AN INTERVIEW ABOUT THE AVEN PEOPLE
Chief Richman? My names are Chief Richman yemen phnr, I am a son of Aven, a son of the soil.
The question you asked me, I use to tell you the Aven man is not a stranger in this land, the aven mans came from somewhere and all you know too well more about the Ijaw people is or lets say Nigeria as a whole is my ground.
We came from akpetiama clan in Bayelsa, then the town we came from direct is bomadi.
Agada is the father of ekpeti and ekpeti is the father of bomadi. Bomadi begot two sons, Aguebri and Avabri. Ava now begot three children where you have Isianeli, Opotopo and the other one is not listed because she is a woman.
Then we now left bomadi, we came to kolokumo pokoma and settle, when we got to kolokumo pokoma, we stayed for a while, we left that place in Adagedesegha. Before we left Ava bomadi, before we left that place, it was almost five different century past, we came to Adezigaziga, where we finally left and came to settle in this our present stay where you call Aven. In this our present stay.
Aven is the founding father of Aven. In this place and aven begot two children namely Ledo and Yarakumo. Yarakumo is the senior son. Ledro begot four children namely Edumo, Egbisi, Bakri, Obu, the four children of Ledro, then after that Yarakumo begot two children which we call vwan and orheke, those are the people that founded the present aven we are saying.
The Aven you see today that settle in this place, I stayed here for so many years, if you look into the history of bomadi, you find that bayelsa is also our brother, that also came from bomadi, the bomadi in delta came from the bomadi in bayelsa and in this our present stay we stay here.
Really, when we came in existence here, there are so many things that short changes us, they gave us so many names, some called us, we came from Atasaepio, some say we come from those people that have stain, it is where we came from. But the Aven man finally tells you that we came from Ekpetiama town, that is how we left Ekpetiama to settle in Aven.
And when we came into the aven the aven man has a festival which we still recognize till tomorrow and is their yam festival which is called Okolode, then in aven we call it Ogeavenowe. In aven here we call it Avenoweoge and Aven has their autonomy from their kingdom where we came, they granted us our autonomy, so we have right to have our mananawere , that is the highest traditional name, we have all those right to put all this things in place and before I forget, the Aven man produce the best yam which I can say in this our present stay in Delta State, the yam in Patani local government.
The yam Aven produce were common in boundary with kowan community, take it there you cannot get that yam, is a thing you can say anywhere those that know the quality of the yam will tell you yes.
Recently, we want to festival in Ekpetema kingdom, when we drop that yam, it was different among others, there and they give us so many names, we are not from here, we are not from here, I tell you. Let me give you an example in Akwa Ibom, you have the eastern ebonom, the eastern obolo all of them have their autonomy in the various areas they are. If you go to rivers state, you have tonbia, the tonbia in river state left from the tonbia in bayelsa to settle in their place, they also have their autonomy over there. Let us look closely, you have kaburntus in bayelsa which have their autonomies and they have their mananawae and the rest of them, the same to the tarakris in bayelsa, they have their autonomy there, there Otungbe, Otungbebu is from Otokputu in Oghwia Kingdom, go up the Omoru you see there also from Ekpetiama who migrated there to settle. So Aven also came from that place, we have our autonomy and we believe we have our arrangement to govern ourselves, we have the mananawae, the benanawae is a thing we are looking up to, we have after the Amananawae.
You have the CDC chairman, while we call locally the chairman of the community, then we have other development committees set up in the community to look into the community in terms of governor and Aven we have our youth wing, our youth structure all put in place, we hav e our women leader which we call the CDC women leader which is community chairlady, they say, chairlady.
So I believe Aven has in terms of government all this offices put in place, currently as am talking, in Aven and I believe as we are interacting, if you ask me more question, I will still tell you more about it. I have a small booklet I draft which I have given to you already, I have touched it a little and the others are still in there and then let talk in terms of the presence of the government in Aven.
Chief Richman: I thank you, I told you that Aven gave birth to three children, the three he gave birth to, Esialugu, Opotopo and the other was not mentioned because she’s a woman, that is the tradition of the Ijaw man. The Aven son now left with his other children, came to kolokumo pokuma that was where we settled in krikri.
Polokumo pokuma in coast that where they settled. They stayed there for a while, they said no we should still move further and he came to our river forcados, he came to the coast where they settled at Adezigaziga where the current patani oil gas is cut that place is called Adeziga that is where we came and settled first, this place we are staying as of then, the patani town, so many of them, the kabouwe in bayelsa all of them called this place kabobulu that’s the original name called, this place we belong and most of our farm lands are named after the people that were settled in this place, you have Afiaware, Darbo, Ebenebo though some of them are names of other places, other people that were staying here, so they too now deemed it fit that they cannot live in this place, they now also move.
Those Kabou in towns precisely, the Adagbabu was staying here too, the Esamabri, Otofane, the Kpeleware, the Abaruo people. So they now left, the senior town of kabou is kolora, here that’s where they are settling home is. So they now, this place to stay in their present place of stay for today. So as they are living, we too are coming in, when we came in, we still met so many of them.
