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Warri: the Death of a Peace Accord

Vanguard (Lagos)
ANALYSIS
July 10, 2004
Posted to the web July 12, 2004

By Kingsley Omonobi, Head Warri Bureau And Osaro Okhomina

THE atmosphere was camaraderie-like. It was an unimaginable accomplishment
worth celebrating. Thus, nobody could deny the actors all the self-adulation.
Venue was the conference room of the Nigeria Navy Base (NNS Delta) Warri. Date:
June 23, 2004.
On this day, prominent chiefs from the warring Itsekiri and Ijaw groups were
seen together, exchanging banters, smiling and joking with one another.
Chief Gabriel Mabiaku, the traditional prime minister of Warri Kingdom and next
to Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri was cracking jokes with Chief Wellington
Okirika, the traditional prime minister of the Gbaramatu (Ijaw) Kingdom of
Warri. Ovuozourie Macaulay, Delta State commissioner for inter-ethnic relations
and government's representative on the peace committee sat in their middle,
with bound documents said to be details of all the agreements reached at the
six-month-old negotiations between the Ijaws and Itsekiris on the table.
Almost unable to contain his innermost emotions, Macaulay stood up and paid his
respects to the high chiefs and other negotiators from both ethnic groups. It
was now time to let the world know the good and long-awaited news.
And he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great joy that I wish to present
to you our leaders who have been meeting for months now to find a lasting
solution to the Warri crisis. Today, they have decided to let the world know
that the solution to the problems, is in sight and that they are willing to
live together as brothers and sisters".
With these words, the baton to address the press was handed over to the Chief
Mabiaku who then read the text of the communique and the agreements reached by
both leaders of Itsekiris and Ijaws under the title, "The dawn of a new era".
In his preliminary remarks, Chief Mabiaku noted that, "during the discussions,
the parties identified 18 issues as causes of conflicts in Warri. The Ijaws of
Warri and the Itsekiris agreed on 15 as areas of common interest. This shows
that the parties have more common areas of agreement than disagreement".
Chief Okirika, the leader of the Ijaw team to the peace talks also said that
"the fact that the Ijaws and the Itsekiris for the first time in their history
decided to meet and sit in one room and talk to themselves" was one triumph
worth applauding.
The areas of agreement according to the communique were as follows:
(a) Both ethnic groups agreed to totally abhor violence as a means of solving
political or any other problem.
(b) Both ethnic groups are committed to dialogue as the only means of peace in
all situations.
(c) Both agree to totally avoid external interferences in their affairs i.e.,
all persons not known to hail from any of the 3 Warri local government areas be
kept in abeyance anytime issues affecting the 3 Warri local government areas
are being discussed.
(d) That the two groups should totally avoid provocative publications in the
media.
(e) That both ethnic groups should together establish a joint youth peace
vanguard.
(f) That a standing peace committee of and for the two groups be established.
(g) That no ethnic group/kingdom/clan/person in the 3 Warri local government
areas should marginalise one another.
(h) That the two ethnic groups shall adhere to and respect the rule of law and
court judgements without recourse to violence and extraneous arguments as an
appellate court.
(i) That both ethnic groups do not object to request to vacate properties/
houses, villages and towns forcefully occupied by either or both of them. Both
groups however note and support government's current efforts in this regard.
(j) That the ethnic groups are free to return to and be settled in their homes
and villages without any threat of violence or molestation.
(k) That both ethnic groups should, as a matter of necessity, participate at
whatever level in the deliberation of and substantially benefit from monies
constitutionally allocated to the area i.e. the 13% derivation fund. It is
suggested that a bill be sent to the House of Assembly for a formula for
sharing. The sharing formula should be 60/40 in favour of oil producing areas,
i.e. 40% be retained by the state government for general use and 60% to be
spent for the benefit of oil producing communities or ethnic groups in
accordance with their level of oil production.
(l) That the state and federal governments should carry out massive
developments in the area in order to transform it from its current state of
under-development and neglect to a situation of sufficiency. This, it is
believed, will place less emphasis on who gets what and thus improve the love,
empathy and tolerance level between both ethnic groups which share common
problems.
(m) That both ethnic groups should have improved and more equitable
relationship with the oil and gas companies operating in the area. In this
regard, a joint committee of Ijaw of Warri/Itsekiri should be set up.
(n) That there should be proper representation of both ethnic groups in the 3
Warri Local government areas in boards and parastatals at state and federal
levels.
(o) To sustain the present level of peace in the area, the present Ijaw/
Itsekiri peace committee should continue with its peace assignment.
