Senator Ovie Omo-Agege
is a frontline politician, a lawyer and a renowned Uhrobo leader; he is
currently the senator representing Delta Central in the upper House on the
platform of the Labour party.
In this interview with Sunny Anderson Osiebe, Managing Editor/Publisher and Rotimi Opeyeoluwa, Associate Editor, he
spoke on the sundry issues, the state of the nation, the FUPRE Bill and the renewed
attacks in the Niger Delta.
Below is the
Interview;
.HallowMace: What
is this FUPRE Bill about?
Sen. Omo-Agege:To
start with, the Bill to Establish the Federal University of Petroleum Resources
at effurun. This Bill is a fall-out of the agitation of the people of Delta
State, that we are entitled a Federal Institution. Until FUPRE was approved by
then President Olusegun Obasanjo, beyond PTI, there was no federal presence by
way of university.
Consequent to that agitation, Obasanjo approved the
institution. However, since the University came up in 2009 and till date the
legal framework has not been in place and that has consequences. It means that
they would have problems with the accreditation of their courses. It means that
they would have problems with accessing foreign grants from foreign
institutions because the first thing they would ask for is the enabling law
that set you up as a University.
Now this Bill has history.
I recall during the 3rd session of the 6th
senate, Sen. Eferaykeya brought forward this Bill. For some reasons it didn’t
see the light of the day. After the Sen. Eferaykeya debacle, in 2012, this Bill
came up again but this time by way of executive Bill from the villa but for
some reasons it didn’t fly again.
Again, I cannot fail to mention the dogged efforts of my
late brother Senator Ewherido, there is nothing he didn’t do to see that this
becomes a reality but for some reasons too, it also didn’t work.
Now, I decided that no matter what happens I would make
this Bill become Law and I was prepared that this would happen before the end
of my first year in the Senate.
Of course, before I came here there were entreaties made
to me by the people from the Uhrobo nation and this was one problem that was
brought to my attention and I made a pledge that I was going to pursue it
within my first year in the Senate.
So, since I came into this place, I have remained
resilient and determined that this Bill must become Law atleast by June 9,
2016, and that’s why we pushed through the first and second reading and even
after the second reading, you know the complication of the past, the Senate
insisted that we must do the Public Hearing which of course we have done. All
that is left is to have the Committee report back to the Senate and carry
through with the 3rd reading and have it passed.
Now, I also understand that a Bill of this nature must go
through both Houses. This Bill has also cleared in the House of Representatives
once or twice, am not so sure of the number of times.
But the information I have is that my good sister who
represents us in the House also took on the Bill but unlike the senate, the
rules are different.
I am very glad that we are in sync and within a short
possible time, the Bill will become law.
HallowMace: During
the Public Hearing there were some contending issues, have they been resolved?
Sen. OvieOmo-Agege:
To begin with, the contention notwithstanding. I do not want to get myself
involved on those issues. We have our paramount ruler, a revered and well
respected traditional ruler in Uhrobo land. He took time despite his busy
schedule to give me support. It was gratifying when my colleagues saw him and
realized thatI was not just carrying out a yeoman agenda.
I actually have the backing of my people and I am happy.
There was a consensus amongst my colleagues that the Bill
will fly. Contending parties must toe the line of our revered king. They most
defer to him. But let me just say this, I am interested in having FUPRE become
legal, am not interested in its location, so long as its location remains in Uhrobo
land. That is my principal interest. It must be sited in Uhrobo land. We fought
for this institution to come to Delta State and we wanted it located in Uhrobo
land. And we are now concerned with putting up the legal frame work. That is
where I come in as a senator. I don’t get involved in the local politics.
Another issue which arose during the Public Hearing was
about where it should be domiciled.Should it be domiciled in the Ministry of
Petroleum or the Ministry of Education? Okay now, the Bill has the University
domiciled in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and there is a reason for that.
But, am also of the opinion that one of the reasons we
fought for this University besides providing the technical expertise for the
petroleum sector is also to open up the education sector for our people. Today if
you check the statistics, we have 161 Universities in Nigeria today.
It is 40 Federal, 40 State and the rest is private owned.
Now of the total of 161, we have an estimated 1.5 million applicants annually
and all our Universities can only absorb 500,000 thousand. It means that the
rest one million are left out.Some make their way out of the country but how
many can afford that?
Now the disadvantage of having it domiciled in the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources is that there could be some restrictions to
providing education for the oil and gas sector but these one million people who
are our children must be accommodated.
I will go with the University been domiciled under the Ministry
of education for greater impact. We shall make a case for special funding from
the oil sector, especially at the graduate level.
HallowMace: Hon.
Evelyn Oboro sponsored this Bill in the last parliamentary session but the bill
was not assented to by the President. Again in this 8th Assembly, she
has pushed it through. At the end of the day, who takes the credit for this Bill?
Sen. Omo-Agege:
To begin, before we even talk about the issue of credit, we (Senate) do not
concur with Bills from the House of Representatives. We are the Upper House.
The House of Representatives concur to our Bills. In other words, if a Bill
originates from the lower House, it must go through the same process in the
Senate, there is no concurrence.
However, a Bill that originates here in the Senate need
not go through the same procedure in the House of Representatives. Once the
Senate passes it, they would concur. But we don’t concur because the Senate is
the Upper House.
