Enaibo dedicates Gbaramaruvoice’s 10th year award to High Chief Ekpemupolo

By Asiayei Enaibo

Who knows the mystery of the spiderwebs across the sea, the estuaries and the creeks? The lakeside stands; the Oboye bird, and the kingfisher waited for the tidal waters to see the ground to get a catch for its daily voyage. They all waited patiently for nature to reward them.

The river was rough, waves perturbed the canoe against the fishermen and women, nature drove them to and fro safe home.

Visions are dreams of someone who desires to create impact. He cannot walk alone, so he finds like-minded people to accelerate the dream realisation. When you work for humanity and yourself, you cannot be disappointed. But when you work to please the presence of your immediate boss, human flaws and expectations will tear you apart before the cosmically fixed time of its glory and manifestation.

The enduring legacy of a follower is the gateway to true leadership. The training, love and passion you carry in service is the outcome of a reward–that reward is what makes society believe in your experience in the profiled calendar of man.

I chose service to learn, and the rewards today are enormous. This is the story of Asiayei Enaibo, ten years of working and telling stories with unwavering commitment and unimaginable joy at the duty post.

It is only when we feel the spiderwebs touch our body that we know there is a mystery.

Life is what you choose and wear in your soul that manifests —happiness, honesty, service and loyalty—-everything waves in the frequency of your mind. A journey so far in telling stories with passion I have ever nourished within my heart—-a sojourn I hold dear to myself and humanity.

In 2015, the year the vision was born to tell stories by a man named Mr. Jacob Abai. I joined the Gbaramatuvoice International as the founder, and worked within the ambit of how to raise this voice to be known. But today, Gbaramatuvoice has become a pivotal voice in the Niger Delta region, harmonising our cultural heritage, faith in storytelling, with total commitment to reshaping the region’s image.

Mr Jacob Abai’s Vision is to have a voice to amplify our region and change the perspectives of the militants and the hostile region’s story to that of a beautiful environment and culture.

Yes, ten years, in the beginning was Asiayei Enaibo. Under the rain and sun, under the very tempting challenges of life, focus, love, and ambition in the vision of Abai to change the danger of the single story of the Niger Delta region, most especially the Ijaws, who bear the burdens of the Niger Deltans on economic and infrastructural development with the flowing stream of oil.

The Government of Nigeria seals our lips not to speak and makes us disadvantaged people in the media space. Young Abai came and amplified our voices. I got married to his vision, glued to it to build a world media speaking space and a conscious phenomenal movement to tell our own stories beyond the sit-at-home journalist who never travelled to the creeks but fabricated stories. From their comfort homes, they tag our region with derogatory names, just like the first colonialists’ stories of the black race as apes.

Yes, they said, the Ijaw people are militants, kidnappers, sea pirates and oil bunkers in their agitation for a clear pathway to resource control and economic development.

Mr. Jacob Abai’s idea I have been to for ten years, has not only changed the narrative but also empowered me and made me a phenomenal subject in the media space through his innovative and resilient spirit.

Today, tenth tenth anniversary celebration at Transcorp Hilton Abuja on the 27th and 28th of August 2025, Enaibo was honoured with a long service and dedicated award and with the sum of five million naira. What a motivation! What a show of love! Yes, this is not the first award through dedication.

I was first awarded with a car, a brand new car from High Chief Tare Pondi, GM Operations Tantita in the year 2024, who, on one calm day, saw me on so many occasions and wondered what manner of man and energy was Talking Drum. “The energy with which you work in someone’s company is beyond the ordinary; come to my office,” Tare said. Little did I know that a gift—a car gift! And not just that, communities have shown love for my commitment in telling stories across Kingdoms and personalities in the affairs of the Ijaw Nation.

Yes, different calibres of persons in the Niger Delta have financially appreciated my commitment, a workforce where a man who took responsibility for a company established by his peer, but decided to serve, just like the Igbos serve to have a leadership. I chose service instead of ownership over things. Yes, I served, and I am well appreciated by God in heaven through His instruments.

