In Anioma, we need leaders who can fly the Anioma flag

In Anioma, we need leaders who can fly the Anioma flag

February 12, 2012

Lauretta Ifeanyi Umebei Onochie is a great Anioma fighter with tracks of success. She was the former Spokesperson/Publicity Secretary of Umu Anioma Foundation Worldwide and now Coordinator of Ndi Anioma Group of Nigeria. She started her working life with Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Later Voice of Nigeria) from where she moved to the defunct Savannah Bank of Nigeria. The UK based teacher and politician is today regarded as one of the best female leaders the Anioma region can boast of. In this media chat with Emeka Esogbue, she laments the level of decay in Aniomaland, suggests the way forward for the region and advocates the creation of Anioma State. Excerpts:     

Emeka Esogbue: Let us start it like this, the Anioma people of Delta State say that an agreement exists at least in principle for the Anioma people to produce the next governor of the state in 2015. Do you see this agreement as a reality?

Onochie: (Surprised) Agreement? What agreement? When I heard of this so called agreement, I thought it was laughable. We are talking of politics in Delta state here. I thought it was a ploy to fool the Anioma people into casting their votes for the incumbent governor. He needed that support from our people because his tenure was shaky and not on solid footing. He did not have the support of Delta Central and not much from Delta South Senatorial districts so we were the ones he thought would buy such deception so with the active connivance of some Anioma politicians, they set out to spread that rumour that the next governor of Delta state would be Mr. Victor Ochei. I warned our people then that information available to me and weighing the utterances of Dr. Uduaghan, there was no way he was going to keep such promise if it existed at all. Many of our people thought and found the lure of having the next governor come from our Anioma region too good to resist and went along with it. Now there is frustration etched on their faces. I would like those who were privy to such agreement to speak up and reassure our people that it is going to happen. Given our present condition and what we know now, no one wants a governor that represents the Ibori/Uduaghan dynasty, not in Anioma, not in our state. Mr. James Ibori and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan have become political liabilities so no right-thinking Anioma politician should touch them or seek their leprous stamp of approval. What our politicians need to do is court Anioma people and present their report cards to them for scrutiny.

Esogbue: But the argument of Anioma people is that as part of the Delta State family, producing a governor for the state at least for the first time since 1991 when the state was created would send assuaging messages to the Anioma people that they are truly part of the state. More so, the other zones seem to have had their turn.

Onochie:  (Cuts in) This is the argument of many Anioma people and I do understand the sentiments they express through this argument. Again, who can blame them for expressing such sentiments when our area has suffered degradation with no signs of recent developments? Asaba Textile Mills lies in ruins with thousands of Deltans out of work; Ugba Primary school, Onicha-Olona is an example of the state of our schools. Asaba General Hospital is a testimony to the sort of health care services our people enjoy. Some of our women have to travel miles, bearing heavy loads of cassava in search of grinding machines, many of our communities are without boreholes and consequently, without the most basic infrastructures, the list is endless. This school of thought is built on the premise that if Dr. Uduaghan anoints or imposes an Anioma surrogate of his on the state, then our area will be favoured. To be honest with you, it will not change things for us at all. The loyalty of such an anointed Anioma person would lie squarely with the Ibori/Uduaghan dynasty. We must not forget that these Anioma people are the same ones conniving with the present administration in Delta State to deal our people a bad hand. They have taken for themselves, families and friends resources that were meant to make life easier and bearable for the poorest in our various Anioma communities. Anioma region consists of nine Local government areas. How can we achieve our hearts' desire in a state with twenty-six LGAs? Nine out of twenty-six is hardly a pass mark. The only way around this is by approaching it in a civilised, diplomatic, sensible and realistic manner as the days of crude politics are numbered. Anioma people will be collaborating with well-meaning Deltans from the other two senatorial zones. Name-calling and threatening hell-fire and brimstone are not going to do it for us. Consequently many well-meaning Anioma sons and daughters are watching things unfold in Delta state with a view to working out an appropriate and workable political road map aimed at making our people relevant in the scheme of things in Delta state. This Anioma governor would be one of impeccable characters, with community spirit, one whose hands have not been soiled by the gains of corruption. To this end, at the appropriate time, we shall be asking Anioma sons and daughters who think they have good report cards to come forward and present their report cards for scrutiny. Anioma people and indeed, Deltans will not give their support to anyone who has participated in depriving us and have left us in abject poverty and want.

Esogbue: You are known to have a deep passion for the Anioma people; can you let us into your sources of motivation? 

