BEING MEMORANDUM PRESENTED BY FNDIC/GRI TO THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AND TETFUND ON THE PROPOSED BILL FOR AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE MARITIME UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, OKERENKOKO AND FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED THERETO 2016, DURING THE PUBLIC HEARING AT THE SENATE CONFERENCE HALL ROOM 231, TUESDAY, JANUARY 31ST 2017. 
The Maritime University, Okerenkoko, is a fundamental commitment of the Federal Government (FG) to the national peace initiative on the Niger Delta. We appreciate the laudable initiative and hope it sails through the legislative process to improve on the existing fragile peace.
Please accept the assurances of our highest regards.
Thanks and God bless.
SAVE OUR SOULS (SOS)!
THE ITINERANT ITSEKIRI KINGDOM: ITS ESTABLISHMENT OF LAND GRABBERS AND UNDYING EXPANSIONIST AGENDA
A: INTRODUCTION
We hereby acknowledge and it is gratifying that not all Itsekiris share the belief and zest of the Itsekiri establishment’s abiding land-grabbing spree and to expand the itinerant Itsekiri kingdom that have found foot in their present abode.
For several decades, illustrious Itsekiri and Ijaw sons, whose energies should have been better directed at social engineering by promoting liberty, peace and prosperity according to God’s Will, have been made to waste same in chasing shadows.
Indeed, over the years, the Itsekiri were handed down with false history claiming ownership of “all” Ijaw lands in Escravos, Warri and environs. These claims are sometimes backed up with legal positions most of which were held out as “miscarriage of justice” by Chief Nanna, himself an Itsekiri, as in cases against Dore Numa, who was more than a master of subterfuge in his own time, as follow:
“Chief Dore had a ‘camp’ which testified as witness in a ‘miscarriage of justice’ against Nanna in which case “the basic rule of law which requires that a man should not be an accuser and judge in a matter was violated”—A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 104.
“It was after the death of Olu Akengbuwa 1, that Warri Kingdom had the 89 years of interregnum of which Warri kingdom had governors which the last governor was Chief Dore Numa who betrayed his own brother Chief Nana”—Charles Eyimofe Pemu.
The Itsekiris have thus continued to act out colonial scripts in promoting slavery, land-grabbing, fomenting avoidable wars and perpetuating poverty in Independent and Democratic Nigeria. The Itsekiri nation parades a lot of elders who, we hope, will be courageous enough, someday, to dish out the truth about their history and save the Warri area from the security risk posed by the aforementioned conducts.
Prompted by curiosity for true history, Charles Eyimofe Pemu, an illustrious Itsekiri son lamented as follows: “…disenfranchising us from certain information {which includes the genuine status of Itsekiris in Delta State} will only make us (Itsekiris) more ignorant and therefore chasing shadows and fighting ghosts while others are visualizing dreams”. He further questioned: “What’s really happening to Warri kingdom and were (sic: where) is Itsekiri nation heading? Is there something our elders, leaders and the palace are keeping from us?”
It is also this pervading ignorance that prompted Felix Odeli, Founder, Itsekiri Chat Group to recently state the following: “The effect of these judgements is that the whole of Gbaramatu area is peopled by Ijaws who are customary tenants of lands owned by Omadino people under the over-lordship of the Olu of Warri”.
B: THE ITINERANT ITSEKIRI KINGDOM
Driven by the plight of Pemu and other illustrious Itsekiri sons and indeed Nigerians desirous of knowing the truth, we wish to present the following facts about the genuine status of the Itsekiris in Warri area of Delta State.
The Itsekiri sea Kingdom (Ogiame), founded for Prince Ginuwa of Benin Kingdom, as the first “Olu of Itsekiri” was itinerant with expansionist agenda: one that moved and grabbed lands from one location to another. It was also ‘itinerant’ and migrant in name—transforming or morphing from “Kingdom of the Sea” (Prince Ginuwa – founder) to “Iwere or Itsekiri Kingdom” (Prince Ijijen- founder) through to what the Itsekiris, today, hold on, as “Warri Kingdom” (Chief Dore Numa – founder).