The climax of the landmark event was when the negotiators and signatories to
the peace accord went to the home of Chief Mabiaku to have what Chief Okirika
described as a "peace lunch", a remarkable show of new-found love that was to
take place in one of the homes of an Ijaw leader at a later date.
But on Tuesday, July 6, 2004, an unfortunate development happened. Leaders of
the 14-man Ijaw delegation to the six-month peace negotiation between the
Itsekiris and Ijaws that culminated in the peace accord, announced their
withdrawal from the committee.
In an open letter to the chairman of the Ijaw of Warri/Itsekiri peace meeting,
Mr. Ovouzorie Macaulay, commissioner for inter-ethnic relations and the entire
Nigerian public and signed by Chief W.O. Okirika, Bolowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom,
Chief J.G.B. Ari, Puwei of Gbaramatu Kingdom and Mr. Clark Gbenewei, leader of
thought, "we, the leaders representing Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Warri Ijaw/
Itsekiri peace meeting organised at the instance of the state government put on
record that our participation in the meeting was illegal on the ground that our
mandate, which was withdrawn by the entire people of Gbaramatu, became
ineffective sometimes in March this year.
"That this withdrawal of mandate was effectively made known to us but we stayed
put in the said peace meeting to the end to make our Itsekiri and other Ijaw
brothers believe that we were still relevant in the scheme of things in
Gbaramatu Kingdom in particular, and Delta State in general. We deliberately
did what we did as our un-mandated participation was seemingly complementing
cessation of the hostility.
"The resolution of the Warri ethnic crisis is with the Delta State government
and not with the people of the three Warri local government areas. It is a
known fact that the fundamental issue to be addressed for the final resolution
of the unending Warri ethnic crisis in order to usher in permanent peace is the
creation of separate independent administrative political arrangements for the
Ijaw of Warri.
For example, local government council areas for the Ijaws of Warri to solve the
problem of "sectorial dominance" which the Delta State as well as the Federal
Government know but are shying away from. Any other thing done without first
addressing this fundamental issue causing the unending Warri crisis will be
counter-productive. This, we know very well, but decided to play on by making
others believe that we were still the true and authentic representatives of
Gbaramatu Kingdom and indeed the Ijaws of Warri in taking decisions and making
a report which we knew will not be binding on the Ijaws of Warri at the end of
the day as we had lost our mandate since".
They declared that the report written and signed by them and which is now in
circulation through the media, but yet to be formally handed over to Governor
James Ibori. "is null and void on the ground that our signatures on the
document are illegal in so far as we had no mandate of our people any more
before the conclusion of the peace meeting and the writing of its report".
A clear indication from this action was that the Ijaws, indeed, have dumped the
peace agreement. It has, thus, become a peace accord gone sour.
What happened? Reasons abound, ranging from suspicion to outright rejection of
the terms and letters of the agreement. Thus, rather than elicit harmony and an
air of freedom, the city of Warri had been gripped by tension, fear and
uncertainty since that June 23, 2004. Therefore, that initial but false air of
happiness that greeted the city the first two days after the accord was signed
and celebrated particularly by the leaders who signed the accord themselves,
only served to give those opposed to the agreement time to digest, analyse and
expose the shortcomings of the accord as it affected their ethnic groups.
The first sign that the peace initiative would not be accepted by the Ijaws was
made known by Chief Samson Mamamu, the Western zone chairman of the Ijaw
National Congress comprising Edo, Delta and Ondo States.
Mamamu had after studying the document where 15 of the 18 contentious areas
discussed were agreed to, condemned it in its totality, saying the peace deal
was doomed for failure. Firstly, he frowned at the fact that the fundamental
issues in contention for which the Ijaws and the Itsekiris have been fighting
all these years, for which lives have been lost, villages destroyed and people
driven out of the communities, were "not even touched at all."
"Can you imagine that the so-called peace accord did not address the question
of ward delineation, who represents who in the state and federal
constituencies, the issue of separate local governments and other issues dear
to the hearts of the Ijaws of Warri?
"Aside that, I want you to know that the mandate of the signatories to
represent the people had been withdrawn since March and this was communicated
to them on March 20, 2004"
Okirika, on his part, had in an earlier interview described the accord as the
handiwork of God to see that peace returns to Warri and that economic and
socio-political activities resume in the battle-weary city. He knew of the grey
areas but noted that they would be resolved in future. Said he: "Though some
contentious issues were not agreed to in the communique, this accord should
however serve as a spring board for further negotiations and agreements".
It was as if this statement by Okirika ignited a time tomb. Ijaw opinion
