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  • Taiga makes case for continuing unity in Urhobo land

    Taiga makes case for continuing unity in Urhobo land

    Olorogun (Dr) Moses Oghenerume Taiga, President-General of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide has called for continued peace and unity in Urhobo land.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Olorogun Taiga made the call in his address during the opening ceremony of the 90th anniversary of the UPU.

    Narrating the brain behind the founding of UPU, Taiga urged Urhobo people to hold the tenents of the founding fathers to heart.

    Taiga said: “Ninety years ago, our worthy forbears, visionary, forward looking and clairvoyant, came together and founded the Urhobo Brotherly Society.

    “Our Urhobo homeland was then a dim region in turmoil and confusion struggling to come to terms with the reality of colonialism.

    “Our people were disunited, disillusioned and perturbed as a result of the fast changing and complex circumstances that came with Akpo r’ oyibo.

    “It was in that state of social confusion that the imperative of coming together to confront the new oddities of life was born.

    “Our forebears held meetings at Okpara waterside and the climax of the meetings was the founding of the Urhobo Brotherly Society on 3rd November 1931 at the residence of Chief Mukoro Mowoe in Warri. That Society is the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) of today.

    “A lot has been said about the founders, their goals and their struggles as well as what the UPU has achieved over the years.

    “Besides the many books and essays written about the Urhobo people and the UPU, I also dwelt on these in my world press conference of 3rd November 2021 in commemoration of the very day the UPU was born. I therefore do not wish to belabor those points.

    “I congratulate the UPU and all Urhobo people on this milestone. Ninety years is only ten years short of a century and I dare say that this moment calls for celebration.

    “What is more telling is that the UPU is Nigeria’s, if not Africa’s, oldest surviving socio-cultural organization. The UPU has survived despite great odds. The survival of the UPU is a reflection of the grit and staying power of the Urhobo spirit. Despite all odds, we have carved a place for ourselves in the world.

    “There is no continent of the world where the UPU is not found. We now have over one hundred branches in Nigeria, Africa and beyond. Despite all odds, we can look back and count our blessings. We truly have so much to crow about at ninety.

    “This shouldn’t be a day for a long speech from me as we shall be listening to a stimulating lecture with discussions woven around it that will do a holistic evaluation of the Urhobo condition and the UPU.

    “As the UPU turns ninety and we look back in order to fully engage the future, I call for continuing unity of purpose among our people. Let us revisit the ideals of “Higher thoughts, Higher aims” that fired the resolve of the founders of the UPU. We must live the motto of “Unity is Strength” without the least compromise.

    “In my world press conference of 3rd November I reiterated a set of agenda for the Urhobo nation as well as made demands on the Nigerian state for the many years it has exploited our resources and despoiled our environment.

    “I also in that press conference made reference to Urhobo producing the next Governor of Delta State in 2023. This point and many others canvassed in that press conference remain valid.

    “Ninety years of existence is a feat to celebrate that is why we have made this event an elaborate one spanning one week as the programme indicates. The world is celebrating with us. Other ethnic nationalities are felicitating with us. It is a great moment.

    “As I end this opening speech I wish to profoundly express my gratitude to the Urhobo people worldwide for finding me worthy to pilot the affairs of the UPU at this time.

    “I thank the government of Delta State ably led by our Governor Senator Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa for being a supporter of the Urhobo people”.

  • Insecurity: FG making frantic efforts to tackle security challenges- Omo-Agege

    Insecurity: FG making frantic efforts to tackle security challenges- Omo-Agege

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege has appealed to Nigerians to be patient, saying the Federal Government is making frantic efforts to tackle security challenges in the country.

    Omo-Agege (Delta Central – APC) made the appeal on Monday at the 90th Anniversary of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide.

    The event was held at the UPU’s Secretariat in Uvwiamughe Community, Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government area of Delta.

    The UPU, which is the apex Urhobo socio-cultural body, was established on Nov. 3, 1931.

    Omo-Agege, who delivered a lecture entitled: “Challenges and Prospects of Urhobo Progress Union in Contemporary Time”, stressed the need for peaceful coexistence between the farmers and the herders.

    “I plead with our people that the current heated temperature in the Nigeria polity is commonplace in a developing society.

    “I urged our people to be patient as the government continues to grapple with this problem,” he said.

    The senator called for unity among the Urhobo people, noting that the consequences of disunity were dreadful.

    He said Urhobo, being the fifth largest ethnic nationality in the country, has great numerical strength, adding that they had not been able to utilise this politically.

    “The loss of political power as a consequence of lack of unity among the Urhobo has clearly made the empowerment of our people and development of UrhoboLand difficult.

    “Let me be clear and emphatic, we are better and stronger together. The consequences of lack of unity are dreadful. Urhobo is created for greatness,” he said.

    Omo-Agege, who frowned at the poor quality of education in the country, said that the Federal Polytechnic, Orogun in Ughelli North Local Government area, would begin academic activities in September 2022.

    He urged the Urhobo sons and daughters, particularly the youth to play their parts in the quest for the socioeconomic and political advancement of the Urhoboland.

    Also, the Speaker, Delta House of Assembly, Mr Sheriff Oborevwori, said that UPU, being Nigeria’s foremost sociocultural organisation, at 90th called for celebration.

    Oborevwori, represented by Mr Solomon Ighrakpata, a member representing Uvwie Constituency at the Delta House of Assembly, said that UPU was a strong voice to address issues bordering on Urhobo nation.

    He called for sustained unity and cohesion among the people of Urhobo.

    Earlier, the President-General of UPU, Mr Moses Taiga, said that the organisation started as Urhobo Brotherly Society in 1931.

    Taiga called for unity and continuity of purpose among the people.

    In attendance were sons and daughters of Urhobo within and in the Diaspora, including the traditional rulers.

  • 2023: We will continue to support zoning in Delta – UPU

    2023: We will continue to support zoning in Delta – UPU

    The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) will continue to support zoning in Delta State, Olorogun Taiga, President General of the Union has said.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Olorogun Taiga stated this while also addressing issues bothering the Urhobo nation on Wednesday.

    “The UPU strongly supports the emergence of a Delta State Governor of Urhobo extraction in 2023. The Urhobo have been supportive of rotation on the basis of Senatorial Districts as a recipe for peace. Equity and justice in Delta State and we shall continue to do so,” Olorogun Taiga said.

