President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday paid tribute to pioneer civil servant, great statesman and patriot, Alhaji Ahmed Joda who died after a prolonged illness in his hometown, Yola, Adamawa State.
He was the last surviving member of Governor Hassan Usman’s Northern Nigeria cabinet.
President Buhari highlighted Joda’s “monumental contributions to Nigeria’s unity and progress,” from birth of the nation until his death, saying that “his lofty ideals will continue to motivate millions across the nation.’’
“We will not forget his sacrifices,” he added.
He also noted that the late “Super Permanent Secretary” as Joda and some of his colleagues were referred to in the 70s “distinguished himself as a remarkable scholar, journalist, intellectual, public servant and farmer.’’
President Buhari called Joda “a hero for all Nigerians” who, even in death, “will continue to inspire every generation to move forward with love, brotherhood and harmony.”
He prayed to Allah to accept his good deeds and grant fortitude to those he left behind in his family, Adamawa Emirate Council and entire people of the state to bear the loss.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
August 13, 2021
PRESS STATEMENT
12th August, 2021
RETIREES: Delta PDP Lampoon’s APC’s Ignorance, Idiocy Over Contributory Pension Scheme Modalities
Delta State PDP has challenged the opposition APC in the State to stop displaying crass ignorance and idiocy over the present Contributory Pension Scheme processes and get its facts right, instead of playing to the gallery and misleading Deltans over the issue of retirees in the State.
State Publicity Secretary of Delta PDP, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, in a statement, urged the APC to display some dignity and always get its facts right, before jumping into the public space with its puerile, half baked populist posturing, by acknowledging the commendable and visible steps of the Governor Okowa administration and indeed successive ruling PDP governments in the State, to address the pension matter and ensure that no stone is left unturned in the effort to get all pensioners, who have not already been enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme, are properly captured biometrically as soon as possible and given their rightful dues, which they have earned, in their years of meritorious service to the State.
Dr. Osuoza’s response to APC’s statement titled: “Delta APC deplores condition of retirees, urges them to vote out PDP in 2023, reads: “We are once again constrained to challenge the exhibition of falsehood and bad manners displayed by the APC megaphones and their sponsors to ignorantly attack the excellent efforts of PDP administrations over the years to put the matter of civil servants and pensioners on the front burner, starting with our affable leader, His Excellency, Chief James Onanefe Ibori who, with sheer adroitness, laid the transformation foundation on which his successors have built upon to make Delta a State that cannot be ignored.
It is an acknowledged, incontrovertible fact across the length and breadth of Delta State that under the Chief James Ibori administration, civil servants had their lives transformed completely, with many who never thought they could ever own houses and drive cars, actually bought cars of their own and became landlords.
“Pension was paid to pensioners as a matter of priority, including those inherited from the defunct Bendel State and those who retired in Delta State.
His successor, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan made an impressionable impact with his three-point agenda with human capital development as one of the administration’s priorities, which he diligently implemented and achieved a huge success. He improved on the package of achievements made by Chief Ibori, with retirees getting paid, until the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was established under the Pension Reform Act of 2004, which required sincere, painstaking administrative, bureaucratic compliance to get old and emerging retirees to get enrolled, in order to checkmate fraudulent and other sharp practices until that too was repealed and replaced with the Pension Reform Act in 2014.
The administration of the peoples’ Governor, Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa inherited the new Pension Reform Act of 2014, on taking over the mantle of leadership, in 2015.
It is pertinent at this juncture, to educate the ignorant APC and correct its wild comments and reckless, dangerous misunderstanding of the pension modalities, that the new pension reforms act of 2014, mandates a minimum contribution of 10 and eight percent of employees monthly emolument by the employer and employee respectively. This is paid into the employee’s Retirement Savings Account (RSA).
It was also mandatory that the new pension reforms would be actualized through the Biometric capture of those eligible to be enrolled and this new directive was challenging especially against the backdrop of an inherited pension regime that was operated manually, under the old Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).
