My good people of Ada Ama, o’ nua !

It is another year of God’s Mercy and Grace. The challenges have been enormous and seemingly insurmountable. But the Good Lord has carried us through.

Within this year , and in recent times, we have lost several of our brethren of Ada Ama origin. These are simply unforgettable and will remain indelible in our hearts. Only the other day, our own Chief Willim, Tonworio Ben Dick aka Muda, suddenly left us. I happened to be at an occasion in Yenagoa when he passed on, and upon hearing it, rushed with some of my Chiefs to the hospital, from where we joined his children to convey his remains to the waterside for his onward journey to Brass. It was so emotional for us.

May The Good Lord grant the souls of all the faithful departed eternal rest in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord… Amen.

HARSH ECONOMIC CLIMATE

The economic situation confronting our people has been, to say the least, almost unbearable. Things are really hard for everybody.
The situation in Twon Brass is most worrisome. No jobs for our young men and women ; no bank ; no business houses, Poluted Water ; Polluted Air ; disappearing fish stock in our rivers ; pervasive health challenges etc.

Many of these arise from the unfortunate inaction of persons in authority. Nevertheless, I urge you to continue to be patient and law abiding, and to tackle the problems with fortitude and equanimity, in the hope that things will be better this 2025.

However, in spite of our trials and travails , we must give thanks to God Almighty. As we all know, Ada Ama was established on the foundation of Christianity, that is why “God first” remains our motto. In line with that, we have not taken our duty to the Church lightly at all. As a result, we are Three-time winners at the annual Harvest at Opu Churchi, out of the five Amas in Twon Brass. This means that we have won that cup for keeps.

ADA AMA IN TWON BRASS

The experience of Ada Ama in Twon Brass in recent times, has not been a pleasant one. We are brazenly sidelined and excluded from important things, except when it is time to contribute money or intellect. That is not good, as it takes away from Twon Brass, the much-needed camaraderie required for us to act as a community. That is not the spirit with which the founding fathers of Twon Brass established our community.

Sadly, it is persons in authority in Twon Brass, with roots in Ada Ama, who contrive and conspire to put us down. For now, we will continue to handle that adversity with equanimity, as we cannot but continue to look up to God Almighty and pray that His wrath and the wrath of bololo ongu ( our great ancestors ) be not visited on our errant, brethren. Ayeba ton wa piri nyu.

Petroleum Industry Act

Although the recent law governing oil and gas activities in Nigeria provides for huge amounts of money by way of 3% of Operating Capital of Operating Companies to be handed to Host Communities for development, we in Ada Ama are yet to feel the impact at all. Things are done without any transparency or accountability. What we in Ada Ama see is that the opportunity is being handled by certain persons to our exclusion. We are not told how much comes in, what projects are determined by the “ Needs Assessment “ exercise, neither do we witness any project commissioning as we see regularly on TV by Host Communities Development Trusts in other oil communities. This deliberate distortion in the implementation of the PIA, cannot go without consequence or remedy, and this year, we will ensure that things are done correctly, as we proceed to aggressively assert our rights legally, if need be. We pray that our brethren change their ways, for, if they do not, we shall have no alternative than to explore all our options.

EKPERI AMA

Ekperi Ama ( formerly Ekperi Kiri ) , founded and owned by Thomas Ada Spiff about one and half centuries ago, remains a pride of Ada Ama and an integral part of Ada Ama Community. Recently, I sent a delegation of chiefs, elders etc there to engage with our people and resolve disputes and misunderstandings. We shall continue to promote peace in the territory, and live with our brethren at Ekperi Ama as brethren, with whom we share a common destiny. Let it be known by all and sundry that , Ada’s right, ownership of and suzerainty over Ekperi Ama community, is indisputable and CANNOT be compromised !

It was in the light of this that Ada and his people, on the 23rd of December, 2024, embarked on a traditional visitation of Ekperi Ama to felicitate with our people there. I took the opportunity of the visit to lay the foundation stone of a building to house Ada and his entourage, whenever they visit that territory.

ACCESS BANK Shares Acquired with some of the funds earned from AGIP as rent.