    In his address at a world press conference held to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the UPU at the Urhobo Cultural Centre, Uvwiamuge-Agbarho, Taiga revealed that a think tank had been at work drafting what will be the Urhobo agenda as Nigeria undergoes “a kind of tumult that will ultimately engender a new dawn”.

    In his words, the UPU PG stated: “The Urhobo are forward-looking people who are conscious of the imperative of change. It is not lost on us that Nigeria is undergoing a kind of tumult that will ultimately engender a new dawn. What then is Urhobo doing to negotiate a place for its future in the anticipated dawn? This is where I have envisioned and encapsulated an URHOBO AGENDA. A Think Tank has been at work drafting what will be the URHOBO AGENDA with which we will engage our people, Nigeria, and the world.

    “In crafting an URHOBO AGENDA we took a hard and dispassionate look at the Nigeria of yesterday, today, and what it would be like tomorrow. What we offer as the URHOBO AGENDA will begin by evaluating our present predicament in Nigeria and then come up with a blueprint of a new deal with Nigeria.

    “The URHOBO AGENDA seeks to build alliances with our neighbours and other ethnic nationalities in the South-South and beyond to work out a new destiny for Nigeria as she totters towards a new beginning. To this end, while the URHOBO AGENDA does not support secessionist agitation, it aligns with the call for the restructuring of Nigeria, in line with the tenets of federalism.

    “We support the call for the relocation of the headquarters of all oil companies to the Niger Delta. We align with the position that election results should be electronically transmitted. We support the State’s collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the enactment of Anti-Open Grazing Laws, the establishment of State Police, and other such progressive factors that will make Nigeria great”.

    Read full address below:

    AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY OLOROGUN (DR.) MOSES OGHENERUME TAIGA, JP, PRESIDENT-GENERAL, URHOBO PROGRESS UNION (UPU), WORLDWIDE, AT THE WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE COMMEMORATION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNION, ON WEDNESDAY, 3RD OF NOVEMBER 2021, AT URHOBO CULTURAL CENTRE, UVWIAMUGE-AGBARHO.

    Gentlemen of the Press

    Introduction

    It is with great delight that I address this press conference this day 3rd November 2021. This day ninety years ago, our forebears took the critical step towards Urhobo nationalism to properly locate us in the Nigeria that will emerge after colonialism. Our foresighted forebears took a hard look at their past and also gazed into our future. What confronted their look and gaze was a maze of disunity, confusion, a vanishing past, and looming uncertainty. To overcome the multiple challenges inhering in their past and future, they took that critical step of founding the Urhobo Brotherly Society this day 3rd November 1931. Our great fathers namely: Chief Omorohwovo Okoro, Chief Mukoro Mowoe and Chief Thomas Erukeme, lit and bore the torch that pointed at the way the Urhobo people should go. Their avowed aim in founding the Society was to unite the Urhobo people for a common cause, consolidate an identity, and galvanize them on the path of progress. In the course of its evolution, the Urhobo Brotherly Society became the Urhobo Progressive Union in 1934 and later Urhobo Progress Union (UPU).

    As I speak, UPU is Nigeria’s oldest socio-cultural organization. It has had a chequered history. However, it survived all odds. When the Federal Military Government in January 1966 proscribed all political and cultural organizations in Nigeria, it left the UPU intact in recognition of its unsoiled non-partisan character. In later years, the UPU was to survive other schisms. It is to the credit of our founding fathers and all Urhobo people, dead and living, that the UPU has survived to be ninety. What is more? There are indications that the UPU will survive for as long as the human race endures.

    The Achievements of the UPU

    The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) has achieved much more than what can be captured in one go. I think the most significant achievement of the Union is its longevity.

    That it has survived nine decades to be ninety years as Nigeria’s oldest socio-cultural organization is itself a great achievement. The UPU provided a rallying point that succeeded in uniting the Urhobo people, giving them a sense of identity, pride, direction, and more. This is not to say that we have not experienced low moments. We have had our hiccups, but we always picked up and moved on.

    In the decade after it was founded, the UPU sponsored two deserving Urhobo sons to study overseas so that they can return to run a proposed college that will cater to the academic aspirations of Urhobo youths. That UPU overseas scholarship awarded to Macneil Gabriel Ejaife and Ezekiel Norucho Igho ensured that they became the first and second Urhobo graduates. The UPU went on to found Urhobo College, Effurun in 1948 with Ejaife as principal and Igho as vice principal. Beside Chief Ejaife and Mr. Igho, the

    Urhobo Progress Union also gave scholarships to many others, including non-Urhobos. Some of the prominent non-Urhobo beneficiaries included Prof. Tekena Tamuno, who became the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, (UI), and Mr. S. J. Okudu, a former Registrar of the same University of Ibadan, among others.

    These were landmark achievements by the UPU. The Urhobo College was to become the Launchpad for generations of the Urhobo elite. The UPU was also instrumental to the movement of the then Warri Middle School, which later became Government College from Warri to Ughelli in 1945. Both colleges set Urhobo on the fast lane of self-actualization.

    The UPU mobilized the Urhobo people to ensure that Chief Mukoro Mowoe won the first election for Warri Province (made up of Urhobo, Ijaw, Isoko, Ukwuani, Itsekiri) into the Western Region House of Assembly at Ibadan in 1947. Even after Mowoe died in 1948, the UPU ensured that Chief Jessa Ogboru succeeded Mowoe.

    The UPU did so much to reclaim Urhobo clans like Orogun, Abraka, Oghara, Jesse, which were grouped with Aboh and Benin Divisions during the colonial era. The UPU also gave fillip to the struggles to reclaim the Urhobo territories of Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Okere, and Agbassa. It has also, in very recent times, confronted the security challenges in parts of Urhoboland.

    The UPU can cast a proud look at the past and point at the monuments, Urhobo Cultural Centre at Okere Road in Warri, and the Urhobo House at Uvwiamuge-Agbarho, which we are renovating and completing, respectively.

    We must also add the Okugbe Microfinance Bank that is awaiting Central Bank approval. It is hoped that the bank will change the economic fortune of our women and youths.