Onochie: What is there not to be passionate about our people! I am proud and thankful to God for my rich Anioma heritage. My deep passion and commitment for Anioma people stems from the poverty, deprivation and the contempt with which our people have been treated in the past up till the present moment by both the federal and the state governments. No one has forgotten the genocide committed against Anioma people when families were wiped out and our region left with some of the worst scars of the Nigerian/Biafran war. Till date, no apologies or token has been tendered or paid to our people for this unnecessary loss of lives and pain. Again, our people have one of the longest agitations for the creation of states in Nigeria which has been ignored by subsequent administrations. At the state level, one cannot overemphasize the way our region has been left out of development in our state. The pin-point of it all is the role our Anioma political elites have played in all of these. They have not represented us well, they have misinformed us and they have traded us for compromised positions in government thereby, serving themselves and not the interests of our people. My joy would know no bounds if Anioma people can also, along with other Deltans, have their basic needs assured each day. We have the resources and the manpower to bring about such relief to our people. You can say that I am driven by the suffering I see amongst our people as my only desire is to alleviate those sufferings. As I am not in a position to personally actualize this, my role now is more of holding the government in Delta state accountable by being the voice of those who have no voice in our communities and in doing this, I take no prisoners. Again, because of our culture, women are only seen and not heard. Our women have no voice so female roles are unnaturally being played by men and that is so wrong. Backwardness would always trail any society where women take a vow of silence. But things are changing and I can tell you that I couldn't sustain my loud mouth without the enormous support and encouragement I receive from our men. Our women need to take up their God-given role of standing by our men especially in this day and age when we have an Omu Anioma, a woman of substance.

Esogbue: Akwa-Ocha, your cultural fabric is lacking of production; as one who is resourceful in Anioma cultural issues how in your opinion, do you think that this age-long native fabric can be preserved as well as sold to the people of the present generation?

Onochie: To be honest, I grew up not knowing our unique traditional cloth as Akwa-Ocha. It was proudly referred to as Ogbei Apani, Akwa Olulu, Ute Ogbu but never Akwa Ocha. We are a proud people in the most positive way hence the name Ogbei Apani. Any white cloth, even the ones used to dress tables can be referred to as Akwa Ocha. Times are changing and so are the designs of our Ogbei Apani but whatever metamorphosis this item of our culture and identity assumes, no one can deny that it is still in the forefront of fashion especially amongst our women. I am proud of the fashion statement being made by Umu Ada Anioma in the diverse ways they wear the Ogbei Apani. What is now prevalent is that we do not see many of our men wear the cloth correctly. The style our men constantly wear our Ogbei Apani is very Yoruba. We are not Yorubas. Our men should be proud and wear out cloth as a toga the same way Ghanaians and Egyptians still proudly wear theirs. For me if it is worn in the Yoruba style then it’s a version of the Yoruba cloth after all the Yorubas also wear similar fabric and designs known as Aso Oke. Many of our male youngsters would not know how we wear this item of clothing and we might lose that aspect of our culture if our men do not have a rethink. My children are proud to don our Ogbei Apani because they have often seen their parents wear it. It is regal, elegant and gives one an air of importance. The preservation of the age old cottage industry that manufactures our hand-woven Ogbei Apani is one of the areas Ndi Anioma Group intends to look into and we will unfold our plans in the not too distant future.

Esogbue: As we have observed, Anioma groups are springing up using the social media as a platform and as it would seem that the old generation of groups are gradually giving way; what would you attribute this great phenomenon to?

Onochie: I must say that it is a welcome development indeed. The social network is the most effective medium of reaching out to so many people at the same time. It’s easy, fast and cheap, except in Nigeria but those have not hindered our people. At the moment, Nigeria is said to be an active part of the information revolution that has gripped the whole world. Anioma groups springing up in the social network scene is a clear indication that we have not been left behind in the quest for better means of reaching out to our kith and kin and the dissemination of information. Some of the groups are working together as our goals are for the good of our Anioma nation. Many of the old brigade Anioma groups appear to have stagnated and it shouldn't be so. The reason is that they have stuck to their old ways of doing things rather than keep up with the times. No one needs to travel needlessly spending huge sums of money on flight tickets for meetings that can easily be hosted on Facebook, Skype etc so they get together once a year and have a party which does not impact on the lives of our Anioma people or our community in any way. People must modernize or they die. I welcome purposeful Anioma groups which aim at correctly informing our people and keeping our government and political elites on their toes.