We invite the general public to consider the following authorities highly regarded by the Itsekiri which describe the journey and land-grabbing changes in name of the Kingdom and the corresponding founders:
a. Advent of the ‘Mystical’ Kingdom
1. In his own report in 1933, the Assistant District Officer, R.B. Keir wrote about the foundation of the sea kingdom: “The Itsekiri are a sub-tribe of the Yoruba tribe. It is said that their leader was one OGINUWA, a favourite son of the Oba who had him put into a magic box and conveyed in this fashion accompanied by seventy sons of Benin Chiefs to found a new and mystical kingdom”.
2. In the book “A Short History of Benin” published in 1968, Chief (Dr.) Jacob U. Egharevba, a respected historian of Bini stock, wrote: “Olua knew that his eldest son Iginua was hated by the Binis for bad advice he had given against the people. He therefore decided to found a Kingdom for him by the sea; Iginua accepted the offer gladly, as he was aware of his unpopularity. Iginua was invested with the necessary regalia and with the title Odihi-na’ame but he became known generally to the Itsekiri as Olu of Itsekiri after his father’s name. He (Olua) had given orders in advance for Ijaw men to take Iginua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination”.
The above authorities expose:
i. How the Itsekiris were dependent on the Ijaws for their migration.
ii. If sons of Benin Chiefs did not become slaves to the Itsekiri for conveying Oginua the son of Oba, then the Ijaw men could equally not be slaves for taking Iginua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination.
b. The Making of the Iwere or Itsekiri Kingdom
Pender Captain J.C.P (Do) in pages 7 and 9 of 1929 Intelligence Report on Warri, stated: “The Itsekiri came from Benin City about the middle of the 15th Century, under the leadership of Oginuwa (Ginuwa) a son of the reigning Oba of Benin called Olua…Oginuwa (Ginuwa) died at Ijalla and was buried there. The Itsekiri called the place Eri-Olu Itsekiri or Itsekiri’s Royal Grave! The Aramula oracle was consulted as to the best land in which to settle. One Idibie, who was priest to the oracle…hurled a harpoon into the river, speared a large fish, which he followed by MEANS OF THE FLOAT attached to the harpoon to Ode-Itsekiri or Iwere which is now known as ‘Big Warri’ ”.
“A History of Warri” written by J.O.S. Ayomike, highly respected by the Itsekiri, stated on page 110: “It is claimed that a large party, from the Olukumi area in the course of trade or fishing moved through the Niger to settle in Irigbo in Okotomi quarters of Ode-Itsekiri. It was the Irigbo leader who welcomed Olu Ijijen to Ode-Itsekiri early in the 16th Century”.
Furthermore, J.O.S. Ayomike in his book titled “The Ijaws in Warri” stated:
i. The kingdom was founded…about 1480 when Iginuwa (Ginuwa) Prince of an Oba of Benin about 1473, became the king of the sea (Ogiame)…”.
ii. Ijijen, the first son of Ginuwa… became the second Olu of the sea kingdom”(47 ).
From the foregoing authorities, it follows:
i. That Prince Ginuwa, who became Olu of Itsekiri, died and was buried in Ijalla without getting to Ode-Itsekiri or Iwere, known today by the Itsekiri as ‘Big Warri’.
ii. That the ‘mystical’ sea kingdom was founded for Prince Ginuwa before the Itsekiris ever migrated to Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri).
c. The Beginning of Warri Kingdom
It is evident in the foregoing authorities that Ode-Itsekiri is not part of the ‘mystical’ sea kingdom, let alone Warri kingdom. It was colonial trade that first moved the migrant palace from Ode-Itsekiri to Warri township. Ayomike, in his book “A History of Warri”, on page 62 acknowledged: “Up to the last quarter of the 19th Century, the Itsekiri were not in the British educational system. Then after the British Administration was set up, they exposed the first generation of Itsekiri men to their form of education. In the process they were taught to write the name of their kingdom as ‘Warri’. These men learned it so and have passed the word and spelling to the present generation”.
