Popular Niger Delta oil mogul, Chief Ayiri Emami, has revealed that the reason why he was at war with former president Goodluck Jonathan, saying that the the region was facing a lot of neglect during Jonathan's tenure.

Ayiri Emami

In an exclusive interview reported on Vanguard, the Ajuwaoyiboyami of Warri Kingdom, Delta State and oil business tycoon, Chief Ayiri Emami, aka Akulagba, has opened up on the reason for his disagreement with ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan and former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo.

The former chairman of the Delta Waterways Security Committee (DWSC), Warri and stalwart of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state, alleged that ex-President Jonathan declined to create the much-needed opportunity for Niger-Deltans to acquire Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) to develop the area, whereas outsiders were empowered, while Tompolo’s idea of activism was purportedly violence-inclined.

Below are excerpts from the Itsekiri leader's interview with Niger Delta Voice in Warri,

On Where Ex President, Goodluck Jonathan failed Niger Deltans:

One of my fights with Jonathan was about the OML because if they had given those of us from this area the first Right of Refusal, this place would not have turned a junkyard when Shell deserted Warri. Those were my fights, it was not personal, if you are divesting, first, think about the people that stay here.

When you sell to somebody that stays in Lagos, automatically, you are killing the entire state. With the opportunity the present government is providing, we are in the process of building a gas plant and refinery to create jobs for Deltans. I am looking at providing 2000 to 3000 for people in all my outlets. My plan is to establish mega floating petrol stations in the riverine communities, which I want to discuss with the Minister of Petroleum.

Presently, we are building a tank farm and I had the opportunity of meeting the Minister of State for Petroleum, he said those that have the capacity should go ahead and put themselves together to stop bunkering so that investors can come in. I want to work with those type of people because if they give us opportunity, we will be able to create jobs in our place.

If we are going to stop bunkering, we need to take the refined products to the doorsteps of the villagers, which is why I will continue to fight anybody that wants to kill our dream for his personal interest. However, we are in the process of building a Refinery and Gas Plant. Ultimately, if there is one reason why I must give my 100 percent support to President Buhari, it is because of the way he is handling the security of the nation…nobody is now above the law.

On how he and ex militant war lord, Tompolo almost fought when Jonathan came to Delta state last year:

These are some of the things that are still playing out now, even before the matter came up for discussion, some Itsekiris had already given up. They agreed that they should name the Deep Sea Port after Gbaramatu. Some Gbaramatu people even suggested that they take the project to Oporoza area and I said they could not name the Deep Sea Port after Gbaramatu because the EPZ project is on Itsekiri land.

You see the project had been going on for over one year but because they want to have a strategic agenda to control the project, that is why they came up with certain things. It is like having a government within a government. Moreover, what that means is that before one can even come to the EPZ project proper in Ogidgiben, you would have to pay homage to one person and some of my brothers unfortunately had even surrendered their sovereignty to him.

I said no and I will not. If this project is in Oporoza and I need to go and work in Oporoza, I will go through the appropriate channel, so he should follow the law. If you are coming to Ugborodo to work, nobody will stop you. He (Tompolo) equally worked in Chevron that is in Ugborodo, he worked there during the construction of EPZ, we gave Ijaws their quota, nobody stopped them, why this one, you want to come and dictate because you had the President.

My problem was not even mainly with them, but some of my brothers from Ugborodo, who were actually with them in the scheme, drumming from behind that they should go after Ayiri because he is the one that said they should not name it after Gbaramatu. However, I still stand until today to say that government should not name that place Gbaramatu Deep Sea Port.

On how the altercation between him and Tompolo almost degenerated to fisticuff:

Yes, it almost become a physical fight before we met former President Jonathan. We met the President, instead of him hearing from both sides, he said he was going to do the groundbreaking and when he said that, I said if you do it, well, you are the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, I would go to court, which I did.

As I said in a previous interview, I do not have any personal scores to settle with Tompolo, it is just that the way I see the means of prosecuting the Niger Delta agitation is not the way he sees it. I proceeded to the court and there was an order of restraint by the court on naming that land after Gbaramatu people.

My own case is that if investors are coming, since the Federal Government had acquired the land, they should come and do their business quietly and nobody should take laws into their hands. There should be no blackmail and nobody should say that because of Ayiri, that is why investors do not want to come.