Esogbue: But critics of the region continually maintain that too many groups for the region would ultimately ruin the supposed gains that the region hopes to achieve…

Onochie: (Cuts in) I do not believe that the reason we appear to be polarized is because of having different groups because you will agree with me that the same people belong to all these groups. Again, the nature of our culture and orientation as a nation is divisive. An American would introduce himself as an American. A Briton would not mention his local area but would come to you as British. This is not just peculiar to Anioma area but Nigeria as a whole. As I said earlier on, some of the groups have selfless anchor people who are focused, committed and dedicated to the good of Anioma people. Those are the groups we should be taking seriously and they are being taken seriously. Ndi Anioma Group supports the activities of other Anioma groups such as OFAAC, Anioma Voice, Igbanke National Progressive Alliance, etc so there is really no division among our people. Having said that, I would like to see a people who see themselves as Anioma people, Full stop!

Esogbue: A notable Anioma leader, Chief Newton Jibunoh was quoted to have said that there are many Anioma leaders but when it comes to delivering a blow, they flee particularly at the sound of gun shots. Are Aniomas lacking charismatic leaders? 

Onochie: (Cuts in) I would not normally take a statement out of context but those who know me can easily envisage that I would readily agree with Chief Newton Jibunoh on this statement. It stems from our up-bringing when as children, we were not allowed to ask questions or have a say in issues affecting us. As adults, we have now translated it into not having the guts to have a say and stand by it, we have shied away from challenging those who make our heads their footstools and because of this same out of date up-bringing, we are eager and quite pleased to accept hand-outs aimed at compromising us. Anioma people have been let down in the area of leadership. Our leaders have been selfish in the way they have represented us. What we need are leaders who are passionate about the welfare of Anioma people, leaders who are bold, strong and decisive. We need leaders who fly the Anioma flag and are not confused about their cultural heritage.

Esogbue:  You were once the Spokesperson of Umu Anioma Foundation; a respected member of Onicha-Olona Union in UK and now one of the coordinators of Ndi Anioma, what would you say Anioma people really want from the Nigerian government? 

Onochie: (Smiles) Anioma people want to be recognized as an ethnic group in Nigeria. We are a people with diverse ancestral background and origins. Some of our ancestors came from Benin, Yorubaland, Igboland, Igala etc. Over the years, we have evolved having a unique and distinct culture, and tradition different from the cultures and traditions our ancestors came from. Consequently, we can no longer be called Ndi Bini, Ndi Yoruba, Ndi Igala or Ndi Igbo. The only description that suits us is Ndi Anioma. A people have a right to self-determination so I do not understand this confusion in our identity. It is absolutely clear as to who we are. You cannot take a people whose ancestors were Igala, for instance and force them to become Ndi Igbo especially as Ndi Igbo view us as inferior version of them. You do not identify a people by the predominant language they speak; otherwise, Americans and even Scottish people would be English. Again, there has been an increase in the call for the creation of Anioma State. It is the heart desire of most Anioma people. Recently, Professor Pat Utomi joined his voice to that call as people like Dr. Kunirum Osia have done, taking a cue from Chief Denis Osadebe who coined the word, "Aniom". When the Asagba of Asaba celebrated his 80th birthday, he wanted no present but the creation of the proposed Anioma state and I stand with him as we wait this long awaited and over- due birthday present, the creation of Anioma state. Our expectations of the federal government are fair, deserving and legitimate because we have all it takes to nurture and sustain a state in terms of both human and natural resources. On Anioma State I Stand!

Esogbue: What does Ndi Anioma Group of Nigeria stand for?

Onochie: Ndi Anioma is an organization of Anioma people that was born out of necessity. There was a vacuum on the social network scene of a serious Anioma group that would not be shy of being political. We also listened to our people and felt that our style of leadership would provide our people an avenue or a forum where they are free to express themselves as bona fide sons and daughters of Anioma on issues affecting our area, state and nation. Ndi Anioma works to educate, inform correctly, support our well-meaning politicians and chart a new map for our Anioma people especially our teeming youth population. Ndi Anioma will not shy away from politics. Shying away from mainstream politics is the reason we have been sidelined in the political arena in the states we find our people. No one achieves anything through confrontation, hatred and name-calling. Mutual respect, cooperation, collaboration and where necessary, compromise are on our roadmap to political relevance in our states. 

Esogbue: To what extent have you achieved the said objectives?

Onochie: Ndi Anioma has two vibrant pages on Facebook where within bounds of respect for one another, there is freedom of expression. Everyone has equal opportunity to post and comment on our pages without undue interference by the page administrators. Our youth page is run by Anioma youth themselves as they deem fit. Ndi Anioma is also working closely with other well-meaning progressive like minds in Delta state. We intend to fully collaborate and establish rapport and mutual respect based on fairness and equality with the Ijaws, Urhobos, Isokos, Itsekiris, Edos etc for the benefit of all our peoples particularly in the area of supporting a good governance gubernatorial candidate from Aniomaland. We are also proud to be working along with our brothers and sisters from Igbanke under the auspices of the Igbanke National Progressive Alliance who had a wonderful outing at the last edition of the OFAAC cultural festival. We would like to thank Arc. Kester Ifeadi, Godfrey Osakwe and Emeka Esogbue for the parts they played in giving Igbanke people a sense of belonging.