In “The Itsekiri at a Glance”, page 7, Ayomike further states: “The trade in Itsekiri land grew extensively and ‘Big Warri’ (Ode-Itsekiri) as capital remained its focal point. As time went on the expanding trade in Itsekiri land spilled over to the mainland—‘New Warri’ (A British name)… the need arose for the Itsekiri people to re-order their way of life to suit the new dispensation. For example, it became necessary for the Olu thereafter to maintain palaces both at ‘Big Warri’ (Ode-Itsekiri) and ‘New Warri’(Warri Township)”.
We implore you to reconsider the foregoing authorities, where Ayomike not only confirmed the migration to Warri, but noted that the expression/concept “Warri Kingdom”, is a colonial creation. Let’s have Ayomike to please re-assert: “Then after the British Administration was set up, they exposed the first generation of Itsekiri men to their form of education. In the process they were taught to write the name of their kingdom as ‘Warri’. For emphasis, please, Ayomike further interest us: “These men learned it so and have passed the word and spelling to the present generation”. The name “Warri kingdom” with its vestiges, therefore, is a colonial creation sustained by pre-independent political interests that remains an affront to the cherished Nigerian independence! Yes, it is an instrument of colonialism that soon transformed from facilitating and protecting trade interests to grandiose land-grabbing machinery, emboldening the Itsekiri establishment to unacceptable heights of land grabbing today!
C: ITSEKIRI LAND-GRABBING DISPOSITION BEFORE THE COLONIAL TIMES
The foregoing citations, most of which are from respected Itsekiri-born historian, J.O.S. Ayomike, are not exhaustive. More authorities can be cited to corroborate or fully define the changes in nomenclature and land-grabbing disposition of the Itsekiri kingdom “founded for” Prince Ginuwa of then Benin Kingdom.
To find out whether the progenitors of the Itsekiri Kingdom were land grabbers, it is apposite now to find out whether the rivers possibly traversed by Prince Ginuwa and his retinue in search for their ‘mystical’ kingdom were virgin paths/destinations. They were not! In the beginning, at point of departure from Benin Kingdom, “He (Olua) had given orders in advance for Ijaw men to take Iginua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination”! At point of arrival (at Ode-Itsekiri), “it was the Irigbo leader who welcomed Olu Ijijen to Ode-Itsekiri early in the 16th Century”. This was after they had left Amatu, where they first went to, in the present day Bayelsa State where he allegedly killed Derimo, a wife given to him by his Ijaw hosts and flew to Oruselemo in Burutu area. In the Burutu Ijaw area, he had problems with the neighbouring Gulani (Ogulagha) Ijaw Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area and had to move to Ijalla where he died.
D: COLONIAL ENGINEERING OF WARRI KINGDOM AS NOTED BY THE ITSEKIRI
We present below the Itsekiri confirmation of the colonial creation of Warri Division and Kingdom including its Administration:
“The Itsekiri land had been without an Olu (of Itsekiri) for 88years i.e 1848 to 1936. And in this period, many changes had taken place. To mention a few: The destruction of Itsekiri sovereignty by the British, the consular intrusion and then by military might. British colonial rule and its creations such as Native Court System, Provisional Set-Up, Warrant Chiefs, Poll-tax, land acquisitions, leases and developments, new acquisitions, new townships, Consular District and Provincial Offices and functionaries, etc (The Ijaw in Warri, J.O.S. Ayomike, pages 56-57).
Remember, “In November 1924, H.C. Moorhouse, Lt. Governor Southern Provinces visited Warri and in the process effected a reconciliation between Chief Dore and those who had taken him to court (some important parts of the records are reproduced hereunder: “…I eventually put forward the following proposal, which was agreed to practically unanimously: That one-sixth (of all rents collected) should be given to Chief Dore in recognition of the fact that he had, as far as the Government was concerned, been in the position of the Olu” (A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 24).
