By Boma Waribor, Emmanuel Nwafor
Unassuming and cerebral gentleman, seasoned technocrat, and accommodating community leader, Wari-Alabo Sodienye Jumbo, who holds the title of Amaopusenibo (Country Elder) of Grand Bonny Kingdom, is the acting Chairman of the Council of Elders of Sinaminabofori Okponkata (Jumbo) Major House of Grand Bonny Kingdom. An accomplished Engineer, Jumbo retired from active service as a Director in the Rivers State Civil Service after 35 years of meritorious career path dotted with service excellence. He was also a one-time Chancellor of the Bonny Gentlemen’s League (BGL), amongst other strategic roles.
In this interview with Kristina Reports Publisher, Godswill Jumbo, Managing Editor, Boma Waribor, and Business Editor, Emmanuel Nwafor, the revered Leader of the Jumbo Major House volunteered clarifications on critical issues affecting the House, and gave updates on developments around the House, amongst others issues. Some of these include the recent drama of claims to the chieftaincy of the House, host community status agitations, and alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the House. Enjoy the read!
It appears that your robust antecedent in Administration and Management has been in play and an underlining factor in achieving stability in the Jumbo Major House despite all the controversies we have been hearing about?
Yes, by the grace of God, I am a well brought up person; and by virtue of the fact that I worked for thirty five years before I retired from the system, that is the Rivers State Ministry of Works, that alone imbibed a lot of discipline in me and also as a trained Engineer. You know Engineers are people who are trained to solve problems, and for you to be able to solve problems you must be able to sit back and analyze the problem, first and foremost. Then you will proffer solution by way of designing and, of course, you will go further to implement the thing on ground by way of construction. So, for a man who has this kind of background, no matter where he finds himself he is going to manage situations very well and that is my own background.
Thank you for that expatiation of how your background has helped in coordinating the House you currently lead. We will like to know at this point what the traditional name of the Jumbo Major House of Grand Bonny Kingdom is.
The traditional name was Juwo Owubo Sinaminabofori Okponkata House. The Juwo Owubo was later corrupted to Jumbo, hence the name Jumbo Sinaminabofori Okponkata House. The name has progressively changed in this line to Jumbo House, and then Jumbo Main House upon the creation of the sub houses of John-Jumbo House and Dan-Jumbo House, to currently, Jumbo Major House of Grand Bonny Kingdom.
The people of Jumbo Major House spread across about 28 communities, and their teeming supporters, associates and so on want to know what is currently happening in the House. What is the update? Can we have like the current situation report or state of affairs?
Let me say that Jumbo Major House is a traditional institution and in the absence of a Chief, the Council of Elders takes charge; even when the Chief is there, he works with the Council. And when I am talking of Council of Elders, I am talking of Burusu Heads of various family units that make up the Jumbo Major House. This is the tradition in Bonny Kingdom and it is supported by both the Constitution of Bonny Kingdom and the 1971 Constitution of Jumbo Major House and it cuts across other kingdoms across the Ijaw ethnic nationality. Anybody preaching anything outside this wants to destroy the House and if you destroy the Council of Elders you have destroyed the House. This is one institution that will outlive us. Today we are elders, tomorrow the youths will become elders. We didn’t create it, we inherited it from our forebears and the founding fathers of the House. My advice to the young ones coming behind is not to allow themselves to be used to destroy the House by selfish and dubious elements masquerading as patriots because it will be to the detriment of the House, and the youths, in particular, eventually. If that happens there will be no House for them to inherit.
