How I Designed Niger Delta Amnesty Programme –Dunia

 

 For Peter Omoh Dunia, the Ogbona, Etsako Central Local Government Area, Edo State-born philanthropist, life does not begin at 40. It began even before 40. At 42, Ogbona has not only been a blessing to his ancestral community, he has also made a mark in the emancipation of the Niger Delta region.

Many Nigerians would be surprised to know that Dunia was the brain behind the amnesty granted by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the ex-Niger Delta warlords in 2009.

“I played a major role by meeting the late President Yar’Adua and the vice president who is now the president. We had a chat and we assured him that Tompolo was going to embrace the amnesty programme. And behold, it came to pass! I also made it a duty that on the day that Tompolo and the rest dropped their arms, which was the final day, October 3, 2009, I joined them to prove to the whole world that the hostility has ended.

“So, I was part of the success story; I lived in Warri, and I ensured that the process was a success because Tompolo is a good friend. We were all part of the whole crisis then because they are my brothers,” Dunia said.

Dunia’s heroic role in the region is not only limited to the granting of amnesty to the ex-Niger Delta warlords. He has also been immensely involved in the development of youths in the region, most importantly, Warri and its environs. His company, Oceanwave Marine Oil and Gas, was the official sponsor of Warri Wolves Football Club.

According to Dunia, “I took it upon myself because I believed that if you empower one youth, it transcends. I lifted the club with the sum of N100 million in 2008/2009 and we made sure that we removed most of the boys from the streets by ensuring that they were gainfully employed. I empowered them through my company. We employed a whole lot of them since I am into marine.”

Dunia said most of his support towards the realisation of the amnesty programme was rooted in the belief that the resources belong to the Niger Delta region, which is the goose that lays the golden eggs and yet, had nothing to show for it.

“Most of the support came from me from the beginning of the crisis because one, I am someone who felt that the resources belong to us. We are the goose that lays the golden eggs, yet there is nothing to prove until when I went to Oporoza and its environs. I went to see my bosom friend, Tompolo. I arrived there in the afternoon. A boat sail from Warri to Oporoza is about one hour, thirty minutes.

“But prior to that time, I had discovered that most of the communities don’t have pipe borne water, hospitals, schools and you see most of them coming out to defecate on the water and at the same time, drinking from the it. It was a pathetic sight. I took it upon myself to provide them water. I met a lady who had boats and I arranged with her to let me use her boat to lift sachet water to the villages so that the people can get safe water to dink. That was how we started. Every week, I would buy sachet water and put them in two to three Cotonou boats. They will sail to those areas and the water would be supplied to them. I did that for six months.

“The whole community gathered one day and the woman, Madam Dolphin, called me and said, ‘Peter, some people want to see you.’ I said, for what? She said, ‘Come to the waterside.’ I got there and say over 20 chiefs dressed in their regalia who told me they wanted to see that man that gives them water, the same man that they trust. They wanted to sign Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with some companies and they wanted somebody to act as an arbitrator between them and the companies. Though they had their own brothers, they insisted that the man that they don’t know, every time he comes and he is not a politician, that is the man we wanted.

“That was how I integrated myself into community business. I signed MoUs on behalf of the communities as an attorney so that they can benefit from Shell, Chevron and other companies. That was how the relationship started. That was how I met Tompolo in 2003, and we became friends. He was part of the whole process to liberate the Niger Delta region from poverty and life of penury.

“Initially, we did not want to agitate against the government. But you cannot stand when your own brother is being killed and fold your hands. That was how the struggle started. But today, we give God the glory that our own brother is the president. But that is not the end of it. Up till now, nothing is being done. The place has not been developed, but we know that the president is doing his best. But he should also refocus on the region because nothing has been done as far as I am concerned. The issue of lack of hospitals is still there. There are no roads, no coastal roads. But we applaud his educational drive like the Maritime University in Gbaramatu Kingdom. We know what that would attract,” Dunia said.

Dunia did not end his philanthropic gesture in the creeks. He extended it to his community. He ensured that Ogbona community was not relegated to the status of a village and localised type of scenario. He ensured the construction of roads in and around Ogbona. And with this singular act, the community has never remained the same. Dunia’s development was like a positive tsunami which took over Ogbona like an earthquake.

Prior to the philanthropic emergence of Dunia, his community had been utterly neglected by successive governments. The community, one of the four villages that make up Avhainwu clan, had been lacking in all basic infrastructures, which prompted it to resign to its fate.

But Dunia is not a man who easily allows challenges to overwhelm him. He takes the bull by the horn each time he comes across any major challenge. Those who have encountered him can testify to this. The oil magnate singlehandedly asphalted all the major roads and streets of about 15km in the community with proper drainages to go along.

As a result of Dunia’s philanthropic gesture, Ogbona community has changed from the red dust and mud that always welcome its visitors. The town had since taken on a new look as a result of the ingenuity and kind-heartedness of one young man who decided to make a difference.

In an era bedevilled by self-centered men, where most wealthy Nigerians would rather think of what they can gain from their community, rather than what the community can gain from them, Dunia could have used the money expended on such laudable projects to buy himself a private jet, state-of-the art cars, erect gigantic castles or estates for himself.

With Dunia’s noble venture, his name has been written in gold in the annals of Afenmai history, Edo State and the entire Niger Delta region. Dunia’s advice to illustrious Nigerians is that they should emulate his philanthropic gesture and develop their community and their neighbours, saying love can only be shared if it has an impact on the other person.

The Sun Interview by Aidoghie Paulinus