Olorogun Moses Taiga, UPU President General.

By Zik Gbemre

Let me reiterate here that the PDP is not Urhobo tribe, and there is no agreement between the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) and other political parties in Nigeria. These few Urhobo PDP elites should know that the Urhobo nation, which is under the umbrella of UPU, is not under any political party. The whatever PDP agreement they have should not be used to judge the Urhobo nation. The only body that has the sole right to speak for, and on behalf of the Urhobo nation, is the leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union. Patrick Fovie, in his FM radio interview on a supposed agreement between the PDP and the Urhobos, is not binding on the Urhobo nation. Fovie is not one of the leaders of the UPU, therefore he cannot speak for, or make pronouncement on issues regarding the Urhobo nation. Prof. Amos Utuama is just a PDP member who has no leadership bearing on the UPU. He has no capacity to speak on the Urhobo interest. If Patrick Fovie and Amos Utuama entered into any agreement between them and any other ethnic group(s)/tribe(s), on rotational or zoning of governorship to a particular tribe, then that is strictly binding between them/their families and the PDP. This has nothing to do with, or connected in any way to the Urhobo nation under the UPU.

Ahead of elections at hand, these desperado Urhobos, seeking petty political relevance are going about contriving parallel leadership movements with our collective ancestral identity (URHOBO), in direct competition with the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), to front partisan support for office seekers.

Every election year, this clan of jobbers, without any collective bargaining and approval of the larger Urhobo nation, impulsively arrogate to themselves, the inciting garb of Urhobo Progressives Network, UPN, Urhobo National Youth Movement, UNYM, Urhobo with no proof of when and in which town-hall or village square Urhobo sat to so elect them to lead such impunity.

Aggravating the impunity, Urhobo born officeholder in the Governor Okowa led Delta government, Sunny Onuesoke has also been leading an Urhobo Nation for Okowa in the current campaigns ahead of the March governorship elections. What audacity?

In mockery of Urhobo and the apex UPU leadership, the PDP bell ringing UPN even addressed its out of favour racketeers – Chief Emma Okumagba, Chief Abel Oshevire and co as “Prominent Urhobo Sons & Daughters (“Oja tunu Urhobo, iprominete ri phovwe”), charging the rest of us to reelect Okowa for the sake of PDP rotational agreement and for transforming “several communities into modern cities” in one breath. How many of those communities they know in Urhobo, they never mentioned.

These fellows once held key elective and appointive political offices in Delta. They have forgotten, and also think we have too, that they never attracted any meaningful development for the common good of Urhobos in their time. Why should they expect us to take them serious when they have been pushed into oblivion by same PDP whose bell they want to ring louder that Urhobos currently in public offices.

When I look look around Isoko, Ijaw, Itsekiri and Anioma where incumbent Okowa hails from, I still see a lot of Okowa bell ringers, but none calling themselves Isoko Progressives Forum, Ijaw Nation United for Okowa or Anioma Progressives Network for Okowa. Rather, individuals among these our neighbors create their self-identified support groups to front their selfish political interests. Where are the names of the several communities in Urhobo land that are being transformed by Governor Okowa?

This impunity in Urhobo may not be new. We once had UPF and the rest, but it’s time UPU disciplined these desperadoes among us. That should not use the name of URHOBO for selfish partisan ventures. “Wetin sef?” Urhobo Ex-Militant, Urhobo Prominent Politicians, Urhobo Ex-Agitators, “who give una name.”

UPU leadership should take, do the needful, else they will be guilty of aiding and abetting this nonsense. Even the face of the current UPU Leadership is not having the courage to discipline these rebels, they must not lose sight of the fact that UPU, created from the sweat and credibility of our forbearers like the Great Mukoro Mowoe, Chief Salubi, Dr. Esiri and others, led by the spirits of our ancestors.

It is time for the leadership of the UPU to call these few self-styled PDP elites of Urhobo ethnicity to order. They should stop selling the birth rights of the Urhobo Ethnic Nationality for a plate of rice. UPU should not keep silent on this action of the few Urhobo tribe people, whom have obviously lost grips of reality. They should learn from the Amoris, Amiokus, Mageges. All these their frivolous names of UPN, UPF, Urhobo For Okowa, etc., should stop. Our neighbors, the Itsekiris, the Isokos and the Ijaws, are not involved in this sort of show of shame. None, have any group like what those in the Urhobo tribe are practically doing right now. Even the Ika Ibos, are not having such forums of Ika Ibos for Okowa or Aniomas For Okowa. The UPU leadership should call them to order.

There is a clear warning that our ancestors are watching and won’t spare any Urhobo son and daughter who sells out or denigrates the brotherhood for petty political greed. Like I mentioned above, the Amoris, Amiokus, Mageges were once prominent in so rubbishing the Urhobo and the UPU for selfish partisan interest in the past. Where are they today in the political arena, relegated to irrelevance.

Our ancestors will continue to catch up with anyone who delight in selling out Urhobo and bringing our common heritage to disrepute. It is high time they stop using the URHOBO name for all this nonsense.

Zik Gbemre.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)