BAYELSA ASSEMBLY MOVES TO END NEMBE/KALABARI BOUNDARY DISPUTE , A WELCOME DEV.- By Evans Tubonah

The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has taken a bold step by passing a motion to put paid to the lingering boundary crises between communities in the Oluasiri axis of Nembe in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and the Kalabari in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Raising a motion on the sacred floor of the state Parliament, Hon. Iniyobiyo Obiene Representing Nembe Constituency 111, called on the House to wade into the matter to forestall further tension, insecurity and lose of lives and property in the area.
He cited some incidences of kidnap, razing of communities and attacks of law abiding citizens in the Oluasiri axis of Nembe in Bayelsa State. In the motion, Mr. Obiene stated that: ' one Charles was kidnapped along the Oluasiri waterways in December 2012, destruction and burning of Ijawkiri as well as attack of one Amaebite and others."
The Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kombowe Benson Friday, following a unanimous passage of the motion directed the deployment of security personnel to secure the volatile Oluasiri boundary area from external aggression and attacks.
The House decided to forward a letter to the National Assembly to prevail on the National Boundary Commission to without further delay mark out the boundary area between the two sister states  to stop the crisis.
Hon. Obiene who moved the motion graphically explained the issues that demanded urgent attention thus:
"..Oluasiri, Robert kiri, Ekulema 1, Ekulema11, and... border communities...that are in volatile area, prone to threats and attacks from their Rivers State neighbours even in the presence of  security  men deployed to the area by their government."
It would be recalled that the Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri, His Royal Highness, King Iyerite Chiefson Awululu, Olua 1 had in an interview with MIKE ODIEGWU spoke on the crisis in this wise:-
"...the name Soku became famous because of the LNG Gas Plant. The plant is at the centre of Oluasiri land in Nembe and it has been in contention for 20 years?.." King Awululu said a drive from the plant to Soku is about 22 minutes, and that Soku is very close to Degema and Abonema.
King Awululu used the medium to inform the general public that it was amply wrong for Shell to have named the LNG gas plant after Soku which is a distant community from where the plant is truly located, which is Oluasiri in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, King Awululu emphasized .
Explaining further the errors of the Oil company, Shell, the King of Oluasiri has this to say:
 " It was named with bias and out of misinformation. The people who did the exploration and exploitation came to survey the land and lay pipes to determine the volume of oil in the ground. As they came with their houseboat, they looked for a place...Soku that is very far from the place was chosen. They kept their houseboat close to Soku and used small boats to do their exploration.
He clarified that:-
"They came to Oluasiri and discovered this oil. But because of their friendship with Soku or for whatever reason they called the oil well in their survey document Soku..."
King Awululu pointed out this wrongful attitude of naming oil wells in communities after distant communities instead of communities the oil wells were found, he  cited the case of Oloibiri oil well which was found in  Otu Ogidi community and located there, while it is named after Oloibiri, the Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri posited .
Going back memory lane, King Awululu spoke extensively on the boundary disputes between Kalabari and Nembe thus:-
"There were a series of cases between Kalabari and Nembe even before that gas plant. We had boundary cases 1913 and 1918. There were also Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court judgements.."
He said, while Nembe and Kalabari were all in Rivers State, boundary crisis erupted which led to the constitution of a Commission of Enquiry, popularly called the ' Justice Akere Judicial Commission of Enquiry..." which he said released a whitepaper but regretted that the demarcation of the boundary that had been a far cry over the period was not done, because as  he puts it, the National Boundary Commission did not respond to the cry of the people. Hear him:-
"But from 1992 till now, neither the National Boundary Commission which should have demarcated a boundary between Akuku Toru and Nembe did what they were supposed to do." King Awululu further stated.
After the creation of Bayelsa State out of Rivers, it was expedient for the National Boundary Commission to have completed the process of State creation by delineating the inter state boundary between the two states, to stop disaffection and crisis, observers have noted with concern over the awesome failure of  the Commission.
It has been a troubled water between Rivers and Bayelsa States because of this nonchalance by the Federal Boundary Authority, which occasioned unwarranted litigations between the two states, Rivers always on the offensive, but in all the cases from the Federal High Court to the Supreme Court, Rivers State Government, the complainant lost it all.
That Rivers State Government who stood for Akuku Toru Local Government Area for Soku lost to Bayelsa who stood for Nembe Local Government was attributed to the solid and undisputable facts put together by the latter.
Whereas the former governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, now Transport Minister was trying to politicise the clear boundary issue went to the press and asserted that Bayelsa won in the courts because president Jonathan was a Bayelsan, instead of going out with cconvincing evidence, was a misinformation.
But the Bayelsa State Government  did not relent but came out with reliable historical facts as follows:-
"1. The Rivers State Government ... filed two suits against the Bayelsa State Government at the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court respectively in order to assert it's purported ownership over the said oil wells/oil fields and woefully failed as the said suits were all struck-out by the courts.
"2. Soku is a village in Rivers State while the oil wells/oil fields and the flow station are located in the Oluasiri Clan in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The name Soku oil wells/oil fields was wrongly given by Shell Petroleum Development Company  Ltd ( SPDC) since soku was their operational base at that time. This is not peculiar to Soku. For example, the Idu oil wells/oil field is named after a town in Ekpeye land in Ahoada East LGA of Rivers Stayed while the oil field is actually located in Biseni land of Bayelsa State. Similarly, the Omoku west oil field is in Biseni land of Bayelsa State but Omoku is a town in Rivers State.
"3.  The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in it's report on the Familiarization/Verification visit to oil producing states, volume 1, Main Report August 2006 in Chapter 3, page 30 also acknowledged the above anomaly.....
"4. Incidentally, Soku village in RIvers is about 10km, as the crow flies, from the flow station while the Oluasiri /Soku oil wells/field station is surrounded by various Oluasiri villages of Nembe LGA in Bayelsa State...."
The judgement by the Supreme Court titled: THE SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT ON SOKU MADE EASY-BY FORTUNE GOD'sSON Alfred
reported:-
"Introduction
Before anything, let me remind us that Rivers State was the (Plaintiff) one that went to the Supreme Court. Let me also remind us that Rivers State Government earlier took Bayelsa State Government to the Federal High Court on this same issue and lost. And instead of following the normal appellate process via the Appeal Court, the Rivers State Government instead invoked constitutional provisions and filed a suit in the Supreme Court in 2011 and this year, precisely on Tuesday, the 10th day of July, 2012, the Supreme Court delivered it's judgement and struck out her case for lack of evidence....
SULEIMAN GALADIMA, J.S.C (Delivering the Leading Judgement):
Now to the merit of the Plaintiff, by the institution of this suit, challenges the allocation of revenue to the 1st Defendant by the 2nd Defendant from oil proceeds to the Federation Account from Soku Oil Wells/Fields. In other words his contention is that Soku Oil Wells/Fields are located in Rivers State. This contention is based on the premise that the boundary between the Plaintiff and the Ist Defendant States is the Santa Barbara River. On the other hand, the 1st Defendant asserts that the same Soku Oil Wells/Fields which he (1st Defendant) referred to as Oluasiri Oil Wells/Fields are located in Bayelsa State because the boundary between  the 1st Defendant and the Plaintiff is the San Bartholomew River.
"We do not require copious formulation of issues by the parties to resolve the case. The sole issue is the actual location of Soku Oil Wells/Fields (as called by the Plaintiff) or Oluasiri Oil Wells/Fields (as called by the 1st Defendant States is.  Is it Santa Barbara River as claimed by the Plaintiff or San Bartholomew River as claimed by the 1st Defendant?..."
Identifying boundary delineation as the crux of the matter, it  was the apex  Court's conclusion that it was the role of the  National Boundary Commission (NBC) to determine, hence the matter was struck out.
This justifies the action of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, calling on the National Assembly to intervene on the matter to stop further tension and  destruction of lives and properties between the two brotherly states, which most Bayelsans described as a welcome development.