But we hear that there are factions in the House…
What factions? And which one be faction? (Laughs)
We have been hearing of factions led by one Jasper Jumbo and another by a man who claims to be the Chief of the House…
Well, let me state that the Jumbo Major House is peaceful, there are no factions. I want to emphasize that there are no factions. As far as the Elders Council is concerned, there are no factions and there can be no faction because Jumbo Major House is a traditional institution and we don’t have a chief now. So, as per tradition and constitution, the House cannot be in a vacuum. There must be an authority in charge and the traditional authority is the Elders’ Council that is in charge of the House and we are moving the House forward. Let me also state that in line with the Ibani custom and tradition as applicable and practiced by the Jumbo Major House, in the absence of a substantive Chief either by death or deposition, the Council of Elders automatically takes over the leadership and administration of the House. And even when there is a substantive chief who has been declared incompetent to administer the House the Council of Elders takes over the administration of the House. Also, when there is a substantive Chief and Head of the House, he administers the House alongside the Council of Elders. This has also been clarified by the Bonny Chiefs Council (BCC) in a document of the Council (BCC) dated the 10th day of August, 2019 titled “DISBURSEMENT OF SHELL’S N2.45BN STIRS CRISIS IN BONNY” REJOINDER BY THE BONNY CHIEFS COUNCIL”. We will say that going forward it is clear to all and sundry that there are no factions in the Jumbo Major House currently under the leadership of the Council of Elders. In line with its traditional and constitutional mandate, the Council of Elders has continued to perform its duties and provided leadership to the House. We have also been having our regular meetings and we will continue to have meetings. The last one we had was on June 30 and July 1 and it was well attended; the records are there for any person to go and check out. We even invited some families that had some issues and we settled same. The information is there you can make your further investigations. So, we are doing our work.
In addition to that, we have continued to relate and engage with the traditional authorities of the Kingdom – because we are part of Bonny Kingdom – on issues relating to the Jumbo Major House and Bonny Kingdom in general. And the relationship has been cordial. For instance, last December, the King, in his magnanimity, sent Jumbo Major House a cow which we killed I think In the January meeting or thereabout and also distributed to various arms of the House. When the King lost his sister we were duly informed and we also played our role as required by tradition. So, if there is anything due for the Jumbo Major House, the Chiefs’ Council will always communicate to us and we have always responded accordingly. So, as far as we are concerned, the House is peaceful, moving forward and without any factions. Also, only recently, when they did the (NLNG) Train 7 Groundbreaking Ceremony we were also invited and I and Warisenibo (Arc.) Hamlet Jumbo, who is also an Amasenibo of Bonny Kingdom and the Publicity Secretary of the House, duly represented the Jumbo Major House.
In furtherance of our duties and leadership, we have brought our youths under one umbrella and leadership. We have also disbursed money to various units of the House including the youths, women group, Ogbobiri Asawo, communities, and all the Burusu, and also members of the Council of Elders, including Warisenibo (Hon.) Wilson E. S. Jumbo, who is an Amaopusenibo of Bonny Kingdom, of Patience Nwator (Anwoparabietogha) Burusu of Madupolo, Grand Bonny Kingdom, who wrote to the Council through a letter addressed to the Chairman. We have attended to virtually all the interest groups within the House and nobody is grumbling. And in paying this money to these people we don’t just call and give one person money, we make sure there is stability in the House. For instance, if you are a group leader or youth leader, we say as a youth leader you must have your exco intact. We have one Jumbo Major House Youth Association (JMHYA) now led by Sylvester Idanye Jumbo and he has his exco intact. So, we attended to them as a group. They opened an account in their name with three signatories which they forwarded to us and we paid them the money that is due to them, agreed and approved by the Elders’ Council which is the authority of the House. Same thing for the women group and the Burusu and community heads. You have to open an account in the name of your Burusu and in a case where the Burusu has not gotten a well-established structure, we encourage them to come up with a leadership, that is a chairman, secretary and treasurer, as the case may be. For the Burusu that had issues we mediated and ensured that peace is restored before their funds were released to them. So, we have been doing that and it’s on record and to that extent we have been able to pay almost all segments of Jumbo Major House.
Including communities?
Yes, some of the communities include Akatikpo (Park) Community, Nunabie, Egelebie, Orupiri, and others. Particularly, in the case of Orupiri Community, we invited them when they were having some issues, having been written to by the elders and we settled that matter and based on that their money was disbursed. So, that is a tremendous job we are doing, making sure that in paying this money we don’t pay it to create problems but pay it to create peace. Most of our boys who don’t know their roots are now forced to go back to their communities and be part of the money that was given to their community and burusu. But one thing is that we have been able to make sure that there is stability in Jumbo Major House by ensuring that all these family units are well attended to. We are all happy. We have also received letters of commendation. Again, there are some vacant burusu stools in the Council and the owners are itching for the requirements so that they can occupy their stools in the Council of Elders. Recently, we received a letter from Osomieari Burusu informing us of the demise of Warisenibo Henderson Jumbo, who was a one-time Secretary of Jumbo Major House and his Burusu has written to us with traditional drinks and we have also paid condolence visit on 24th July, 2021. So, Jumbo Major House is stable and functioning. We don’t have any rancour in the House because the people know who their leaders are. So, anybody claiming factions is doing that to justify his selfish and wicked ambitions. Their intention is to shortchange the House and they will never succeed. So, the message is that the House is calm, there is a clear leadership and we are in control of the Jumbo Major House.