When we came in, there is a town, a small settlement which the Aven man called the Ovuawua. That was where they settled first before they spread to this present stay. That is how the Aven mans came, when they came, they met people from Adagbabri, Otrofane, and the rest of them and some of them married their daughters so when they were going, they had no choice than to give even their farmlands to their daughters, some of them gave their farms to their friends so when the Aven came, it was more or less a land, a virgin land where you come and settle, when you see deep virgin, you go in and clear, when you clear, it becomes you land. That is how the Aven man came to stay here and you know farming is our thing in this place, farming is our major occupation in the place, that is how we came to settle in this place.
Chief Richman? Oruamua
Chief Richman? Today, if you get there, you know when they want to leave a place, as of them, they trace highland to settle, then when they came, it was that Oruamua they saw, it was having a highland but as am talking to you today, the Oruawua you will see new structures, those old structures are not there because everybody left there and came to this present Aven and its environs to settle.
Chief Richman: Is still the same Aven people that are occupying it, the same Aven people, if I take you there, we have churches, houses people stay, then most of our tenants Isoko and Urhobo that live with us they have their houses around there.
So there is no dispute about it. Then I believe before I needed to start, am supposed to tell you the population of the Aven people, the landmarks, I needed to touch it but I believe if we finish this, draw my attention back, so that we can get it done.
Chief Richman: Yes, it is visible but to get to that, we must get to arrange for speed boat to go, it is after patani, it is by the coast when we get there, I can show you.
Chief Richman: Really there is need to tell you, I believe when I came in first, the Aven people came in here and we settled here, the land we are even using today, that we own today is from our sister community, they came to struggle those land with us but we decided to make peace with them, but initially we were angry and we went to court, not only our sister community, even as to common boundary sharing community, Umeh too, Igbolangiama too, because they see us as strangers in their midst, that we came from somewhere because I believe they don’t understand it. How wish they understand it, they will not be seeing us as strangers in this land, we have people like that in court, but I believe generally because of the community, we have no case in court for today.
Chairman, do we still have any case in court?
Chief Richman: No case, today we decided to settle some and let it go.
Chief Richman: Yes, the kabouwe and the Aven people, we live like brothers, we see ourselves as brothers, we see ourselves as one and there is never a time we share ourselves. We tell them, we are not brothers, never a time as an Izon man because Izon is the founding father of Izon and Izon is the father of Izon, so they are our brothers, we live as one, we do things in common, but because of this insult that we don’t know where we are from that gets us angry, that made us trace our root which we’ve known for today. That is the only thing, otherwise we don’t have any problem with them, we live as one, we live as brothers, thank you.
Certainly this settle side as a land inhabited by the Aven community, it is not contended in anywhere but normally when you share boundary with neigbouring people, there is always this boundary crisis, so we had our own fair share of it. Even in the days of our great grand fathers conflict of over boundaries, lands, ownership of land between koloware and this our community was on ground. Talk about the history father struggle we won and we also had conflict with Agbadabu that since they were settling here, that place of the land belongs to them, our fathers went to court with them, and they won. And the gbolangiama too our sister gbolangiama, we have also had our first share with them over boundary problems, infact that one is a very frequent something, is one on ground now is meant that we must settle our landmarks amicable and let everybody of its occupation.
So also with Umeh people, so this challenges are always there, but this place as our place of inhabitation is not contended by anybody that is just the addition I want to say.
Rovina E. gbogbo: My names are Rovina E. Gbogbo from this community born and brought up here. Infact we are suffering, infact the local government doesn’t know.
Rovina E. gbogbo: Farming and Fishing
Rovina E. gbogbo: Yes
Rovina E. gbogbo: We are facing a lot of challenges that one, like the farming we are planting, no fertilizer, no assistance from the government, if we want to manage to have, we have to store them, store them, then the next planting season we take them and because there is no assistance or no fertilizer, the crop did not do well, but we manage to eat because of that, our children too, we can’t train them to where they suppose to go and even you manage to train them, no work so the children too when the group after coming back from school or when they graduate they go back to the same farming, I am farming, my daughter is farming, the husband is farming, my son is farming and my wife is faming even in the local government council, no employement, personally myself I manage to get small job through the king, just myself, if you go that local government now, you cannot find anybody from this local government apart from me, you understand we are suffering to send our children to the school, because of money, no way, you understand, most of my women, if now you enter the town, you will see very few of them because 5’ o clock everybody is already in the farm, so we need assistance, when you get your cassava again now to carry them, to grind, no engine, we have to go far to the Isoko village you see, when you come back from the farm, you have already tired but you will sit down again. Reel this cassava, then carry them again very far, so please we need assistance. If you talk of challenge, if I begin to count them even till evening, I will not finish them.
Sir, we need help, we need assistance from the government.
