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RESOLUTION FOR A BILL FOR THE CREATION OF BENI-EBE, TORU-EBE, MINJI-SE AND ABAJI STATES AND THE CREATION OF THIRTY-THREE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS FOR BAYELSA STATE.
Resolution 001-08
Preamble
We, the Ijaw (Ijo, Izon) inhabiting the Niger Delta and coastal regions of Nigeria, stretching from Apoi/Arogbo in Lagos State in the West to Ibeno on the banks of the Qua Iboe River in Akwa Ibom State in the East of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in territories herein stated as follows:
The territories of the indigenous Ijaw communities from the Apoi and Arogbo clans in Lagos State;
The territories of the indigenous Ijaw communities from the Apoi and Arogbo clans in Ondo State;
The territories of the indigenous Egbema, Olodiama, Furupagha and Okomu clans in Edo State;
The territories of the indigenous people of Patani LGA, Bomadi LGA, Burutu LGA, Warri-South LGA and Warri-North LGA, comprising the Gbaramatu, Iduwini, Isaba, Kabo, Kumbo, Mein, Ogulagha, Obotebe, Ogbe-Ijo, Seimbiri and Tuomo clans in Delta State;
The territories of the indigenous people of Brass LGA, Nembe LGA, Ogbia LGA, Southern Ijaw LGA, Yenagoa LGA, Kolokuma-Opokuma LGA, Sagbama LGA and Ekeremor LGA, comprising the Akassa, Apoi, Beni-Oyiakiri, Bassan, Bomo, Buseni, Ekpetiama, Epie-Atissa, Gbaran, Iduwini, Kabo, Kolokuma, Kumbo, Mein, Ogbia, Ogboin, Okordia, Olodiama, Operemo, Oporoma, Opokuma, Nembe, Tarakiri, Tungbo and Zarama clans in Bayelsa State;
The territories of the indigenous people of Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area (LGA), Andoni LGA, Eastern Obolo LGA, Ibeno LGA, Bonny LGA, Okrika LGA, Ogu/Bolo LGA, Port Harcourt, Degema LGA, Asari-Toru LGA, Akuku-Toru LGA, and residual populations in Abua-Odual LGA and Ahoada West LGA, comprising the Andoni, Ibani, Kalabari, Ke, Kula-Bille, Nkoro, Okrika, Opobo, Abua, Odual and Engenni clans in Rivers State; and
The territories of the indigenous Ijaw communities from Andoni (Eastern Obolo) and Ibeno clans in Akwa-Ibom State;
are the aboriginal inhabitants of the Niger Delta and coastal regions of present day Nigeria. During Our long habitation of the Niger Delta and coastal environs, there has not been a time prior to colonisation by the British, that the Ijaws have been under the rulership or administrative governorship of any outside power, be it indigenous to present day Nigeria or foreign.
And therefore, on the grounds of Population, Geographical Contiguity, Peculiar Environment and Unique Topography, Administrative Convenience, Self-Development, Social and Political Justice & Equity, True Federalism and Self-Determination, WE state and demand as follows:
WHEREAS The various Nigerian censuses ATTRIBUTE to the Ijaw People the fourth (4th) largest Ethnic Nationality in Nigeria, stretching in a homogenous continuum of densely populated communities and extensive expanse of complex terrain of domestic land with surrounding rivers, seas and mangrove forests with marshy deltaic soil from East to West; and
WHEREAS the 1967 originally created single East Central State of the Igbo Ethnic Nationality has been divided into Abia, Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra and Enugu States, the Western State of the Yoruba Ethnic Nationality, into Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun States, while the Northern State of the Hausa-Fulani has been divided into Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Zamfara, Adamawa, Kogi, Yobe, Taraba, Bornu, Bauchi, Gombe, Kebbi and Nasarawa States but the Ijaw, the fourth largest in population with the most difficult terrain for development and yet providing the sweet crude, which is the mainstay of the economy of Nigeria, is marginalized, fragmented, disempowered and subjugated in seven states, with Bayelsa State being the ONLY homogenous Ijaw State; and
WHEREAS we the IJAW ABORIGINES of the Niger Delta are amongst the first settlers in the entire territory now known as “NIGERIA” and are one of the four largest ethnic nationalities in the Nigerian Federation with a population of more than 14 million people according to the Provisional Census Figures of 1991; and
WHEREAS our sovereignty and territorial integrity as a distinct and separate nation occupying the entire length and breadth of the Niger Delta was at no time threatened or brought under the occupation and control of any alien nationality in the West African sub-region before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1470 and that of the British in 1750; and