Dore Numa… was appointed political agent and Warrant Chief 1896. In 1902 he became Chief Political Agent. He was appointed a member of the Nigerian Council in December 1914. He became the de facto Itsekiri head and leader. In 1917 he was made a paramount chief (The Ijaw in Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, 56).
“…. Dore Numa was among the five paramount rulers appointed by Sir Frederick Luggard to the Nigerian Council to help formulate Government policies following the amalgamation (A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 92)”.
E: “LAND GRABBING IN THE DELTA” (BY ITSEKIRI IN COLONIAL TIMES)
“SIR: OVER the decades, the Itsekiris have accused the Urhobos and Ijaws of grabbing their lands. The evidence suggests, however, that the opposite is the case.
As a colonial administrator, Chief Dore Numa of Itsekiri became a colossus after he had assisted the British to overthrow Nana of Itsekiri (1894) and Ovoranwen of Benin (1897). In 1906, he grabbed Ogbe-Ijaw village of Ijaw people with impunity. Commenting on this, J.O.S. Ayomike, an Itsekiri writer says: “The factors that have destroyed the case of the Ijaws are obvious. Their fathers were ejected in 1895 from the land; they petitioned against the government action without success. Eleven years later, in 1906, Chiefs Dore and Ogbe on behalf of Itsekiri people granted a lease of the same area to government. They said nothing” (A History of Warri, page 71).
If the Ijaws were ejected by a government headed by Chief Dore of Itsekiri: if later, Chief Dore on behalf of Itsekiri people, granted the same land to his government…, and collected the rents, it is clear who grabbed whose land. The Ijaws did say something for they petitioned against the action (Ogbe-Ijaw village is now known today as G.R.A., Warri).
In 1908, Dore Numan granted a stretch of Agbassa farmland of Urhobo people to government and had it allocated to colonial civil servants. This is known today as Daudu Town, Warri. In 1911, he granted the Agbassa village itself to government. With impunity he collected all the rents. J.O.E. Sagay, another Itsekiri historian says: “He dominated both Itsekiri and Urhobo alike, granting land to the British with impunity.” (The Warri Kingdom, page 169).
Dore also granted to government, a part of Okere village of Urhobo people but he met a stiff resistance. Commenting on this then, even the Itsekiri royal family had this to say: “Dore contracted wrongly and without right: take, for instance, the Okere land question. He made that land over to the government about ten years ago as if he had the right or title to it but now immediately the Okere people find they are still strong enough to question his authority he surrendered their land to them.” (William Moore, History of Itsekiri, page 169).
Before he died, Dore made an unsuccessful attempt to grab Sapele town from Urhobo people. After his death, the Itsekiri got the Action Group government to set up the Itsekiri Communal Land Trust and this continued the land grabbing through litigation. Justice B.A. Omosun says this about the Trust: “The suggestion is made that the Trust engages in endless litigation in attempt to improve its financial resources. I think that the activities of the Trust frightens the Urhobo neighbours who see it as an instrument of grabbing other people’s lands.” (Report of Omosun Commission of Inquiry, pages 68-69).
It is obvious that the Itsekiri have been telling the opposite of the true story.
Jerrison Ese Ayowe,
Evwreni Town,
Delta State”—Letter to the Editor, The Guardian, Saturday, May 28, 1994, page 16.
F: FAST FACTS ON IJAW LANDS GRABBED BY THE ITSEKIRI
We present the following additional historical foundations to help the reader make informed decisions on Itsekiri land grabbing acts on Ijaw lands:
1. “Prior to the advent of the bini-ginua, the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere was inhabited by three tribes namely Ijaws, Sobos and Mahins…” (A History of Itsekiri by an heir apparent to the throne of Olu, William A. Moore, 1970, page 13).
2. In his work “Article Agglutination and the African Contribution to the Portuguese-based Creoles”, page 4, John Ladhams, University of Westminster, stated: “The so-called Slave Rivers, on the Western side of the Niger Delta, were known to the Portuguese from the 1470s. According to Duarte Pacheco Pereira (Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, Book 2, Chapter 8; Pereira 1988:148-153), they consisted of the ‘Rio Primeiro’, ‘Rio Fermoso’ (nowadays the Benin River), ‘Rio dos Escravos’, Rio dos Forcados’ and ‘Rio dos Ramos’”.