To fully implement the scheme, a State has to at least establish a Pension Bureau, register its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), remit 10 percent employer and eight percent employees’ pension contributions for employees, conduct an actuarial valuation, open retirement benefits bond redemption fund account, fund accrued pension rights and group life insurance policy.
The above scenario was what the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa inherited when he assumed the mantle of leadership in 2015 and even the NLC and pensioners themselves have acknowledged that the administration has done a fantastic job so far in ensuring that the civil service, which operated in the analogue mode for so many years is fully digitalized and biometrically compliant and it is an ongoing process since the civil service churns out retirees and pensioners every year, even as those already employed and new employees are also being enrolled, captured and updated biometrically.
Of course, we want to assume that the ignorant, half baked APC publicists and megaphones actually know what ‘Biometric’ means, and for the avoidance of doubt and appropriate education on how the new pension reforms act is operated, we refer the dumb and daft APC publicists to the document: “Pension Commission PENCOM: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, May 2020, revised edition.”
Indeed, according to a report on the implementation of the scheme published by PENCOM: “As at Q4 2020, twenty-five (25) States of the Federation (including Delta) had enacted pension laws on the CPS while seven (7) States were at the bill stage”.
For the avoidance of doubt, let us also inform the ignorant APC that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has taken the matter of retirees a notch higher, by reducing the State’s indebtedness on the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS of over =N=181billion to =N=50billion, thereby saving the State =N=95billion after review of the outstanding obligations.
This reduction was achieved by the astute, pragmatic approach of the Governor Okowa administration, which collaborated with the Workers Unions in joint reconciliation exercises with organised labour and pension consultants.
An impeccable report from officials of the State government’s economic team has confirmed that the State government discovered that the faulty debt profile arose from the State’s transition from the old pension scheme to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) using the =N=18,000 minimum wage benchmark because wrong parameters were used in the computation.
According to the report: “In computing pension, we use the date of entry, birth, and net pay. The earlier computation wrongly assumed that people retire at 45, instead of 60 years. So, it was building on pension, even while employees earn salaries. That amounted to double-counting, which was wrong.
“We inherited =N=181B as pension liabilities. We did a review with labour and it saved the State =N=95B. Less than =N=80B was left after reconciling with labour. It was also an error to have projected salary increase in the computation.”
Even the Chairman, Delta State Council of NLC, Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku, who served in the committee, has expressed Labour’s satisfaction with the outcome of the review, saying that the Labour Unions also convinced the government to review the percentage of accrued pension paid to retired workers.
“The State’s Contributory Pension Law provided that when an employee retires, he should be paid at least 50 percent of his last salary scale, but when the =N=7,500 minimum wage was being used, workers received between 15 and 30 percent of their last salaries. So, the government approved its implementation.
“This means that instead of the =N=7,500 minimum wage used to calculate their entitlement, the government approved =N=18, 000 minimum wage for those who retired in 2011. Governor Okowa approved the difference, which labour had been clamouring for.
“Also, difficult as the Contributory Pension Scheme is, Governor Okowa has shown sustained commitment by releasing =N=1.3 billion monthly in servicing pension obligations to State government’s retirees. Delta is one of the very few States that have continued to run the contributory pension scheme’, Comrade Ofobruku confirmed.
“Of course, it has become pertinent to inform the clueless APC alarmists that of the 25 States that have fully enacted the laws of the Contributory Pension Scheme, only eight States, including Delta, are truly running the contributory pension scheme as it should be operated, because it is expensive for the government to run, especially with the approval and regular payment of the new minimum wage, which Delta State has fully implemented, even despite the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, which many States have used as an excuse not to even pay salaries at all.
It is also important to expose the naivety of the APC’s fake publicists by pointing their attention to the acclaim Governor Okowa received from pensioners when the retirees commended him for his continued effort in improving the payment of pensions and clearing the backlog of unpaid entitlements.
The late Chairman, Delta State Bureau of State Pension (DBSP), Mr. Tony Obuh, announced how Governor Okowa has left no one in doubt of his determination and sincerity in dealing with the issues bordering on the State’s pensioners since the commencement of his administration.
