Itsekiri will secede if … – Rita-Lori Ogbebor

Chief Rita Lori - Ogbebor

Angry reactions are trailing the nomination of delegates to the National Conference due to be inaugurated on March 17.
Yesterday, the Itsekiri in Delta State protested  their exclusion from the conference, threatening secession if the situation was not redressed.

Meanwhile, Delta State government called for calm, describing the exclusion as an anomaly that is being addressed.
“Our exclusion from the confab is the last straw and we are prepared to go out of Nigeria”,  an Itsekiri leader, Chief (Mrs) Rita  Lori-Ogbebor, said.

Another Itsekiri leader, Mr Alex Eyengbo, decried the exclusion of his people from the conference as further marginalisation of his ethnic group by the federal, state and local governments.

“We woke up yesterday, the 7th of March, 2014 to find that no Itsekiri name was among the delegates attending the confab. This means the interest of the Itsekiri man or woman is not important in the scheme of this country, “ Lori-Ogbebor said. Iwere Development Association (IDA), umbrella body for the Itsekiri, gave the federal, Delta and Edo State governments as well as South-south leaders 48 hours, from yesterday, to reverse “the monumental injustice” done to the Itsekiri. President, Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC), Mr David Tonwe, echoed his people’s sentiment.

She went on: “We are not surprised because this shameless subjugation and marginalization of the Itsekiri people have been with us for many years due to extreme jealousy.

“The Itsekiri nation has been in existence for over 700 years. Our Chief Dore Numa representing the Olu of Warri was one of those who signed the amalgamation treaty in 1914.
“If the Itsekiri nation was recognized as a nation in 1914, how come that the Itsekiri cannot have a say today in the structural review of this country that will bring us peace. Let nobody be deceived. Whether you like it or not, Itsekiri, as a nation, contributes more than any nation to our revenue-in oil and gas.

“The Itsekiris are pained. We have endured this marginalization and subjugation for too long. We also want to note that it is only the Itsekiris that can choose their representatives. It is our right and no one can take it from us. The people around us have sworn to make our life miserable. They have taken our lands. Our exclusion from the confab is the last straw and we are prepared to go out of Nigeria”.

Eyengho, spokesman of the Itsekiri Consultative Forum, ICF, said the non inclusion of Itsekiri in the list of delegates for the National Conference was a further marginalization of the ethnic group by the federal, state and local governments.
Eyengho said, “I have looked at all the categories for the appointing of delegates, whether traditional rulers, professionals, ex military officers, etc, and I do not see the yardstick why no Itsekiri person was picked.

”The question many are asking is if no competent Itsekiri man and woman was found in all the categories to be at the conference. We are shocked that the Olu of Warri, who is a first class monarch in this country was not found to be qualified”.
A communiqué released after an emergency meeting of  IDU, yesterday, and signed by its President, Comrade Omolubi Newuwumi and Comrade Agbateyiniro Wehinmi, Secretary respectively, said they rejected  the list of delegates released for the proposed conference.

It condemned the situation where other ethnic nationalities were qualified to have 20 slots in the  conference but the Itsekiri with its avalanche of natural, human and capital endowments was not qualified to have a single delegate  from the Federal Government, Delta State or Edo.

David Tonwe said the exclusion of the Itsekiri from the National Conference  was the manifestation of index of hatred and oppression against the Itsekiri as now exhibited by the Federal and Delta State Governments even as the National President, Itsekiri Development Congress (IDC), Mr. Emma Okotie-Eboh, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to revisit the list of the delegates for the National Conference with a view to including the Itsekiri, saying it was regrettable that none of their kinsmen made the list.