By Charles Pemu 
OKOCHIRI, RIVERS STATE – His Royal Majesty Michael Ateke Tom, the Amanyanabo of Okochiri in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, has explained that his decision to take up arms as a former militant leader in the Niger Delta was solely to draw the attention of the Federal Government and the world to the plight and marginalisation of the oil-rich region.
King Ateke, who spoke on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the ECOWAS Parliament to his palace, said the agitation eventually brought the region’s challenges into focus and yielded positive results, including the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan from the region as Nigeria’s President.
“My intention was to draw the attention of the Federal Government and the world to the plight of the Niger Delta, a region that produces oil and gas yet suffers the most,” the monarch said. “It was that same movement that created the opportunity where our people were remembered, like Goodluck Jonathan, could emerge as President of Nigeria.”
The King recalled helping to broker peace and appealing to agitators to lay down their arms after the government responded to the issues of pollution, poverty, and suffering in the region. He urged the visiting ECOWAS Parliament to use its legislative platform to advocate for sustained development in the Niger Delta, emphasizing that “there’s still a long way to go to lift our people out of poverty.”
The ECOWAS delegation, led by Speaker Rt. Hon. Hadja Memounatou Ibrahima, was in Port Harcourt for a parliamentary session on Artificial Intelligence. The parliamentarians, including Third Deputy Speaker Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin and Fourth Deputy Speaker Hon. Billay Tunkara, commended the monarch’s peace advocacy and leadership, stressing that his insights would be valuable in guiding their legislative work on security and development across the ECOWAS region.