A fresh debate over marginalisation in the Niger Delta has erupted following recent comments by the Olu of Warri, His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, in which he lamented the long years of neglect and exploitation of Itsekiri land by oil companies and accused “internal collaborators” of betraying the interests of his people.

Speaking at Jakpa Community in Warri North Local Government Area, the monarch declared that he would “no longer remain silent” while his people remain, in his words, “poor, frustrated and neglected” despite contributing immensely to Nigeria’s oil wealth. He blamed inconsistent regulatory attitudes, divide-and-rule tactics by companies and what he described as greed and betrayal by some Itsekiri leaders who, according to him, “worship only one god — their stomach.”

“Today, for the sake of my people, I refuse to remain silent. I refuse to hide behind diplomacy. And I say it plainly: my people are discouraged, my people are poor, my people are tired,” the Olu said, even as he commended Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for ongoing road projects in Itsekiri areas and thanked the President for what he called a listening ear.

However, the Olu’s intervention has also reopened a long-simmering grievance in Warri South Local Government Area, where Urhobo leaders and stakeholders insist that, for decades, they have been the ones bearing the brunt of political exclusion and systematic marginalisation.

According to Urhobos in Warri South, since the creation of the local government, the chairmanship position has effectively been treated as the “birthright” of the Itsekiri, leaving other ethnic groups; particularly the Urhobo, who also inhabit the council area in large numbers, perpetually shut out of the top political office.

“This is not about sentiment; it is about facts and history,” a senior Urhobo community leader, Chief John Oteri said. “For years, Warri South has been run as if it belongs to only one ethnic group. The chairmanship has rotated within one bloc, while others are expected to remain spectators in their own land.”

They argue that this political dominance has been reinforced through what they describe as the weaponisation of political connections at both state and federal levels, making it almost impossible for non-Itsekiri indigenes to access positions that could empower their communities.

A frequently cited example is the controversy that trailed the appointment of Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, an indigene of Okere-Urhobo in Warri South and a prominent APC leader in Delta State, as Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Okumagba, who is also the Leader of the Warri Urhobo APC Forum, was appointed by the President, but the move was met with stiff resistance from Itsekiri groups who, according to Urhobo leaders, openly opposed the idea of an Urhobo occupying such a strategic position.

“The message at the time was clear,” another Urhobo politician recalled. “If it is not them, then it must be nobody. That appointment was fought, not because of competence, but purely because of ethnicity.”

Urhobo stakeholders contend that this pattern has continued, with sustained pressure to deny them opportunities that could translate into political and economic empowerment, thereby entrenching what they describe as a cycle of domination and dependency.

Ironically, they say, the grievances now being voiced by the Olu against oil companies and external forces mirror what the Urhobo have experienced for years within Warri South’s local political structure.

“As the saying goes, if you can dish it out, you should be able to take it,” an Urhobo youth leader, Comr. Akpokona Emakpo said. “You cannot complain about marginalisation on one hand while benefiting from — and perpetuating — the marginalisation of your neighbours on the other. Do unto others as you would want to be treated.”

They further argue that, contrary to claims of exclusion, the Itsekiri have, over the years, benefited significantly from successive governments at both state and federal levels, often more than any other ethnic group in Delta State, and especially within the Warri axis.

A recent example often cited by Urhobo voices is the appointment of Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, an Itsekiri woman, as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards the end of 2025. The appointment was widely accepted across the country without ethnic agitation, reinforcing the idea that Nigerians, by and large, are learning to live by a “live and let live” ethos.

The Urhobo position is also anchored on demographics and geography. They insist that they have both the population strength and substantial land expanse in Warri South, but that decades of political suppression and strategic exclusion have created a false impression that they are politically irrelevant in the local government.

“If Nigeria is truly a democracy, then a situation where only one ethnic group perpetually produces the chairman of a local government is not just unjust, it is a fundamental error that requires urgent correction,” a civil society activist in Warri said.

While acknowledging the Olu of Warri’s call for transparency, unity and accountability within Itsekiri land, Urhobo leaders say those same principles must be extended to the governance of Warri South Local Government Area through a genuinely inclusive political arrangement.

“The government must be fair and truly democratic in its dealings,” one community spokesman said. “Inclusive governance is not a slogan; it is a necessity. Peace in Warri South will only be sustainable when every group feels a sense of belonging and has a fair shot at leadership.”

Even as the stage is set again for another rounds of political appointments, both in the federal level and state, since the synergy into one political party – the All Progressives Congress. With the slight reshuffling of cabinet in Delta State and the nomination into the Governing Council of the Delta State University, the fate of the Urhobos of Warri hangs at the edge of the cliff, observers watch closely how the players make their move.

As debates over balanced representation and political equity continue to shape the Warri narrative, many observers believe that the current moment presents an opportunity for a broader, more honest conversation, not only about how oil companies relate with host communities, but also about how those communities relate with one another within shared political spaces.

For the Urhobo of Warri South, the message is simple: before pointing accusing fingers outward, the long-standing structures of local exclusion must also be confronted, and dismantled, in the interest of justice, fairness and lasting peace.