leaders, youth groups and other leaders of thought pounced on the leaders who
signed the accord. Chief Edwin Clark, the Ijaw national leader himself was no
less infuriated. In a twinkle, the Ijaw youths of Warri origin had issued a
seven - day ultimatum to the elders of the Ijaw who partook in the peace
agreement to denounce their membership of the peace accord publicly or face the
wrath of the people. Without mincing words, they described the deal struck with
the Itsekiris to enthrone peace as a deceptive plot to enslave the Ijaws of
Warri.
Among other things, the youths led by Hon. Mark Guwor noted that a peace forum
that does not take into cognisance the people at the grassroot and without
consultation with other stakeholders in the area cannot usher the much-desired
unity.
What they expected from the peace accord among other things, were true
delineation of voters' wards in the three Warri local government areas to
reflect the 1991 census exercise of the area, and balanced democratic
participation of the people to reflect the population of the area.
"Until these issues are discussed and agreed to, the peace accord is declared
null and void and no one should cite or quote it as an authority anywhere and
at anytime.. Moreover, Mr. Ovouzourie Macaulay, the commissioner for inter-
ethnic relations is advised not to aggravate the issues in the name of making
peace" the youths warned.
On the part of the elders who spoke through the Warri Ijaw peace monitoring
group, they told the signatories to the accord that what they actually signed
did not represent peace and a new dawn but war in Warri. To this end, they
declared that "the elders (those who signed) are no more our leaders and
representatives in any capacity and that a lasting peace can only be achieved
in Warri when the fundamental issues in the Warri crisis are addressed".
But there was also another plank to the disagreement. The Urhobo ethnic
nationality in Warri on its part, submitted that the peace accord reached
between Itsekiris and Ijaws without their (Urhobo) participation was a flash in
the pan. They also hinged their belief that the deal would not hold water
because the political control of Warri and the issue of self determination were
not addressed.
So when on Tuesday, 6th July, 2004, the three principal leaders of the 14 man
Ijaw delegation to the peace talks signed a statement announcing their
withdrawal from the peace accord, it came as no big surprise to those who had
been following the developments.
But beyond all these verbal outbursts, Weekend Vanguard investigation revealed
that the leaders who signed the withdrawal statement did not just decide to do
so out of their own volition. Apart from the threats to their lives and those
of their families, one of the leaders (names withheld) was alleged to have been
kidnapped by enraged youths and abducted for three days where he was made to
renounce his membership of the peace committee and to denounce the peace accord
in its entirety.
The action of the youths sent shivers down the spines of the other leaders who
quickly came out with the signed statement as they did not want to experience
such a treatment. In fact, one of the leaders who spoke under anonymity was
furious that such a thing was even allowed to happen. "Security reports had
earlier shown that the leaders who signed the accord had been under constant
threat since then. Can you imagine that one of us was kidnapped for three days?
If he had been killed, who would have known and what would have happened to his
family?
"Does that show any seriousness on the part of government that they really want
peace? Are they really interested in peace? We don't even know the truth about
the whole matter any more if lives can be threatened as such. That poses the
question, where do we go from here?"
Indeed, that remains one big unanswered question. What are the implications of
this breakdown in the agreement between the two ethnic groups? What are the
options left for government to protect lives and property?
For the Itsekiris, they would prefer to "watch and see". According to one of
their leaders who also preferred anonymity, "this is not the time to talk. What
happened (withdrawal of signatures and membership by Ijaw leaders) is
unfortunate. Nobody wished it because we're desirous to have peace here.
"As things are now, we would prefer to watch and see how things go. But it is,
at least, clear to all Nigerians that we're not the ones saying no to peace.
So, let's see how it goes".
The Delta State government is at great pain that the road map to peace and
stability in Warri is being altered. It is also the same disappointment for the
nation, oil companies and other indigenes and residents in the troubled oil-
rich Warri city.
If it is considered that the Federal Government had come out to publicly admit
that it loses over $100 billion yearly to violence in the area and that over
140,000 barrels per day are lost by Shell Petroleum Development Company alone,
not to talk of Chevron with two flow stations that produce about 120,000
barrels shut down, it is understandable why government is at unease with the
current return to the deadlock that had persisted all along.
Nigerians, therefore, eagerly wait to see how those in authority in different
tiers of government can move to quench the emerging flame before it rages to
consume everything and anything in sight.

   

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