“The Rio dos Escravos (Escravos River) visited by the Portuguese in 1480 could have been any one of the ‘five slave rivers’ the Portuguese frequented. The people they first met and traded with could have belonged to the Ijo tribe which at that time dominated the coastal belt of swamp forest” (Professor Allan Ryder: Benin and the Europeans, pages 26-27).
3. “There is a tantalising hint that the Warri people were originally Ijos” (A Short History of West Africa, Book One, by T.A. Osae and S.N. Nwabara, 1968, page 148).
From the foregoing historical authorities, the following conclusions are inescapable:
i. That the entire territory now occupied by the Itsekiri and trumpeted as “Itsekiri homeland” is Ijaw territory now annexed by the Itsekiri, according to testimony of Itsekiri crown prince, William Moore. This position is reinforced by the duo of T.A. Osae and S.N. Nwabara, earlier noted as finding “a tantalising hint that the Warri people were originally Ijos (Ijaws)”.
ii. That, the isolated Itsekiri communities domiciled and sandwitched within Gbaramatu homeland territory in the Escravos river belonged to the Ijaws dominating “the coastal belt of swamp forest”, before the advent of the itinerant Itsekiri Kingdom which according to Ayomike was “founded about 1480”. Recall Alan Ryder’s chronicle: “The people they (Portuguese) first met (at the Escravos river) and traded with could have belonged to the Ijo tribe which at that time dominated the coastal belt of swamp forest”.
iii. Let us note the date 1480 on two recorded events about the Ijaw people:
First: “The Rio dos Escravos (Escravos River) visited by the Portuguese in about 1480 could have been any one of the ‘five slave rivers’ the Portuguese frequented. The people they first met and traded with could have belonged to the Ijo tribe which at that time dominated the coastal belt of swamp forest”—Professor Allan Ryder.
Second: The kingdom was founded…about 1480 when Iginuwa (Ginuwa) Prince of an Oba of Benin about 1473, became the king of the sea (Ogiame)…”.
iv. The accounts tagged First and Second in (iii) aforenoted, confirm the testimony from the Crown Prince to the Olu, William Moore, who as earlier noted asserted: “Prior to the advent of the bini-ginua, the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere was inhabited by three tribes namely Ijaws, Sobos and Mahins…”.
v. It follows that at about 1480, repeat 1480, when Itsekiri reportedly left Benin in search of a kingdom, stayed three decades at Amatu in present Bayelsa State and later reportedly found their way to Escravos area, the Ijaw of Gbaramatu, were already in the Escravos and already met and traded with the Portuguese who frequented the area.
vi. It is against the aforementioned historical fact of ownership of lands by the Ijaw “who dominated the coastal belt of swamp forest”, that Dore Numa/Itsekiri descendants, applying Colonial Engineering and vestiges, obtained miscarried court judgements, that then and now defy the Supreme Court verdict in Adole Vs. Gwar (2008) which emphasises historical basis for land ownership judgements.
G: IJAW LANDS OF OPOROZA, OKERENKOKO, KOKODIAGBENE, BENIKURUKURU, OPUEDE, ETC OF GBARAMATU KINGDOM AND THE FRIGHTENING ORUGBO/UMALE TREATMENT BY THE ITSEKIRI
As earlier noted in this piece, “It was the Irigbo (sic Orugbo) leader who welcomed Olu Ijijen to Ode-Itsekiri early in the 16th Century”. Who were the Orugbo people and where did they come from? Ayomike answers:
“Orugbo and Ugborodo communities are agreed that some of their founding fathers migrated at different times from Gulani (sic Ogulagha) Ijaw long, long before the Olu came…” (A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 111). The Orugbo leader whose origin was from Ogulagha was therefore an Ijaw man who graciously welcomed the Itsekiri and settled them in Ode-Itsekiri. Sadly, Orugbo is today said to be just a quarters in Ode-Itsekiri which has become the name imposed on it with the original Ijaw identity lost to Itsekiri.