Now having said that, am not in this for a race to take credit
or glory, I know what oils my people. I know the battle we fought; I was in the
State Government at the time we fought for the establishment of this
university.
Now I have been here for only 3 months, there is no
reason for RILVARY. I have told you that the first time this Bill came up was
in 2009 by Sen. Eferaykeya. That was the first time this Bill came. Therefore,
in 2012, came by way of Executive Bill and by December 2014, Late Senator Pius
Ewherido came up with it again. I don’t want to go into any NEEDLESS battle.I am a senator and represent 8 local
government areas and don’t want to go into RIVALRY. There is no superiority contest. I have the mandate of the entire uhrobo
nation. I don’t represent a local government or a couple of local government
areas.
I thank Hon. Evelyn Oboro for the job she has
done in the House of Representatives but I am not in this to claim credit with anybody.
HallowMace: Apart from this Bill, what else
in the form of legislative agenda do you have for the Urhobo nation?
Sen. OvieOmo-Agege: well, there are many. This Bill is one of
several. Like I said coming into this institution, I made up my mind not to do
ordinary things. I come from a background, and orientation that we should not
have an over regulated society.
I want fewer laws
but those laws must be Germane to the need of the society as a consequence
those kinds of Bills I will push.This university is very critical to the Uhrobo
people that I represent, so you can prick that one. The next one we are pushing
right now, already listed for second reading and have 58 co-sponsors is a Bill
to prohibit Sexual harassment in tertiary institutions of learning. Now, that Bill means so much to me. There is
no household in Uhrobo land where you don’t find victims, before you now go to
Delta state and even Nigeria.
This is a menace,
when you send your daughters, sisters, nieces to school. You expect them to
study under a conducive environment but what do you have, you have some
lecturers threatening them to have sex for higher grades and those who oppose
are made to stay beyond the duration of their course.
The most painful
thing about this is that most of these lecturers schooled abroad and what is
not only wrong but not permissible for a lecturer or educator for want of a
better word to indulge
in such despicable nets/ conduct. It is unlawful for lecturers to have a sexual
relationship during the dependency of such lecturer/student relationship. It
doesn’t happen in other climes. It is called the honour code. What we are seeking to do here is to
duplicate that same honour code here in Nigeria but in a penal form. Even the 5
years penalty is soft and am such when we get to the public hearing and all
those women activists get wind of it, they would kick.
This Bill is
germane to all; every Bill I will push will first be good for the Uhrobo nation
first before others.
It is a prism, Uhrobo
first and others can follow.
HallowMace: What is responsible for the
renewed bets of violence in the South- South region and how can it be checked?
Sen. Omo-Agege: it goes without saying that the activities
of such group especially the new group portend danger to the economic
well-being of the country, every attack is a blow to Nigeria and nobody is
happy about this. For me, it is outright
criminality because in between agitation, there is criminality because it is
not everyone waging this agitation that have genuine intention but I am
confident that President Muhammadu Buhari would set in, resolve it and put an
end to it.
As an official of
the state government, I had cause to deal by way of the state government
interface with some of these elements. I took a big risk then going to camp 5,
crossing the big river.
The people who
are behind this come from communities and there are people who know them. There
is a saying, I think it was one of any colleagues who said,”there is a bird who always call for rain,
forgetting that when it rains, they also get wet”.
I think we of the
Niger-Delta people have suffered enough and that is why I tell people to be
appreciative of the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari. He didn’t receive
our votes but not withstanding gave us Lagos-Calabar Rail. Most people don’t
appreciate the economic impact of that project and that is why some of us insisted
that project must be re-instated in the 2016 budget. We said no way; the
President would not be signing the budget unless and until the project is
re-instated. I know the importance of that Lagos-Calabar rail project, it
traverses 3 major Urhobo cities, Ugehelli, Warri and Sapele and beyond.
What do we have in the public transportation system of
Nigeria, Keke and Okada.
But this man is giving us this, what this means is that
you would probably make Lagos in two hours from Warri and it’s paid for. N60
billion is already in the budget and the balance is already negotiated for in
China and somebody would come and say this man does not mean well for our
people. We have had presidents, who has done this for us?
We need to encourage this President and you don’t
encourage him by blowing up oil pipelines. In a nutshell, that is the point I
want to make. We need to encourage Mr. President. He means well for the people of the South-South.
HallowMace: What
is your Honour code and how do you want to be remembered?
Sen. Omo-Agege:
Selflessness. I have always told people around me that you have a choice. I am
a Lawyer, if I choose to practice Law to make a career in legal practice and
gun for money, I can but I also know that the legacy I want to leave behind is not
that he has money. It is a legacy of selflessness and that I touched the lives
of my people and there is no better way to positively impact the lives of so
many except through public service. If you talk about America today, you have
the Rockefellers, the Kennedys, and many others. But what they are remembered
for is their selflessness in the pursuit, defense and propagation of the
American dream. Can you ever write the history of America without their
contributions?
These people are not remembered for the money they had
but for their contribution/impact for mankind.
For me, it is about what I can do, what I can give back
to the society. I was cracking jokes when some law students came visiting me that
during our time at UNIBEN, we were well fed. We were given chicken which was
free. We were well taken care of for free. The society gave us so much and the
least we can do is to give back to our society.
So it is about selfless service. For those of you that
have followed my career, I could have folded up. Let me go back to America but
if I had done so, I would have disappointed the many who need my help. I will
give my best.
Thank you.
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