President Goodluck Jonathan met with Ijaw leaders and a delegation of Urhobo stakeholders, Isoko leaders and Itsekiri leaders at the Government House, Asaba, yesterday.
President Jonathan has bowed to pressure to commission the $16bn Delta Gas City project at Ogidigben in the Warri South West local government area of the state, before the poll.
This deal is said to have been struck after seperate meetings he had with the paramount ruler of the Itsekiri, Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II and other Itsekiri leaders, as well as with former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) and Ayirimi Emami (aka Akulagba), in Asaba on Friday night.
The president told Ayiri and Tompolo he was coming in two weeks to commission the project and asked them to also settle their problems in the interests of peace and the development of the area.
The project had been stalled by threats Tompolo and his Ijaw kinsmen made to unleash mayhem on the area.
This forced Jonathan to cancel the first attempt to perform the ceremony last November, causing the Itsekiri to decide to vote massively against him in the presidential election.
One source at the meeting between the president and Itsekiri leaders said that an Itsekiri monarch told Jonathan bluntly that he had failed the Itsekiri during his tenure, and that he (Olu) could not guarantee his people’s votes for him.
The traditional ruler was also said to have told the president that his people even got a better deal from former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
“He told the President that as the paramount monarch of the Itsekiri people, he could advise them on how to vote. Nevertheless, he said it was not possible to go back to tell his people to vote for him considering the raw deal they have received from him.
“The Ogiame particularly lamented the manner the President aborted the groundbreaking ceremony of the gas project, which was the only benefit his people would have received during his entire six years.”
Due to the anger shown by the monarch, Jonathan immediately asked for a meeting with Tompolo and the Akulagba – two of the key players in the controversy over ownership of the lands in the area.
It was reported that a pre-meeting between the duo was almost called off due to a hot exchange of words between the Ijaw and Itsekiri leaders, who bickered over the ownership of the contentious site of the project.
“Although Tompolo was willing to concede that the 2,800 hectares site of the gas project is owned exclusively by Itsekiri, he wanted an assurance from Akulagba that the site of the deep sea port would be conceded to the Ijaws of Gbaramatu.
“Ayiri insisted that all the land, including where some Gbaramatu communities are located is owned by the Itsekiri, insisting that he would not be cowed by threat of war or violence to concede his kinsmen’s property for peace.”
Despite this latest progress, Emani is planning to go to court if the deep sea port is conceded to the Ijaws as is being proposed by the president and the Delta state government.
“From what we have gathered, he has concluded plans to challenge the Ijaw’s claim to the land, particularly Ikpokpo and other communities alleged annexed by the Ijaws during the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis.”
