Truth Is Not Tribal: Ijaw Youth Council Warns FG, INEC, and Global Stakeholders Over Justice Delay in Warri

August 06, 2025

Truth Is Not Tribal: Ijaw Youth Council Warns FG, INEC, and Global Stakeholders Over Justice Delay in Warri

Author: Prince Agbedeyi Odimientimi Desmond

Publisher: Global Egberi Media International

"When lies stand too long, they begin to sound like law."

These are the first words of a thunderous declaration by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), a message not merely written but engraved with the burden of history, the scars of colonial injustice, and the determination of a people who refuse to be erased. In an era where truth is often drowned by elite propaganda and ancestral lands are threatened by institutional silence, the IYC has broken that silence with a voice that trembles with power, warning of the dangerous consequences of further delays in electoral justice in Warri Federal Constituency.

This isn't an appeal. It is a historic pronouncement—a call to conscience directed at the Federal Government, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the international community.

A Wounded Truth Seeking Air

The IYC begins with a firm rebuttal against the recurring narrative pushed by the Itsekiri political class, a narrative that boldly dares to label the Ijaw people as "tenants" in their own ancestral lands. This, the Council says, is not only offensive but a deliberate distortion of history and a calculated effort to reintroduce colonial power dynamics masked as tradition.

The group refuses to be silenced, stating: "We will not be intimidated into accepting a borrowed throne, a forged map, or a manipulated process." They do not come with fists raised in anger but with hands full of documented truths—colonial reports, Supreme Court judgments, land treaties, and demographic surveys.

The Constitutional Crisis of INEC’s Delay

At the center of the Council's rage lies the prolonged delay by INEC in releasing the final ward delineation report for Warri, despite a Supreme Court ruling in Timinimi v. INEC (SC/CV/1033/2023) that orders its immediate release. The ruling, they say, is not ambiguous. It is binding, clear, and must be implemented without political negotiation.

And yet, according to the IYC, INEC has remained mute. The silence, they argue, is not neutral—it is complicity. It is betrayal. They point to insider reports, particularly from Premium Times (March 3, 2024), revealing pressure from powerful political actors—most notably, Mrs. Daisy Danjuma and Senator Oluremi Tinubu—allegedly lobbying for the report's delay. Neither woman participated in the INEC hearings, nor have they walked the creeks or known the sufferings of the riverine people. Yet today, they are said to be meddling in a constitutional process.

The Data Doesn’t Lie

INEC’s own field reports from 2022 affirm what the Ijaw have always known: Ijaw and Urhobo communities hold more settlements, polling units, and land mass in Warri than Itsekiri enclaves. The facts are stubborn, the Council insists. The numbers do not favor colonial fantasy. And as the truth edges closer to official confirmation, those who once smiled at the process are now the loudest critics.

"This is not about fairness," the IYC declares. "It is about fear—fear of democracy without distortion."

Exposing the Shadows: Political Queenship and Phantom Influence

The IYC accuses unelected power brokers of holding INEC hostage. It lists names and cites reports. It drags political elites into the spotlight and demands accountability. Most damning is their challenge to the elevated political influence of the Olu of Warri title, which they call a "colonial fiction," originally "Olu of Itsekiri" until changed by British administrators in 1952 to extend the reach of the Itsekiri monarchy.

Citing legal authorities such as Prof. Philip A. Igbafe and court cases including Shell v. Tiebo VII and Sillo v. Military Governor of Mid-Western State, the IYC asserts that the Olu’s jurisdiction was never legally or culturally extended beyond Itsekiri-speaking communities. "The throne does not speak for Warri. It does not represent the Ijaw or Urhobo peoples," they affirm.

External Threats: A Stern Warning to OPC

In a section that drips with fire and fury, the IYC issues a direct warning to the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and other external groups seeking to meddle in Warri’s affairs. These groups, the letter says, were not present during the hearings, have no ancestral ties to the land, and do not bear the scars of decades-long suppression. "This is not Lagos politics. This is Warri," they warn.

Any attempt by OPC or its allies to interfere will be seen not as civil dissent, but as a threat to the constitutional order. "There will be no second warning," the Council affirms.

The Growing Desperation: Warri Is a Ticking Time Bomb

The IYC outlines what it calls “desperate acts” by the Itsekiri elite—stockpiling of arms, ghost communities, tribal lobbying, palace-to-palace sympathy visits, and fabricated maps. These are not the actions of a people confident in truth, but of those terrified of being exposed.

The group emphasizes that if conflict erupts again—as it did in the dark days of 1997 and 2003—the blame will lie squarely on those delaying justice.

"Stop Betraying History"

In a deeply historical retelling, the IYC deconstructs the myth of Itsekiri origin. Ginuwa, they say, was no founder-king but a Benin fugitive. The Ijaw and Urhobo granted him refuge—not rulership. Records from the National Archives and writings from historians such as P.A. Talbot and colonial dispatches make this clear.

"You do not own what you were given by grace," the IYC insists, referring to the land currently contested.

Final Demands

Their demands are not mere wishes, they are constitutional imperatives:

Immediate release of the delineation report as per the Supreme Court judgment.
Cessation of all external and elite interference.
Protection of the democratic and ancestral rights of the Ijaw people.
Institutional rejection of colonial-based tribal domination.
Recognition of legal precedents and constitutional mandates.

A Nation at a Crossroads

"The truth is not tribal. The Constitution is not ceremonial."

This is the IYC's final word. A warning. A plea. A call to justice. They remind all stakeholders that the Ijaw people are not weak—they are resilient, patient, but not blind. They will not allow a map drawn by fraud to erase a people drawn by blood, culture, and centuries of presence.

If INEC fails to act, the consequences will not be poetic, they will be historic—and irreversible.

Signed:

Comrade Nicholas Igarama – Chairman
Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo Esq – Secretary
Tare Magbei – Information Officer

Cc:

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