by Happy Oharisi
The Urhobo people are a self-respecting people who have over the years secured a pride of place for themselves not just in Nigeria, but across the world. The Urhobo pride themselves as republicans and they embrace some unwritten ethics about how life should be lived and that life should be lived with dignity clothed with integrity. This is mainstream Urhobo philosophy of life. Despite this slant which advocates “a good life”, there are occasions where a few become deviants and breach the code of good living. These deviants abound in every community, but the mainstream preferences for “good life” often overwhelm them. This deviant case which mutates from juvenile delinquency to its mature and virulent variant known as adult delinquency has been afflicting Chief Joe Omene the self-styled Ejorhofo of Mosogar. The Urhobo people suffered the mistake and misfortune of having Omene as President-General of the revered Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) for a brief period and like the acute deviant that he is, he nearly grounded the organization.
Thankfully, the Urhobo are not docile and have never been repressed in their long history. So when Omene was trying to turn the UPU into an object that will suit his delinquent fancy, the Urhobo people came together and relieved him of the office of the President-General, an office that was too elevated for him. The Urhobo kings led the way in one accord and showed Omene the door. He was swept away with his moral baggage and the UPU was sanitized and a new leadership under Chief Moses Oghenerume Taiga came on board to redirect the Urhobo people with a new vision and mission.
As President-General for that unfortunate moment, Omene turned the UPU into a trading post and his compound in Mosogar became a bazaar. Instead of focusing on how to reposition the Urhobo nation he made isiagware an instrument of self-enrichment and collected bags and bags of money from unsuspecting political aspirants. The more money he collected the deeper he sank into morass. In the end he traded off the Urhobo project and began plans on how to run the UPU in perpetuity. That was when the kings and the people said “enough is enough” and Omene became history. His moment as President-General thus became the lowest in the annals of the Urhobo people.
Since being ejected and rejected five years ago, Omene has refused to wake up from his daydream as President-General of the UPU. He still calls himself President-General despite the fact that the train left a long time ago. For five years running, nobody has done anything with Omene as President-General of the UPU. Ask any Urhobo or even non-Urhobo who the President-General of UPU is and the answer will be Chief Moses Taiga. But Omene’s delusion makes him to still awkwardly clothe himself in borrowed robes, a classic case of adult delinquency.
Omene’s recent antics manifested in his castigating the Chief Moses Taiga led UPU for endorsing Olorogun David Edevbie as the Urhobo candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Delta State Governorship come 2023. While the vast majority of the Urhobo people were jubilating over the UPU’s choice of Edevbie, Omene did a video recording claiming to be the President-General of the UPU. He comically argued that what the Chief Taiga UPU did was illegitimate and that he was the only one empowered to do so. Omene cut a pitiable picture of a victim of adult delinquency without antidote.
For the records and for the purpose of clarity and emphasis, Omene ceased being President-General of the UPU five years ago. He has since then been banished from all UPU events and buildings. Although, he occasionally calls his boon companions to eat ukodo and drink ogogoro in Mosogar, he has since 2015 not been in any UPU gathering. He is more or less an outlaw. The Chief Taiga leadership of the UPU has been organizing the annual conventions of the Union in the last five years. The Chief Taiga led leadership also organized the highly successful ninetieth anniversary of the UPU. Where has Omene been in the scheme of things in the last five years?
Omene is back to his old antics of making the UPU a trading post where he collects money from politicians in the name of supporting them. For him it is ukpebitere, time to extort political office seekers. He should be told that that era was long gone. The Urhobo will not go that way again. Omene deserves help. Juvenile delinquency does have a cure. But who knows the cure for adult delinquency? The Urhobo and non-Urhobo must avoid and ignore Omene. He is an impostor suffering from high delusion.
