Connect with us

FEATURED

How Itsekiri Can Benefit From $212m Set Aside By Dutch Govt For “Reparation” Of Slave Trade – Ofehe Delta YPP Candidate

Published

on





Comrade (Chief) Sunny Ofehe, an executive director of the Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC) and an environmental rights activist based in the Netherlands, has said that the Itsekiri nation can benefit from the proposed $212 million educational fund the Dutch government has set aside in response to the Netherlands’ “historic role in the slave trade” in the country.

 

Ofehe, who recently paid a consultative visit to the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, told BIGPEN NIGERIA (www.bigpenngr.com) over the phone on Thursday that Nigeria, through the Itsekiri nation, is in a position to take part in the formal apology and monetary “reparations” being planned by the Dutch government.

Advertisement

 

He recalled that in December of last year, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte officially apologized on behalf of the Dutch government for the country’s historical involvement in the slave trade, stating that slavery must be acknowledged as a crime against humanity in “the clearest terms.”

 

Advertisement

In a speech at the national archives in The Hague, Rutte had acknowledged that the past “cannot be erased,” saying that for centuries, the Dutch state had “enabled, encouraged, and profited from slavery.”

 

The Dutch Prime Minister was quoted as saying; “people were commodified, exploited, and traded in the name of the Dutch state,” and that “nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery.” But the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering of those who were enslaved, and their descendants. Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologise for the past actions of the Dutch state”.

Advertisement

 

Ofehe, the Young Progressive Party (YPP) candidate for governor in Delta State, claimed that in addition to the seven former colonies in South America and the Caribbean that endured unspeakable suffering during the 250-year slave trade that financed the Netherlands’ economic and cultural “golden age,” as claimed by the Dutch Prime Minister, Itsekiri-Nigeria ethnic nationality was one of the regions that the Dutch exploited for business during the slave trade era.

He maintained that, as a result, during his consultative visit to the paramount ruler of Itsekiri Kingdom, he urged him to go further in order to determine how the Itsekiri nation, which was among the sites of the slave trade during the “golden age,” could participate in the formal apology process by the Dutch government and gain access to the educational fund that is designed to assist young people. 

Advertisement

 

“You may remember that I was at the palace of the Olu of Warri, one of Nigeria’s first-class monarchies, and I informed the revered ruler that the Dutch Government, through the Prime Minister, had just made an official apology for its part in the slave trade. Ironically, I am aware from what little history I have learned that the Dutch were among those who arrived in this country following the Portuguese, and they were heavily involved in the slave trade in this kingdom.

 

Advertisement

“And I also told the monarch that the Dutch government has set aside $212 million to invest in education in nations where they actually participated in the slave trade, and I believe the Itsekiri Kingdom, knowing its historical significance, has a stake in that fund that is available. 

This year, on June 1, the world will commemorate 160 years since the slave trade was abolished. After March, he continued, “I believe we need leadership that can be able to stir up this Kingdom to be part and parcel of that apology that they have made.

Ofehe, one of the front-runners in the governorship race, said that the Delta state needed a young man like himself who knew how to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available abroad to strengthen the state economy in addition to the funding received from Abuja and self-generated income to manage state affairs.

Advertisement

 

“I have also stated in some of my campaigns that I have the ability to bring at least 26 billion dollars in foreign direct investment to this state as a governor, and at this time with all of the deficit we see in the state with borrowing, we need a leadership that can be able to use the relationships garnered over the years to bring people, assure them that their investment can be secure, and their investment can also get a return,”  he said.

 

Advertisement

 

While requesting support from all Deltans regardless of ethnicity and political affiliation, Ofehe stated that as a young man who has witnessed European advancement for the past 27 years and fully understands that the advancement were not a rocket science, he would think outside the box to revamp the state’s ailing industries and build new ones outside of allocation that come through FAAC.

 

Advertisement

“I am a candidate in this election, and I believe I can offer a lot. As a governor, I won’t be making any infrastructure promises or talking about how I’ll build schools, hospitals, or bridges because I know those are basic services that every government owes to its citizens. However, the added value that my candidacy will bring and the added value that I will bring as governor of this state is that with the current situation our country is facing with the global economic meltdown, we need a leadership that can be able to guarantee trust, can be able to attract foreign direct investment, and can be able to tell the world that even though Nigeria has a reputation right now as being an unsafe and very risky country to visit, Nigeria still has a lot to offer.”

 

 

Advertisement
FEATURED5 hours ago

Senator Ned Nwoko Emerges Senate Ad-hoc Committee Chairman On Crude Oil Theft

COMMUNITY REPORT15 hours ago

Edo Fallen Dam: Group Urges State Govt To Send Relief Materials, Medical Aid To Polluted Community

FEATURED16 hours ago

Gov Oborevwori’s Aide Faces Backlash From Deltans On Radio Over Diatribe Against Senator Nwoko

FEATURED18 hours ago

How Gov Oborevwori’s Developmental Strides Is Unsettling Delta Opposition – Aniagwu

Delta
FEATURED1 day ago

Coalition Slams Delta Finance Commissioner: You Lied, Delta GDP Falls Short Of Its Huge FAAC, IGR 

BUSINESS2 days ago

Abdulrahman Bashar: How Nigerian Billionaire Oil And Gas Business Tycoon Was Jailed In Dubai

BUSINESS2 days ago

SPOTLIGHT ON YEMI CARDOSO AND HIS “FIRST ELEVEN” AT CBN, BY TONI KAN

CSR initiatives
FEATURED2 days ago

Okowa’s Former Aide, Monoyo Edon Resigns Membership Of Delta PDP

Rivers Assembly
FEATURED2 days ago

PDP’s Stronghold In Delta North Shaken Over Senator Nwoko’s Defection

Ikpokpo
FEATURED2 days ago

Delta PDP Loses More Bigwigs As Omo-Agege Formally Receives Ex- ALGON Chief, Ikpokpo To APC

Yahaya Bello
FEATURED2 days ago

ON YAHAYA BELLO: WHAT DOES GOV ODODO REALLY WANT, BY YUSHAU A. SHUAIB

OPINION3 days ago

WHO IS AFRAID OF SENATOR NWOKO?, BY KENNETH ORUSI

FEATURED3 days ago

NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel Hails Billionaire Tycoon And Tantita’s VC, Tonlagha On Birthday Anniversary

NEWS5 days ago

Senator Nwoko’s Chief Of Staff Resigns Membership Of PDP

FEATURED5 days ago

Huge Turnout As Omo-Agege Engages APC Leaders, Faithful In Aniocha South And North Ahead 2027

Advertisement
Advertisement