Rovina E. gbogbo: We don’t have health centre, the one that they are trying to build here, we thought they will complete it but they just abandon it, so if anybody fall into labour, we have to look for okada or motor or any means to rush them to the person in patani. Infact we are suffering, if somebody is sick, before you rush the person to patani or ughelli, the person will die, so we need health centre, infact that is the number one.
Chief Richman: The question you asked me just now about 2006 census, we are about seven thousand plus, but I believe for today, the Aven with what I know and the way I see the growth, Aven is more than ten thousand plus. So that is the aspect of the census you asked after.
Chief Richman: Really, politically we have a lot of challenges, first, if you want to bargain properly in politics, you need some equipment and equipment you need mostly, first, when we came into existence, when politics was really politics was really, first they took us to koloware, Abare as one ward, then we were under bomadi local government.
We were under benin, so when they finally created delta state again, they carve Aven again out of Abare and now make us, Abare in terms of voting stand, we know our voting stand but what they did they carried Aven, koloware and Taware, joined us together and what we are strongly crying for about five years backward again, what we notice, Aven now carried Aven again, koloware tamkunu and merge us again as a ward, so really we know what we produce in terms of our voting strength, why are they throwing us here and there, we needed ward of our own, some places they create two, three ward, are they up to us in terms of voting, and we also notice things. If the unit are coming to us, they don’t want to, they block us, they give it out. Like that brief history, all those things are stated there, they are depriving us from a lot of things that even commissioner and the rest of them depriving us. We struggle, we even struggle recently before we now started having the primary school, the local government we struggle, before the right honourable Bassey Gana, the deputy speaker made me a member in the caretaker council.
You see, when you look at all this things, we have a lot of challenges because if Aven is properly recognize and carried along. We belive most of the things the government cannot do we can help ourselves, in terms of the other areas, they have leaders they drag their people, they put them in jobs in Asaba but today, we can’t boast in Aven to say let me employ five people in Asaba no way. So we too keep on discussing with our leaders on the way forward to see that Aven can have a ward of their own.
In politics, you bargain with what you have, so those are the challenges we face mostly in politics, then when our children will try to say they will beat up their chest, they want to contest for house of assembly. They want to go as council chairman, they still look at us with one eye, they don’t want to give us free hand, I don’t know whether they are jealous, I don’t know what they are trying to do, I don’t know, we feel something, if we give Aven man a full hand of operation, they will over use it. I don’t know, so we are having those kind of challenges like they employ women for cleaning and the rest of them in council, our women are not employed including youths they are not employed. If it tell you today, go to the record of council as simple as civil servant, no single Aven man, there was a time they were employing and they asked me to pay ten thousand naira, and I paid fifty thousand naira for five people to be employed, they refused, we pass through a lot of challenges, but what do we do, we keep on crying to our God, our unity is our progress, so keep on pushing, we believe one day we will arrive.
That’s the little challenge we have, like if you call about things we needed mostly in the town, you know as a government, those are not the things they are giving to us.
Like Aven, we needed cutting of wards, opening of wards, we can tell you without anything that, in this local government, Aven owns land more than any other place in terms, if you want to come and establish any firm, any type of firm want to come and establish any firm, any type of firm, even if it is a university, we have those size of land, we own them but you mean I will push this thing to the Aven man to go and benefit, no instead of that, go, we notice all those things, but we also appreciate, the little the deputy speaker is also doing for us, we also appreciate the little the pere is also doing for us and we also appreciate but we want God to touch them so that let them give us free hands in terms of politics, so that we can do our different biding and the rest of them as politicians.
Like today, water is our problem, the deputy speaker brought a state project, there is a very big water tank there but then since the flood, the sumol and then the solar panel is damaged, how will Aven get money to go and repair those things, instead of that we embarked on local mono pumps, then individuals that have bore holes in their house is what we use, water generally is not there, the government, the local government went to place a health centre in koloware and named it, it is Aven and koloware health centre. How would you expect a big community as Aven to go to one community as Aven to go and tread their people and they said the health centre is for two people, okay they remembered us and brought a cottage hospital, the cottage hospital if you get there is in the thick bush, we don’t see the contractor the people that came and said contractor is coming, we don’t know whether they bride their way and stop, abandon the project and left, the project is just there.
There is another MOU project in the primary school, the water is salty, without treatment you cannot make use of it and we also thank the deputy speaker, he gave us the secondary school which we struggled and got, he built a secondary school for us, but we are having challenges of Corpers Lodge, Staff Quarters, we needed more buildings because as of then, when our children were living this place to patani for school on their way, they had vehicle accident, we lost a lot of them.
We are happy this school is here with us, but we need the staff quarters, more school houses, if you get to the school science lab, if you get to the school, you will not believe it is a new school, and then the corpers there and then the teachers, if they keep up with it for on coming four, five, six years we believe the school will become something else because they teach our children, the children are also sound but there is another thing, we appeal, Delta state government fenced primary school, Aven is not fenced, we agree the secondary school was newly created, but go and see the population, we need fence, school fence, the government should fence it.