Obuh said: “Early in the life of Okowa’s administration when the revenue dropped drastically, he managed to sustain a monthly release of =N=150 million for pension payments with the promise to increase it with improved resources. Later, the governor increased the monthly releases to =N=300 million and then =N=500 million. So, the backlog of unpaid pensions has reduced.”
Is this the Governor Okowa and his PDP predecessors that APC’s infantile propagandists want to smear with their fake posturing and allow themselves to be used as a willing tool in a sponsored advert message to achieve mischief?
Indeed, Deltans can see and read between the lines and decipher fake from reality. There is no contention with the fact that APC is fake in Delta; it is a party that is populated by people who do not even understand what governance is and is even intellectually lazy as an opposition party, to do proper research about what is happening around them and get the facts, before rushing to the public space with wild allegations. Is it with this kind of ignorance that they plan to govern Delta State?
The APC has no presence anywhere; it can only revel in idiocy and bellyache in futility, even as PDP continues to consolidate its hold on Delta, enjoying the goodwill and synergy which the party has built with the people who have acknowledged that Delta State is a PDP State.
It is against this background that we are commending the people of Delta State for believing in Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, our own Ekwueme, and giving him and the PDP their unflinching support as we collectively join hands together to build a Stronger Delta for all Deltans.
PDP! Power to the People.
Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza,
State Publicity Secretary,
PDP, Delta State.
OKPE IDENTITY AND TRADITIONAL RULERSHIP: AN ANALYSIS
BY
PROF. O. IGHO NATUFE
PRESIDENT GENERAL, OKPE UNION
INTRODUCTION
It is a truism in politics that the next election starts from the day the previous election ends. But this does not mean a paralysis of governance in between elections. Unfortunately, the Nigerian example demonstrates a high level of paralysis of governance. At the Delta State level, for example, the contest for the governorship in 2023 has taken a significant space of public discourse. Various groups have saturated WhatsApp and other social media platforms in their campaigns for their respective candidates. Their enthusiasm is commended; but it is a method that Okpe Union will not emulate.
The Udogun Okpe, headed by HRM, Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, has injected itself as a major participant in the agitation for the emergence of an Okpe candidate as the next governor of Delta State. Several other Okpe groups have lined up behind the Udogun Okpe on this issue, arguing that capturing the governorship in 2023 is more important, strategically, than pursuing the Okpe Identity agenda. We respect their views, but disagree with their approach. The intent of this paper is to briefly examine the trends of thought on this subject and to present the position of the Okpe Union.
TRENDS ON OKPE IDENTITY
The concept of Okpe Identity has dominated public discourse in Okpe political circles and social media during the past couple of years. It is by no means a new phenomenon as the Identity of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality is not in doubt, linguistically and historically. When the four princely brothers – Orhue, Orhoro, Evbreke and Esezi – established the Okpe Kingdom it was established as an independent ethnic nationality and not as an appendage of any other ethnic nationality. The attempt by enemies of Okpe Identity is influenced by politics and has no basis in history and linguistics. It is essentially anchored on a falsification of history to serve political objectives of internal and external forces in their attempt to subjugate the Okpe population. The history of social movements and revolutions is replete with cases of fifth columnists propagating hostile policies against their own nationals for undisclosed economic and political aggrandizements.
There are three main trends in the contemporary debate on Okpe Identity. The proponents of these trends are: Udogun Okpe, Political Opportunists, and Okpe Union.