WHEREAS it was only by Treaties of Friendship, Trade and Protection signed between us, the IJAWS and the BRITISH GOVERNMENT (the first of which Treaties was signed on the 25th of January 1836 at Bonny with Lieutenant Robert Tryon on behalf of His Majesty King William IV of Great Britain) that our aboriginal territory of the Niger Delta became a British Protectorate and was proclaimed "Oil Rivers Protectorate" in 1885 and the "Niger Coast Protectorate” in 1893; and
WHEREAS it was British Colonisation enforced with the taking over of the Royal Niger Company in 1900, and which company had in 1886 been granted a Mandate by the British Government to administer, make treaties, levy customs and trade in the basin of the Niger Delta and its effluents that the IJAW NATION was forcibly conscripted as a constituent part of the present Nigerian Federation and partitioned into its administrative divisions when the "Niger Coast Protectorate" was proclaimed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria under Sir Ralph Moor as High Commissioner; and
WHEREAS the area now known as "NIGERIA” was never at any given time a single country before the 1st of January 1914; being hitherto inhabited by a number of different nationalities, many of which were highly organised kingdoms before they were forcibly amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914 under Sir (later Lord) Frederick Lugard as Governor; and
WHEREAS the IJAW NATION could have long ago evolved as a distinct and separate sovereign nation outside the administrative Provinces created by the British in Nigeria between 1900 and 1939 to have maintained the political, economic, social and cultural AUTONOMY it is now demanding, and which status was recognised by the Treaties of Friendship and Trade signed with the British Government and the Resolutions of the Conference of the Liverpool Chambers of Commerce in 1890, but for the British Government’s forcible annexation of the Ijaw Niger Delta territory in 1914 with the rest of what is now known as “NIGERIA”, and by virtue of the Treaty obligations of the British to the Ijaw people even at the time of granting political independence to the territories constituting its recognised Nigeria in 1960; and
WHEREAS the IJAW NATION protested to the British Government against this forcible annexation in the amalgamated territories in Nigeria and the subsequent partitioning of the Ijaws into the Western and Eastern Provinces at the splitting of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria on the 1st of April 1939; and
WHEREAS for the purposes of administration, the following Ijaw Native Authorities were established under the Native Authority Ordinance of 1943 and with the creation of the Rivers Province, we had:
In the ONDO PROVINCE, the Ijaw-Apoi District Native Authority and the Arogbo District Native Authority for the IJAWS in the western fringe;
In the WARRI (DELTA) PROVINCE, the Warri Township Authority, Western Ijaw Central Native Authority – Benni Native Authority, Iduwini Native Authority, Oporoza (Kabo & Kumbo) Native Authority, Mein Native Authority, Ogula Native Authority, Oporoma Native Authority, Seimbiri Native Authority, Tarakiri Native Authority and Tuomo Clan Native Authority for the WESTERN IJAWS;
In the RIVERS PROVINCE, Eastern Ijaw Central Native Authority, Akassa Native Authority, Apoi Native Authority, Bassan Native Authority, Bomou Native Authority, Ekpetiama Native Authority, Gbaran Native Authority, Kolokuma Native Authority, Ogboin Native Authority, Okordia-Buseni Native Authority, Zarama Native Authority, Opokuma Native Authority, Oporoma Native Authority, Tarakiri Native Authority, Tungbo Native Authority, Epie-Atissa Native Authority, Nembe Native Authority, Ogbeyan (Ogbia) Native Authority, Ayama Native Authority, Emeya Native Authority, Oloibiri Native Authority, Bonny Native Authority, Kalabari Native Authority, Odual (Saka) Native Authority and Okrika Native Authority for the CENTRAL AND EASTERN IJAWS; and
In the CALABAR PROVINCE, the Opobo Town Native Authority and Andoni Native Authority for the IJAWS in the eastern fringe; and
WHEREAS these Native Authorities fell into the Eastern and Western Regions when they were created in August 1946 without genuinely consulting any of the peoples; and
WHEREAS we have since then been dehumanised and made to suffer abject and utter neglect, oppression and marginalisation in the hands of the other major groups in full control of the machinery of Government at all levels of administration; and
WHEREAS despite the declaration of the Niger Delta (the Ijaw Territory) as a “SPECIAL AREA” by the British Government in 1957 following our representations to the Willink's Commission of Inquiry into the fears expressed by the minorities before Nigeria’s independence, and despite the establishment of a Niger Delta Development Board in 1958 to cater for the peculiar developmental needs of the Ijaws, the Nigerian State has perpetuated our neglect and oppression by wickedly starving the said Niger Delta Development Board and its successor agencies of funds; and