    Although apolitical, the UPU did rally the Urhobo people at decisive moments when Urhobo interest was at stake. The UPU took a stand and spoke on national issues during the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference and the 2014 National Conference. The UPU has pitched its tent with the restructuring of Nigeria in tune with the principles of federalism.

    The continuing relevance of the UPU in the affairs of the Urhobo people manifests in the spread of its branches across the world. Besides the over thirty branches in Nigeria, the UPU has registered its presence in many African countries, America, Europe, and Asia. There is thus a strong and flourishing UPU presence in the Diaspora.

    The UPU has in ninety years achieved so much and I pay due homage to all those who made these possible. There is still much to be done as every human organization is a work in progress.

    The Contribution of the Urhobo to Nigeria

    The Urhobo people of over five million and Nigeria’s fifth largest ethnic nationality, with the treasure trove of oil and gas, rivers, and arable land, have contributed immensely to the making of Nigeria. There is hardly any sphere of national development that the Urhobo have not contributed to in Nigeria’s quest for nationhood. In politics, economy, military, media, medicine, education, corporate sector, sports, science and technology, the arts, and more, the Urhobo have and are still paying, their dues in the making of Nigeria. Crude oil and gas from Urhoboland continue to sustain the nation’s economy.

    The role the Urhobo people played in ensuring the unity and stability of Nigeria is significant. The Urhobo fought gallantly in the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. Thereafter, the Urhobo played stabilizing roles in post-Civil War Nigeria. From the June 12 crisis to the Creek Wars of militancy in the Niger Delta, the National Political Reforms Conference of 2005, the National Conference of 2014, the Urhobo have always been counted in support of one Nigeria, a nation that is strong, united, prosperous, and abiding by the creed of fairness and justice to all.

    The Urhobo Experience in Nigeria

    Despite our very tangible and laudable contributions to the making of Nigeria, we have not received a fair deal from past and present Nigerian governments. The Urhobo number among the geese that lay Nigeria’s golden eggs and yet getting suffocated. With a dynamic, creative, hardworking, and resourceful population, the Urhobo ethnic nationality could match any race in the world in terms of development aspirations. Our Ukane experience and the attendant economic revolution it initiated in Yorubaland is one of the many examples of the Urhobo genius at work.

    What is now known in Urhobo historiography as the Ukane phenomenon was started by the wave of economic migration by the Urhobo at the beginning of the last century. The migrants settled in the Ikale area of the present Ondo State and began an indigenous oil palm industry, a phenomenon that was then unknown in Nigeria. Deploying their enormous indigenous knowledge system, the oil palm industry became an instant economic success compared to the economic boom recorded by cocoa. The oil palm venture was to spread across the globe and make economic giants of nations that took a cue from Nigeria’s earlier, but truncated success in the sector. Known to be peaceful and hardworking, the Urhobo people were one of the first settlers that arrived in Jos, Plateau State to participate in the Tin Mining sector. They also contributed greatly to the economy, growth, and development of Jos Town through their investment in the hospitality business, schools ownership, and large-scale production and trade in the local gin (ogogoro). Many streets in Jos Town are named after the Urhobo people; a testimony to their unquantifiable contributions.

    Exploitation, Neglect, Poverty, and Insecurity

    Having contributed so much to the making of Nigeria, the Urhobo people have been subjected to years of exploitation, oppression, environmental degradation, poverty, insecurity, marginalization, and other negative manifestations of injustice that are not only reprehensible but provocative.

    The Urhobo people have been victims of neglect by successive Nigerian governments and oil multinationals. Our lot for good or bad does not reflect the contribution of our oil and gas resources to the Nigerian purse. Despite the unimaginable quantum of oil drilled from Urhoboland since around 1957, there is hardly anything in terms of material or infrastructural advantage to show. Our rivers, land, and air are polluted. We have lost means of livelihood and our people live in crushing poverty. The recklessness of the oil multinationals has also tossed tragedy at the Urhobo people. The Jesse pipeline fire disaster of 1998 during which over 1000 Urhobo people died is just one example.

    Urhoboland has no sustainable Federal Government or multinational oil companies’ presence. The Government and the oil multinationals take but return nothing. The Federal roads which run through Urhoboland have degenerated into craters. Urhobo despite being home to rivers with access to the Atlantic Ocean has no functional seaports. Urhoboland also has no airport matching its population and economic contributions to Nigeria.

    In recent years, some of our communities have been subjected to the menace of insecurity orchestrated by Fulani herdsmen. This is not only unacceptable but condemnable in very strong terms. The menace of insecurity is looming over Urhoboland.

    The Urhobo Agenda

    The Urhobo are forward-looking people who are conscious of the imperative of change. It is not lost on us that Nigeria is undergoing a kind of tumult that will ultimately engender a new dawn. What then is Urhobo doing to negotiate a place for its future in the anticipated dawn? This is where I have envisioned and encapsulated an URHOBO AGENDA. A Think Tank has been at work drafting what will be the URHOBO AGENDA with which we will engage our people, Nigeria, and the world.

    In crafting an URHOBO AGENDA we took a hard and dispassionate look at the Nigeria of yesterday, today, and what it would be like tomorrow. What we offer as the URHOBO AGENDA will begin by evaluating our present predicament in Nigeria and then come up with a blueprint of a new deal with Nigeria.

    The Urhobo Environment, Reparation and Remediation

    An URHOBO AGENDA must of necessity focus on our endangered environment which has been laid waste by years of crude oil exploitation and exploration. To begin with, the Urhobo people will be demanding reparation of One Trillion Naira from the Federal Government of Nigeria and the oil multinationals for the many years of resource plunder and environmental degradation. In line with this, we demand an environmental remediation programme for communities that were negatively impacted by oil exploration such as Erhoike, Erhobaro-Orogun, Imodje-Orogun, Afiesere, Evwreni, Erhuemukohwarien, and others.

    Urhobo Unity, Language, History, and Culture

    Our AGENDA will look inward to consolidate our unity and the true essence of Urhobo ovuovo. We are also taking measures to reclaim our language which is already threatened by extinction. We must salvage our history and culture. To this end, the UPU will continue to work with the Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) and the Urhobo Studies Association (USA).

