Rage in Delta as Jonathan contemplates fresh postponement of Warri $16bn project

There was anger in Itsekiri land and other parts of Delta State yesterday following indications that President Goodluck Jonathan might have postponed afresh the Ground Breaking of the $16 billion Delta Gas City and Deep Seaport projects slated for next Monday in Ogidigben, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The ceremony was rescheduled for Monday after several meetings between the President and stakeholders in the project during his visit to the state last month.

Mr. Edward Ekpokpo, Chairman, Warri Study Group and Secretary of the influential Itsekiri Leaders of Thought said yesterday that the ceremony would not take place on Monday.

He described the development as the clearest indication to Nigerians ahead of the president elections that President Jonathan cannot be trusted to keep his words.

Ekpoko, a lawyer, said “considering that this is the third time in three months that the President is breaching his promise, it is very unfortunate and disturbing for the Itsekiri nation in particular and the entire Niger Delta and Nigeria in general.

“This latest postponement is an affront on the collective sensibility and intelligence of the Itsekiri nation, especially after the last meeting he held with the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II and the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought on February 27 in Asaba.”

Ekpoko who spoke on phone last night alleged a game plan between the President and the Ijaw to scupper the project under any guise.

He said, “I reiterate my earlier position that the President is pursuing an Ijaw agenda and all he is doing is in pursuit of that agenda. I believe strongly that all these false claims by Ijaws on ownership of the land are being stage managed to create an atmosphere of insecurity.

Let me borrow the words of the late reggae icon, Bob Marley here that ‘you can fool some people sometimes but you cannot fool all the people all of the time. We, the entire Itsekiri nation, have had enough of him and his antics.

This should also be a very important lesson for all Nigerians that the President has shown, not only the itsekiri and the entire Niger Delta, but all Nigerians that he cannot be trusted to keep any promise he makes.”

Similarly, Ekpoko urged the Itsekiri people to rise up, wise up and “use their votes to expose their displeasure at the oppression being perpetrated by the Ijaw President and his kinsmen against the Itsekiri people” in the March 28 president election.

Indication of the shift came just 24 hours after former militant leader and the President’s confidant Chief Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) said that the President would be in Warri on Monday.

“I can assure you that the President will come on Monday for the Ground Breaking,” Tompolo, who was instrumental to the botched November 2014 event, told newsmen in Oporoza, Warri South West Local Government Area, Delta State.

Sources at the Presidency, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Interest Groups confirmed the fresh postponement.

The ceremony was scuttled last November, following a threat by the Ijaws to unleash mayhem in the area should the ceremony be held without resolving the controversy over the ownership of the project site.

Although what necessitated the latest shift was not immediately confirmed, there was a suggestion that it might not be unconnected with a threat by the Ogulagha Ijaw.

Ekpemupolo in a chat with newsmen in Oporoza said a meeting was scheduled between the Ijaws of Gbaramatu (his home land), neighbouring Ogulagha kingdom and the Itsekiri to resolve the issues at stake.

He said, “There was a meeting on Friday between Gbaramatu, Itsekiri and Ogulagha.

“By the grace of God, the President will come for the Ground Breaking of the EPZ project. There is no problem between us and the Itsekiri. We are brothers. We want to develop the nation.”

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