Allah leaders in Nassarawa

Chief Joe Omene is the President
General of Urhobo
Progress Union, UPU, the socio-cultural
umbrella body of
the Urhobos at home and in
Diaspora. In this interview,
Omene speaks on issues affecting
the Urhobo nation.
Excerpts:
By Simon Adewale
The economy seems to
be biting hard in Delta
State. What do you have to
say?
Let me start by saying that
no one, no matter how rich or
how highly connected, can
destroy the Urhobo nation.
However, there are people
who are hell bent on destroying
Delta Central Senatorial
District which is the domain
of the Urhobo people in the
state. Some of them are even
bent on ruling the UPU by
proxy. They even set a factional
UPU Exco and made a selfconfessed
Ijaw man their President,
but they forgot that no
one can take over the leadership
of UPU by force.
Are you in a position to
mention the people, and
how they are bent on destroying
the Urhobo nation?
The state governor is the
major person giving the
Urhobo nation a big challenge
and there are others
who are Urhobo people. They
have promoted so much injustice
against the Urhobos in
the governmental structure
and administrative mechanism
in the state. For instance,
take a look at the creation of
three more universities in the
state out of which they took
two to Delta North and one
to Delta South, and left Delta
Central with none, not even a
campus of any of the three
was giving to the Urhobo.
Meanwhile, they have balkanized
the only university in
Delta Central as the university
campuses were taken to
Delta South and Delta North.
Two major faculties, Engineering
and Law, went to Delta
South while other major
faculties were taken to Delta
SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 4, 2021, PAGE 33
OSHIOMHOLE AT 69: Charismatic figure who speaks
masses’ language — Mayaki
By Gabriel Olawale
An All Progressives Con
gress, APC chieftain in
Edo State, Prince John Mayaki
has described the former
National Chairman of APC
and two-term Governor of
Edo State, Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole as a terrific mobilizer
and a charismatic figure,
who speaks the language
of the masses
Showering encomium on
his 69th birthday, Mayaki
hailed Oshiomhole as people’s
Comrade whose fearlessness
and uncompromising
devotion to social justice
seared the soul of corrupt administrators
and endeared
him to millions across the
globe.
“Born on this day, the 4th of
April, in 1952 at Iyamho, a
town in Etsako West Local
Government Area in Edo
North, Adams Oshiomhole
rose from a humble background,
proverbially picking
himself up by the bootstraps,
defying difficult odds and exceeding
all expectations to
become a celebrated national
icon, the defender of the
downtrodden, and a hero of
democracy.
“In ‘Adamant Adams’ as
Adams Oshiomhole was
called in press reports that
praised his stubborn refusal
to compromise on the demands
of Nigerian workers
across the country, the
Obasanjo-administration
found more than its match as
They created universities, none
for Urhobo – Omene, UPU leader
•Chief Omene
South, leaving no major faculty
with Delta Central. This
is the most recent injustice
they did against the Urhobos.
What is your comment on
the activities of killer-herdsmen
across many parts of the
country?
I will not talk about another
killer-herdsmen . We have
lost count of people who have
died from starvation, joblessness,
poor health care in Urhobo
land. Our youths now have
‘keke’ and motorcycle commercial
driving as their only
means of livelihood. Just
check around the state, in
spite of the enormous income
and monthly federal allocations
coming into the state you
will not find any industry or
any job creation activity anywhere.
There is completely no
presence of any state government
activity in Delta Central,
which is Urhobo nation. The
situation here is worse than
killer-herdsmen.
Let me say here that some
other PDP governors have
built roads and industries but
in Delta, Okowa has built
none. Aside roads and bridges
constructed by NDDC, we
have neither roads nor bridges
in Delta Central.
How will you comment on
the Asaba Airport that has
been conceded?
First of all, the former government
of Chief James Ibori
planned to build and complete
that airport at the cost
of N6b. That of the former
governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan,
also planned to build
the Oshiomhole-led NLC
went toe-to-toe with the government
on several crucial
grounds.
Mayaki maintained that
his impressive record informed
the call by his people
to lead Edo State in 2007, “he
contested and won the Edo
State Governorship election
on the platform of the Action
Congress of Nigeria. But his
victory would be delayed and
he returned to the trenches
Old students appeal for bus for
St. Kevin's College
St. Kevin's College Old
Students Association,
Kokori, Ethiope East Local
Government Area has made
appealed for the purchase of
a 33-seatter bus for their alma
mater.
The appeal was contained
in the keynote address of the
national president of the association,
Mr. Edafeghwara
Ogbevire Joseph during the
fund-raising ceremony for the
bus at St. Kevin' s College. He
appealed that all donations
should be on or before November
2021.
The Principal of the college,
Rev. Fr. Peter Nzekenze
Konsunye, in his
speech,thanked the association
for responding to his
appeal,explaining that the
appeal was necessitated by
the need to enhance vehicular
movement of the students.
and complete it at the cost of
N12b. But Okowa budgeted
and completed it at N30b. So
how come the same government
said it conceded it to a
private company at N3b, out
of which it claimed it has received
N1b? Is that a good
business? Can a good business
man invest N30b in a
project and concede the same
project for N1b, N2b or N3b?
From the way you have
described the governor, how
come that you people voted
him in as governor for first
and second tenures?
The Peoples Democratic
Party has seized power in
Delta State for over two decades
now. He is the PDP candidate
in both elections. All
the same, at the governorship
primary in 2015, Engr. Victor
Ochei, who was a former
Speaker, almost defeated
Okowa if the Urhobos had
not come to his assistance.
Urhobo left our own son,
David Edevwie, and worked
for Okowa. He got his winning
votes, both at the primary
and at the general elections,
from Urhobo, particularly
from Sapele, Okpe and
Ethiope West Local Government
Areas. By so doing we
all thought he would develop
the Urhobo nation but he
turned around, after winning
his first tenure, and ensured
that we get no state projects
and, now, his party fielded
him for second tenure and he
is dealing more blows on us.
How is UPU presently?
We are doing our best now.
Some people wanted to destroy
UPU but God did not
accept that. When I came into
office as President General,
UPU had 26 branches worldwide,
but now we have up to
78 branches. If there had been
no interference with UPU, by
now we would have been able
to summon our own politicians
for progress meetings
with them. I will call on the
youths to think of what will
happen to the Urhobos in
2023, and not be fighting
over political party divides.
with the people who freely
gave him their mandate.
“The PDP grabbed a victory
they never earned until the
courts ordered a reversal a
year later and Oshiomhole
was finally propelled to Osadebey
Avenue. In the history
of Edo State politics, perhaps
nothing compared to the organic
and state-wide outpour
of joy, frenzy and celebrations
that trailed the restoration
of Oshiomhole’s
mandate”.
Rev Konsunye who is also
the Catholic priest of St John
Church, Kokori disclosed
that the college was hiring
buses for students’ vehicular
movement.
The chairman of the
School Management Board,
Mr Joseph Umude, charged
old students and parents of
the students to contribute to
the project as he commended
the school’s principal for
taking the school to greater
heights.
The National President of
the association, Col Dr Wilson
Ijide(rtd) narrated how
the first bus was donated to
the school by then military
governor of the defunct Bendel
State, late Brigadier -
General Samuel Ogbemudia,
owing to the brilliant
sports performance of a student,
Kosin John Edafe, in
1972