    Agriculture, Industrialization and the Seaport

    An URHOBO AGENDA should redirect our interest to agriculture and the attendant empowerment and wealth creation advantages tied to it. This will culminate in the industrialization of Urhoboland. We are calling on both the State and Federal Governments to create an enabling environment by curbing insecurity and providing constant electricity for Urhoboland to be attractive to investors.

    Urhoboland can be an investors’ destination and production hub. The Okugbe Micro Finance Bank will drive a revolution in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Urhoboland. The Sapele Port has to be revived, the moribund Delta Steel Company must come alive, and the African Timber and Plywood in Sapele must be made to work. An URHOBO AGENDA will encourage Nigerian and foreign investors to revive the many other moribund industries across the length and breadth of Urhoboland.

    Insecurity

    Tackling the monster of insecurity is also cardinal to the URHOBO AGENDA. While calling on the Federal and State Governments to take the necessary steps at combating this ogre, the UPU is also deploying an internal mechanism to secure Urhoboland. We shall ensure that all of Urhoboland from Ugbenu to Uwheru is secured.

    The Warri Factor

    The Warri factor is also an item on the URHOBO AGENDA. The Urhobo presence and identity in Warri can never be undermined. While we will continue to live peacefully with our neighbours in Warri, we will not allow the erasure of what Warri is to the Urhobo and what the Urhobo are to Warri.

    2023 and a Delta Governor of Urhobo Extraction

    The UPU strongly supports the emergence of a Delta State Governor of Urhobo extraction in 2023. The Urhobo have been supportive of rotation on the basis of Senatorial Districts as a recipe for peace. Equity and justice in Delta State and we shall continue to do so.

    On National Issues

    The URHOBO AGENDA seeks to build alliances with our neighbours and other ethnic nationalities in the South-South and beyond to work out a new destiny for Nigeria as she totters towards a new beginning. To this end, while the URHOBO AGENDA does not support secessionist agitation, it aligns with the call for the restructuring of Nigeria, in line with the tenets of federalism.

    We support the call for the relocation of the headquarters of all oil companies to the Niger Delta. We align with the position that election results should be electronically transmitted. We support the State’s collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the enactment of Anti-Open Grazing Laws, the establishment of State Police, and other such progressive factors that will make Nigeria great.

    Conclusion

    The UPU has come a long way and we are rolling out the drums in celebration and reflections. From 29th November to December 5th, we call on all Urhobo people wherever they are to join us at Uvwiamuge-Agbarho. We have also sent out invitations to other ethnic nationalities as well as other people of goodwill from far and wide to join us as we commemorate 90 years of UPU’s existence.

    We thank the Government of Delta State under the leadership of His Excellency Senator Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa for all the support to the UPU and the Urhobo Nation. We thank our ethnic neighbours and all Deltans.

    I thank all our people for having abiding faith in the UPU and standing up for the unity of Urhobo.

    I thank you gentlemen of the press.

    Long live Urhobo!

    Long live Delta State!!

    Long live Nigeria!!!

    I Thank you All.

    Olorogun (Dr.) Moses Oghenerume Taiga, JP,

    President-General,

    Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide,

    18, Okere Road, Warri,

    Delta State.

  • Okugbe Microfinance Bank subscription crosses N200m mark

    Okugbe Microfinance Bank subscription crosses N200m mark

    The quest for the Urhobo nation to set up a microfinance bank primarily targeted at women and youths reached a milestone over the weekend when the subscription to the proposed bank crossed the N200m mark.

    The regulatory guidelines as established by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) require the promoters of that category of microfinance bank to deposit N200m with the apex bank to secure the licence for operations.

    Speaking on the attainment of the target, the chairman of the investment committee, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, said with the proposed Okugbe Microfinance Bank, the Urhobo are at the threshold of making a second epoch after the establishment of Urhobo College in 1948.

    He thanked all Urhobo sons and daughters, who responded to “the patriotic call” and subscribed to the shares of the bank.

    The investment committee is saddled with the task of raising the N200 million capitalisation through private placements.

    Ogbodo reminded existing and potential subscribers that “though we now have N200m to deposit with CBN, our target is N300m and subscription is still on.”

    He explained that the proposed bank is a meeting point between charity and business.

    “That is, while the bank is planned to expand credit to those at the lower rung, specifically youths and the women folks rung, it is also a business that will be properly managed to return benefits to the investors.

    “Engagement with the CBN towards getting the license has started,” he said.

  • PIB: UPU commends National Assembly, canvases review of funding to host communities

    PIB: UPU commends National Assembly, canvases review of funding to host communities

    The President-General of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Worldwide, Olorogun Moses Taiga, has commended the 9TH National Assembly for breaking the jinx trailing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by passing it into law, even as he called for an “objective and realistic review of funding for the host community trust fund.”

    Reacting to the passage of the PIB, Olorogun Moses Taiga said the 9th National Assembly demonstrated the necessary moral, technical and political will in passing the bill. He expressed delight with the Deputy President of the Senate, HE Ovie Omo-Agege, who represents the Urhobo Nation in the Senate and other senators and House of Reps members from the Niger Delta for their role in ensuring the passage of the PIB. He noted that in spite any shortcomings that may be observed, the PIB as passed is a good and practical starting point towards effecting changes to the administrative, regulatory and fiscal framework of the Nation’s Oil and Gas industry.

    On the funding of the host community trust fund, the UPU President-General called for an objective, realistic and patriotic review of the fund to 10 per cent when both chambers of the National Assembly meet to harmonise their positions on the PIB. Taiga noted that the Oil and Gas host communities, for many decades, have suffered untold infrastructural neglect, environmental degradation, rights deprivation and other socio-economic ills and it is only fair that the PIB compensates them for the longtime injustices meted out to them by an upward review of the funding before it is signed into law by President Muhammad Buhari

  • We can’t go into short-gun wedding as entity, restructuring is only option, UPU tells Buhari

    We can’t go into short-gun wedding as entity, restructuring is only option, UPU tells Buhari