We do have staffs, like the primary school does not have security, no enough gardeners, the same like that secondary school, no security, no gardeners, we need all these things, these are all the challenges we are passing through.
Then Aven as a small community, we manage this things, we task ourselves to employ some to see how they can be helping the school authority for now awaiting when the government will hear us.
If there are challenges, we would say we have a lot.
We have a stream which they clean but for how many years, the government does not come to clean it again and you know our people, they believe in taking river water, they believe on it, they have said about the water, we have the health centre, the government is present there, we have the market, the government is present there, then we have different bore hole place in different areas. We have the presence of the government, we have a bus culvert even as of that, one is not yet completed, and what we cry most, we needed the street roads to be done, and cutting of roads. We have lands in Aven, if government is coming today to cut roads for us, land owners will not charge government, come and pay us before you cut roads, no because we need development in our place.
So I believe politically, if we allow, now we are trying, if we go into election, we can produce councellors, we have members, if they allow us to produce chairman, councellor, I don’t think we have a problem and I believe Aven will produce the president of this country one day. So those are the little challenges I believe we are facing. If those things are cleared, Aven people are allowed to do things on their own, then we don’t have a problem, that’s the way we feel.
Mostly, the issue of pairing us to other communities, we don’t like it, that is it, then in terms of our boundaries, neighbouring communities, as I am talking to you, we’ve written to the deputy governor’s office, we’ve tried the case, up till now, nothing is happening, those matter are just there, one day they will come up, we’ll go and settle again, one day they will come.
We also need the state government to handle this issue, we also need the local government to take this matters, these are matters we do along and we are a bounded community in the local government. The original boundary between patani local government and ughelli north is bridged eight the Izon man call it debadino, then when you get to Umeh junction, there is a bus culvert there across the bus culvert is Isoko South, this way is patani local government, but the government refused to give listening ears to these issues. We do this alone, we do it by ourselves, we are of a people.
They say the government is for the people and the people is for the government, and the government lives by the people, how do we feel the government is by the people, if they do this little thing they will help us a lot.
At times, we have seen many things, they will bring training forms, empowerment forms from the state, the governor is trying but at the end, when we fill this forms and submit them, it looks as if when they hear Aven name they will keep them aside, government empowering before you know, they will see the Aven name, they will remove it except the coordinator is from the state direct, before they get to the state direct, we are passing through a lot of challenges, there is need to share the dividend of democracy together. I believe if there is any other one remaining, my people sitting around will also contribute.
So these are the things we need from the government that need to be done for Aven people. Like this different boundary community, if they come across any, the government is supposed to call this people and settle the issue, they are aware they should not claim they are not aware.
Chief Richman: Yes, our people in Ekpetiama has granted us to be and stay on our own, set up our government to rule ourselves, they have agreed that, you know everything has its own procedure, the community will sit, we really need some of those things what do we do, we put so many things in place, we believe he will do those things at the right time and arrange them at the right time and I strongly believe they will come to pass, because of this things we have so many effort on ground which Aven people will sit and conclude, maybe as you’ve come today you will still come that day and say you said sometjing like that, oh it is really true.
Man: My name, this is my village, I grew up here, I schooled here, I taught in this place, I taught in several places in delta. By the grace of God, I was once a chairman of all the teachers in delta state, state chairman of NUT delta state, a member of Ancops Celestine level, I was a member of the ten government council, Agor, so those are my little background.
I will talk about the culture, but let me first say something concerning some of the political challenges we have, I want to say it with specific and with fact, in the eighty’s, when we were with Abare, Aven community have two units, Abare also have two units, koloware also had two units, the three of us made up one ward, but when we go into the actual voting because I know that the independent candidate election, where Obi emerged as the councilor, at the bomadi local government council, I was the principal ac tor that time, infact I will be right if I say I was the sole sponsor of the candidate, he’s from Abare, when you put the vote of koloware and Abare together, it does not equal the votes of Aven and because we were massively on ground here, when Obi lost the election, his village in Abare, he also lost in koloware but the work we did here raised the result of Abare, also the result of koloware and Obi finally emerged as the winner of the election, that is to tell you the political strength of this village, but today this village has been so marginalize that Abare who was with us is having two wards and Aven community has none. Yet they are marrying us to koloware and they are marrying us to tamkumu. In the last election, the figures are very clear, if you add the election result of taware and koloware together, the physical growth if you add it together it does not equal the votes of Aven community. You see, so we have a very serious challenge.
I don’t know if I will call it the politics of hatred, I think that is the appropriate word to use, it is a politics of hatred, so like what my chief said, that this person’s must not be encouraged, this person’s must not be empowered, it is bad. The physical size of this village. This community deserves a ward. If the issue of marrying us to another community does not arise, if the government want to be fair with us, the local government want to be fair with us, delta state want to be fair with us, Nigeria want to be fair with us, this community deserves a ward because area that are enjoying a ward of their own some two wards are not as big as this village: even their voting strength. Let us go to the Archives of INEC. The result we speak for themselves, so the politics of hatred, this village we want to beg the government, please to review their position and review their stand. I come back to the culture of the people.