- UDOGUN OKPE
The Udogun Okpe, headed by the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, has assumed the leading role in propagating a false thesis “that Okpe Kingdom is one of the twenty four (24) Kingdoms of contemporary Federated Urhobo Nationality of Delta Central Senatorial District.” (OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SEN. DR. ARTHUR IFEANYI OKOWA, GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE. RE: RECOGNITION OF OKPE AS A DISTINCT ETHNIC NATIONALITY, VANGUARD, Lagos, Nigeria, July 13, 2021, p.20.) This publication by the Udogun Okpe, jointly signed by Okakuro, Justice D.E. Uwerhiavwe (Rtd), Unu-Okpe (Prime Minister) Okpe Kingdom, and Okakuro, Dr. V.A. Natufe, JP, Most Senior Okakuro, Okpe Kingdom, was not only a blatant distortion of Okpe History but a shameless public statement to appease the Urhobo in the Udogun Okpe’s plea for the latter to endorse an Okpe candidate for governorship in the 2023 elections. That HRM, Orhue l, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom had brilliantly argued in favour of Okpe Identity was no longer relevant in Udogun Okpe’s political calculation. In his Keynote Address at the 3rd AGM of the Okpe Union of North America on September 1, 2007, College Park, MD, USA, the Orodje succinctly declared:
“Okpe is a unique ethnic nationality. It has distinctive roots in ancient history, tradition, culture, customs and language.”
He added:
“Our people are rooted in migration from the Bini Kingdom. This historical experience is similar to most other ethnic nationalities of the Western Niger Delta. Of all these nationalities however, Okpe History, language, tradition, and culture are closer to those of Bini which form part of the Edo group of languages.”
In the above referenced Keynote Address, the Orodje emphatically stressed the uniqueness and distinctiveness of Okpe as an ethnic nationality. While Okpe belongs to the same Edoid group of languages with the Bini, Esan and the Urhobo, for example, it does not mean that Okpe is Bini or Urhobo is Okpe. For example, the fact that Ukrainian, Czech and Russian belong to the same Slavic group of languages does not mean that Ukrainian is Russian or Czech is Ukrainian.
The Udogun Okpe letter of July 13, 2021 was a very poor response to the letter of the Okpe Union to His Excellency, Governor Arthur Okowa on June 22, 2021, requesting for the Delta State’s recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality. The Orodje was aware of the Okpe Union letter. It is not a puzzle that the Orodje would sanction the Udogun Okpe letter that fundamentally contradicts his declared position on Okpe Identity in 2007. This summersault is a naked political exigency to persuade the Urhobo to endorse an Okpe governorship candidate in the 2023 elections. Because of this the Orodje and Udogun Okpe have accepted and started to propagate the lie “that Okpe Kingdom is one of the twenty four (24) Kingdoms of contemporary Federated Urhobo Nationality of Delta Central Senatorial District.” Our investigation reveals that a small but powerful minority controls Udogun Okpe as the majority is intimated into silence. The Orodje is captured in a gilded cage.
- POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS
Several members of the political class in Okpe Nation, including many paid foot-soldiers that readily shout “I am loyal sir/ma”, a euphemism for sycophancy; subscribe to the lie being propagated by the Udogun Okpe purely for electoral gains. While some of those in this group recognize the validity of Okpe Identity they are, however, compromised by their political ambition at the expense of Okpe Identity. They and the Udogun Okpe are two sides of the same coin. In fact, they are less honourable than the Udogun Okpe because of their preparedness to crawl before the Urhobo for political crumps. Their argument is that “let us get the Urhobo support to win the governorship then we can publicly support and facilitate Okpe Identity.” The weakness of this position is that it is based on deceit and naked opportunism.
- OKPE UNION
Unlike the Udogun Okpe and the political opportunists, the Okpe Union is firmly a promoter of Okpe Identity without any apologies. This position is based on the historical and linguistic constructs of the Okpe ethnic nationality, which even the Orodje recognized and hailed in 2007. It should be stressed that under the leadership of Arch. Ralph Karieren as the President General of the Okpe Union, this position was embraced and publicly articulated in 2010. Unfortunately, it was jettisoned under pressure from the Palace when Okakuro Robert Onome as the President General in 2018 declared falsely that “Okpe is Urhobo.” The Okpe people reject this falsity.
While the Okpe Union supports the idea of an Okpe governorship candidate in 2023, it does so independently as a distinct ethnic nationality and not as a sub-group of any other ethnic nationality. We shall openly endorse and promote an Okpe governorship candidate that operates from this prism. In fact, we are in conversation with qualified and credible Okpe candidates off camera on this matter. This is the cardinal difference between the Okpe Union and the Udogun Okpe – political opportunist alliance, an alliance which is anchored on misinformation and deceit.