Whereas the Ijaws have from the very beginning of the formation of Nigeria agitated for separate administrative regions for themselves AND The Ijaw State Union in Lagos and the Ijaw Peoples Rivers League organised and applied political pressure for the creation of a separate province WHICH resulted in the creation of the Rivers Province in 1947 with headquarters in Port Harcourt; and
WHEREAS when, in the same year, the country was divided into three regions, East, West and North, the Ijaws were administratively balkanised into the Eastern and Western Regions and this unfavourable state of affairs was perpetuated by dint of the 1954 constitution that fully established the three Regions of West, East and North; and
WHEREAS further efforts for the creation of administrative regions for the Ijaws and associated neighbours were effected by the Chief Dappa-Biriye led representations to the Willink’s Commission of Inquiry that looked into the fears of the minorities of the Eastern Region, the concept and practice of regionalism created marginalisation problems for the Ijaws and other minorities despite the fact that the 1957 Constitutional Conference agreed to create separate administrative regions for the Ijaws and others as a last resort, AS the Niger Delta Congress ALSO advocated the breakdown of the regions into smaller units called states; and
WHEREAS when the Midwestern Region was created out of the old Western Region in 1963, the leaders of the Western Region government broke their promise to allow the Ijaws in the West to join those in the East either by the creation of a new region or by boundary adjustment; and
WHEREAS the worsening marginalisation, oppression and exploitation of the Ijaws compelled Isaac Adaka Boro and associates to embark on the Twelve Day Revolution in 1966, with the Declaration of the Niger Delta Republic, to liberate the Ijaws from the yoke of internal colonialism in Nigeria; and
WHEREAS on the 26th of May 1967, as a means of pacifying the country, a joint meeting of Rivers Chiefs and Peoples Conference prepared a memorandum that recommended the creation of twelve to twenty-six States by the Nigerian government then headed by Colonel Yakubu Gowon, which resulted in the breaking up of Nigeria into twelve States on the 27th of May 1967; and
WHEREAS the Rivers State in 1973 comprised five administrative divisions namely: Ahoada, Brass, Degema, Ogoni and Port-Harcourt Divisions where the Andonis, the Opobos and the Western Ijaws, should rightly have come within the ambit of the Rivers State, being purely riverine people, and of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, but were excluded on the pretext that the Rivers State including them would prove too unwieldy to administer, thereby leaving the Ijaws fragmented, subjugated and marginalized; and
WHEREAS in 1976, when the country was divided into nineteen States, the Ijaws were divided this time, into Cross Rivers State, Rivers State, Bendel State, Ondo State and Lagos State whereby some of the Ijaws of the old Mid-Western State were put into Rivers State, making the Ijaws the majority in that state, while in Bendel, Ondo and Lagos States, the Ijaws remained a minority; and
WHEREAS the Justice Ayo Irikefe State Creation Panel Report of 1976 and the subsequent Justice Mamman Nassir Boundary Adjustment Commission both went on to "advise" the federal government not to allow the Ijaws (splintered into several states even at that time) to come together because, with their oil resources, they would become too powerful, and the Ijaws were kept fragmented, disempowered, subjugated and marginalized by dint of this wicked recommendation; and
WHEREAS on the 28th of August 1991, compelled by the need to assuage the agitations of the people from the Oil Producing Areas for their fair share of the Federal Revenue, we witnessed the creation of more States, including Delta and Edo States from the old Bendel State; but true to the political agenda of the other three majority ethnic groups, the Ijaws were not allowed to form a state of their own although they were entitled to have several states of their own; instead of grouping all the Ijaws of the old Bendel State into Delta State or form Toru-Ebe State, the boundary split us into Delta and Edo, and in total disregard of the wishes of the people, the military authorities sited the new capital of Delta State at Asaba, which is not situated in the geographical Niger Delta, and the Ijaws of Edo, Ondo and Lagos States remained marginalized and separated from their kit and kin as they had been; and
