URHOBO
UNITY
A Communiqu�
1. WHEREAS: An
assembly of the Urhobo People met
under the banner of Urhobo Unity Summit on July 30 and 31, 2009 at the
Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun,
Delta State,
Nigeria
2. Whereas: The Opening Session of
the
a. Received a Welcome Address from the chief host
of the Summit, Olorogun Senator Felix Ibru, President-General of Urhobo
Progress Union, in which he outlined the historic ties and the cordial
relationships that bond the Urhobo people to the people of Western
Niger Delta
and the rest of Nigeria.
b. Received goodwill messages from:
i. Chief
E. K. Clark, OFR, CON, Ijaw Leader, who is
also
widely accepted by the Urhobo people as one of their leaders.
ii. Elder Peter Erebi,
President General of Isoko Development
Union
iii. Prof. B. I. Ijomah,
on behalf of the Ukwuani people.
iv. Chief Samuel Ogbemudia,
OFR, CON, two-time Governor of former
v. Ambassador Raph
Uwechue, OFR, President-General, Ohaneze
Ndi Igbo.
c. Received an address by His Excellency, Dr.
Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State.
3. Whereas the
a. The
b. Members discussed the President-General�s
views on state creation and the establishment of an
4 Whereas: the Summit reconvened on
Friday,
July 31, 2009 in Business Session II, under the chairmanship of His
Excellency,
Professor Amos Utuama, SAN, Deputy
Governor,
Delta State in which:
a. A presentation titled �The Challenges of the
Urhobo Nation� was made by Professor (Chief) Sam W. E. Ibodje,
former Deputy Vice Chancellor,
b. A presentation titled �Strategies for
Achieving the Goals of Urhobo Unity Summit, 2009� was made by Professor
Peter
Ekeh, Chairman, Urhobo Historical Society.
c. Discussions on the said challenges and
strategies were held by members of the
5. Whereas: the Summit continued in
Business
Session III under the chairmanship of Chief (Gen.) Patrick Aziza, CFR, 1st
Deputy President-General, Urhobo Progress Union, on the theme �Items of
Strategic Issues/Interests of Urhobo Nation and Plans of Action�, in
which
various distinguished leaders and scholars analyzed issues of
importance to
Urhobo survival and progress.
THEREFORE:
Urhobo
Unity Summit resolves as follows:
1. To strengthen the
existing cordial
relationships between the Urhobo people and their ethnic neighbours,
namely:
2. To strengthen Urhobo
Progress Union, the
cultural organ of the Urhobo people, in order to enable it to meet the
increasing and slippery challenges of the 21st Century.
3, To
work to
insulate Urhobo Progress Union from partisan party politics in order:
a. To ensure its survival.
b. To enable it to serve all Urhobo people more
equitably.
4. To encourage Urhobo people not to
abandon
the principle of self-reliance which has served
them so well
in the past and not to be overly dependent on government largesse.
5. To call on the Executive
Council of
Urhobo Progress Union and Urhobo traditional rulers to put in place a
machinery
for the revitalization and retention of Urhobo language in order to
avoid the
risk of its extinction, a danger that threatens most minority Nigerian
languages.
6. To oppose the overt and
covert attempts
being made by the Minister of Petroleum Resources to dispossess the
Urhobo
nation of both the
7. To recommend to the
President-General,
Urhobo Progress Union, to set up a planning committee that will work
out the
modalities for the establishment of an Urhobo University, which will
follow in
the historic tradition of Urhobo College, a secondary school built by
the
Urhobo people in the 1940s.
8. To call on the President-General,
Urhobo
Progress Union and his Executive Council to set up a Security Committee
in
order to stem the tide of growing insecurity in Urhoboland, a problem
that has
flowed from Nigeria�s national trend of increasing violence.
9. To
call on the
President-General and the Executive Council of Urhobo Progress Union to
end
electoral malpractices in Urhoboland and to ensure that Urhobo people
do not
lose their right to vote.
10. To oppose the passage of the Petroleum
Industry Bill as submitted by the President, Federal Republic of
Nigeria, to
the National Assembly, stating that its passage is not in the national
interest.
11. To call on the President-General,
Urhobo
Progress Union, and his Executive Council to set up a machinery,
including appropriate
committees, for the campaign for an Urhobo State in the Federal
Republic of
Nigeria, understanding that Urhobo deserves such consideration on the
grounds
of its population and resources (human and material) and further
understanding
that there are states in the Nigerian Federation and a number of
independent
nations in the world that are smaller in size and have less resources
than
Urhoboland.
12. To call on Urhobo Political leaders to
reach out to those who feel aggrieved as a result of the 2007 general
elections
and to appeal to those so aggrieved to reciprocate, hoping that such
accommodation and the spirit of reconciliation will facilitate the
on-going
process of reinforcing unity among Urhobo people.
|
(Sgd.) Deacon Gamaliel O. Onosode,
OFR Chairman,
Organizing Committee Urhobo
Unity |
(Sgd.) Elder John
O. Onojakpor Secretary,
Organizing Committee Urhobo
Unity |