Our collective decision in acquiring
shares with a portion of our windfall from AGIP 19 years ago, is a testimony to the wisdom in not “ eating your yam, along with the tendril.
Gratitude to the memory of late Elder Ozumba, Chief Thomas Dandeson Spiff, Highness Ephraim Faloughi ( Ebiegberi 2 ) Chief Inatimi Nyingifa , Chief Kuro Spiff Akoko, Mrs Taribo Dallas ( Women Leader at the time ) Elder Des Dokubo ; Elder Nimibofa Williams ( Youth Leader at the time ) and many others who supported Ada’s proposal that we invest in shares instead of “chopping everything and leaving nothing for the rainy day” .
That small investment continues to yield dividends for us every year.
I am delighted to announce to you, that for the year 2024, we have received as dividends, the following amounts :

1. Ada Ama Community- N642,999.10

2. Spiff Town Community- N632,796.60

Total Amount – N1,265,795.70

Upon consultation with my chiefs and Elders, it has been decided that much of the dividends be used to address Poverty Alleviation among our people, while the rest is applied towards purchase of essential medicines for our ailing brethren.

LEGAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME

I am pleased to announce to you, the establishment of a Legal support Team within the law chambers of Ada’s Serenity Legal Union & Partners in Yenagoa to provide free legal representation and supporting indigenes of Ada Ama, whose legal rights are threatened or infringed upon. I call on all Ada Ama indigenes who are lawyers to enlist in that programme. When fully established, the service will be extended to our brethren from other Amas of Town Brass Community.

I also announce to you, that the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja has approved the name :

SPIFFTOWN INTERNATIONAL OIL & GAS COMPANY LIMITED for incorporation .

It will be a company fully owned by Ada Ama Community, which will be run by our indigenes and consultants from elsewhere. The company will develop capacity for service delivery in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

ABSENCE OF POTABLE WATER IN TWON BRASS

The absence of clean, potable water in Brass is very worrisome indeed. There is no reason whatsoever for that. Tugu-ka-fa ! That is most regrettable and totally unacceptable. The entire leadership of Twon Brass Community ( including myself ) should be ashamed of ourselves for that serious neglect, and bear full responsibility. I on my part, sincerely apologize for the suffering you must have been going through. I promise to take up the matter with ALL relevant authorities, and if they fail to do it, will privately mobilize funds to provide clean, safe potable water for Ada Ama this 2025.

NEMBE SE AFFAIRS

October Meeting of NEMBE SE Congress was hosted by Ada Ama in PH. It was very successful. We have promised to host them again, this time, here in Ada Ama.

Ada-Ama, equally played a significant supportive role regarding the making of a Digitalized Nembe Bibi Bible, now in Audio . Yours truly, Ada IX, was chairman at the launching on the 17th of November, 2024.

Worthy of note also, is fact that our own Alabo Ebi Domo-Spiff Jonathan Domo, Ph.D, mini, is the sitting high-achiever president of the Nembe Se Congress. He is doing extremely well, and has taken the profile of the Nembe world to very commendable heights.

END OF YEAR MEETING

I am pleased to note that our end of year meets very successful and thank everyone of you for making it grand.

LUCKY DIP

30 pieces of GSM Phones were put up for lucky dip during our end of year meeting last week. Congratulations to all who won and better luck next time to those who didn’t win. Hopefully, there will be more options in the December, 2025 edition, God keeping us alive.

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

I have transferred funds to Ada Ama account for disbursement by the Finance Team, for disbursement. I am told that the palliative to help you deal with the prevailing harsh living conditions has already been made.

TABLE TENNIS

In course of 2004, we acquired three table tennis boards and engaged top class coaches from Yenagoa, to train our young and women. The training is a continuing exercise and the coaches assure us that within 24 months, we could begin to win national laurels in the country. I have also decided to acquire more boards for a similar programme at Ekperi Ama.
The plan is for us to organise and host a table tennis tournament during the 2025 Easter holiday for Brass Island.

ADA AMA ANTHEM

I am pleased to note that the song Ada Ama Tukpa, written and composed by my wife and I a few years ago, is gaining popularity in our community, as people are getting familiar with the lyrics. It was quite delightful to hear and watch young men and women of Ekperi Ama, ring sing the chorus lustily, during our interaction a few days ago. Plans are afoot to have it professionally recorded and a video version placed on YouTube to earn some foreign currency to support our developmental agenda. The video to be recorded on location at Ada Ama, featuring Ada Ama artifacts, voices and faces, project our community to the world !

Once again, we thank God Almighty for making us see 2025, and I wish you all the very best in course of the year.

Ada Ama Tukpa, Koriyo !!!!

By HRH Sir Barrister
David Serena-Dokubo Spiff
Ada-Spiff IX

 

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