WHEREAS Bayelsa State, which is currently the only homogenous Ijaw State among the thirty six (36) States of the Nigerian Federation, was created in 1996 by an act of Divine Providence by the Gen. Sani Abacha military regime, it has been discriminatorily, unjustly and inequitably allocated only eight (8) Local Government Areas, in face of the fact that Kano State, an Hausa-Fulani State has been allocated forty-four (44) Local Government Areas and therefore disproportionately receives almost six times the Federal Revenue Allocation to Local Government Areas that Bayelsa State receives, although it is common knowledge that most of the Local Government Areas of Kano State are made up of very sparsely inhabited arid land; and
WHEREAS starting from 1991, a number of conferences and conventions were held with the sole aim of addressing the problems of the Ijaws, and at the instance of Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, Rev (Dr) C A Dime, Chief F H E Brisibe and others, an ALL IJAW NATIONAL DELEGATES CONVENTION was convened at Patani, Delta State on the 23rd of November 1991, and on the 12th of September 1992, the ALL IJAW NATIONAL CONVENTION held at Forcados, Delta State, adopted by general acclaim the IJAW PEOPLE’S CHARTER, a comprehensive document outlining the grievances and demands of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, which in October 1992 was presented to the government and people of Nigeria for consideration on the grounds of justice, equity and autonomy; and
WHEREAS the aforementioned IJAW PEOPLE’S CHARTER made a direct appeal to the international community for urgent intervention in the deplorable neglect of the Ijaws; and
WHEREAS the 12th of September 1992 Convention empowered the MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE IJAW ETHNIC NATIONALITY OF THE NIGER DELTA (MOSIEND) “to make representation to all relevant organisations such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Commonwealth, the European Community and the Organisation of African Unity, for as long as the injustices continued, and the IJAW NATIONAL CONGRESS was established at a follow up ALL IJAW NATIONAL DELEGATES CONVENTION held in Kaiama on 6th January 1993 to redress the perennial oppression and marginalization of the Ijaw Nation; and
WHEREAS on the 11th of December 1998, about 5000 Ijaw youths representing a large number of Ijaw Youth organizations and communities drawn from about forty (40) clans/subgroups met peacefully in Kaiama, Bayelsa State to deliberate on the problems of the Ijaws, and articulated legitimate demands and proffered peaceful solutions in their communiqué, called “The Kaiama Declaration”, but what followed on Wednesday the 30th of December 1998 amounted to a full declaration of war on the Niger Delta, by the Nigerian military government then headed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar; and
WHEREAS the various conferences called for the creation of three homogeneous Ijaw States then, we are today, with the strength of evidence from the recent “Retreat” of the Senators to the Niger Delta, calling for the Creation of four more homogenous Ijaw States including, BENI-EBE State comprising the Ijaws of Lagos, Ondo and Edo States with Arogbo as Capital, TORU-EBE State comprising the Ijaws of Delta State with Bomadi as Capital, MINJI-SE State, grouping the Degema Communities, Asari Toru Communities, Akuku Toru Communities, Bille Communities, Kula Communities, Aguda Toru Communities, Owuanga Toru communities, Olua Toru Communities, Akilama Toru Communities, Abisse/Ke Communities, Sombreiro Communities and Kalabari Toru Communities with Capital at Degema, and ABAJI State comprising the rest of the Ijaws in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, encompassing Port Harcourt, Okrika, Ibani, Andoni, Opobo and Nkoro, and related groups with Capital at Port Harcourt; and
WHEREAS in 1992, WE, the Ijaw People reaffirmed OUR rights to self-determination without denying any other nationalities in the present Nigerian Federation their rights to existence, survival and enjoyment of their resources, as a positive contribution to peace, justice and equity in the country, and thus the stability and progress of the various nationalities constituting the present Nigerian State, to the development of which The Ijaw Niger Delta Area has contributed so much, while the Ijaw Area, as a matter of right, expects returns commensurate to its contributions, but this has remained a mirage, and will continue to be so due to the evil machinations of the powers that be; and