LGSC BOSS EMPHASIZES EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Hon. Chief Adolphus Ebimodei Ofongo

The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Local Government Service Commission (BSLGSC), Hon. Chief Adolphus Ofongo has told the media that he believes in results oriented service delevery in office.
The Chairman stated this while exchanging views with  newsman  who paid him an unschduled visit in his office about an hour ago.
According to Chief Ofongo, the success of any organization depends on the commitment of the workforce, which is the engine room for government business.
He used the medium inform the journalists that, he is surrounded by credible men and a woman as Commissioners, who believe that their

NCDMB CHARGERS PUBLISHERS TO BE PROACTIVE IN MEDIA PROFESSION

The management of the National Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) has called on Newspaper Publishers in Bayelsa State to be proactive by way of taking their publications through the nooks and crannies of the state and beyond.
Addressing members of the Bayelsa State Independent Newspaper Publishers Association (BIPA) who paid a courtesy visit on the Executive Secretary in the Conference Hall of the Board, Engr. G.O. Ginah who represented the Executive Secretary stated that it was indeed good to hear of the existence of the publishers body but expressed the view that the publishers body needed to be proactive by way of putting forward the information vision they had so as to attract support and partnership from government and well meaning organizations, especially in the oil sector.
Engineer Ginah PhD used the medium to highlight some of the achievements and ongoing projects embarked upon by the (NCDMB), which include Youth Development, and stated the  National Content Development Management Board Secretariat will soon be built, a high towering edifice with helipad, in the Bayelsa State capital Yenagoa.
He charged the Publishers to redouble their efforts to ensure that they take their rightful position in the scheme of things in line with the federal government vision for establishing the Board, by doing the needful to move in their noble profession.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Bayelsa Independent Publishers Association (BIPA), Elder Union Oyadongha Congratulated the Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote on his well deserved appointment and commended the management of (NCDMB) making giant strides under his able and visionary leadership.
Oyadongha used the platform to inform the officials of the Association's desire to have a strong partnership with the BOARD with a view to giving  effective publicity and documentation of activities, programs and policies of the Board .

