Warri on Edge, Delta’s CSO on Mute

Delta State today teeters dangerously close to chaos.

The ongoing imbroglio over the ward delineation exercise in Warri has become a ticking time bomb, and the deafening silence from the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the state, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, is both puzzling and damning.

Let us be clear: the state government lacks the constitutional power to suspend a delineation exercise once initiated by INEC or its agents. But what the constitution does not forbid is proactive leadership. It does not excuse apathy. It does not indemnify a governor from the consequences of inaction. Sheriff Oborevwori swore to protect all Deltans, irrespective of ethnicity or political calculations. In times of tension, that duty becomes more urgent, not less.

The present tension stems from a ward delineation process allegedly manipulated at the behest of powerful Ijaw interests, specifically the Gbaramatu axis, whose warlord-like influence continues to cast a long, dark shadow over governance and peace in the region. Prof. Rhoda Gumus, who was handed the sensitive responsibility of conducting the delineation, hails from Bayelsa, an Ijaw-speaking state. Her proximity—ethnic and otherwise—to the Gbaramatu establishment has raised genuine concerns about neutrality. To dismiss these concerns as paranoia is to ignore the history of political heists perpetrated in this region.

The Itsekiri, the original landlords of Warri, have long endured marginalization masked as development. Now, through what appears to be a well-orchestrated scheme, their political relevance is being diluted further. The Urhobos, who might have stood as neutral arbiters in this crisis, appear to have been politically seduced or silenced. And so, the Itsekiri stand alone—but they are not voiceless.

The silence of the state’s CSO in the midst of this orchestrated provocation is an abdication of responsibility. This is not just about ward delineation. This is about equity, justice, and the right of a people to exist with dignity in their ancestral homeland.

Warri, once the economic heartbeat of the Niger Delta, continues to bleed investment and confidence. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) reports a steady decline in both foreign and local investments in the Warri axis—over 20% in two years alone—fueled in part by ethnic agitation, insecurity, and government inertia. Investors do not go where the rule of law is mocked by the rule of silence.

Governor Sheriff must rise above parochial loyalties. The office he occupies was not designed to coddle warlords or genuflect before tribal interests. His job is to lead, to ensure that peace is not only declared but felt in every ward, every ethnic group, every corner of Delta State.

Aristotle once said, “The virtue of a man is found in his actions.” But action is exactly what has been missing. John Stuart Mill warned that “a person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction.” And Machiavelli, ever the realist, knew that the strength of a leader lies in both perception and presence.

Sheriff Oborevwori cannot continue to act like a Hamlet governor—unsure, indecisive, brooding while his people suffer. Delta State needs a leader with vision, backbone, and the moral courage to do what is right, not what is convenient.

To be sure, this matter has reached the attention of the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). That alone should trouble the state government. It means Abuja is watching. But must it always take federal intervention to do what is right at the state level? Where is the leadership? Where is the voice of calm? Where is the outrage that this fragile peace, built through years of struggle and negotiation, is now being threatened by an ethnic cabal bent on domination?

Delta cannot afford to slide into anarchy. Not again. And not while its Chief Security Officer says nothing, does nothing, and offers nothing.

If Governor Sheriff does not wish to be remembered as the man who watched Delta burn while he whispered to himself, then he must speak—and act—now. Because history is already watching. And so are we.

Written by Christopher Slater of the Warri Media Group 

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