WHEREAS THE demands of the Ijaw Nation as outlined in these Resolutions of the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta are legitimate and just, as they represent our inalienable rights to existence and survival as a Nationality in our peculiarly difficult and inaccessible Niger Delta environment so often described by Nigerian Governments, and are thus in accord with civilised values all over the world, and as the Nigerian Government has since 1970 continued to decree measures and implement policies which have further marginalized the Ijaw Nation, we can no longer sit in idle complacency to be further dehumanised, slowly exterminated and almost driven to extinction as a people; while our rich resources are plundered and siphoned away for the comfort and improvement of the quality of life of other Nigerian communities and the shareholders of the Multinational Oil Companies; and
WHEREAS the marshy terrains of Ijawland are much more difficult and expensive than the other Nigerian upland terrains to manage for the purpose of infrastructural and industrial developments such as the physical construction of motorable roads, housing estates and administrative buildings, potable water projects, bridges and industries; and
WHEREAS the size of any Ijaw community is NOT only measured by just the residential space and environs it occupies, but includes the naturally complex surrounding of rivers, seas and the additional mangrove forests immediately beyond these rivers and seas such as fishing ports, market depots, dwelling enclaves, and farmlands as separate islets and islands, given the deltaic terrain; and
WHEREAS the fostering of economic development, cooperation and community relations with the upland will entail adequate and solid infrastructure such as chains of highways over the seas and ring-roads and water-break embankments on land between the Ijaws and their neighbouring riverine and upland communities of Nigeria; and
WHEREAS these marshy terrains have been endowed with gas and petroleum deposits for the benefit of the Nigerian Nation, but the attendant hazards of the exploitation of these resources have been detrimental to the health, environment and livelihood of the Ijaw People, and hereto begs for adequate plans for sustainable improved quality of life for all constituent Ijaw communities before the exhaustion (depletion) of the gas and petroleum resources; and
WHEREAS the prevailing pervasive Ijaw Youth Restiveness and Insurgency are compelled and propelled by the imperative for survival and self-defense, in the Spirit of Isaac Adaka Boro, against the political subjugation and relentless ruthless oppression of the Ijaw people, unbridled plundering of their oil and gas resources, wanton destruction of their habitat and means of subsistence, their utter neglect and deprivation, atrocious violation of their basic human rights and dignity, continual heinous genocides perpetrated by an occupying military force of the Nigerian State that kills Ijaws with impunity, and resultant abominable squalor, hopelessness, despair and anarchy; and
WHEREAS by virtue of the measure of Political Autonomy and Self-determination so granted the Ijaws, the creation of the additional Ijaw States, herein demanded and tabled for enactment by the National Assembly and assenting by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, would significantly ameliorate the grievous oppression and marginalization of the Ijaws, and thereby assuage their just anger, with resultant significant and progressive de-escalation of the prevailing Ijaw Youth Restiveness and Insurgency, leading ultimately to the peaceful resolution of the intractable and escalating Niger Delta Crisis, which will pave the way for, and usher in, the much-desired but very elusive era of peace, progress and prosperity in Nigeria.
THEREFORE it is herein Resolved by the Ijaw Nation of the Niger Delta, this …day of …, 2008, and hereby and hereinafter presented to, and tabled before, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a Resolution for a Bill for the Creation of four more (new, additional) homogenous Ijaw States and the Creation of thirty-three Local Government Areas for Bayelsa State, that:
1. The creation of four new homogenous Ijaw States be enacted immediately by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and assented to by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as follows:
(i) BENI-EBE STATE with Arogbo as Capital and demarcated into Arogbo, Ukparamo, Adogba, Ajakpata, Adoloseimoh, Awodikuro, Apoi, Gbekebo, Egbema, Ofunama/Opuama, Olodiama, Furupagha and Okomu Local Government Areas.
(ii) TORU-EBE STATE with Bomadi as Capital and demarcated into Burutu, Ogulagha, Warri North, Warri South, Ayakoromo, Kiagbodo, Ezebiri, Seimbiri, Bomadi, Tuomo, Ndoro, Torugbene, Patani and Kumbokiri Local Government Areas.