Man: The unit of Aven, when they have been increasing the unit of other communities, they have deliberately kept the unit of Aven as the old two till today, and when we do the voters registration because of the increase in the size of population each unit in Aven, when we finish our registration is running to two thousand plus, and you know that the electoral provision is that each unit that is above five hundred should be split, why are they keeping our own like this, Abare has joint ten unit, they were at the same two unit with us and if you put the votes of the ten unit of Abare together, it is equal to the vote of the two of this community. These are facts that we can verify from the office of INEC, we are seriously marginalize, that is the truth, there is not two way about it, they know it, the leaders of politics in this council, they know it, I don’t know what is their mind against this place, but it is bad, absolutely bad, so I go to the culture of the people.
infact this is the cultural home of patani local government as a whole.
Our festival is always a festival that is celebrated not only across the whole country, I remember in the early 80’s, NTA was coming to cover us from benin, been that Avenga which is the kolode in bayelsa, you know once you have been trained in a particular culture, even if you leave your people, you carry the culture, culture is a way of life, you carry your culture, you carry tradition, you carry your belief. In the days even their goods they carry them to where they go, so our fore fathers Avengo trained us in the customs and tradition of the Izon land basically, we are the best farmers in the local government, we are the best farmers, infact this is the food basket of patani local government, maybe when you come around that September, November, it is a place of attraction, every back of a house carries a yam barn, it is the women profession any woman that does not own a yam barn is considered a taboo, and they will ask the woman what is wrong with you and it is openly displayed, nobody molesses them, no other community produce our kind of food crops, yam, we have cassava, we have, plantain, we have basically, this is the food basket of patani local government.
Then again, in terms of custom and tradition as I told you, our festival is the number one, the pere of kabou always enjoy it, which comes up in every February in every year, but we are trying to re-order it so it can fall into new yam festival properly as the new yams harvested, but the belief in those our fathers is that they are ancient people, when the new yam come, they don’t eat it, until the new yam is very dry and mature, so it is in February, when the yams are mature and in February, they will be preparing them for planting again, the elders and family heads will say it is time to eat yam. So that was how they fixed it in February, once the festival comes, the whole communities even bomadi local government, they come around that the festival of Aven is on ground again, where we have taken display of various types of traditional dance, the best masquerade dance you have in the local government is from here.
Man: It is Aven masquerade dance, I’ve gone with masquerade dance, when there is any ceremony in patani local government area. It is the masquerade dance that is always invited to display in the public, the marks are still there. In those days, am one of the dancers, but am too old to do it now, they believe system is taken all away from me now.
Then we have Akenu Regata, this Akenu Regata is a display of Ijaw artistry in the marine world, in nabal power that is another place we display excellent, when pere of kabou was installed, all the festival of arts and culture we went to warri, we emerged the best, we went to Lagos, we also emerged the best, this community emerged the best in that one called Akenu Regata, so that is another area we are noted for.
Our fathers were the best wrestlers in this local government area until today, our masquerade drums when they beat, you will stand up, if I gather the boys now and say just give us five minutes, you will stand up, the drum will move you whether you are a Christian, what the drum speak nobody combines that kind of musical artistry, we our people here do it.
So these are various ways of rich tradition, rich customs, we have in this place.
There is something of a very strong note that is behind, there is no day that lake does not feed this community, but you know geography. When a lake is ageing, you know the attendant problems, the safety of the river, water lettuce, water weed is closing it up, if not all different kind of sea animals were in that lake, but the challenge
Man: it is called Avenwae lake because the man names all his property according to his name, so that nobody can contest it with him, its called Abonwe lake, it is still there and that is one area I think the government needs to look at, the banks of that lake, I have looked at it and have imagined that, that is going to be the best rice plantation in the Niger Delta, it is very rich plain land, occasionally, this carto rice go to feed their birds, but this land will produce the best rice, ekpoma rice cannot beat it, if only investors can come and look at the banks of that lake and explore it, am telling you it is going to be a very strong economic resource, not only to this community but to patani local government area, delta state and Nigeria as a whole.
So sir, these are the rich cultural values of our people, normally our people dress, if you see our chiefs, when we go out and we dress, they will know that the Aven people are here, we tie our wrapper, tie our beads even before the next chieftaincy title, when you come back to the next tradition, now you will not see me again, you will not know me again because every Aven man must have this long flowing wrapper, if you don’t have it, you are not yet a man and you must wear this real Ijaw traditional dress, so those are rich cultural values we have in the land, thank you sir.
Chief Orutu: Am Chief Orutu W, I am incidentally the chairman of PCRC patani division, I hail from this community, before I go into the potentiality that are yet to be tapped in the area, there were some areas where they were speaking about political marginalization, so I want to add one or two, I will never repeat what they have said, then I will go straight to my point.
If I can remember what are divided according to clan bases, in patani local government historically, they have been able to classify three clans, but we are four when you look at the historical perspective, patani and Aven, we are not of the same historical background, but geographically we are one.