There are eight ethnic nationalities in Delta State as listed below, in alphabetical order:
- Anioma.
- Ijaw.
- Ika.
- Isoko.
- Itsekiri.
- Ndokwa.
- Okpe.
- Urhobo.
The Udogun Okpe and the political opportunists will tell you that there are seven ethnic nationalities in Delta State, as they subsume Okpe under Urhobo. This is a fundamental difference between Okpe Union and the Udogun Okpe-political opportunist alliance.
To argue that an Okpe governorship candidate will have to assume Urhobo nationality in order to enhance his/her electoral chances is to suggest that the Urhobo nationality determines the chances of an Okpe candidate winning the votes of the other six ethnic nationalities in Delta State. This proposition fails to recognize the acceptability of Okpe as an independent ethnic nationality by those other six nationalities. What an Okpe governorship candidate needs to do to ensure victory is to construct strategic alliances with the other six ethnic nationalities, irrespective of the Urhobo. It is a futile blackmail by the Udogun Okpe – political opportunist alliance to propagate that the Okpe Union is against the emergence of an Okpe governor in Delta State in 2023. What we have is a struggle between two contrasting visions of the development of the Okpe Nation. While one vision professes speaking truth to power, the other relies on misinformation and historical distortions. Okpe Union believes in speaking truth to power.
GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL RULERSHIP
The issue of poor governance has bedeviled the development of Nigeria for decades. It was in search of a pathway to resolving this dilemma that compelled the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida to establish a Political Bureau to, inter alia, “review Nigeria’s political history and identify the basic problems which have led to our failure in the past and suggest ways of resolving and coping with these problems.” (Federal Republic of Nigeria, Government’s Views and Comments on the Findings and Recommendations of the Political Bureau, Lagos, 1987, p.3. (Hereinafter referred to as the Political Bureau). The Political Bureau, chaired by S. J. Cookey, comprised of some prominent academics as members. It recommended the creation of 6 new states including “at least one” a “Wawa or Enugu state in Igbo land” which it argued “should serve to re-assure the Igbo that they have been fully re-integrated into the Nigerian political scene and thereby end the profound sense of frustration which led to strident calls for a confederal arrangement by the Igbo.”(Ibid. p.61.)
An intriguing recommendation of the Political Bureau, which the Babangida Government rejected, was on the rotation of the federal presidency and the state governorship. While the Political Bureau recommended rotation of these executive offices, it at the same time advised that there should not be “a constitutional provision for rotation, for it amounts to an acceptance of our inability to grow beyond ethnic or state loyalty.” (Ibid. p.23.) It is instructive to note that, most of the members of the Political Bureau who argued that rotation “amounts to an acceptance of our inability to grow beyond ethnic and state loyalty” are active advocates of rotation in their respective political parties in contemporary Nigeria. This is a clear double-speak which remains a spectre hunting Nigerian politics and politicians.
In pre-colonial Nigeria, traditional rulers exercised exclusive powers in their respective kingdoms before the intrusion of British colonial rule. Under British rule, their role was significantly diminished from that of their imperious past. They became tools of the British indirect rule system. In post-colonial Nigeria they are now pleading for a role in governance. Their hitherto so-called “subjects”, the anti-colonial nationalists gradually began to doubt the relevance of their role. As noted by Obafemi Awolowo:
“There is a mutual distrust verging on antagonism between the educated few and the Chiefs in Nigeria. The latter fear that the former are out to oust them from their privileged positions.” (Awolowo O., Path to Nigerian Freedom, London, 1947, p.32.)
This feeling of “mutual distrust” continues to underline the relations between traditional rulers and Nigerian political leaders. Even when a role was carved for them in the various houses of chiefs in the respective regions in 1954-January 1966, they were at the mercy of politicians who decided when and how to dispose of them as dictated by political expediency.
