AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE

The recent announcement in the Delta State local newspapers that the National Youth Service Camp located at Issele-uku, Aniocha North local government area is billed to be closed and re-located to Oghara village, Gov. James Ibori’s home town is a bolt of shock to the people of Issele-uku.

The trauma of this action by the out-going governor is still running in the veins of all Issele-uku citizens across Nigeria and the diaspora. This is coming at a time when Issele-uku is railing in desperation and neglect by this government and the past governments of this state.

Issele-uku is a town in Delta state which traces its origin to the ancient Benin Kingdom dating back to 1230 AD. In all of its history, Issele-uku has basically been ignored and left to its fate by the past and present governments of this state. This town is a peace loving and community oriented enclave. Issele-uku embraced the outside influence as it held on to its cherished traditions. Most of the institutions and infrastructures in this town were the result of hard work of its citizens.  The most notable was the work of Rev. S.W. Martin, a renowned philanthropist who brought Issele-uku to the lime light beginning from 1922 when he returned home from the United States.

Rev. Martin built a teacher training college, a community hospital, a vocational college,  and a grammar school in Issele-uku. Before Rev. Martin entered the scene, Issele-uku was in the dark, the government ignored this town and both the politicians and the military regimes only paid superficial lip service to Issele-uku. Then the mid west government built what they called the “education office” in down town Issele-uku. This office provided employment to the local population, but not for long. The education office was eventually closed and re-located to Ogwashi-uku during the Utomi and Okonjo era, both from Ogwashi-uku. 

The Pilgrim Baptist Vocational school built by Rev. Martin was the first casualty of school closings by the government of Delta state.  First bank was established in Issele-uku in 1978, again not for long. That bank was later closed and re-located to Asaba  in the mid 1990s. The latest slap on the face came a few days before the out-going governor of Delta state left office.  Governor James Ibori decided that Issele-uku did not deserve the National Youth Service camp here, so he announced that the camp would be re-located to his home town, Oghara.

I don’t know what Ibori had in mind in coming to this decision. Maybe he thought that Issele-uku was hostile to the students who came here for the few weeks orientation. Maybe he believed that the structures that housed these students were not modern enough for them, or maybe he thought the students were not safe enough in our town. Perhaps the governor believed that he could do this and counted on the assumption that Issele-uku, as usual, will not raise a voice in protest.  Which ever that may apply, the good governor had the power and the money to improve the facility at the camp at Issele-uku. He should have, on the other hand, chosen to restructure the facility rather than this low class show of self serving aggrandizement. The governor did not take the high moral ground on this, instead, he chose to rob Issele-uku in order to pay Oghara. Governor Ibori has demonstrated a shameless act of sectional favoritism in closing this camp and re-locating it to his own home town.

Governor Ibori and his predecessors have consistently demonstrated a systematic policy of selective appeasement in their system of governance. Amenities and infrastructure in Delta state are vastly located in the Warri areas, leaving the so called capital, Asaba and the rest of the Igbo speaking areas wondering if they are part of this great state. The governor’s action of removing the Youth camp from Issele-uku and re-locating it to his home town is indicative of this charge. This action simply says, “this government doesn’t care about you, and if you don’t like it, take a hike.” Well Mr. Governor, we are not going to take a hike rather, we will stand up and fight, in the most civilized way for what belongs to us.

Issele-uku people also deserve the good things of life. We contribute to the general structure of this state and we are entitled to the basic necessities of living. No one has the right to deny us these fundamental rights, not even the governor of Delta state. Issele-uku has been patient and law abiding in all our history, but there is a feeling now, that these virtues are being mis-interpreted as a sign of weakness. I believe that governing by pleasing some communities and deliberately displeasing other communities is not the best form of fairness. Issele-uku community will always remember Governor James Ibori, not as a friend or a man of fair play, but as a bully who took away what rightly belonged to us because he had the “power” to do so.

The better thing to be remembered for is the good things that we do. Issele-uku will continue to be who they have always been; peaceful, law abiding and determined. We will not let this incident drag us to the low level of lawlessness. We will always stand on a higher plain field. However, Issele-uku will approach this injustice with maturity and hope. We are hopeful that the in-coming Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduahgan will re-visit this case with the understanding that what Gov. Ibori did to us was wrong. Issele-uku will not accept anything short of a significant compensation for what this government took away from us. Issele-uku will have to come up with a list of demands that the new governor must have to implement to demonstrate a basic gesture of inclusion in this administration. This will be the only fair way of saying, “yes we made a mistake, but we are ready to make up for that mistake”.  This land called Delta State belongs to all of us and let this be the last time any government will take away from us, what we fought hard to get.

Ifeanyi Iyegbu

President, Issele-Uku Association of North America.

5/18/07

E-mail:   issele_uku2006@yahoo.co.uk