Analysts predict end to Bayelsa, Rivers’ feuds over oil wells

The presidential anointing, as it were, that was responsible for the emergence of Nyesom Wike as Rivers State governor may after all work in the overall interest of the state and its neighbour, Bayelsa, analysts have said.

It would be recalled that relations between the two states experienced great strain over a disputed ownership of oil wells during the Jonathan administration.

The battle for the ownership of five oil wells in Soku and ElemSangama communities, between both states got messier in 2014 with heated war of words on the pages of newspapers with Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers’ immediate past governor on the firing line.

Amaechi had accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of using his seat to illegally take what belonged to Rivers.

Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa State governor, had responded that Rivers had already lost the battle in the law courts and that it would serve no useful purpose dissipating unnecessary energy over what had already been established as incontrovertible fact.

Tele Ikuru, Ameachi’s deputy, had also explained in a statement at the time that the problem started when the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) tactically ceded about 80 percent of the oil and gas bearing communities and settlements in Akuku Toru Local Government Area to the old Brass Division in Nembe, Bayelsa State, by shifting the boundary demarcating Degema Division from the old Brass Division to River Sombreiro, in the 12th provisional edition of the Administrative map of the country.

Those who spoke with BusinessDay were of the view that with Governor Wike who was anointed by Patience Jonathan, wife of the former president, and an indigene of Rivers but married to a Bayelsan son, occupying Rivers’ seat of power, achieving collective respite over the oil rich communities may not be a herculean task if sincerity is applied.

Onyelabuchukwu Davies, a Port Harcourt-based political analyst, said the immediate past Rivers State governor was furious at the time for nothing and added that should the hard truth be told, the controversial oil wells belong to Bayelsa State.

“What is important now is for the new Rivers State governor whose election was facilitated by Patience Jonathan to ensure that peace and love that had existed between the communities are not scuttled with tussle over oil wells by the high and mighty. When two elephants fight, they say the grass suffers. Bayelsa was created out of Rivers and therefore, has so many things in com- mon. This should be the message Wike and Dickson should pass to their people,” he said.

Tarinyo Akono, another Port- Harcourt-based political observer, spoke in tandem, that a peaceful and unanimous resolution of the dispute squarely rest on both Governor Dickson and his Rivers State counterpart because they are ‘political sons’ of the former Nigerian first family who were responsible for their ascendance to the highest seats in their respective states.

“My prayer on this matter is that it shouldn’t degenerate to the point where the locals take arms against one another. It is still fresh in my memory when same land dispute led to war between the Nembe and Kalabari people. I still remember some Nembe people who were massacred in a speed boat on the Port-Harcourt-Nembe route. Thank God we now have new government in Rivers who was supported by the former First Lady. Both governments should be sincere on the issue of resolution of the matter so that our people can live in peace and harmony with one another,” she said.

Damfebo Franklin, Bayelsa- based political pundit, said the current governor of Rivers should be mindful of the fact that Bayelsa was created out of his state and therefore, be regarded as ‘son’ rather than being seen as enemy that must be rooted out at all cost.

“Rotimi Ameachi was rather too hot-headed. He was the one who started the brouhaha with his inciting comments and later extended it to President Jonathan by calling him mischief maker over the oil communities. All attempts by the former president to mediate on the matter as a father was botched by Ameachi for personal reasons. Now that the good people of Rivers have a new governor who is Jonathan’s ‘political son’, the time has come for the issue to be resolved peacefully and amicably in a brotherly manner. The two governors must never engage in inciting the communities against each other,” he said.

Goddey Usirado, a public affairs analyst, said since there was no pending litigation over the Oluasiri oil wells between Rivers and Bayelsa because the Supreme Court had struck out the suit by the Rivers State Government challenging Bayelsa State’s ownership of Oluasiri oil wells, the governors of both state should sincerely resolve the issue out of court in order for it not to rear its ugly head in future.

The Rivers State Government had filed two suits against the Bayelsa State Government at the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court in order to assert its purported ownership over the said oil wells and had failed as the said suits were all struckout by the courts.

But Usirado advised that despite the court rulings which favour the Bayelsa government, efforts should still be made by the new leadership of Rivers State and its counterpart in Bayelsa to have a roundtable dialogue aimed at dispelling unexpressed suspicion that may have risen among residents of the disputed communities as a result of the tussles.

“Goodluck Jonathan, who is now a former president, should actually be more interested in ensuring that the case is discussed and laid to rest in a family manner, irrespective of what the courts have said. If the dispute is not sincerely dealt with now, I am afraid it may erupt again in the future with the entrance of a new government. It should be a case of ‘no victor and no vanquished’ because Rivers and Bayelsa are like sons of the same parents. Nyesom Wike is Jonathan’s political son and he should be able to guide him through matters like this if Jonathan himself would be sincere. This they must do urgently in the best interest of people of their states,” Usirado further said.

NATHANIEL AKHIGBE