Earnest Bebenimibo is the Secretary General of the Okerenkoko Community where the permanent site of the Maritime University is located. He told CHIDO OKAFOR that the establishment of the university was part of the Amnesty bargain, which the Buhari government should honour.

Why do you think Okerenkoko was chosen to host the university?

OKERENKOKO was chosen during the late Umar Yar’Adua presidency as part of the Amnesty process. In the agreement that Tompolo and other ex-militants signed, it was agreed that since our areas are not developed and our youths are not well educated (which was why the youths took up arms), the late president agreed to establish the university. He said since the place is a riverine area and good for marine business, it was decided that the first maritime university be sited there; since the Niger Delta had no such institution apart from the Maritime Academy at Oron. That was how Yar’Adua initiated the project and former President Goodluck Jonathan took over from him. And since the area produces the largest amount of resources sustaining the nation, they decided to site the university at Okerenkoko, to placate the militants and get them to lay down their arms. This place (Okerenkoko) is the best place to site the university by virtue of its closeness to Escravos, the hub of oil activities in Delta State and other riverine communities.

How do you view the proposed plan by the Buhari government to scrap the university?

I have said so much on this issue and I don’t want to over flog it. There is work going on in the permanent site. As we speak, workers are there, especially workers of Oyeinteke Global Network Limited. They are working very seriously. We are calling on the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to send a team to see the extent of work done. There was inspection by members of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Federal Ministry of Transport. Since Amaechi has said there is nothing on ground and that the site is at a mere feasibility study stage, he needs to visit it, to appreciate the work going on, and see the structures on ground and the engineers working there. I am calling on the Nigerian President and his cabinet not to scrap this university because scraping the project is like taking us back to the grave and it might even lead to further agitation. Education is a thing we need; if I am educated, there is no way I will carry arms tomorrow to fight the Federal Government because I have a broader view of things.

Any need to still move to a permanent campus since the temporary site at Kurutie has befitting structures for a smooth takeoff?

There is a need because in every university there is a temporary takeoff campus; that is the role Kurutie is playing now. So, there is the need for the university to takeoff from a temporary site and move to the permanent site where better structures and facilities are in place. The structures springing up now at Okerenkoko are purpose built for the university. Even though the structures at the temporary site are massive, they were not built for that purpose. So, moving to a permanent site where dedicated structures are in place makes a lot of sense. The structures at the temporary site were built by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo. He built them specifically for his company, Mieka Diving Limited. But along the way, when the former NIMASA Director General, the then Minister of Transport and the Federal Executive Council came on a fact-finding visit towards the establishment of the university, they agreed to acquire Mieka Diving Ltd structures pending when the permanent site of the university at Okerenkoko would be completed. Maybe in the future, after the permanent site is completed, the temporary site could be a faculty or something like that.
What will be the implication for the Ijaw nation if after the billions of naira sunk the project is scrapped by government?

For me, this project is not only for the Ijaw; this project is for the entire Niger Delta and Nigeria as a nation, even neigbouring countries, like Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, and others. I learnt there are some mariners that Nigeria sent to Ghana for training. Under the amnesty programme, I have brothers and cousins that were sent to Romania, Malaysia and Germany just to study Marine Engineering. If we have this university on ground, second to none in Africa, it would be cost effective to send them here.

As the secretary general of Okerenkoko community, what is your advice to the Buhari government with regards to the university?

As the secretary of the Okerenkoko federated community and an active youth in the Niger Delta, I strongly advise the Federal Government to send a delegation, not minding what the honorable minister has said that it is only a feasibility study and that no work is going on. They should work with the state government to send a team down to the university’s permanent and temporary site to see things for themselves. This project is an important one; it is a project of peace. If this project comes to fruition, no youth in the Niger Delta will be involved in armed struggle again. No one will say I’m not educated or I’m not developed. When I was growing up, finding a secondary school in this area was very difficult, let alone a university. We travelled as far as Warri, Sapele to attend a secondary school. But now, good enough, a university is about to be established: I finish secondary school; pick my books and jump into the university; after graduation I run to the Nigeria Ports Authority for example and ask for employment because I’m qualified! This project is an important tool to tackle underdevelopment and it has come to stay.