President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been asked to immediately rise to the historic duty of putting an end to the marginalisation of Itsekiri people of the Niger Delta in the oil and gas industry.
Taking up the Itsekiri’s case, the Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC), a coalition of 130 civil society and community-based groups in Nigeria, which concluded a weeklong environmental tour of the Niger Delta, says it has the responsibility to alert the President on the brewing discontent and rage especially among the Itsekiri people on their marginalisation and repression by successive governments.
“The marginalisation of Itsekiri has continued and it is taking even a worse dimension. The Itsekiri produce the largest volume of oil by any ethnic group in Africa yet they have complained of being the most repressed and underrepresented in Nigerian oil and gas industry,” the group said in its preliminary report signed by its officials, Taiwo Adeleye and Dr Akande Abiola.
“Interestingly, the Itsekiri people overwhelmingly support the government of President Tinubu and appear to believe he would address their fears based on his past history and contributions to liberty and democracy in Nigeria.”
The group described the situation of Itsekiri marginalisation as a National Security threat that should be addressed to avoid a major crisis in the Niger-Delta.
NHRC said that the problem has been compounded by the annexation of Itsekiri territories and the award of the protection of oil pipelines in the people’s ancestral land to elements that had in recent past fought them with sophisticated weapons.
Describing the development as a “heartless and dangerous provocation,” NHRC said the Itsekiri on the other hand have offered unalloyed loyalty especially to the current government led by President Tinubu, but are worried about the continuation of their deplorable situation in the hands of their oppressors.
According to the NHRC, Itsekiri land produced the highest crude oil from a single indigenous community in Africa, but the people had been constantly pushed to the backwaters by administrators of the oil and gas industry.
The group said the 1.5m Itsekiri people spread in Delta and Edo states were beginning to see themselves as outcasts in the management and distribution of economic power and political power in Nigeria.
NHRC said the exploitation of oil producing communities is partly responsible for the unstable production of oil in Nigeria, adding that, there won’t be peace unless there is justice.
At present, the group said, Itsekiri working in oil companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) are being targeted for exclusion and marginalization from strategic positions which seem to have been reserved for particular ethnic groups from non-oil producing states.
The group accused the current GMD NNPC and Bala Wunti of fuelling the repression of oil-producing communities by seeking to have absolute control on NNPC affairs.
NHRC’s report said: “Throughout our visits to the Niger Delta, one thing is clear: The Itsekiris are unhappy with the Nigerian State. They are a non-violent ethnic group that are increasingly being pushed to the extreme. This development is a time bomb that should not be allowed to explode.
“There is no ethnic group in Nigeria that can accept what is going on in Itsekiri land. It is the worst form of exploitation and oppression. The Itsekiri are ethnic minorities but they produce the largest amount of oil in Nigeria, yet they are the most deprived.”
The coalition said oil companies working in the Niger Delta have failed to live up to the expectations of Itsekiri people while the NNPC continues to sidetrack people of Itsekiri extraction from key positions.
“There is a limit to which this injustice can be tolerated. There is a flash point of crisis brewing like it happened in Ogoni land in 1992. History may repeat itself unless the Federal Government addresses the problem swiftly and decisively,” it submitted.
The group said since 1960, no Itsekiri person has been appointed the Minister of Petroleum and that the NNPC seemed to have designed a policy that ensures no Itsekiri person becomes the Group Managing Director even though Itsekiri land represents the most potent force in Nigerian oil-production quota.
The group claims this move exemplifies a deliberate pattern of marginalization against the Itsekiri people within the oil and gas sector.
Further, it submitted: “While the Itsekiri are the earliest to obtain Western education dating back to the 16th century in the Niger Delta, offering a long tradition of producing highly educated people in various fields, the people nevertheless remain at the end of the stick in terms of strategic appointments in the oil and gas industry. Yet the Itsekiri ethnic group has historically been one of the largest oil-producing communities in Nigeria and Africa.”
The group said Itsekiri, through the Late Pa Alfred Rewane led the campaign against military rule for the democracy being enjoyed by Nigerians today.
The group highlighted the Itsekiri’s substantial infrastructure in the sector, including two gas depots and five floating stations in Edo State, predominantly located in Itsekiri communities.
Additionally, it noted that several NNPC and Shell filling stations, Chevron Flowstation operated within Itsekiri regions, reinforcing the community’s strong presence in Nigeria’s oil economy.
The coalition said Itsekiri territories remain polluted due to years of exploitation without compensation, combined with the deprivation of people of Itsekiri ethnic group from top positions in oil and gas concerns of Nigeria.
NHRC said Itsekiri deserved no less than $50 billion in compensation, having contributed the largest oil and gas input to the Nigerian economy apart from the urgent need for Itsekiri inclusion in the top echelon of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
The rights group said: “The Itsekiri assert their right to greater representation in high-ranking positions within NNPC. This would reflect the community’s contributions and stature in the industry. We call for a more inclusive decision-making that acknowledges the pivotal role of the Itsekiri people in Nigeria’s oil industry.”