Patani people clearly cunned us, isolated us to be their own and kept on pushing us here and there, so if clans, if works are divided according to clan, Aven is the fourth clan in the patani local government and there is no clan that is having a ward or one quarter of a ward and by the size of Aven, we are even up to three wards. So Aven is a clan of itself and if works are divided according to clans the fourth clan is Aven, patani man knows historically we are not part of them, so we have been marginalized in that area.
If that area is not ironed out, you now say oh, kolowarem taware this, they will keep on pushing us here and there, then at the end historically, they will now put us aside, edge us aside saying they are not patani people, we are one oh, then we’ll not listen. They will keep on marginalize forever and ever so that area should be corrected. I want the government to correct that area that Aven man and patani man are of different historical setting, we are not of the same, we are different and since works are shared according to clans, Aven is the fourth clan in patani local government and should be recognize and given three wards that is my own contribution in the area of marginalization.
Then going to other areas, where we have been marginalize, incidentally I am the principal of Aven secondary school, even now all the other schools in the state are been fenced, Aven is not fenced, I’ve written series of letters to the government, there is no head way and now one of the prericle side of WAEC is that a school must have a fence and must have security men, we don’t have a single fence, so we keep on producing people then when they get to SS3 then they will run to other areas, that is a big problem. If all other school in the upland are fenced, Aven should also be fenced, so that let us have our own WAEC centre, we produce enough students even more than the neighbouring place but for the fact that we don’t have a fence, we are not qualified for WAEC accreditation, our student now run to the neighbouring places. It is a very big pathetic situation, we feel that is also an area of marginalization. Let us not do this for them, but all other areas have this things, does it mean that if you don’t have a big man in front of you, that town will suffer, they are marginalizing in that area. Our school should be fenced, then the area of security, men should also be looked into, there is supportive staff, but we have none, that area should be looked into, that is another area of marginalization.
Let me go to the vast land of Aven, actually we have a lot of resources that are yet to be taped and I want you people to understand that Aven has two types of land, when you say land, land is suppose to be classified, we have upland, and lowland, lands in Aven, but the main tips concentrate mostly on upland, and forget about the lowland, and that it is the lowland areas that will bring wealth to the area even to the nation, the natives because of their low resources, they embark on only upland lands and forget about lowland lands, the lowland lands is very rich, richer than even the highlands, the lowland lands is even very good for swamp rice, I remember one time I planted rice in this area, lowland rice in this area it was very viable, but the problem I faced after producing, there was no place to mill this rice, and that is not an encouragement to people. So the lowland land is very good for swamp rice, is not only the bank of the lake. There are other lowland lands in Aven, if they are well and nest you’ll see that this village of Aven, our productivity is enough to feed the nation not only delta state, so we need the assistance of the government to help us develop that area to be capable of feeding the whole nation.
We need assistance of the government individually, our present farmers they have no money, they cannot develop that land and now we also notice that it is lowland lands that is good for the production of pepper, for the production of groundnut, for the production of okro and many other crops which it our if our peasant farmers are assisted, you will see that we are going to produce enough food crops to feed the nation and not only the state alone.
We also have some other kneecaps some of this lowland areas, they don’t have accessible roads, so after producing to bring this things to a point where people will buy it becomes a problem, that discourages people, so we need accessible road in this community, even the lake it is the villagers that manage on their own to pay people like that we need accessible road, if there are accessible roads, all those underdeveloped land, people will go and get produce and get them to where people will buy.
We need all those areas, we want government to come in.
We have lands, let them put accessible road to those areas and if that is done, you will see that Aven is going to be mentioned everywhere. This is a statement of fact, then not only that the swamp area is not only for the production of those crops. We have two types of fish, swamp fish, river fish, there are so many areas by which you can get fish from the swamp area is also very rich in fish we have, and this fishing season, fishing is in various season, but if we are to have nest the swamp, there are no ponds you can go to the swamp set, different kind of hooks, our people are gifted, they produce different kind of fish, the various method of killing this fish.
So our people need support, they need encouragement from the government, so that we can nest those areas, the swamp fishing, we are expert on it, we can do something about it.
Ask me any other question, any area I’ve not been able to amplify, I will touch it.
Chief Orutu: Aven is a confederated community, is very vast that you cannot just measure the kilometer or this like that, the other side of the stream is Aven, this side of the stream is also Aven, if you go to Bolangiama road down, about 4.8 kilometres is Aven, then go to this lake side there are lots of settlements there, camps, villages, before you even get to the lake itself and even after the lake, there are settlements okolotebie-that area there are this things very vast, we have lands that’s why we have boundary problems with so many communities, we have been able to resolve some on our own part, but the most thin ones like Umeh, Umeh is under Isoko south, we have a common boundary at that bus culvert along that Umeh road, they even begged us before they even have that market, but today they are now trying to re-surb the whole of that area that they are the owners.
