'Warri is bigger than some countries' Afejuku
Interview By
Dr. Tony Afejuku, is the President-General of the Itsekiri Youths Vanguard.
WHAT is the philosophy behind the formation of the Itsekiri Youths Vanguard?
Let me begin by saying that it is essentially an intellectual movement, an intellectual organisation. We have some professionals who are
members. We all are committed to making Warri and Itsekiriland as a whole move forward, especially in this new dispensation. We are committed to the
political, economic and environmental emancipation of Itsekiriland. We are not interested in leadership position but we want to see how we can give
the right direction to those who want to man the affairs of Itsekiriland.
Giving the antecedent of youth activities in the Niger- Delta, one is a bit afraid to hear about the formation of
another youth group in that region again. How do you curtail the activities of the youths to make sure that they are peaceful?
To begin with, we, like I have just said, are an intellectual movement. We believe in peace but as you know too well, there really cannot be
peace without some crisis. But in our own case, we will try as much as possible to curtail any kind of violence. We want to give an intellectual
advice, an intellectual direction, but if we must, in trying to realise that, go out of our way to give a knock here and there. Of course, we will
not shy away from that but that essentially is not our concern. We actually are mainly concerned, if I must add, with some kind of intra-Itsekiri
cooperation and intra Itsekiri well being as it were, but that does not mean we will not look outside the Itsekiri community to do what we must do
to achieve peace with our neighbours but not at the expense of our essence as a people.
You will agree with me that MOSOP started this way initially and it
degenerated into another thing. Don’t you foresee a situation where the Itsekiri Youths Vanguard will go the way of MOSOP with all the crises the
group witnessed and which culminated in the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa and the eight others?
I can assure you that we will not create a monster that we cannot control. We have learnt a few things and our movement will not go that way.
The youths are mainly concerned with uplifting themselves, uplifting the Itsekiris, uplifting the Itsekiri nation intellectually, giving
intellectual direction to those who are going to man the affairs of Itsekiriland. We are no more going to accept lame duck chieftains who want to
feed fat on the people, the natural resources of the people and without giving anything back to the people. If we wanted to go the way of MOSOP,
certain things have been happening in Itsekiriland but the Itsekiris have been able to maintain some
kind of maturity.
Sir, when you talk and you emphasise Itsekiriland, Itsekiri nation and the rest, one begins to wonder what has gone
wrong with the recent cooperation between the Itsekiris and Ijaws and to the extent that they are issuing press releases on issues affecting the
Delta State?
Today, we have what we call the Nigerian state and even the Nigerian nation but we still cooperate with other countries from Africa and other
countries in other parts of the world. The Itsekiri people exist as a nation but that does not mean that we also do not try to also maintain some
other kinds of relationship with other groups within our region in the Niger-Delta and Delta State as a whole and even in the former Bendel State.
But having said that, in terms of the cooperation that you have mentioned, you see the calmness of the river does not mean that there is no
crocodile in it. So, I will just leave it at that. We don’t want what happened before to happen again. Those who are signing all these releases
and papers, yes fine, that is some good steps in the right direction but we must be alive to our responsibility and to see that never again, things
that happened before will not happen, never again.
Of recent the Itsekiri leaders were in Abuja demanding for the creation of Warri State out of the present Delta
State. What informed that demand?
I led that delegation to Abuja on the cause of a conference of ethnic minorities and we made that demand. From whichever angle you look at it,
and for whatever anybody may say, the Itsekiris are not getting the best out of Delta State as it is presently constituted. The Ogbejo imbroglio is
still very much there and you knew what the Delta State House of Assembly did in trying to manipulate things by way of making Ogbejo an Ijaw
settlement That did not go down well with us. The matter went to court and up to this very moment, no judgement has been given even though all the
evidences, the case has been heard, you know what happened. You also saw the release by Atake trying to ask the judge certain questions. You also
had the reply of the Attorney-General, something he didn’t need to do in the first place, insulting Atake. We have not got the best out of that.
Secondly, if I must add, it is to our great benefit if there is another state from Delta State, a Warri State. We have more to gain. The Itsekiris
believe that their destiny as a people is better realised... you know they have the right to self-determination, and they feel that the best thing
for us is to get a state of our own where we are going to take our political decisions, our political destiny in our own hands. As it is now, other
people are controlling that.
Would you say that Warri State is viable for now?
It is more than viable. The area to be known as Warri is bigger than some countries. In terms of size, we are enough and one thing we are good
at is education and we have that. We have our resources, and right from time immemorial, you know Itsekiris are civilised. Before the whites came,
we governed ourselves, we had been governing ourselves, we were a state of our own, so we cannot go too long in terms of being viable. I think we
are very, very, viable. We have everything, God has been very kind to us such that we are more than viable to go it alone.
Well, I would not know how you will react to this. There is this idea that while the Itsekiris are complaining of
being marginalised in Delta State, other communities there are saying that because the Itsekiri community parade intellectuals, they believe they
are superior and that is why they are not satisfied with whatever they have or whatever they get?