    …insists his statement on restructuring is an endorsement of secession calls
    …an unfortunate and needless provocation that completely negates the assumption that he means well for Nigeria
    By Emman Ovuakporie
    President General of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Chief Joe Omene has said Nigeria as an entity cannot go into a short-gun wedding as captured in the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari describing those clamouring for restructuring as being naive.
    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports Omene in a statement he issued describing the president’s statement as unacceptable and derogatory painting Nigeria as a country in a short-gun wedding where people have no say.
    The UPU chieftain in the statement entitled: ‘Mr President: A Rejection Of Restructuring Is An Endorsement Of Calls For Secession’ noted that:
    “The statement credited to President Buhari, by one Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu, who represented him at an event that “…those calling for restructuring, my question is , what are you restructuring?” and describing them in the most unacceptable derogatory and acerbic adjectives as “naive” and “people who have not even studied the 1999 constitution” is not only tantamount to pouring petrol on a raging inferno but has sent shock waves of total disappointment and hopelessness among Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora.
    “Particularly those Nigerians who see restructuring as the only viable and sure pathway that has made instability the most distinctive feature of the country. And the only possible solace from a worrisome situation in which the country is drifting apart speedily.
    “How will the foreclosure of such civic avenue of dialogue, as the President is proposing, help to secure a country that is falling apart? Did the President actually endorse these volatile statement made on his behalf by this representative at that event on Saturday 19th June 2021 in Zaria?
    “The Urhobo Progressive Union believes from its recent engagement with the Attorney General Of the Federation (AGF) that ultimately the Officers of the Federal Government, like all Nigerians, long for a Country that all Nigerians can be proud to live in, as equal stakeholders, where no group should lord it over others.
    “This has been the challenge and the overwhelming task that we have not been able to achieve since independence with the result that, as at today, the country is collasping and in urgent need of the embrace of enduring solutions that will bring peace to the land. However, the statement credited to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
    ” President Buhari, to the effect that Nigerians seeking solutions by way of restructuring of the federation, by returning to the original federalist template of 1963 are naïve, is an unfortunate and needless provocation that completely negates the assumption that he means well for Nigeria. This is not the kind of statement that should be made at a very dicey momement when there is anger across the land and the country bleeding is from the weight of its internal contradictions and failure to effectively manage our diversities.
    Read full statement below:
    PRESS STATEMENT
    Urhobo Progress Union
    MR. PRESIDENT: A REJECTION OF RESTRUCTURING IS AN ENDORSEMENT OF SECESSION CALLS!
    1. The statement credited to President Buhari, by one Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu, who represented him at an event that “…those calling for restructuring, my question is , what are you restructuring?” and describing them in the most unacceptable derogatory and acerbic adjectives as “naive” and “people who have not even studied the 1999 constitution” is not only tantamount to pouring petrol on a raging inferno but has sent shock waves of total disappointment and hopelessness among Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora. Particularly those Nigerians who see restructuring as the only viable and sure pathway that has made instability the most distinctive feature of the country. And the only possible solace from a worrisome situation in which the country is drifting apart speedily. How will the foreclosure of such civic avenue of dialogue, as the President is proposing, help to secure a country that is falling apart? Did the President actually endorse these volatile statement made on his behalf by this representative at that event on Saturday 19th June 2021 in Zaria?
    2. The Urhobo Progressive Union believes from its recent engagement with the Attorney General Of the Federation (AGF) that ultimately the Officers of the Federal Government, like all Nigerians, long for a Country that all Nigerians can be proud to live in, as equal stakeholders, where no group should lord it over others. This has been the challenge and the overwhelming task that we have not been able to achieve since independence with the result that, as at today, the country is collasping and in urgent need of the embrace of enduring solutions that will bring peace to the land. However, the statement credited to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Buhari, to the effect that Nigerians seeking solutions by way of restructuring of the federation, by returning to the original federalist template of 1963 are naïve, is an unfortunate and needless provocation that completely negates the assumption that he means well for Nigeria. This is not the kind of statement that should be made at a very dicey momement when there is anger across the land and the country bleeding is from the weight of its internal contradictions and failure to effectively manage our diversities.
    3. Nigeria has become so riven with social strife emanating from disaffection with how federalism is practiced within the country, these disaffections and dissatisfaction are rooted in issues that have been identified before independence like the fears of the peoples of Niger-Delta and have been repeated in several national conferences that have been suppressed whenever nationalities or fragments of their demographics agitate over such disaffections. But these suppressed yearnings are snowballing everyday like the rumblings of a volcano about to erupt. These volcanic rumblings are evident in the increasing calls for secessions from diverse corners of Nigeria.
    4. Most moderate Nigerian Nationality groups, like the Urhobo Progressive Union, UPU, that have called for restraint on the part of those calling for secession, do not do so because the UPU feel that they have no justifiable cause. Their causes are well and truly justified, but like many moderate groups, the UPU feels that there are some residual justifiable reasons to make an effort to salvage the federal union which was broadly discussed and envisioned during the Lancaster House talks that led to the Republican Constitution of 1963 in Nigeria. Even under those broad agreements, sections of Nigeria including the minority groups that their resources became the sacrificial lambs for sustaining the civil war still had unresolved grievances that remain glossed over till date by all regimes. We are now the third generation of the people of Niger-Delta that are still on the same issues, while one governments after the other plays pranks with words. Hence, restraint has only been endured and endorsed because all moderates hold the hope that Restructuring is a peaceful option towards an acceptable compact between all Nigerians to enable a federal union that approaches the ideal for national harmony, but this recent disparaging statement discrediting efforts at such peaceful change is by all intents and purposes a provocation that leaves and endorses only one option, Secession! Again, UPU wishes to correct the wrong notion that succession is synonymous with war, not at all. There was a Great Britain that later restructured without fighting war and formed a loose independent union of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland that is now known and called United Kingdom. The Unity of a peopel of diverse backgrounds cannot be a thing for a mere textbook definition. Unity of a people is an aspiration that, if desired, must be worked for by the various ethnic nationalities as a common mission and not an imposition at the convenience of one party at the expense of others. We must acknowledge our diversities and respect one another in order to coexist together in peace in one country under God. There is nothing like “indivisibility” and “indissolubility” of any state entity in the history of formation of nations as is often used by some Nigerians to avoid rational disscussion of the gridlock that we have found ourselves as a people. Nigeria is a creation of Britain not God, for their own economic exploitation and not for the benefit of the indigenous people, it can only endure under mutually beneficial terms. To avoid the raging fire for succession, there is urgent need to make people see the benefits of one Nigeria through the embrace of equity, justice and fairness to all ethnic groups through restructuring now.