Esogbue: A number of people complain that the Anioma area is inactive in terms of development; who do we blame for this purported underdevelopment, the government of the day, Anioma people or Anioma politicians?

Onochie: We all have a portion of the blame but I will lay the bulk of it at the door step of the government of Delta state. It is an open secret that the whole state has been neglected and the evidence of that can easily be seen by looking at our towns which are now regressing to villages and villages to hamlets. Late last year, I took time out to travel widely in the Anioma area and I wept at the state of Asaba and Ogwashi-Uku in particular. The present government in Delta State holds our people in great contempt as exemplified by the decay in our area and the shabby way they treated Gideon Nwaomu and many others who stand up to their bullying tactics. I will continue to hold them responsible for the lack of development, lack of respect and lack of consideration they are showing to Deltans in general and Anioma people in particular. I will, along with other like-minded Deltans seek to bring to justice, everyone who has had anything to do with short-changing our people, leaving them in the dark ages. Our people deserve better, a lot better than they are getting.

Esogbue: Anioma once noted for serenity is now slipping into a violent area. A number of kidnappings have been reported in Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku, Okpanam and a few more places. Recently a gang of notorious armed robbers reportedly raided Ogwashi-Uku and Ibusa communities. What is your view on this?

Onochie: It is a shame that our people are suffering deprivation by an insensitive government but to have the additional tragedy of living daily, in fear for their lives and properties is just not acceptable. In the past, people ran from the cities to their villages for refuge but today, the situation is different. One reason is the societal pressure on our young people to 'make it' fuelled by the messages of prosperity and claiming it, being churned out from our pulpits. This has sown nothing but greed in the hearts of some misguided people who are eager to make it at all cost. Another factor is the blatant refusal of our present government in Delta State to revamp ailing and dead industries as well as build new ones to provide jobs for our idle school leavers who are roaming the streets without any feasible means of livelihood. We need a government that feels for the people especially able to give our youth population a chance at a good future.

Esogbue: Is the proposed Anioma State a possibility within the Nigerian polity?

Onochie: The agitation for the creation of Aniomt state is the oldest agitation I know of in Nigeria. As optimistic as I want to be about the realization of such a dream come true for our people, I am also realistic about my expectations based on evidence on ground. We all know how things work in Nigeria. I have seen, in the forefront, some members of the houses of assembly from other areas agitating for state creation for their people. In the case of Anioma State, our elected and appointed political office holders have not shown, nor expressed any interest in the desire and yearnings of our people to have a state of their own. They seem quite pleased to be in Delta state. If it was purely on merit, no other area deserves a state more than the Anioma geographical area but nothing is by merit, it’s about, "connection" and to be honest, I'm not quite sure we have that connection. All we can do at this stage is hope that our relevant public officers are doing some underground work we do not know about that would clinch the state for us.

Esogbue: Our teeming readers will like to meet this indefatigable Lauretta Onochie

Onochie: I am flattered but I am not really sure that there is much to know about me at this point. Although I was born in Zaria, I am from Onicha-Olona and started my educational pursuits there too. Those who attended St Martin De Porres Grammar School, Onicha-Olona, would remember me as the quiet, shy Lauretta Ogoliegbune. I started my working life at the FRCN (Voice of Nigeria) and later at the defunct Savannah Bank on Nigeria. I resigned for the purpose of full time education. Having qualified as a teacher, I spent eighteen years in Calabar where I had my two children. I taught and eventually headed an award-winning Primary School. Calabar was also where I had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and my life was transformed forever. It may surprise many to know that I went to a bible college and was ordained as a minister, a humbling experience for me. I left for the UK in 2000 where I obtained a Post graduate qualification in Special Education. I am a member of the Institute of Learning, a regulatory body for practicing lecturers in the UK. I am a member of the Conservatives Party so involved in active politics in the UK. I am passionate about good governance and accountability, speaking up and being the voice of the less privileged in our society. That in a null shell is Lauretta Ifeanyi Umebei Onochie.

Esogbue: Finally, what is your advice to the Anioma leaders?

Onochie: (Cuts in with a smile) Be bold, strong, selfless, and decisive.

Esogbue: Thank you for this brilliant interview.

Onochie: It’s been an honour and a pleasure being considered worthy to use this esteemed medium to express my views on issues affecting our people.