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Varsity Don, professor Ben Binebai calls for unity among Warri tribes to drive peace and development.
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Appeal made during book launch on Warri Federal Constituency delineation in Effurun.
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Book challenges exclusive ownership narratives and promotes shared heritage.
A university don, Professor Ben Binebai of the Niger Delta University (NDU), Bayelsa State, has urged the Itsekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo ethnic groups in Warri to embrace unity as a pathway to peace and sustainable development in the area.
Binebai, a professor of drama, dramatic theory and criticism, made the call at the weekend while reviewing a book at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun-Warri.
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The book, titled “Warri Federal Constituency Delineation: Itsekiri and the Challenge of Sustaining the Burden of Lies,” was written by Monday Keme, an independent researcher, historian and prominent leader of Ogbe-Ijoh-Warri Kingdom.
While discharging his role as reviewer, Binebai noted that the author clearly established that three ethnic nationalities—Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri—inhabit the Warri Federal Constituency, describing this shared ownership as a foundation for peace and development.
According to him, the intertwined geopolitical history of Warri should serve as a catalyst for stability, prosperity and multicultural collaboration rather than conflict.
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“It is high time the people recognise this age-long interconnectedness as a basis for unity and shared progress,” he said.
Binebai explained that Keme’s book was written as a response to an earlier publication titled “INEC and Corrupt Practices: The Siamese Twins and Warri Federal Constituency,” authored by an Itsekiri writer.
He described Keme’s work as a detailed examination of a contested constituency where issues of land, identity, power, justice and development intersect.
The professor noted that the book relied on British-era treaties, court judgments and oral histories to balance competing ownership claims, warning against the danger of promoting a single ethnic narrative.
“To dismiss these records in favour of an ethnocentric account is to silence long-standing voices and erase the lived realities of Warri’s diverse communities,” he said.
Binebai further stated that the book challenges the long-held notion of exclusive ownership of Warri, arguing that it restores suppressed historical perspectives, particularly those of Ogbe-Ijoh.
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He described the publication as a call for mutual respect, truth and unity, urging Warri communities to honour their shared heritage and reject narratives that promote division.