    5. To say that respected Nigerians, statemen and celebrated scholars all of whom have advocated for restructuring as the pathway to restoring peaceful co-existence do not understand why the country needs to restructure its federal praxis is a vexatious attempt to underestimate the dangers the country is at the moment. Even in the President’s own state and geopolitical zone, there is abundant evidence that federal policing as currently prescribed by the Exclusive list of the distorted federal constitution has failed woefully, bandits and criminals have taken over most areas, such that farmers and peace loving people in the North West can no longer carry out any meaningful activities to earn a living. If the President cannot even see the obvious need for restructuring in his own backyard, it is hard to see how he can see or understand the imperatives for restructuring in other peoples’ domains. Yet, Mr. President needs to hear about restructuring as the only option left at this stage, even if these mute facts have been repeated often enough.
    6. For the avoidance of doubt and to make it clear to all Nigerians, Deltans and in particular Urhobos, whom the UPU primarily owe a duty to properly articulate and aggregate their interests; The following are some of the important issues of distorted federalism requiring restructuring that are at the root of the issue and make it difficult for the Urhobo people and other hard-working Nigerians to achieve progress and prosperity, adequate welfare as well as security within the Nigerian federal union.
    The Current 1999 Federal Constitution is invalid and lacks legitimation from Federating Units referendum.
    It is claimed that the current Federal Constitution was made by Nigerians and accepted by them, this is a lie, the constitution was crafted by a few people and no referendum conducted to affairm its contents by Urhobo people, it does not aggregate the interests of most Nigerians and within it there are many contradictions on the claims of federal practices, which many nationalities will never have acceded to if their inputs were sought. Most stakeholders, including federal authorities at the inception of the current civilian rule were unable to obtain a copy of the constitution until the Obasanjo Government was sworn-in in 1999. Since then it has been amended over 200 times by legislators whose primary interests often do not reflect the aggregate interest of the nationalities that constitute the federal union assumed in the so-called national federal grundnorm. To legitimate a proper federal Constitution, federating nationalities will have their inputs which will be aggregated in it and all will vote in a referendum with each geopolitical zone acceding to an agreed group-decision making mechanism on the Constitution.
    The Exclusive list of the Current Constitution is centrist, it concentrates power to the federal centre rather than de-concentrate it to federating units or balance power between federal and federating units as federal principles demands, the consequence is that the extant constitution arrogates too much power away from federating units making them unproductive and dependent. States that are supposed to be centres of development are idle because they have no access to resources within their domain, they must sit and idle while the federal centre plans and implements how they will obtain and distribute electricity power for their needs, fuel for their consumption and productive needs, regardless of whether the federal centre is efficient in doing so or not, their destinies are yoked. How do we expect to make progress and develop when the 1999 constitution domiciled 68 items to an unproductive federal centre that is only interested in only one item; Niger-Delta oil, that it collects only rents and royalties from and is not interested in anything that will bring other investments to the sector as exemplified with the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that has been locked up in the chambers of the National Assembly since 2003?
    The derivation principle agreed upon prior to the 1963 Constitution whereupon federating units in Nigeria agreed to enter into a federal union was based on a principle in which federating units produce from their resources and pay royalties and rents to the central federal government, but the current 1999 constitution rest most of the productive capabilities from electricity, mining and ports to a federal centre hence rendering federating units incapable of being effectively productive (see distortions between S.134 of 1960 Constitution compared to section 162(2) of 1999 Constitution).
    The current Constitution as it envisions the national defense council arbitrarily creates federal defense forces into occupying forces in geopolitical zones, rather than creating a federal army that are formed from armies from each geopolitical zone, thereby creating and sustaining an oppressive asymmetrical armed forces. To provide remedy and national harmony there should be the adoption of one of the Aburi agreements for the creation of area commands in each geopolitical zone made up of purpose-fit contextually germane armies formed from each zone and balanced with technical federal units. For example, if the North East and North West were a fit for purpose Geopolitical zone armies, these geopolitical zones will not be overrun by bandits and ISWAP fundamentalists.
    The federal constitution as it currently exist only pays lip service to balancing of Nigeria’s multicultural nature and its pluralism in the very important political issue of power sharing, hence it is not grafted into the constitution to ensure power rotation at national and subnational levels. This has created doubts in the constitutional provision, and incrementally sowed distrust in national and sub-national institutions such that at federal levels some sections that have been in office for two terms of eight years still claim they can retain it further, while at state levels some governors make a mockery of such understanding, for a segmented and plural society, this is a very toxic oversight and omission. Lijphart (1977) has argued that consociational democracy is the only possible solution for deeply divided societies to practice democracy. We cannot repeat the mistakes that other countries paid dearly for before they made amends. Lijphart used the term of consociationalism for a particular power sharing design that he identified while investigating the political stability of deeply divided societies of Western Europe, namely the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria. In recent times even the federal character clause that should be used to manage our diversities has been breached with arrogance because there are no constitutional provisions to punish erring elected officials.
    Conclusion
    Several other areas of distortions can be pointed out if a granular analysis of the current constitution is carried out. All these negate the federal principles under which the Nigerian union assumedly came to exist. These are significant fundamental issues that clearly justifies yearnings for secession which in real terms translates to a refusal of federating units to accept to be forced into a marriage of inconvenience or what some in the Western world will describe as a short-gun wedding. The statement by the President is very unfortunate and therefore amounts to telling nationalities in Nigeria that they must be forced into a short-gun wedding with others even if they do not want it. Restructuring is the only condition for an acceptable wedding of nationalities. Restructuring is a development proposal, an economic argument for progress having regard to the enviable pace of development in the first Republic under the peoples constitution of 1963. Any statement implying that restructuring is naïve is therefore an invitation to forced marriage and therefore an invitation to violent uprisings.
    Chief. Joe Omene
    President-General
  • UPU lists projects FG should use funds recovered from Ibori for

