Since the struggle for the emancipation of the Niger Delta by diverse groups began, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has been playing critical and strategic roles to ensure the focus is maintained and the intellectual input necessary to drive the struggle is available.

 

In this interview, the IYC, Ibani Clan, one of the core components of the organization, through its Chairman, Comrade Princewill Jumbo, takes exception to the neglect and abandonment being visited on the Ibani Clan comprising Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State which remains an irony considering the economic importance of the area to Nigeria, as a country by the same all-purpose vehicle created by the Federal Government to drive development in the region, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

 

Jumbo, who has remained a strong voice in advocating fairness, equity and justice for his people, Bonny LGA, in particular, and the Niger Delta, in general, spoke to Kristina Reports publisher/editor-in-chief, Godswill Jumbo, and Port Harcourt correspondent, Kingba Jacks, calling on the NDDC to do more strategic and stakeholder engagements in their development plans. Enjoy the excerpts:   

Kristina Reports: Good evening, Sir, please, may we meet you?

Comrade Princewill Jumbo: My name is Comrade Princewill D. Jumbo, IYC Chairman, Ibani/Bonny Clan.

We have been following the activities of IYC and its agitation for the development of the Niger Delta. What does the IYC – your organisation – think about the impact of NDDC in the Niger Delta, especially, your own clan, the Ibani Clan, comprising Bonny Local Government Area?

Well, from our own perspective, NDDC, as a body, has failed the Bonny people; mostly, the clan in which I come from. They don’t have respect for the traditional institution and no meaningful impact that they have played as regards Bonny Local Government. There is a project going on at the Bonny Health Centre, which signpost has the caption: “renovation/upgrading”. To us, there was no proper briefing to the kingdom, as a people. And even IYC, as a body, and even the traditional institution, no proper briefing. So that the Bonny people will know what the terms of contract is saying. This is because, after so many years of abandoning the Bonny Ring Road, coming to Bonny, now, to say you want to renovate health center that has stayed for more than forty years. To us, it’s like NDDC does not value Bonny people, especially, when we know the impact which Bonny have created as regards fund raising or whatever to the NDDC.

When you say the NDDC has failed you and then has not done anything, abandoned the Bonny Ring Road and is coming to do upgrade of the health centre that has been there for a long time, were you looking at the NDDC building a new, like remodelling the health centre instead of doing like patch patch work?

Exactly, that is what we are saying, you cannot just come to say you want to upgrade or renovate a building that have stayed for decades that we don’t even trust the integrity of that building any longer.

Ok…now, let’s look at what you are saying about the NDDC not performing, especially, in Bonny Local Government. Now, isn’t that strange given the amount of funds the NDDC has been drawing from Bonny? The information we have is that NDDC draws, by statutory laws in the country setting it up, three per cent of the revenue from the oil companies operating in the Bonny. Can this be true?

Yes. NDDC has stayed for 17 years now, if I’m not mistaken, and before then, we have Mobil, Mobil have been paying three per cent to NDDC. We have Chevron, Chevron have been paying three per cent to NDDC. We have SPDC, SPDC, which is Shell, have been paying three per cent to NDDC. We have the NLNG, they also have been paying three per cent to NDDC, and apart from SPDC, who have stayed in the island for more than fifty something years now, these other companies – NLNG, Chevron and Mobil, have stayed more than twenty years. So, what can Bonny people say they have achieved from NDDC? Nothing!

So, you mean none of these funds that have come to NDDC have come back in form of projects to Bonny?

Yes. Like when you want to say, “OK…something that you are giving out to somebody, in return, what do you achieve? Nothing! And look at what the Bonny people are going through as regards the sea pirates that is disturbing Bonny every now and then. It’s very, very uncalled for and, by right and by law, it is the paramount duty of the NDDC to provide boats for all the riverine communities in the Niger Delta. So, where have we gone wrong?

Are you saying that NDDC has deviated from its mandate?

Yes

So, given the circumstance, especially in terms of the water ways, what kind of boats are you looking at? Because already there are boats ferrying Bonny people to and from Port Harcourt, even in the midst of the sea pirates’ attacks. What kind of boats is the IYC thinking that this is the kind of boat that the NDDC should be able to get for Bonny and other riverine communities?

My brother, if you go to a place like Lagos, you will see their modern way of transportation. What we are using now is something else, and that is why we fall so cheap to these guys that are terrorizing the river. So, NDDC, as a body, didn’t mean well, if they mean well as to the development of the Niger Delta, they will come up with something. To me, I think that before they will come together even to name the building of NDDC after a Bonny man, then definitely, Bonny has played a key role as regards the formation of NDDC. So, we deserve better things from NDDC.

Given the issues you have raised, one is tempted to ask, what has IYC done to be able to bring these issues face to face with the NDDC, have you tried to like reach them, you know, interface with them, and like highlight these problems and what was their response?

Well, if you may know, IYC, as a body, is an international organization. And each clan, does their own things in their own way but what we are discussing here is Bonny matter, and Bonny cause. So, what we are doing here boils down to the development of our kingdom. The time has gone when people will use Bonny name to siphon money from the NDDC. This time around, we will resist it in every way, by law, we will resist it. That time has gone when people will just wake up in the name of the kingdom, go to NDDC siphon money from NDDC. And we will make sure that this time around, all abandoned projects that NDDC have abandoned in Bonny Kingdom will be revisited. We will make sure we follow up to make sure that every abandoned project as regards to the project they abandoned in the kingdom will be revisited we will not take it any longer. The time has gone when people will be taking Bonny for granted.

What advice do you have for NDDC given the situation, given the circumstances you have described so far, what do you think NDDC should do to be able to make the people of Bonny Kingdom to be happy?

Well, the thing there is that, NDDC, as a body, should come down to the community and have a heart-to-heart discussion with the traditional institution, the Bonny Local Government, the Bonny Youth Federation, now, the Bonny Youth Assembly; the people need to know what they are doing. If you have a project in the kingdom, you have to come to down discuss it with the people. The people will tell you the one that is of priority to them, then they look into it, they brainstorm on it and know how to go about it. You just don’t wake up on your own, you come, you just pick one thing you want to do, even at the end of the day when you pick it, you cannot or will not finish it. So, to us, as an organization, we are not comfortable with that and we are not happy. So, that is the reason why we need to voice out. Even the king, they can also go to the king and discuss with the king because as a royal father, he knows what is affecting his people most. So, he can also advise and say, do this or do that, let’s do like this or let’s do like that. Everything is about understanding. Some few persons cannot just go and decide something then at the end of the day, you come to the community and just do things the way you want. So, to us, as a body, we are not happy about it. So, our own advice to them is that, let there be cordial relationship between NDDC, as a body, and Bonny Kingdom. And whatever they want to do for Bonny people, let the kingdom know. The traditional institution, the local government, the Bonny Youth Federation, the Ijaw Youth Council, everybody should be aware. Let there be discussions, let there be understanding, that is all what we are saying.