Unlike the pre-January 1966 era, the 1979 Second Republican Constitution did not accommodate traditional rulers in any structure of government. While both civilian and military regimes have freely employed the services of traditional rulers in manipulating pro-regime policies in their respective domains, neither has been able to carve a role for them in the polity. In various presidential campaigns since the 1979 elections several traditional rulers expressed their preferences for contending candidates, thus positioning themselves as partisan politicians. It is doubtful if this would help in the search for a role for them in the polity.
The Political Bureau recognized the significant role of traditional rulership in Nigeria’s political system, a view which was accepted by the Ibrahim Babangida military Government (The Political Bureau, p.4.), but proposed contending options vis-à-vis traditional rulership that need to be cited. The Political Bureau submitted the following options:-
- ”outright abolition of the institution”;
ii “co-optation in government”;
iii “democratisation to conform with process of modern government”;
iv “maintenance of status quo”; and
v “the determination of their relevance and future by the people.”
It was the view of the Political Bureau that “traditional rulers should have no specific role to play in government beyond the local government level, where they have relevance.” The Political Bureau “also agreed that it is a misnomer, considering the scope and character of the contemporary Nigerian state to call them traditional ‘rulers.’ Therefore, the Political Bureau opined that, it “will make no sense to install in the political system, people whose primary qualifications is ascribed to status at a time when the people are demanding a truly democratic polity.” (Ibid. p.50.)
Even though the Political Bureau recommended that “traditional rulers should have no specific role to play in government beyond the local government level, where they have relevance”, the concluding section of its recommendations is more telling when it declared:
“They possess no special qualities to enable them to be used in enriching the political system or instilling moral rectitude in public life.”
This was a very serious condemnation of traditional rulers who, according to the Political Bureau, “possess no special qualities to enable them to be used in enriching the political system or instilling moral rectitude in public life.” To put it bluntly, as reasoned by the Political Bureau, traditional rulers are of no use to contemporary federal republican political system.
While the Political Bureau`s first and fourth options of an “outright abolition of the institution” and “maintenance of status quo”, respectively, are self-explanatory, they did not offer any analysis on the other options. For example, what are the implications of “co-optation in government”? How do you “democratise” traditional rulers to make them “conform with the process of modern government?” What processes are there for the “people” to determine the “relevance and future” of traditional rulers? These vital gaps in the work of the Political Bureau need to be addressed by Nigerians, including us Okpe as we interrogate a role for the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.
- “CO-OPTATION IN GOVERNMENT”
To co-opt traditional rulers in government implies using them as agents of government policies. This role is analogous to the role they played in British colonial administration as tools of the British indirect rule system. To co-opt traditional rulers in government implies their loss of insulation from partisan politics. They become mere tools of government policies and seekers of government contracts, two roles that severely compromise their respective stools.
- HOW TO “DEMOCRATISE ” TRADITIONAL RULERS?
The task is on how to “democratise” traditional rulers to make them ‘conform with the process of modern government.” This is a major challenge for traditional rulership, including the Okpe Orodjeship. As argued by the Political Bureau, “it is a misnomer, considering the scope and character of the contemporary Nigerian state to call them traditional ‘rulers.’ Therefore, it “will make no sense to install in the political system, people whose primary qualifications is ascribed to status at a time when the people are demanding a truly democratic polity.”(Ibid,) The decision of the Orodje to dissolve the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union on October 3, 2020 and banned them from contesting future elections, was an assault on the Constitution of the Okpe Union and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
It was an illegal arrogation of powers which he lacks in “a truly democratic polity.” His illegal action was a throw-back to the deceased era of the divine rights of kings. Our Palace sources and several senior Ekakuro informed us of their advice to the Orodje to allow the scheduled November 14, 2020 Okpe Union General Assembly to hold and elect their new NEC; but he refused. Fortunately for the development of democracy in Okpe Nation, the Okpe Union General Assembly which held on November 14, 2020, unanimously rejected the Orodje’s illegality and opted for democratic elections.
Supporters of Orodje’s illegality quickly asserted that the “words of the Orodje must be obeyed” and characterized opposing views as “mischievous” and “dissident.” This illegal action is reminiscent of the dictatorial policies that led to the demise of the first Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, Esezi l, a development which ushered in a period of almost 200 years interregnum. Thanks to the Okpe Union, the Okpe monarchy was restored in 1945.