Bolangiama is also another problem saying they own up to that gbolangiama junction, yesterday we went there and we have resolved that, they denied, they swallowed their words that they never sent the youths, so the boundary areas some of them are even known to the government. We have appeared before boundary adjustment panel giving verdict on judgment like that, but nothing had been done, particularly this umeh people. It was Aduere that have been making that case with us. Aduere hails from that area, but the court proceed is Aduere never said is from Isoko South, but from Ughelli north, they now come all the way from that area, for the fact that we are peace lovers we always want to go into confrontation with them.
By virtue of been the PCRC chairman is not good to make problem anytime they now make complaints like that area commander will now go and explain. Every time they step on our toes there is never a time Aven man will step on their toes.
So the boundary areas particularly from Isoko north and Ughelli area, ughelli north should be retified, my friend here did mention of dibidino. He said bridge eight but dibidinor is in bridge seven and not bridge eight bridge seven is that way not bridge eight, it was an error, slip of tongue on its own side, I don’t just want to interrupt him when he was speaking.
So these boundary areas to avoid problem, if we need meaningful development let the government come in.
A boundary between two local government areas, Ughelli north and patani local government area. This is the boundary you pin, they will not trespass and we are not going to trespass between ughelli, isoko south and patani local government area, this is the area which they will all know very well. But since the government is not coming in maybe when a man is pushed to the wall he can react otherwise.
So we want the government to come into that area and address that area, thank you.
Chief Orutu: I will answer you, facts of life are facts of history, to be candid, Aven land is blessed by God, we produce so many crops, I will not mention the other crops, we do excel which they have mentioned, Aven land is also good for cassava, there is no area that produce, their tubers cannot be compared to ours, when we normally go for agric show in those days, we use to carry first and second and the neighbouring communities will not.
I even have some of those pamphlets in this shell agric show, we use to go and the neigbouring community, Aven will still carry first and the tradition still continues. The cocoa yam production every patani market day, if you go to patani, it is only aven woman that will be carrying a basin of cocoa yam, you will not see koloware woman, agiama woman carrying basin of cocoa yam, that is even a clear evidence, even the whole of patani people, if they need cocoa yam, they will come to Aven, so this our soil is also very good in production of cocoa yam, sugar cane, the first sugar cane industry in the local government area landed in Aven, but the politicians you want they are, they just maneuvered and ate the whole money, this soil have been tested, the whole local government are have been tested and Aven land, aven people even gave them a site till today, the site is still there for sugar cane industry.
We are so good, any brand or sugar cane you plant here, you will see that it will strive very well. But the politician killed that or today Aven would have been noted for sugarcane production and we would have been producing sugar to satisfy the whole nation even abroad. Then the area of plantain, most of our land have been deforested and plantain always do well, side better in a virgin forest not on a secondary forest. So our farmers, if they are assisted with fertilizer to augment, you will see that we shall be second to north in the federation, not only in state. We produce enough plantain and when you eat our plantain, you will see the difference from other ones, its natural, it is a blessing giving to us by God. The area of plantain plantation, we need the assistance of the government. So if they assist in fertilizer, you see that, that economic boom, income up, we’ll produce enough plantain to satisfy the nation. Then another economic area that my friend spoke upon, that lake these water needs are also a resources, they can be a nest to be fertilizer but our people don’t have the resources not that we don’t have the idea, we have the idea, but when you don’t have money to do it, you become handicap of it, so if the lake is well a nest, if government will come to our aids to remove those water weeds, there is no lake like ours in the whole of the local government area. You will see that annually, people will coming to fish here and lot of money will even come to the government, if local government say revenue and they develop and they want to collect revenue on it, you will see that they will get lots of money, every year people will be coming to fish on that place.
So those water weed can be removed, they can be useful as fertilizer and the flow way will be through and you will see that more people will have interest in fishing work and a lot of fish and this is the home snail, if you now travel, the length and breadth of this local government area you’ll see that all the snail are hanged around Aven not patani. Go to patani, you will not see snail there, koloware you will see those things, so people can be trained to produce snail, the land is very good for the production of snail and other reptiles like tortoise travel the length and breadth of this local government area, or this state, delta state as a whole you will not see any other place they hang tortoise as they do in Aven. We have those resources here our people only need encouragement, little encouragement will make them to produce more to satisfy the whole nation, so that is that aspect, thank you sir, if you have any other question, you can ask.
Chief Richman: Let me add to this area, I strongly believe you asked him a question about how to up send Aven to the outside world to see how we can attract foreign investors, I believe his process of talking to touch that area, so I wanted to touch that area.
Chief Richman: Aven is a peace loving community and if a giant project is going to be established in Aven, the government knows how they run it with the community and the rest of them.
All we needed most is on how to establish the project and employ our people because today, if you look at multi-national companies like GLO, MTN, Airtel, they are all in Aven. If you go out, you just see them, they are all in Aven. So of those other investors are here, as people are here, nobody disturb them, nobody do anything to them, they do their work freely, nothing happen to their site, so is a showcase to tell other investors to come, it is peaceful.
