Can The Aniomas Take Delta State?
By
It is not quite easy to identify the exact period that the Anioma people woke up from slumber.. Perhaps it may be safe to say that the James Ibori government in Delta State has been the major catalyst to the Anioma realization that their lot could have been far better. The past few months have witnessed an upsurge of political and ethnic passion never imagined among the rank and file of the Aniomas people. And then, the recent registration of new political parties has thrown the political field wide open for alignments and re-alignments that may in the main, determine the shape of things to come.
The Aniomas have not exactly been docile in the power politics of Delta State. Perhaps the most prominent of Aniomas' sons to have attempted the battle for
Delta government house was Prof. Eric Opia. That was a contest, which most Anioma people would swear Opia won. Pitched against the Ibru dynasty, it was no less
a mean fight. Even though Felix Ibru was announced winner and he went ahead to rule the state, many Anioma sons believed that victory to be robbery. The Anioma
position on the events of 1991 may be true or false. But what is perhaps incontrovertible is the fact that in 12 years of existence as a state, the Urhobos have
ruled Delta State for eight years, while the military ruled for four years. It is also true that in the eight years that the Urhobos have held sway; the Anioma
people have been contented with being deputy governors. It is also true that in those years, the people of the Delta South senatorial district, which comprises
the Ijaws, Itsekiris, and the Isokos, otherwise known as the three Is have never smelt the position of deputy-governor.
The New Reality
"The caustic truth as can be seen hereunder is that the Anioma people as far as the Ibori government is concerned, are voiceless, and submissive even when they
are drenched in shame; even when their giants are made to look like dwarfs and even when their most brilliant bureaucrats, technocrats and politicians are
treated as inconsequential. A painful realization of this awful neglect and degradation of Anioma people buttressed by the facts hereunder, inspired my decision
to join ONU-ANIOMA, a movement to empower the Anioma nation to save them from this encroaching political bondage and above all, to ensure justice in Delta
State". That was Barrister Fred Ajudua's position in an advertorial in a national newspaper recently.
In a sense, Ajudua's treatise in the said advertorial is an apt portrait of the new reality within and without the Anioma nation. It is a sudden realization
that in spite of years of seeming co-operation with the Urhobos, the Aniomas have remained in the backwaters. Having shown that top political appointments have
been made the exclusive preserve of the Urhobos, Ajudua goes on to analyse the Senatorial allocation of ministries in Ibori's government, where Urhobos man the
Ministries of Finance, Education, Attorney General and Justice, Environment, Power and Energy and Information.
"It is evident here that the strategic importance of the ministries in Delta Central Senatorial District and the totality of their budgetary allocation by far
outweigh the total budget of Delta North and South Senatorial Districts combined. Apart from these top political appointments, most of the chairmen and board
members of state Agencies and Parastatals as well as administrative heads of the agencies are Urhobos. Take a good example of this Urhobo domination and
oppression of the rest of the Delta people.
Delta State has 25 local government with 132 Board appointments. The governor, James Ibori, hails from Ethiope West local government in Delta Central
Senatorial District. This local government (Ethiope West) produces 50 out of the 132 Board appointments of the entire state; leaving the remaining 24 local
governments to share the remaining 82 appointments. Little wonder then that Aniocha North has one slot and Aniocha South two. Yet these two local government
areas voted massively for Chief James Ibori"
The catalogue of marginalization is unending; from appointments to leadership positions in state institutions of higher learning, to project allocation and
implementation. Finally, Ajudua stated in explicit language, the fear that the Ibori administration is on a systematic mission to make Warri the unofficial
capital of Delta State; what with the disproportionate allocation and implementation of government projects in the two towns.
Perhaps, one of the most potent reasons that has influenced the new thinking in Anioma is the fact that they are increasingly being portrayed as people who want
to reap where they have not sown. The story is that the Aniomas do not have oil, and should be contented with what comes to them. But Prince Ikechukwu Iyeke
disagrees. In an article published on the Internet, titled OIL POLITICS, he said that crude oil was first discovered in different marginal fields in Ndokwa area
in 1962 and 1964 in Utorogu (collecting points on the pathway of the bed coming from upland Ika axis through to Ndokwa). That most of the wells that supply
Utorogu in the 80's are horizontally drilled from several wells in Isoko and Anioma territories.