The Okpe people despise dictatorship and autocracy. The foundation of the Okpe Kingdom was constructed on solid democratic principles with the Four Ruling Houses playing defined roles. When the four brothers established the Okpe Kingdom, they could easily have adopted the Bini monarchical hereditary system by asking their most senior brother to assume the Orodjeship that would have established an Orhue dynasty, like the Eweka dynasty in Benin, but they elected to adopt a more democratic pattern by asking their youngest brother to be the first Orodje and subsequently to rotate the Orodjeship among the Four Ruling Houses. This is a significant departure from the Bini monarchical system which Okpe nationals need to appreciate. As a corollary to this, the Okpe people are not “subjects” of the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom. There is NO Royal family in Okpe. A subject is a slave, a vassal, etc. A major uniqueness of the Okpe Nation is that all Okpe sons and daughters are princes and princesses as they are children of the four founding brothers of the Okpe Kingdom. So we are brothers/sisters and cousins. You cannot be a “subject” to your cousin. It is therefore a misnomer to describe an Okpe person as a “subject” of the Orodje.
In 2019 a new salutation Ọrẹ ovwokpe (the owner of Okpe) was introduced in greeting the Orodje. This was a throw-back to the feudal era when a king owns the land and the people. Following the introduction of Ọrẹ ovwokpe, it is noteworthy that some Okpe nationals were declaring that the “Orodje owns the entire Okpe and all in it including every Okpe son and daughter, and their wealth.” This feudal mentality frighteningly demonstrates the low level of consciousness among our Okpe population, and how this is being exploited by the traditional and political ruling class. Our sources revealed that Ọrẹ ovwokpe has been cancelled. However, one of them, a senior Okakuro opined that its conception was “very nauseating.”
Thus, it is imperative that the Orodje should restrict himself to being the custodian of Okpe traditions and customs and the Udogun Okpe, and desist from injecting himself into the political arena of governance.
Besides the Okpe Union issue, two recent cases demand a serious rethink by the Orodje in his relations with Okpe communities in Okpe Nation. First is the Ugborhen Community rejection of his imposition of a duke. The second is the position of the Sapele Okpe Community opposing the Orodje’s decision to confer a chieftaincy title on Austin Ariaja which culminated in the delegation of the Sapele Okpe Community abandoning a meeting with him, and the subsequent suspension of Okakuro Natufe from membership of the Sapele Okpe Community. The establishment of “a high powered committee” by the Orodje on August 11, 2021, “to look into the grievances of Sapele Okpe Community against the Palace for conferring Chieftaincy title on Mr. Austin Ariaja” was an action that could have been undertaken BEFORE the conferment of the chieftaincy title on July 26, 2021. (The supreme Traditional Council of Okpe monarchy, Udogun Okpe headed by His Royal Majesty, Maj Gen Felix Mujakperuo (Rtd), CFR, Mni, Orhue 1, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom has earlier today 11/8/2021 set up a high powered committee to look into the grievances of Sapele Okpe Community against the palace for conferring Chieftaincy title on Mr. Austin Ariaja of Oton-iyasere. The committee is expected to come up with recommendation to Udogun Okpe on how best to amicably resolve the impasse between Sapele Okpe Community and the palace cum immediate cause of the disagreement between Sapele Okpe Community and Otonyatsere enclave and recommend permanent solution.) Furthermore, as averred by a senior Okakuro, a recommendation by the Okakuro Moses Asini-led “high powered committee” to strip Austin Ariaja of his chieftaincy title could prove embarrassing to the Orodje.
How do we “democratise” the Orodjeship and make it relevant to the tenets of modern government? This is a vital question that must be discussed by all Okpe nationals in public arenas across the Okpe Kingdom. The views of Okpe in the Diaspora need also to be sought. There is an urgent need to curtail the dictatorial – command system that many, including several Ekakuro have observed in the Orodjeship. There are discordant chords emanating from several senior Ekakuro. We need a series of sessions on frank dialogue across the 13 districts and towns and villages in Okpe Nation, to engage Okpe nationals in conversations on the democratization of the Orodjeship and the future of the Okpe Nation.
