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Issues of independence and self-determination among ethnic groups and communities in Nigeria have since amalgamation been on the front burner across the country. For Unenurhie community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, it has become an issue that must be addressed.
In this interview with our correspondent, Young E. Freeborn, Mr. James Okparikpu, an indigene of Unenurhie community, based in Lagos State, looks on salient issues confronting his people and among others.
Excerpts…
Sir, you are a leader of Unenurhie community in the Diaspora. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Mr. James Okparikpu, a graduate of marketing, Enugu State University of Science & Technology with broad experience in leadership, training and security. I hail from Unenurhie Town in Ughelli North LGA of Delta State. I have been a community leader from the diaspora under the aegis of Unenurhie Community Development Union. I was the secretary of the UCDU, Lagos branch from 1997 till 2005, and currently the president of the branch. I am a strong advocate of justice, fairness, equity and good governance.
Unenurhie is a community in Evwreni kingdom and also in Evwreni Ward. Why do you agitate at this time to have your own separate and independent kingdom?
Thank you for your question. Life itself is dynamic and change is also constant. Without going too deep into the factors that are necessitating our agitation which include but not limited to our geographical location which clearly shows that we are two separate towns, it is fair that we enjoy our autonomy and be independent from the Evwreni kingdom because we have the population, villages and hamlets and that qualifies us to be recognized as a kingdom. Not only that, for too long we have been relegated and wrongly classified as a quarter which has robbed us so much of our rights in the kingdom. Politically we have also been wickedly marginalized. For example, since the creation of Evwreni ward, all top and juicy political positions are shared among the Evwreni people leaving the Unenurhie people with irrelevant positions which to all intent, is a deliberate attempt to marginalize and subdue us. Out of the four polling units created for Unenurhie, one unit has been forcefully moved to Evwreni by the powers that be, leaving Unenurhie with just three units despite our reasonable population.
Economically, we have been relegated to the background by the people we consider as our brothers. The support of some of our people from Unenurhie whom for fear of intimidation or probably the stipends they get through their sycophantic and corrupt disposition is also not helping matters. For example, Unenurhie used to have 3 oil wells but as we speak today, we have been robbed of these oil wells by the Evwreni people leaving us with just one. This was made possible by the high manpower that Evwreni wields; moreso, they are closer to the corridors of power. In all, we strongly feel we can longer coexist in an atmosphere of injustice, lack of fairness and equity.
We have our own market and our market days are different from that of Evwreni. Our culture, although similar is quite different from one another. Our traditional setting is also different. We have clearly defined boundaries by nature, so it has become obvious that this unholy and forced relationship can no longer work. It is time for us to have our own kingdom. So we are doing everything legally possible to wean ourselves from this subjugation. We would like to call on the Ughelli North local and Delta State governments to give us the needed ear that will see us through our agitation such that it can be approved.
At the moment, how do you rate the present Unenurhie community leadership?
First of all, I must give kudos to the current administration under the able leadership of Mr. Peter Maison and his executives. As an executive member of the community, I will not say much but would rather allow the people to speak out. But on my personal opinion, the current administration has done greatly in terms of performance and deliverables. If we had leaders like Peter Maison in the past, we would have probably be swimming in our eldorado. Without mincing words, the current leadership is a blessing to the Unenurhie people especially when compared with past corrupt, clueless, inept, greedy and selfish people who held sway as leaders and took us donkey years backward. We can only pray for more goodies from the present leadership.
Education is said to be the bedrock and key to human development. What advice can you give to the youths and children of your community?
Knowledge they say is power, and it is through education whether formal or informal education that people acquire knowledge. Our bane as a community has been lack of educated men and women; and this has denied us so much as a people. Lack of education is considered the root of poverty which can also lead to a cycle of poverty. However, access to education can mean getting out of that cycle. Education exposes someone and lead to improved lifestyle and living condition. We cannot afford to jettison or downplay on education. As a leader, my advice to our youths is that they should take education very serious and make sacrifices for it. As the saying goes, if education is expensive, try ignorance.
In recent times, inter communal crises have become rampant in different parts of the country. How can you describe the relationship between Unenurhie and her neighbouring communities?
You will agree with me that most of the crises are fuelled by greed, selfishness and outright dominance by a few for self aggrandizement. But when there is fairness, justice and equity, such experiences hardly come by. There is also the issue of man’s inhumanity to man which is synonymous with lack of love for one another. It is high time communities and the people understand that we exist for one another and should do all we can to avoid conflicts. Conflicts deny us the needed peace for progress and development.
On the relationship between Unenurhie and her neighbours, I know that Unenurhie has been a very peaceful community. Our people are so receptive and accommodating. I will rather appeal to her neighbouring communities to work with Unenurhie in order to promote a harmonious and peaceful coexistence.
Your final words?
My final word will be something I shared about life recently on social platform which we have to reflect upon daily; ‘life is strange. You came to this world with nothing, fight for everything. At the end end, you live everything and go with nothing’. Let us continue to live for one another and leave good legacies behind as we sojourn unto uncertainty.