"According to Shell British Petroleum archives, oil production started in 1968 with Shell holding 20 per cent and NNPC 80 per cet. This was during the period of
the Nigerian civil war, when angry Anioma youths killed scores of British oilmen, but set free118 Italians. After the war, British Petroleum, the parent of
Shell vowed not to work in Anioma territory because of the aggression of the people. While the rig is in Anioma land, the crude is piped through NNPC 20 mile
30-inch pipeline to Warri, where it enters the 36-inch pipeline to Lagos. The main line has a spur to the Oben Gas plant, which supplies gas through a 124 mile
24 inch, pipeline to Ajaokuta Steel Company. The main line is then extended to Escravos by construction of a section between Warri and Odidi. Otorogu holds
total reserves of 1.85 tcf in 50 reservoirs", Iyeke wrote. He argues that the generating plant of the oil in the Niger Delta is Anioma, which according to him,
is the home of the Kenogene (the rock that produces the crude oil).
There is a view however, that the list of Anioma grievances is inexhaustible. But the expose above, encapsulates the totality of their misgivings. Perhaps it is
the pain of their neglect that has given strength to their resolve to make a go at the state's plum job. Can they?
The Emerging Permutations
The new reality has indeed triggered the belief among the Anioma people that with the right political permutations, the state's number one position could be
theirs for the taking. The Anioma people have always been the political brides in Delta State. What this means in simple political deduction is that it would
have been difficult for any of the other Senatorial districts to win an election in Delta sState without the active support and votes of the Anioma people.
Perhaps, it is in realization of this, that the Urhobos have always turned to the Anioma to pick a running mate.
Political observers are of the view that all the Anioma people need to do is to reach out to the three Is, that is the Ijaws, Isokos and the Itsekiris in the
Delta South. If that happens, the Aniomas can push for at least 80 per cent of votes cast in their area and hope that the Urhobo candidates split votes among
themselves. In the Urhobo area, the Anioma people can hope for at most 20 per cent of votes cast. Depending on how well they juggle their political cards, the
Anioma people can hope for between 20 and 30 per cent of votes cast in the Delta South Senatorial district.
The Players
Even though the world of political contest is fluid, the political configuration of the present contenders to Ibori's seat, tilt in the positive towards the
Anioma people. Why? Of the five known aspirants to the gubernatorial seat, three are of the Urhobo stock; one is from Itsekiri while the other is Anioma. Given
that more aspirants may emerge before the curtain is drawn, for now it may not be out of place to work with what is on ground. What is however striking is the
calibre of people from the Urhobo clan that have come out to slug it with Ibori. This point is of particular importance when it is realized that the emerging
political reality vis-…-vis voting pattern will definitely strike a balance between individual popularity and party strength. Thus, victory may not necessarily
be the effect of party acceptance above unique individual selling point.
Chief Ogboru, an Urhobo, from all indications may contest the gubernatorial elections on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy AD. Ogboru is quite popular
among the Urhobos, but what is not immediately decipherable is the extent to which that popularity could be translated to electoral strength. His party, the AD
is not particularly strong in Delta State and it is doubtful if Ogboru's popularity can galvanise the AD, such that the AD's non-popularity may become a
non-issue.
Kenneth Gbagi, another Urhobo, is of the same party with the incumbent governor, but is likely to pitch his tent with any of the new parties. Quite outspoken of
his disdain for the governor, Gbagi's ambition may not however find expression within the PDP. Having withdrawn from the last primaries, which Ibori won, it is
doubtful if Gbagi will want to stay for a repeat within the same party. Like Ogboru, he will most certainly struggle for or share the Urhobo votes. What is not
however certain is the party on which he intends to contest.
Mrs Agbajoh is perhaps the only Itsekiri aspirant to the gubernatorial seat. A member of the House of Representatives in the third republic, it is believed that
Agbajoh may be positioning herself to run as running mate to any credible candidate. Also mentioned, as being in the race is Chief Edewor. Edewor has been
silent on his ambition, maybe for strategic reasons, but what will definitely count against him in his permutations is that he is of the ANPP, with little or no
push yet in the state.
Prince Ned Nwoko is the only known serious aspirant so far who is of the Anioma extraction. Until his foray into politics, Nwoko was based in London where he
practiced law. Nwoko comes across as a crusader for a corruption-free Nigeria; a trait observers believe may work against him in a country where all is fair.
Nwoko is presently believed to be working subtly among his people on the need to put up a unifying front for the battle ahead.Perhaps it is on his shoulders
that the Anioma challenge can be realized. Perhaps not.
Nov 2002