Can we know the distinction between the Council of Elders of Jumbo Major House and the Cabinet of the Chief of the House?
In a nutshell, if we make deductions from my earlier statements, it is clear that in line with the Ibani custom and tradition, the Council of Elders of any chieftaincy house in Bonny Kingdom is basically made up of the Burusu Heads or, if you like, heads of family units; and where there are people who have been honoured with the title of Wari-Seniapu by the Chief, they also have the privilege of being members of the Council. So, in the case of Jumbo Major House, the Council of Elders, also referred to as the Upper Council of Elders, is made up of the Heads of Burusu and also the members of the House who were given honorary titles of Wari-Seniapu by the Chief with the consent and approval of the Council of Elders. These titles shouldn’t be bastardized, it should carry some honour, dignity and respect.
On the other hand, a Cabinet of the House only comes to be when there is a substantive Chief and Head of the House. And in the absence of a substantive Chief and Head of the House the cabinet ceases to exist. In the Jumbo Major House, in line with the 1971 Constitution of the House, the Cabinet, which is also referred to as the Lower Council of Elders, is made up of officials who work with the Chief to administer the House on a day to day basis.
We understand that you, Warialabo Sodienye Jumbo, Warialabo Edmund Jumbo, and Warialabo Kalada Jene were expelled from the Jumbo Major House Council of Elders by Chief Horace Oko-Jumbo, who also wrote to your houses that your stool was vacant. Now we want to have clarifications. Were you expelled from the Elders’ Council? Did your Burusu remove you from being their representative? Were you members of the Cabinet or members of the Elders’ Council?
I, Wari-Alabo Sodienye Jumbo, am the Wari-Alabo and Head and Occupant of the Edward Omoni Burusu, which is a Wari-Alabo Burusu of the Jumbo Major House. I also know that Wari-Alapu Edmund R. Jumbo and Kalada M. Jene are the Wari-Alapu and Heads and Occupants of Tom Yellow Belly and Bagg-Jumbo Burusu, respectively, which are also Wari-Alapu Burusu. All three of us are members of the Council of Elders, being, respectively, the acting Chairman, Auditor and Secretary of the House. We were never at any time, whatsoever removed as Burusu Heads and members of the Council of Elders of the Jumbo Major House. Our purported removal, so to say, by the erstwhile Chief Horace Ferdinand Herbert Oko-Jumbo is a farce and only imaginative. Let me add that in line with the Ibani custom and tradition as practiced by the Jumbo Major House and the 1971 Constitution of the House any chief of the Jumbo Major House, including the erstwhile Chief Horace Oko-Jumbo does not have the tradition locus or power or authority to conceive, let alone remove the Head of any Burusu in the House, including the Burusu that he (the chief) comes from. The issue as to the propriety of the making or removal of a Burusu Head in the Jumbo Major House is the internal affairs of any such Burusu and not that of the Chief and Head of the House.
Recently, there has been one Tamunoala Chapp-Jumbo who has been claiming to be the Chief, in fact, calls himself Okponkata X; is he really the Chief of Jumbo Major House?
That is an issue we have decided not to bother ourselves with because as you must have known, the processes of making a chief in Bonny Kingdom are clearly defined and no one can pretend to be a chief of any house in Bonny Kingdom. Jumbo Major House does not have a chief and since the interregnum created by the deposition and absence of the erstwhile Chief Horace Oko-Jumbo since the 6th of September, 2014, the House has been under the leadership of the Council of Elders till date. We have not come together to discuss the process of making a Chief let alone having one. The only thing I will tell you is that in the course of our engagements, meetings and negotiations with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) with respect to the Bonny Terminal land, Warisenibo Wilson E. S. Jumbo, who was coopted much later in the negotiating process, upon being sure that the rent on the Bonny Terminal land was about to be paid to the Council of Elders at the end of the negotiations and not being part of the executive of the Council, hurriedly conceived the scheme to control the money; and therefore got some elements that believed in his scheme and purportedly made Tamunoala chief. In furtherance of this scheme, the next thing is to take him to Shell and asked Shell to conclude the process of getting out the money with Tamunoala. Well, they got the embarrassment of their lives and they were literally walked out of the Shell facility, I mean, Shell Terminal in Bonny. It almost cost the security staff on duty their jobs as those responsible for granting them access into the facility were served queries. Since then they have not gone to Shell again. So, forget that misadventure, it was all about Shell money but it is dead on arrival.