(iii) MINJI-SE STATE with Degema as Capital and demarcated into Abisse, Aguda Toru, Akilama Toru, Akuku Toru I, Akuku Toru II, Asari Toru, DELGA, Kalabari Toru I, Kalabari Toru II, Ke, Kula, Obu-Kula, Obilo, Ololo Toru, Owuanga Toru, Old-Kalabari Toru I, Old-Kalabari Toru II, Sombreiro I, Sombreiro II, Sankrama and Tobu Local Government Areas
(iv) ABAJI STATE with Port Harcourt Township as Capital City and demarcated into Port Harcourt Township, Obolo, Bolo, Ogu, Okrika, Ogoloma, Isaka, Bonny, Kalaibiama, Iniasiri, Opobo, Nkoro, Agbo, Amaiba, Amajaaba, Oka, Okoromita, Okosun, Okuba, Okwaan-Aja, Okwaan-Okuka, Oru and Ujama Local Government Areas
2. The creation of thirty-three (33) Local Government Areas for Bayelsa State, demarcating the State into Brass, Ekeremor (Operemo), Ogbia, Ogbia Central, Sagbama, Kolokuma, Opokuma, Nembe, Nembe West, Oporoma, Yenagoa, Akassa, Kaiko-Ibeawo, Aleibiri, Alabini, Oporomor West, Opuokede, Kolo Creek, Anyama, Odi, Tarakiri, Toru-Abobou, Mein-Oyiakiri, Mini/Ikensi, Okoroma/Tereke, Apoi/Olodiama, Bomo East, Bomo West, Bassan/Koluama, Ogboin North, Ogboin South, Gbaraun/Ekpetiama, Okordia/Buseni and Zarama Local Government Areas, be enacted immediately by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and assented to by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
3. Declaration of Intent: This resolve by the Ijaw Nation for four additional homogeneous Ijaw States and additional local governments for Bayelsa State (Ijaw being a close fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria) will assure political equity to the Ijaws in Nigeria as the creation of these four more Ijaw States will put us, the Ijaws, at par with the Yorubas in the West who have six (6) States, the Igbos in the East who have five (5) States and the Hausa-Fulani in the North who have fifteen (15) States. Any further demand by the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and/or the Igbo to increase their number of States will automatically entitle the Ijaws to have an equal increase in the number of Ijaw States. We will no longer play a second fiddle to any ethnic group in Nigeria. We are sufficiently economically viable to sustain the number of states requested, even more so than many of the current existing States.
If our Demand is not met, the Ijaw Nation, as the aboriginal people of the Niger Delta, shall move forward to assert their God-given and internationally recognized Right to Self-government, by virtue of Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified and accented to on the 16th of December 1966 by Resolution 2200A (XXI) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and by virtue of Articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 21, 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Signed for and on behalf of the Ijaw Nation and the citizens of the proposed Beni-Ebe, Toru-Ebe, Minji-Se and Abaji States by:
1. Dr. Ebipamone N. Nanakumo: President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
2. Mr. Patterson Ogon: Vice President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
3. Mr. Lincoln Snithers: Secretary, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
4. Mr. Dawari Longjohn: Treasurer, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors/President,
Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas
5. Mr. Amabo MacHarry: Member, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
6. Mr. Benaebi Benatari: Member, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors/Secretary,Ijaw Peoples Association of Great Britain & Ireland/Chair of the Ijaw Foundation Research Committee
7. Dr. Abiotona Sokari: Chairman, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
8. Prof. So-ngo Clifford Teme: Co-Chair, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee/ Chair of the State Creation & Environmental Protection Subcommittees
9. Mr. Preye Dorgu: Secretary, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
10. Ms. Annkio Briggs: Co-Secretary, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
11. Mr. Tekena Barango-Tariah: Chair of the Legal Affairs Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
12. Ms. Patience Douglas: Co-Chair of the Legal Affairs Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
13. Mr. Joseph Opigo: Co-Chair of the Ijaw Foundation Research Committee
14. Dr. Monibo Sam: Founding member of the Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors & member of the Ijaw Foundation Research Committee
15. Mrs. Victoria Ebiere Gold-Eke: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
16. Mr. Stephen Benstowe: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
17. Dr. Pamo Igali: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation & Environmental Protection Subcommittees
18. Dr. Aaron Nmungwun: Founding Vice President of Ijaw Foundation & member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
19. Mr. Pius Donyegha: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
20. Mr. Presidor Ghomorai: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
