May God Not Allow Warri Township To Back To The Dark Days (OPINION)

Between 1908 and 1916, Chief Dore Numa, an Itsekiri British Colonial agent, leased Ogbe Ijoh and Agbassa lands to the British.

Now he made the leases secretly, and started collecting the rents for himself making him to be stupendously rich.

The Agbassa people only got to know 17 years later, and immediately they rushed to the courts.

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The courts ruled against the Agbassa people using larches and acquiescence, meaning they waisted too much time before coming to the courts as the court cannot undo a Government Policy for a whole 17 years. Infact the court lambasted them of being senile and stupid and not understanding the workings of the Government. This despite the fact that Agbassa people signed a Treaty with the same British in 1893.

The agitations, of Agbassa and Ogbe Ijoh people for these lands won by TECHNICALITY based Judgement, caused a lot of crisis in the old Warri Division.

The government, tired of the crisis and wanting to solve the problem took the bull by the horn.

1) In 1988, Government dissolved the Itsekiri Communal Trusts, and vested all the realties ( Properties) on whoever is the GOVERNOR of DELTA STATE, as intended by the land use act. With this done, all public lands in Warri Township, is now a property of the Delta State Government, while private and family lands belong to the individuals and family that own them.

2) In 1999, Government then further balkanized Warri Township into 4 Kingdoms…
2 for Urhobos, one for the Ijaws and one for the Itsekiris.

3) By 2002, Government decided to create 2 community development COUNCILS for the 2 distinct and autonomous Urhobo Kingdoms of Warri Township, so that each tribe will govern themselves and the era of political apartheid will be a thing of the past.

So between 1988 and 2002, government almost corrected the ills the British and Dore Numa created for our people.

But unfortunately an Itsekiri son by name, Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, became the GOVERNOR of DELTA STATE, in a most crafty manner. The election was even annulled and a rerun ordered.

Uduaghan wasted no time…..

1) He refused to fund the CDC and returned the Urhobos back to the LG Government system, and as today the political apartheid remains with no Urhobo man becoming the Chairman of that local government council, despite having 6 equal wards with the Itsekiris.

2) The crazy thing of them all is that in the last days of Uduaghan, ….an Itsekiri too was appointed by him as the Attorney General of Delta State state and Commissioner for Justice.

An Itsekiri too one Misan Ukubeyinje, was also the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban development.

These trio, conspired together, and used a GOVERNOR’S executive order to revoke the law abolishing the Itsekiri Communal land Trust

They then re-established it and vested the properties, hitherto belonging to the Delta State state Government on the Olu of Itsekiri and the Itsekiri people.
He quietly did this 2 weeks when he was to leave the office. In fact they made the law to even be retroactive by making it to come into effect on February of 2015, while they made the law on May 15, 2015.

But one thing baffles me….For good 9 years, the Itsekiris have been craftily quiet, not exposing this document to the public.

Do you know why??

Because they don’t want the document to be challenged in a court of law. But once it is after 10 YEARS, by DELTA STATE limitation act of 2006, any one who intends to challenge this law will be statute barred. The judge will not hear the case and dismiss it based on larches and acquiescence, and the cycle will continue.

Fellow Urhobos, but all hope is not lost,…we still have 6 months to challenge that law in court. That law cannot be revoked by the GOVERNOR alone, being a PARLIAMENTARY ENACTMENT, only the DELTA STATE House of Assembly can revoke and amend it….and the law in Itself is inferior to the land use act
…

But what do you think if the government and the Itsekiris now make the laws public next year and Urhobos go to court to challenge it??

So is it not clear now that if indeed by 2024 such a thing was kept in secrecy from Urhobos of Warri, and they almost succeeded, then the ones of 1908 , were actually kept secret from them??

I told you guys that the Itsekiris are crafty neigbours always trying to undermine the Urhobos. No matter what they are always ahead…..just see the mess Uduaghan has created for future Warri Township.

1) The Olu and the Itsekiris will be the owners of public lands, under Okere Urhobo KINGDOM, Agbarha Kingdom and OGBE IJOH Kingdoms, whereas government has gazetted kings for these areas EQUAL IN STATUS WITH THE OLU.

2) You can now see the reason why the Uduaghan never allowed the operation of the CDC.

3) You can now also see the reason why government is hesitant to demarcate who owns No I8 Okere road, in the last UPU billboard crisis
4) You can see why Tidi had the animal boldness to pull down that billboard, because he too took the Agbarha people to court not to build their palace in that area as the lands in those areas are Itsekiri trusts lands, in that document.

You see why I told the Urhobos of Warri from day one that the panacea to all this is to

Change the names of your AREA from Warri to Wado City…..the Itsekiris have used that name to steal your lands and political destiny.

Then insist that the GOVERNOR must return your CDC to you, so that you can control the resources of your area.
The more you resort to the Local Government council system instead of the CDC, the more you go back to Egypt.

So as you can see, the Warri Township CRISIS, is a political manipulation, a political set up, it is not caused by the ordinary person like you and I.

Or what do you think by next year if Urhobos do not challenge that executive order in court and the Itsekiris come out in full to implement it?

Then like Dore Numa, Uduaghan would have taken us to the dark days .

But may God not allow Warri Township to go back to the dark days.

However Wado city is the way to go.

Dr Ejiro Imuere