ALAZIGHA TONBARA COMMENDS DICKSON OVER PROMOTION OF IJAW CULTURE

Alazia Tonbra

It was on Friday, the 7th of April 2017 that Golden Pen Newspaper went ahead to see the level of compliance by civil servants of the state, to the directive by the governor, Hon. Henry Dickson that workers should go to their offices with Ijaw traditional attire.
Whereas some offices visited by Golden Pen in some Ministries in the state secretariat complex, in the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa, no longer remembered whether there was such a directive by the governor or not.
But when our crew visited the State Senior Secondary Schools Board at the Secretariat annex 4, this beautiful woman, who gave her name, simply as Alazia Tonbra was caught by our camera in the precinct of the complex.
In a brief interview with this medium, Alazia has this to say:
"All I have to say is to thank the governor, for coming out with such a good idea of promoting our traditional culture. The measure had largely encouraged me to put on the traditional attire every Friday as he directed, and every man and every woman need to do so."
Tonbra who said before the governor's directive, she had no interest in dressing traditional, but today, wherever she appeared with native dress, she feels great, because as she puts it, 'It added more value as a mother to her life and called on her fellow women in the civil service not to  shy away from it.
As a mother of five children, Alazigha Tonbara used the medium call on parents to teach their children noting   that her children have started liking the idea of going cultural, anticipating that they would get used to  the trend by practicing it.

NEMBE CONSTITUENCY 1 LAWMAKER TOPS IN JAMB REGISTRATIONHo

Hon. Ebi Ben Lolo

The young, vibrant and focused lawmaker representing the Nembe 1 Constituency in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Ebi Ben Ololo has been receiving commendations following his commitment to educational advancement in his constituency.
To this end, according to his political aide, Mr.Kenneth  Isele who also functions as his co- ordinator in Education matters published in his facebook account that, Ben Ololo had sponsored JAMB registration of over 200 students in his own Constituency.
Mr. Isele further stated that, taking advantage of the kind gesture of  the lawmaker's magnanimity, more students looking for support have thronged around his boss for consideration, positing that the figure may rise accordingly!

PHOTO COMMEMORATING KING IWOWARI'S BURIAL

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From Right
King I.C Awululu and Chief O.G. Evan 

It's all now history how that great King of Nembe Bassambiri, HRM King R.M.Iwowari Main V11, (JP) (OON) was celebrated in an unprecedented burial  occasion across in the Niger Delta Region.
King I.C. Awulu, the Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri clan and Chief O.G. Evans Tubonah, Publisher of the Golden Pen Newspaper and member of Publicity Committee at the occasion took this photo to commemorate the historic event.
The Publisher who expressed appreciation to the role played by King Awululu, the Chairman and the entire members of the then Nembe Bassambiri Council of Chiefs, now, Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs, the deputy Chiefs, the Council of Elders, the Men, the Women and the Youth Federation for the roles they all played to the succcess of the  burial occasion which attracted people from different parts of the world, Chief Tubonah said was highly commendable.

BURIAL AND THE TRADITIONAL INSTITUTION IN NEMBE

From left,
 Chief Victor E. Dokubo and Chief O.G. Evans Tubonah

Nembe is the name of one of the ethnic nationalities in the All Ijaw state called Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, South South Nigeria, in the Coast of West Africa

It will interest you to note the Western colonization of Africa, particularly Nigeria, you find that the Nembe people were the producers of palm oil, palm, carnel, and coconut. At that time, the Eastern region was burbling with trade. It was a worthwhile venture which led to the promotion of bilateral ties between the two parties.The Portuguese apart from being trade champions were deep in their own culture, and dressed so admirably that, the Nembe people of the Ijaw tribe were so fascinated with their dress patterns so much so that, the Chiefs began to appear like their trade partners, the Portuguese in public functions.

This culture was not common, but peculiar only to coastal communities in the Niger Delta, namely, Nembe, Kalabari, Okrika, Bille, Bonny and Opobo. All these ethnic nationalities share this same culture of wearing Don for important or very special occasions. Though they were used to coming out colourfully at other occasions in their Don, the situation changes at burials of a Monarch or a titled Chief, when they all appear in black Don.
At this particular occasion, it was the burial of  Chief Kari of the Kalabo group of Chieftaincy  Houses of the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs in Opu Nembe, 31st March 2017