Then we have lands, when world bank wants to establish project, they go to the areas to look for land where they know they don’t have land, there is a recent project that is flowing in patani now, as am talking to you now the people in charge know that our neighbouring community, our sister community has land, let’s talk to them because of the little thing government will give to us to drink, whether we say company should come, we’ll take nothing, you know that before a contract or a company is establish, there are price, but ours is moderate, is not going to be much and we don’t have youths that go to site to disturb workers, to disturb companies, because they listen to their leaders. So we are using this medium to fare Aven for foreign investors to come and establish, if what we are saying, they come and they don’t see it, they have right to publish us, to confirm these people are not people that give you their word and take them back, they are not but all we need they should be genuine investors.
Recently, you said something Odorubu what they did there NDDC, I know the project of NDDC, I know what they do, most of the contractors are only wicked, then at times the problem is also caused by the community, otherwise NDDC, the project monitor, monitor’s you till you finish you job. Maybe there is a seller within the community that say let’s do this, let’s do that, but in our case, that cottage hospital sir, you will go there and show it to the world, thank God the board is also there, you will see the name, when it is shown the type, they know the contractor how it get to this place and in a close range to election sir, we have no choice than to err it to the world. We have no choice.
I don’t know how they put, it they say “A bird n hand is worth a million in the bush”. So the one we see here, whether it is a fowl scratch come and finish it for us, because the arrangement I was told not only building it but after building it they will equip it.
Why are they stopping it half way, so it’s also a challenge for the Aven people, as we are seeing, we are also sitting doing our arrangement. If there is need for us to put down our pens on the ground, we’ll do it, that is the Aven for you, we don’t follow up matters and end it half way, that’s the process. We want sister communities, sister states Nigeria as a country, the outside world, our brothers that know and they are well to do should please come and partner with Aven, we have lands to give. Thank you.
CDC Chairman: My names are Otolo Amabobe, CDC Chairman Aven Community, in the aspect if security here, the community is very okay about security, the boys are peaceful, the women, the girls, the men we are peace loving people in this community. You can go to patani police station, you can go to the court, we have never had anything like that in this community, they have convicted Aven son to prison about criminal matters, you may not see anything like that in the court or the police station, we are peace loving persons because our elders are good, their hands are clean, if the top is not good, it will always go down to the down, the youths, but people that are passing by this is an express east west road, you saw things we are selling on the road, snails, plantain, garri, tortoise we keep them there, in this community, we have strangers, calabar people, Ibo people, Isoko, Urhobo, we all are together in this community, they will attest is a very peaceful place, you can even wash your clothes and dry outside, your shoes, polish them, dry them outside, you go to work maybe 4 o’ clock, or 6 o’ clock, you come back everything are intact for you. We don’t have anything, stealing, robbery case in this community, the youth are very peaceful, thank you sir.
Chief Orutu: we are peace lovers, you see security is every mans business, but the youth of this community for the love of peace, they have even organized themselves as vigilante group to secure other people belonging and that is why you see that there are display of barn of yams, plantain along the road, they just keep it. It is the youth that take watch over them because they organize their self into security groups to keep watch over those areas, supposing they are not peace loving, such things would not have happened and when you look, go into the town all the hotel and the biggest hotel in this town are owned by urhobo and isoko, the stalls in the town where that is booming is non natives, urhobo, isoko if you want to go and buy them, we don’t even discriminate, you see that even
You see that we are peace lovers, that is why all this things are happening, so in a nut shell, Aven is a home of peace and even incidentally, the chairman of PCRC in the local government area is also from this very village. We are very hospitable, we don’t take laws into our hands, our people even the youth don’t take laws into hands.
A Shot of the Abandoned Hospital
CDC Chairman: My names are Otolo Amabobe, the CDC Chairman of Aven community, this is a project they brought to the community to help the community, in the sense that we are suffering in this community about health centre, our women get pregnant, we will go to patani, ughelli, yenegoa, suffering here and there.
Mutu now brought this cottage hospital to us to help the community, we were very happy, it is because of the health, we will run down to him ever since his political ambition we’ve been voting for him massively in this community always, we vote for him for this sixteen years, he has been in office but he remembered us and brought this cottage hospital to Aven community, we were very happy, we were even clapping our hands that we will not forget this man, Mutu himself but today you saw this place inside the bush, we are begging, we are appealing for him to complete this project before 2015. So that we still clap our hands for him in 2015 election again, we are pleading, we are begging him, we are not forcing him, we did not force him before he brought this cottage hospital to us, he should not abandon this project, we are appealing as a community, he should do that, thank you sir.
CDC Chairman: Since 2010, he started this project, we are in 2014 now, I the chairman Aven community, CDC chairman am appealing to honourable Nicholas Mutu representing bomadi patani constituency in federal house of representative, we are appealing to finish this cottage hospital so that we should enjoy the dividends of democracy.
In this community, they should do for us since he remembered us to bring the project here, he should finish it for us we are appealing, thank you sir.