Is it true that the late Chief A.D. William Jumbo conferred a perpetual power of attorney on one Jasper Jumbo?
Well, so he claims but that is no longer an issue as the said purported power of attorney was firstly revoked by Chief Horace, by virtue of a Deed of Revocation dated 26th day of December, 2009, duly processed at the High Court of Rivers State in Port Harcourt and registered with the Rivers State Government at the Stamp Duty Office. Secondly, in a meeting held at the Conference Hall of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs on Thursday, 4th December, 2014, the said Jasper, by himself, also admitted that his purported power of attorney was voided by Chief Horace. This is as contained at paragraph 5.0 of the Minutes of the said meeting. Furthermore, the issue of the said power of attorney was the subject matter of litigations at the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt in Appeal No.: CA/PH/166/2018 between Chief Horace F.H. Oko-Jumbo and others versus Chief (Wari-Alabo) Prof. Jasper F. Jumbo and others; and the Appeal Court, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, 17th June, 2021, set aside the judgment of Justice G.O. Omereji of the High Court of Rivers State in favour of Jasper and the purported power of attorney.
We understand that the Nigeria Police Force is currently investigating the misappropriation of several funds belonging to the Jumbo Major House, can you confirm this?
Yes, we have been to Abuja more than five times and we have come back stronger. So, investigation is still going on and I believe that at the end of the day a report will be out and Jumbo Major House will know those who have stolen their money. We also need to ask questions about the opuwari that was being built supposedly by Jumbo Major House funds. The Jumbo Major House opuwari project needs to be investigated to find out why the construction has stopped and those responsible for this.
What is the position of the Elders’ Council on the recent agitation by Finima Community to be recognized as host community given, as we heard, that Brown Major House and Jumbo Major House are joint owners of the land where the NLNG plant is situated?
With regards to the NLNG host community issue, we are not left out in this, action is going on. We are consulting and working with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we get what is due us as a House and as co-hosts of the NLNG. You know we are elders, we don’t make noise, we just do what we have to do and deliver the results.
Another issue that people have been wondering is the reality is the Caretaker Committee. We hear there is a purported court ruling recognizing both the Caretaker Committee and Elders Council and further that the caretaker cannot be removed by the Elders’ Council because it was not created by the Council but by the masses of Jumbo Major House that created it. Can you confirm this?
That is not true. Although, upon the deposition of Chief Horace, the Council of Elders took over the leadership and administration of the House and a committee was created known as caretaker committee to assist the Council of Elders, and to work under the supervision of the elders and report to the Council of Elders. I wouldn’t want us dwell much on this since the matter is before the court, and also to avoid controversy. But let me say that this was a mistake ab initio and it is not true that it was created by the masses as claimed by those peddling such rumours. The tenure of the CTC was also not perpetual but for only two years. If anyone has a contrary view let them provide evidence that it was created by the masses, tell us the date, the venue of the meeting where the masses took a decision to create it and who convened the masses and from which part of Jumbo Major House. There are publications in the Nation and Surveillance Newspapers of Thursday, 11th September, 2014, which were paid for by Jasper Jumbo on the creation of the committee wherein the tenure of the committee was clearly stated. It is in the public domain. There is also a publication on the dissolution of the caretaker committee, which is also in the public domain. If anyone says the tenure of the committee was extended, where is the publication extending the tenure? Who signed it? I will stop here and let the court give a verdict on the issue.
The truth when properly articulated makes a lot of sense. It is always glaring and shines constantly like the northern star
Let me commend Amaopusenibo Engr Sodienye Jumbo for this incised interview. Kudos.