    UPU lists projects FG should use funds recovered from Ibori for

    The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the apex body of the Urhobo people has listed several projects in Delta State the federal government should consider using funds recovered from James Ibori for.

    This is contained in a statement released by the President General of UPU, Olorogun Moses Taiga, who faulted the federal government on the choice of projects it has chosen to expend the soon to be repatriated funds for.

    The federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said the money being repatriated from the United Kingdom will be used for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano road and Lagos-Ibadan Express Road.

    But the UPU President General urged the federal government to use the money to construct the Delta portion of the Benin-Effurun road, failed portions of the East West Road in Delta State and provide more funding for the Federal University of Petroleum, Effurun.

    UPU said the money is Delta money and it should not be expended on projects outside Delta State, while many federal government owned-asset and roads in Delta State are crying for attention.

    “We are not saying the money must be returned to the Delta State government. We are saying the money should be spent on projects within Delta State,” Taiga clarified.

  • UPU inaugurates Okugbe MFB Committee

    UPU inaugurates Okugbe MFB Committee

    Prominent sons and daughters of Urhobo land are mobilising funds to set up a micro finance bank to cater for the needs of the ewheya (women) and ighelle (youngsters) of Urhobo land.

    A fundraising committee to raise the funds was recently inaugurated by the President General of Urhobo Progress Union, Olorogun Moses Taiga with Mr. Abraham Ogbodo as chairman, Mr. Francis Ewherido, vice chairman and Dr. Benson Uwheru, secretary.

    Speaking during the inauguration, the UPU PG said, “the beginning of a journey like this always looks tedious and uncertain, but I encourage you not to be deterred by this small beginning. My dream is that this seemingly small effort, like a mustard seed, will metamorphose into a big bank like Wema Bank someday, hopefully in my life time.”

    The mandate of the committee is to raise an initial N300m to enable the bank commence as a unit. The second phase of the project is to raise N1.5b to enable the bank get a state-wide status so that it can cover all the nooks and crannies of Urhobo land.

    To raise the initial N300m, the committee is targeting 300 Urhobo sons and daughters resident in Nigeria and abroad, who can invest a minimum of N1m in the bank. So far 98 individuals and 10 Urhobo associations have indicated interest to invest in the bank, according to Ogbodo, a former editor of The Guardian.

    Other members of the committee are Prof. Joe Abugu (SAN), Mr. Fred Ohwawha, Mr. Ted Okumakube, Mr. Johnson Agagbo, Mr. Eddy Odivwri, Dr. Bernice Dema, Mr. Obaro Osa, Dr. Abel Ojo, Mr. Friday Ebojor, Mr. Steve Ighomuaye, Mr. Ibunor Agama, Chief Kenneth Iwhewhe, Mr. Kenneth Young, Mr. Lucky Sargin and Rume Ophi.

     

  • Urhobo must produce Delta Governor in 2023 – UPU

    Urhobo must produce Delta Governor in 2023 – UPU

    As 2023 general election draws near, the President-General of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide, Olorogun Moses Taiga has assured the Urhobo Nation that it will work with all interested groups to ensure that an Urhono indigene emerges the Governor of Delta State in 2023.

    Olorogun Moses Taiga who gave the assurance in a statement dated February 11th, 2021 said UPU will reach out to their neighbours in Delta South and Delta North to get their support, adding that they equally need to reciprocate their kind gesture in 2007 and 2915.

    “As usual, the UPU remains non-partisan, but we shall watch the political space vigorously, especially the major political parties and the political engineering that will produce the governorship candidates. We shall ensure that the wishes of majority of our people come to fruition. Our people feel it is the time for Delta Central to produce the next Governor and the UPU is in support of their genuine wishes and will work towards achieving it,” Taiga assured.

    Meanwhile, the UPU Leader urged politicians of Urhobo extraction to put their houses in order, stressing that a houses divided against itself cannot stand.

    “I urge all parties to settle their differences. We must put our house in order before others can take us serious,” the Adjerese of Urhoboland advised.

    The UPU leader who bemoaned the economic hardship in the land, advised both the Federal and the Delta State governments to put economic measures in place to reduce the sufferings of the people.

    “There is too much suffering in Urhoboland. We see it in the eyes of the people in Urhoboland,” he revealed.

    Olorogun Moses Taiga advised the Federal Government to find a permanent solution to the menace of some Fulani herdsmen that have continued to kidnap, kill, rape women and disrupt farming in their host communities.

    He observed that the scars of these herdsmen are still visible in Urhobo towns and villages of Abraka, Uwheru and Olomu among others, adding that UPU is totally in support of the suggestion of Governor of Kano state, Abdullahi ganduje on making of a law to ban the movement of cattle and herdsmen across the country to put an end to farmers-herdsmen clashes and equally stop the criminality of the bad eggs among them.

    Reiterating his earlier call for true federalism, the UPU Leader said Nigeria cannot continue to operate a unitary government and colour it as a federal system of government, stressing that it is creating an avoidable tension in the polity in faces of unpredictable consequences.

    “While the UPU believes in one Nigeria, the federating units and ethnicities should come together to decide the way forward. The Urhobo nation believes in strong regional structures, control of resources by the federating units that will own and pay taxes to the Federal Government. The federating units should also be in charge of their local securities. They should continue to own schools, and tailor them to their local needs. Same for health facilities,” he advised.

  • 2023: UPU-UK insists Delta’s next Governor must be of accountable character

    …say both major parties must present Urhobo characters that have excellent records in governance

    The Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, United Kingdom Branch, last Sunday declared that whoever will emerge as the Governor of Delta State in 2023 must be a man with excellent records in governance.

    The UK branch made this declaration in an international webinar tagged: ‘ 2023: ‘The Leadership We Want’ was well attended by prominent sons and daughters of Urhobo origin.

    The webinar which was hosted

    by Chief Ejiro Ughwujabo. President UPU

    United Kingdom in commemoration of Urhobo Day 2020, had Col. Wilson Ijide,Prof. Robert Dode, Chief Victor Ewere, Chief Kenneth Okpara a management Consultant as guest speakers.

    Recall that the zoning arrangements put in place since 1999 has made it mandatory that the next governor of Delta State must emerge from Delta Central.

    Also, the governor of the state, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has repeatedly told Deltans that he’s definitely going to hand over to an Urhobo Indigene come 2023.

    One of the major takeaway from the international webinar is the fact that both major parties in the state, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC must present Urhobo characters with excellent records of performance previously in governance.

    Giving an insight on his presentation at the webinar, a former Commissioner of Finance and Economic Planning of Delta State, Chief Kenneth Okpara who is also a management Consultant said:

    “A leader that is visionary and ensure that Urhobo and Delta State witnessed economic development with focus on the sectors like Agriculture where we have comparative advantage, above all, we want a leader that is accountable.

