Comrade Sunny Ofehe, Executive Director of the Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC) and environmental rights activist based in the Netherlands, has charged the federal government to take advantage of the proposed $212 million educational fund the Dutch government has set aside in response to the Netherlands’ “historic role in the slave trade”.

Ofehe made the call on Friday after his recent consultative visit to the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, where he said Nigeria, through the Itsekiri nation, is in a position to take part in the formal apology and “monetary reparations” being planned by the Dutch government.

He recalled that in December of last year, Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, officially apologized on behalf of the Dutch government for the country’s historical involvement in the slave trade, stating that slavery must be acknowledged as a crime against humanity in “the clearest terms.”

In a speech at the national archives in The Hague, Rutte had acknowledged that the past “cannot be erased,” saying that for centuries, the Dutch state had “enabled, encouraged, and profited from slavery.”

The Dutch Prime Minister was quoted as saying, “People were commodified, exploited, and traded in the name of the Dutch state,” and that “nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery.”

But the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense “suffering of those who were enslaved, and their descendants. Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologise for the past actions of the Dutch state”.

Ofehe, who is the governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in Delta State, said that in addition to the seven former colonies in South America and the Caribbean that endured unspeakable suffering during the 250-year slave trade that financed the Netherlands’ economic and cultural “golden age,” as claimed by the Dutch Prime Minister, Itsekiri-Nigeria ethnic nationality was one of the regions that the Dutch exploited for business during the slave trade era.

He maintained that, as a result, during his consultative visit to the paramount ruler of Itsekiri Kingdom, he urged him to go further in order to determine how the Itsekiri nation, which was among the sites of the slave trade during the “golden age,” could participate in the formal apology process by the Dutch government and gain access to the educational fund that is designed to assist young people.

“You may remember that I was at the palace of the Olu of Warri, one of Nigeria’s first-class monarchies, and I informed the revered ruler that the Dutch Government, through the Prime Minister, had just made an official apology for its part in the slave trade. Ironically, I am aware from what little history I have learned that the Dutch were among those who arrived in this country following the Portuguese, and they were heavily involved in the slave trade in this kingdom.

“And I also told the monarch that the Dutch government has set aside $212 million to invest in education in nations where they actually participated in the slave trade, and I believe the Itsekiri Kingdom, knowing its historical significance, has a stake in that fund that is available.

This year, on June 1, the world will commemorate 160 years since the slave trade was abolished. After March, he continued, “I believe we need leadership that can be able to stir up this Kingdom to be part and parcel of that apology that they have made.

Ofehe, one of the front-runners in the governorship race, said that Delta state needed a young man like himself who knew how to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available abroad to strengthen the state economy in addition to the funding received from Abuja and self-generated income to manage state affairs.

“I have also stated in some of my campaigns that I have the ability to bring at least 26 billion dollars in foreign direct investment to this state as a governor, and at this time with all of the deficit we see in the state with borrowing, we need a leadership that can be able to use the relationships garnered over the years to bring people, assure them that their investment can be secure, and their investment can also get a return,” he said.

While requesting support from all Deltans regardless of ethnicity and political affiliation, Ofehe stated that as a young man who has witnessed European advancement for the past 27 years and fully understands that the advancement was not rocket science, he would think outside the box to revamp the state’s ailing industries and build new ones outside of allocation that comes through FAAC.

“I am a candidate in this election, and I believe I can offer a lot. As a governor, I won’t be making any infrastructure promises or talking about how I’ll build schools, hospitals, or bridges because I know those are basic services that every government owes to its citizens. However, the added value that my candidacy will bring and the added value that I will bring as governor of this state is that with the current situation our country is facing with the global economic meltdown, we need a leadership that can be able to guarantee trust, can be able to attract foreign direct investment, and can be able to tell the world that even though Nigeria has a reputation right now as being an unsafe and very risky country to visit, Nigeria still has a lot to offer,” he enthused.

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