21. Evangel Hon. Foster Ogola: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
22. Mr. Francis Udisi: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the Ijaw Foundation Research Committee
23. Mr. Wilfred Inko-Tariah: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee, Co-Chair of the Anti-corruption Subcommittee and member of the Legal Affairs Subcommittee
24. Prof. Joseph Ebiware: Vice President of the Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas (INAA) & Chair of the Anti-corruption Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
25. Dr. Chris Ekiyor: President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide & Chair of the Ijaw Conflict Resolution Committee
26. Mr. Anthony Otokito: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
27. Prof. Victor Kiri: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
28. Prof. David Iyegha: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation & Research Subcommittees
29. Dr. Tonye Erekosima: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
30. Mr. Dagogo Karibi-Whyte: Member of the Legal Affairs Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
31. Prof. Geoffrey Ibim: Chair, Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee and member of the State Creation Subcommittee
32. Dr. Orikaye Brown-West: Member of the Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee and the State Creation Subcommittee
33. Mr. Peter Edu: Member of the Ijaw Agenda for Self-Government Committee, the Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee and the State Creation Subcommittee
34. Ms. Beena Youdowei: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
35. Mr. Lovedale Peterside: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
36. Mr. Nathan Aguru: Member of the Board of Directors of Wakirike USA and member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
37. Mr. Suku Harry: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
38. Mr. Wesley George: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
39. Mr. Titoe Miriki: Member of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
40. Ms. Ebimiere Irene Toyo: Member of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
41. Mr. Edgar Daniel Biu
42. Mr. Samuel Oyadongha
43. Mr. Alagoa Morris
44. Mr. Igoniko Oduma
45. Dr. Priye Torulagha: Member, Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee, Ijaw Foundation Research Committee and Ijaw Foundation Bylaws Committee; Secretary Concerned Bayelsans USA
46. Chief Mpaka Princewill: Chairman, Niger Delta World Congress
47. Mr. Solomon Disekpobagha
48. Mr. Warisenibo Amoni Idaerefagha Hart
49. Ms. Deborah Abili
50. Mr. Inemo Samiama: Publicity Secretary, Ijaw People’s Association of Great Britain & Ireland
51. Mr. Tom Alabraba
52. Ms. Esther Boro
53. Mr. Preye Nikade
54. Mr. Kelvin Finapiri
55. Mr. Tony I. Uranta: Executive Secretary, United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS)
56. Mr. Ayakeme Oweifiye
57. Dr. Moye Oye
58. Ebi Shidi-Spiff
59. Mr. Victor T. Joe-Abili: President, Oba-Ama (Bakana) Development Association
60. Mr. Andrew Isiayei: Chairman, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), North America Chapter
61. Mr. Godspower Okee
62. Mr. Edison S. Amachree: Executive Vice Chairman, Kalabari National Association Inc. USA
63. Prof. Ebiamadon Andi Brisibe
64. Mr. Ebidi Dickson Ogoba
65. Mr. Yenrin Amanah
66. Ms. Funke Y. Amanah
67. Mr. Gesikeme Ekeremor
68. Mr. Thomas J. Tom
69. Mr. Phillip Oweifie
70. Mr. Boston Edogi
71. Mrs. Timiadi Edogi
72. Mr. Dennis Amako
73. Dr. Matthew Sikpi: General Secretary, Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas
74. Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe: Founding member of Ijaw Foundation and Chairman Ijaw National Congress (INC), Lagos Chapter
75. Mrs. Tare Kentebe
76. Chief (Dr.) Diamond Enoch Tobin-West: First IYC Chairman, Kalabari Chapter
77. Ms. Iwo Bobmanuel: Abonnema Foundation, USA
78. Ben Tantua
79. Mr. Goh Lovely Eodigha
80. Chief (Engr.) Monima E. Ekine
81. Chief Alaiyi Talbot Tom-West
82. Chief Owukori Don Tom-West
83. Chief Robinson Ekine
84. Chief Dabote Denton-West
85. Chief (Senator) N. J. Denton-West
86. Chief Ekine Enoch Ekine
87. Barrister I. C. West
88. Dr. May Banigo: Member Ijaw Foundation Health and Humanitarian Committee
89. Esther Sako
90. Mr. Jonathan Gbenekama
91. Ms. Bukky Ekeremor
92. Dr. Ebi Burutolu
This Resolution for a Bill for the Creation of four more Ijaw States in Nigeria was drafted by the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and was adopted and ratified by the Ijaw Foundation General Assembly and the Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors on July 26, 2008.
549 LEFFERTS AVENUE, BROOKLYN, NY 11225, USA* Phone & Fax: (718) 778-0536*
Website: www.ijawfoundation.net, Email: board_of_directors@ijawfoundation.net
Ijaw Foundation is a charitable nonprofit organization with Section 501 (c) (3) Tax Exempt Status granted by the United States Internal Revenue Service
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