To buttress what other communities suffered from the hands of visiting, and then invading Itsekiri, Ayomike states: “The Umale were peculiar people, very ingenious, powerful and rich… Owing to constant wars waged against them by the Olus who fought and deprived them of their wealth coupled with the unholy manners of the party from Benin which the Umale abhorred, they were said to have dematerialised into the ethereal world and having ceased to appear physical to dwell among the Itsekiris” (A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 113).
We agree with Ayomike: Prince Ginuwa with his retinue from Benin that became the nucleus of the Itsekiri Kingdom came with an unpalatable character baggage that had made him unpopular in Benin and a threat to people wherever Prince Ginuwa went: He was anti-people (“gave advice against his people”). He was an alleged to have killed his Ijaw wife, Derimo, given him by the people of Amatu in Bayelsa State. The Olu’s retinue, according to Ayomike in the foregoing quote, exhibited “unholy manners” which the Umales abhorred and for which they were wiped out by the Itsekiri!
The world must come to the aid of Oporoza, Okerenkoko, Kokodiagbene, Benikurukuru, Opuede, etc of Gbaramatu Ijaw Kingdom to free it from the Orugbo and Umale treatment of destruction and identity loss/obliteration by the Itsekiri. Over the years, where they have found it impossible to defeat the Ijaw communities, they have imposed Itsekiri names to destroy Ijaw identity of the said communities and to deprive them of their political, social and economic rights as they did Umale. Accordingly, for the Ijaw community of Oporoza, they give the name Gbabor, for Okerenkoko, they give Okerenghigho, for Kokodiagbene they give the name Ubakokodia. For the Ijaw community of Opuede they give the name Uremure and for Benikurukuru they assign the Itsekiri name Ubadudu. Who can stop the expansionist agenda of the Itsekiri?
H: EPZ PROJECT AND NIGERIAN MARITIME UNIVERSITY, OKERENKOKO AND ITSEKIRI GENERATIONAL LAND-GRABBING FEVER
The Itsekiris have resolved to disallow the name GBARAMATU to be applied to the Escravos EPZ Deep Sea Port project. They have also publicly protested against use of the name OKERENKOKO on the Nigerian Maritime University, both in their generational land grabbing fever and hankering for economic gains to the detriment of Ijaw as they earlier did to Umale.
This land grabbing tendency was displayed, lately, when the Movement for the Protection of Iwere Homeland Development and History led by its President James Aderojor Ereku unfortunately declared as follows:
“The whole land for the EPZ, including the deep sea port is exclusively owned by the Itsekiri people under the overlordship of the crown, the Olu of Warri”, when in actual fact, Vanguard’s Niger Delta Voice, June 24, 2014 reportedly noted: “When the governor (an Itsekiri elder statesman, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan) saw the land revocation document, he identified his signature and said their (Ijaw) communities fall in the map of the EPZ project”.
More recently, the Itsekiri land-grabbing tendency peaked, Monday, January 16, 2017 in Warri where the Itsekiri Olu, before the visiting Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was probably misled to personally take the lead in war against the Ijaw of Gbaramatu Kingdom by faulting and fighting Federal Government action on Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko. The Vanguard of Wednesday, January 18, 2017, page 13, reports the Itsekiri monarch as saying: “But we are miffed that the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, in connivance with the Delta State government purportedly acquired the land from certain individuals who possessed neither historical nor legal title to the land, and reportedly even went ahead to pay compensation to these impostors”. The report continued: “We, therefore, demand and appeal that the Federal Government should properly acquire the land for this university…”.
I: ITSEKIRI COURT JUDGEMENTS VERSUS UNDISPUTED IJAW HISTORY: THE DORE NUMA CONNECTION
The Itsekiri parade so many later court judgements which give them ownership of several lands originally owned by Ijaw in the Warri area. The transformation of Itsekiri from itinerant strangers to owners of land with later court judgements over the same land/territory in which they were originally strangers should amaze inquisitive minds. With avalanche of historical support to the original ownership status of Ijaw over the territory now occupied by the Itsekiri, how come the Itsekiri have turned to be owners of the said lands?