Today, in that honour, there stands one man who is the pivotal point of the Niger Delta story, who is the embodiment of the core values and development of our region. That man decided to face the hurdles of the Nigerian government and has created a niche, a movement for the emancipation of the region. Tompolo is a movement of emancipation; it is that emancipating spirit that our stories are heard in the right perspective–that story that means a lot to the people. Its ambition and vision are to ensure that the Niger Delta is known for its abundance of oil resources.

We cannot be in the pool of oil and become poor. Tompolo single-handedly changed the story, and Niger Delta sons and daughters joined his movement to make the region blessed with infrastructure and grow rapidly.

Today, I dedicate this very award to Father Igologolo, High Chief Government Oweizede Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, the Ibemo Ibemo woniwei, Aziza Pere. Your commitment to humanity is beyond measure. I present and dedicate this award to you for what you have done. Your unwavering support, your commitment to the Niger Delta cause, your key and productive agitations in reshaping the Niger Delta narrative, preserving the cultural heritage that was once demonised and condemned, the new acceptance and consciousness of the African cultural identity you have restored–to these I dedicate this award.

Yes, the government acknowledged his numerous inputs for nation building and awarded him with the pipeline surveillance contract to save the environment.

Yes, the once-degraded environment that pollutants and soots became managers with terrible afflictions and sickness from the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we work upon is now a haven. Tompolo stood firm and said there is one place we can call our home, that home is the Niger Delta, that country is Nigeria.

This is my ten-year dedication award for meritorious and long service in telling the Niger Delta stories through the Gbaramatuvoice. I dedicate this to our leader, who stood firm for our people under the rain and sun, blackmail, and unseen bullets. Yes, in that regard, Gbaramatuvoice was formed by Mr Jacob Abai to tell the true story of our region and Tompolo, who was labelled with all sorts of derogatory names, has changed. The narrative that he stood for the development of our region, he is the Mandela of the Niger Delta region, he is a man whose vision is like a compass to our growth and today, this story is a story of my journey.

Yes, Asiayei Enaibo, who hails from Bobougbene, Ayakoromo Obotebe communities, dedicated this award to our father, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, for peace, freedom, development and environmental justice.

Let the Ijaw nation’s young ones know that Enaibo’s steps towards service are to show younger people that you can always serve and become a master tomorrow. There must be a servant, and through the services, there must be a king, and a leader will emerge. Leaders do not emerge without followership. When you follow, you become a leader tomorrow; that is the footprint. Once upon a time, High Chief Kestin Pondi, the MD, Tantita, said, “One day Enaibo’s writing will be known in the world, and Enaibo’s hard work will be acknowledged, and his steadfast commitment to telling the Niger Delta story is becoming a global one through the Gbaramatuvoice.”

My sincere appreciation goes to Mr Jacob Abai and the management of the Gbaramatuvoice Tv International. This is a movement that is reshaping the new narrative of the Niger Delta media. Yes, I am very grateful for the tokens given to me over the years.

I am hopeful that these tokens of appreciation by Mr. Jacob Abai and others will extend their love and gratitude to Gbaramatuvoice. It has done great things for me on this 10th anniversary. May God bless our region. We will continue to stand firm in telling our stories.

According to the letter from Mr. Jacob Abai, the CEO of GbaramatuVoiceTV, “This is to inspire others to the true definition of commitment and loyalty, from the dark days of challenges to this glowing light of our vision, you stood. Let’s try to get a plot of land with it. For your hard work, yes, in bad and good tidings, we move to a new face of phenomenal movement of the Gbaramatuvoice.” To my lovely wife, Mrs. Emily Asiayei Enaibo, your patience and support are a new lesson for womenfolk. This is our song of victory, and we will sing it together loudly!

Enaibo, Writes from GbaramatuVoice
The Cultural Journalist