    Okpara who presented a paper entitled’ Leadership-Accountability and Transparency To Achieve Good Governance’ further explained that:

    “Experience they say is the best teacher, we can judge from the performance of those Urhobos that have served in various capacities in the previous Government, and based on their excellent performance, we can select some to be put forward for a final choice, mind you, it has to be done by the Urhobos in the two major parties – PDP, and APC.

    With this development, a quest to search for a credible son or daughter of Urhobo extract has begun though 2023 seems far flung from now, the UK branch has set a very tall credentials for any Urhobo that will be selected to government the state from 2023.

    Both parties are already strategising and networking on who may eventually pick the gauntlet ahead of time.

    No visible aspirant has really indicated interest so far because it’s largely assumed that there’s still plenty of time and space between now and 2023.

    Also, recall that in 1999-2003, Delta Central held sway through Chief James Ibori, followed by Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan from Delta South before Dr Ifeanyi Okowa administration from Delta North.

    Chief Kenneth Okpara Presentation Below:

    As you go through my slides, let me explain how the write up was presented for more clarity. You will see a Delta State Economic Dashboard, and then a Harvard Business Review article by Peter Bregman, followed by some accountability quotes. My presentation was on Leadership that we want in 2023 – Accountability and Transparency to achieve good governance. The Peter Bregman’s article was on the principle of accountability and the five ingredients required for accountability to be effective, I spoke elaborately on these five ingredients but used the Delta State Economic Dashboard as an accountability mechanism I used while I was a Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Delta State, to illustrate how accountability works effectively using the five ingredients.

    Accountability – The obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.

    The Right Way to Hold People Accountable

    by Peter Bregman

    A Harvard business review article

    John* was doing his best to be calm, but his frustration was palpable. Jeanine was explaining that there was little chance her group was going to make the numbers for this quarter. “Honestly?” she said. “The numbers weren’t realistic to begin with. It was really unlikely that we were going to make them.”

    That’s when John lost it. “You agreed to the numbers in our budget meeting! You came up with them!”

    Jeanine was silent for a while. Then she stammered out a weak defense that John promptly tore apart. Later, when John and I were debriefing the conversation, he asked me a question that I have heard countless times from countless leaders.

    “How do I get my people to be more accountable for results?”

    Accountability is not simply taking the blame when something goes wrong. It’s not a confession. Accountability is about delivering on a commitment. It’s responsibility to an outcome, not just a set of tasks. It’s taking initiative with thoughtful, strategic follow-through.

    And it’s necessary at all levels of the hierarchy. Executives high on the org chart can’t really be accountable unless the people who report to them also follow through on their commitments. This a struggle, of course. I have seen leaders direct, question, and plead. I have seen them yell, act passive-aggressively, and throw up their hands in frustration — all in the service of “holding people accountable.”

    None of that works. Getting angry with people when they fall short is not a productive process for holding people accountable. It almost always reduces motivation and performance.

    So what can we do to foster accountability in the people around us? We need to aim for clarity in five areas:

    Clear expectations

    The first step is to be crystal clear about what you expect. This means being clear about the outcome you’re looking for, how you’ll measure success, and how people should go about achieving the objective. It doesn’t all have to come from you. In fact, the more skilled your people are, the more ideas and strategies should be coming from them. Have a genuinely two-way conversation, and before it’s over, ask the other person to summarize the important pieces — the outcome they’re going for, how they are going to achieve it, and how they’ll know whether they’re successful — to make sure you’re ending up on the same page. Writing out a summary is a good idea but doesn’t replace saying it out loud.

    Clear capability

    What skills does the person need to meet the expectations? What resources will they need? If the person does not have what’s necessary, can they acquire what’s missing? If so, what’s the plan? If not, you’ll need to delegate to someone else. Otherwise you’re setting them up for failure.

    Clear measurement

    Nothing frustrates leaders more than being surprised by failure. Sometimes this surprise is because the person who should be delivering is afraid to ask for help. Sometimes it comes from premature optimism on both sides. Either way, it’s completely avoidable. During the expectations conversation, you should agree on weekly milestones with clear, measurable, objective targets. If any of these targets slip, jump on it immediately. Brainstorm a solution, identify a fix, redesign the schedule, or respond in some other way that gets the person back on track.

    Clear feedback

    Honest, open, ongoing feedback is critical. People should know where they stand. If you have clear expectations, capability, and measurement, the feedback can be fact-based and easy to deliver. Is the person delivering on her commitments? Is she working well with the other stakeholders? If she needs to increase her capability, is she on track? The feedback can also go both ways — is there something you can be doing to be more helpful? Give feedback weekly, and remember it’s more important to be helpful than nice.

    Clear consequences

    If you’ve been clear in all of the above ways, you can be reasonably sure that you did what’s necessary to support their performance. At this point, you have three choices: repeat, reward, or release. Repeat the steps above if you feel that there is still a lack of clarity in the system. If the person succeeded, you should reward them appropriately (acknowledgement, promotion, etc.). If they have not proven accountable and you are reasonably certain that you followed the steps above, then they are not a good fit for the role, and you should release them from it (change roles, fire them, etc.).

    These are the building blocks for a culture of accountability. The magic is in the way they work together as a system. If you miss any one, accountability will fall through that gap.

    I’ve found that it’s useful to make this list public and to discuss it with the people you’re asking to be accountable before there’s a specific project on the line.

    When I explained all of this to John, it was easy for him to identify the gaps in his communication with Jeanine. His expectations were clear, but her capability was lacking, which they had never addressed. Once they’d spoken about the gap, he could support her development with coaching while also reviewing her milestones more frequently. That gave him the data he needed to give her clear and timely feedback.

    Remember the question we started with, the one that plagues so many leaders: “How do I get my people to be more accountable for results?”

    Now there’s an answer: It depends. Which of the five areas have you neglected?

    Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, a company that helps successful people become better leaders, create more effective teams, and inspire their organizations to produce great results. Best-selling author of 18 Minutes, his most recent book is Leading with Emotional Courage. He is also the host of the Bregman Leadership Podcast. To identify your leadership gap, take Peter’s free assessment.