The court judgements obviously did not take into consideration the historical facts as expected. No true court judgement is expected to replace history on the issue of ownership. In the case of Adole Vs. Gwar (2008) 11. NWLR (PT 1099) 562, the Supreme Court noted the importance of traditional history on the issue of land ownership.
As we have earlier noted, history written by respected Itsekiri-born historians including J.O.S. Ayomike, J.O.E. Sagay, William Moore show clearly that the Ijaws were the owners of the lands the Itsekiri came to settle on.
To understand how the Itsekiri strangers came to be owners of land, we need to know a little about the personage of Dore Numa.
“Dore Numa… was appointed political agent and Warrant Chief 1896. In 1902 he became chief Political Agent. He was appointed a member of the Nigerian Council in December 1914. He became the de facto Itsekiri head and leader. In 1917 he was made a paramount chief (The Ijaw in Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, 56)—Colonial.
“…. Dore Numa was among the five paramount rulers appointed by Sir Frederick Luggard to the Nigerian Council to help formulate Government policies following the amalgamation (A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 92)” —Colonial.
Dore Numa, who was later appointed as Olu of Warri, not crowned by the Itsekiris, used his position to grab lands oftentimes using the instrumentality of the courts in which he was sometimes judge and other times litigant. As to how Dore operated in Warri and Environs, we read, as claimed by Chief Nanna Olomu, who was earlier in the position of Governor of the area:
“Chief Dore had a ‘camp’ which testified as witness in a ‘miscarriage of justice’ against Nanna in which case “the basic rule of law which requires that a man should not be an accuser and judge in a matter was violated”—A History of Warri, by J.O.S. Ayomike, page 104.
“It was after the death of Olu Akengbuwa 1, that Warri Kingdom had the 89 years of interregnum of which Warri kingdom had governors which the last governor was Chief Dore Numa who betrayed his own brother Chief Nana”—Charles Eyimofe Pemu.
If Chief Nana Olomu, an Itsekiri could reject the Court judgements from Dore Numa who was mindless in allegedly betraying his brother, Nana, the Ijaws, hard hit by Dore Numa, therefore cannot be detained by judgements traceable and sourced to Dore Numa colonial era, in independent Nigeria!
J: CONCLUSION
The fact of historical Ijaw ownership of lands in Warri currently wrongly paraded by Itsekiri as their lands is known too well and buttressed by respected historians including of Itsekiri stock and its establishment which till today is in the business of land-grabbing to impoverish and obliterate the Ijaw identity.
To keep Gbaramatu Kingdom as our homeland according to Genesis 2:15: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it”, we hereby proclaim Liberty, Peace and Prosperity for the oppressed Ijaw people of Gbaramatu Kingdom and indeed of Warri. Psalm 37:3 promised: “…dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures” (NIV).
Being owners and dwellers of Gbaramatu Kingdom, homeland to Ijaw native law and customs, let our neighbours keep the peace, so we can, by God, enjoy the EPZ project and the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko!
The good Ijaw people of Warri particularly Gbaramatu kingdom are no longer under the Colonial School Masters (the Itsekiris) in fulfilment of Galatians 3:21-26, which in part states: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed… But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster”.
The Itsekiri descendants of Dore Numa and all of us are enjoined to heed the caution in God’s Word (The Bible) at Titus 3:9 which states: “But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain”.
Thanks and God bless!
Long Live Gbaramatu Kingdom!
Long Live Delta State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
HON. CHIEF (DR.) BELLO OBOKO
PRESIDENT, FNDIC (08035526469)
bellooboko@yahoo.com
FRED PINIKI
MEMBER, FNDIC RESEARCH TEAM
MOSES YABRADE,
COORDINATOR, GRI
GODSWILL DOUBRA WURUYAI,
SECRETARY, GRI