“HURT SOMEONE WITH THE TRUTH, BUT NEVER MAKE THEM HAPPY WITH A LIE.” (Qaher Salah, September 14, 2016).
CDWR DEMANDS UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF 16 MOUKA WORKERS ARRESTED AND DETAINED BY THE NIGERIAN POLICE ON THE ORDERS OF MOUKA MANAGEMENT
CDWR DEMANDS AN END TO MOUKA MANAGEMENT’S ATTACKS ON WORKERS AND THEIR LEADERS
WE DEMAND AN END TO CASUALISATION AND CONTRACT STAFFING IN MOUKA LIMITED AND IMPROVEMENT IN WORKING CONDITION
This morning (August 13, 2021) the Nigeria Police invaded Mouka Foam Ltd for the third day to brutally arrest the branch Chairman, Comrade Adeyemi Johnson and 15 other workers on the orders of the management.
The arrested and detained workers were brutalized and teargassed including Comrade Adeyemi Johnson who is asthmatic and in a life threatening condition.
Workers have embarked on strike and peaceful protest on August 11 over management attacks on democratic rights of workers. Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR) condemns the victimization of key workers’ leaders by the management of Mouka Foam including unlawful sacks, punitive transfers, arrest and detention.
It is clear that the Nigerian Police is being used by the government and company owners as armed thugs to intimidate and brutalize Nigeria workers and the masses. We say no to brutality!
The Vice President of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Comrade Femi Alawoyin and the chairman of the Mouka Branch of the union Comrade Adeyemi Johnson were callously sacked because they led workers agitation for improved working conditions some months back.
The Secretary of the union in the company, Abosede Adams, a woman with children who are less than 10 years old was punitively transferred from Lagos to Aba while the Assistant Secretary Godwin Okon was transferred from Lagos to Ibadan.
These attacks were carried out as part of an orchestrated plan to intimidate workers and behead the union.
We support the ongoing strike action by the workers to protest the victimization and attempt to behead workers union in the company.
The strike was actually triggered by the attempt by the armed police, numbering over 100, invited by the management invaded the company’s premises to arrest the labour leaders in Mouka. This was vehemently resisted by workers.
Workers had embarked on a 5-day strike in March 2021 to compel the management to implement the salary increment of N9,000 as agreed. There was an agreement not to victimize workers for taking part in March strike action but after a few weeks management started victimizing workers, leading to sacks and punitive transfers.
Presently, the contract and outsourced workers are about 300 compared to regularized workers who are about 136 workers. The management is doing everything possible to convert all the workers to casual workers in order to enable it further enslave workers and make more super profit. The outsourced company that employs these casual workers is Resources Intermediaries Ltd whose owners are linked to key management staff. Mouka Form is making so much money but pays a pittance to workers. For instance, the casual workers, some of whom have worked for 20 years are still casuals and earn N25,000 monthly. Mouka Limited has the poorest working conditions for workers when compared with other companies of the same status in the industry.
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR) calls on the management to immediately recall the victimised workers leaders, reverse and stop all forms of victimization, meets the demands of workers for improved pay and conditions and end casualisation and contract staffing in Mouka Limited.
It is unfortunate that key leaders of National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), General Secretary, Mr Joseph Dada and President, Mr Babatunde Olatunji are yet to intervene concretely. As a matter of fact, the President of the union works in Vita Foam and is 3 minutes walk to Mouka Foam but has not visited workers since workers went on strike 2 days ago. The General Secretary has also not visited the workers to give concrete solidarity to workers. It is this abandonment of workers by these key leaders of NUCFRLANMPE that has emboldened the management to unleash more attacks. We also call on Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to intervene in the struggle. Nigerian workers in Mouka Foam need all the solidarity to defeat vicious management.
SIGNED
Comrade Rufus Olusesan Comrade Chinedu Bosah
National Chairperson National Publicity Secretary
