From the Niger Delta struggle to the throne of Elem Kalabari: a life shaped by conviction, sacrifice and service
By Al Humphrey Onyanabo
Some men are known for the battles they fight. Others are remembered for the positions they occupy. A few live lives that traverse so many different worlds that no single title, controversy or commentary can adequately explain who they are.
Da-Amakiri Tubo, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, Amanyanabo of The Source, Elem Kalabari, Torusarama Piri, is one such figure.
His journey has taken him through religion, political agitation, imprisonment, entrepreneurship, community security and traditional leadership. His name has featured prominently in the Niger Delta struggle, particularly in conversations about the rights of the Ijaw people, resource control and the relationship between Nigeria's oil wealth and the communities from which it is extracted.
Today, he occupies a traditional institution deeply rooted in Kalabari history. Yet his public life continues to attract attention, debate and controversy. To understand the man, one must look beyond the headlines.
The Boy Called Kala Amakiri
Born Melford Dokubo Goodhead Jr. to Hon. Justice Melford Dokubo Goodhead Snr. and Mrs. Bekinwari Melford Dokubo Goodhead, he hails from the royal Amakiri dynasty of the Kalabari Kingdom in present-day Rivers State.
He lost his mother at an early age and was raised by his paternal grandmother, Princess Nene Okukuba Wilkinson Goodhead, whose influence remained central to his upbringing. She gave him the name Kala Amakiri, meaning Little Amakiri, in reverence to King Amakiri I, a pivotal figure in the formation of the Kalabari Kingdom.
His grandmother instilled in him a strong consciousness of his cultural heritage and royal ancestry. Raised in a Christian family in the riverine Niger Delta, his early years coincided with a growing awareness of the contradiction between the enormous wealth extracted from the region and the difficult conditions confronting oil-producing communities. That contradiction would later shape his political convictions.
Education, Faith and Identity
He attended Baptist Day School, Buguma, and Township Primary School, Port Harcourt, before proceeding to Baptist High School, Port Harcourt. He later studied at the University of Calabar and the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
His formative years were marked by independence of thought and a willingness to question established assumptions. That search for identity eventually extended to religion. After a period of personal and intellectual exploration, he embraced Islam and adopted the name Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, which he has described as a source of peace, discipline and spiritual direction.
The Niger Delta Struggle
His national prominence grew during a period of heightened agitation in the Niger Delta over environmental degradation, inadequate infrastructure, economic marginalisation and the demand for resource control.
He became associated with the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and emerged as one of the founding figures of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), which he later led as president. He subsequently led the Niger Delta People's Salvation Front (NDPSF) and the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), becoming one of the most prominent and controversial figures of that era.
His activities brought him into direct confrontation with the Nigerian state. For supporters, he was a forceful voice for a neglected region. For critics, his methods and positions were contentious.
He was arrested and tried for treason. His imprisonment - twenty-two months and ten days - became a defining chapter. He was released in July 2007.
A Return to Ancestry
His path to the throne unfolded through Kalabari traditional milestones.
In 2004, he took a personal chieftaincy stool in the Edi Abali War Canoe Houses from his maternal lineage. He presented himself to the Buguma Council of Chiefs in 2007 and performed Se Diye on his personal stool in 2013.
On 1st November 2023, he became Head of the Edi Abali Group of War Canoe Houses, one of the most prominent houses founded by Inabioboari Harry Braide (Edi Abali), the first Prime Minister of the Kalabari State. On 9th November 2023, he performed Se Diye as Alabo Edi Abali.
On 23rd May 2024, in accordance with Kalabari royal convention, the King Amachree Royal House through the King Abbi House chose him as Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari. On the same day, the Kalabari Se Kobiri chose him as Amakiri Ekpeke - the shield and protector of the Kalabari Kingdom - in addition to his earlier title of Sebromabo conferred by King T.J.T. Princewill, Amachree XI.
The Rivers State Government gazetted him as Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari on 8th October 2024. On 31st December 2024, Governor Siminalayi Fubara presented him with the Staff of Office as Amanyanabo of The Source, Elem Kalabari, Torusarama Piri.
He adopted the revered name of Dabaye Amakiri I, connecting his reign to the founder of modern Kalabari and his son King Amakiri I. The transition was profound: a man who had spent years challenging established authority was now entrusted with an institution that demands stewardship, preservation of heritage and community cohesion.
Elem Kalabari: Strategic Assets, Neglected Communities
Da-Amakiri Tubo presides over a chiefdom of considerable strategic importance to Nigeria's energy economy. The wider area is associated with OML 18, with fields including Cawthorne Channel 1, 2 and 3, Buguma Creek, Orubiri, Akakiri, part of Krakrama and Akaso, alongside pipelines, flow stations and evacuation facilities.
Yet, despite these assets, communities in Elem Kalabari and Torusarama Piri continue to contend with poverty, environmental degradation and limited economic opportunities. In February 2026, women from the community protested at the Cawthorne Channel 2 Jetty, demanding environmental justice and greater participation in the oil economy.
For Amanyanabo Dokubo-Asari, the contradiction is personal. His position places him at the intersection of national economic interests and the aspirations of the host communities. Protecting energy infrastructure, he argues, must go hand in hand with environmental responsibility and meaningful economic inclusion.
Entrepreneurship and Community Security
Beyond his traditional role, he is an entrepreneur. Through the King Amachree Group of Companies, his interests span educational institutions, oil and gas, construction, dredging and reclamation, trading, logistics and consultancy.
Through Royal Fouche Services Ltd, widely known as Amama and Apapa Soldiers, he has ventured into private security. According to this account, the company has operated alongside security agencies in Abuja, Niger, Plateau, Zamfara, Anambra, Imo and Abia states.
In the Niger Delta, the account states, he has personally sponsored security operations along the Kalabari-Emohua road for about five years, with a reported monthly expenditure of approximately N250 million on salaries and logistics, without support from the state or the six benefiting local government areas of Emohua, Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru, Degema, Bonny and Okrika.
The author notes firsthand travel on the road and on waterways in Elem Kalabari, witnessing patrols. In May 2025, the account states, personnel of Royal Fouche rescued 19 passengers, including students travelling to write WASSCE, after a pirate attack. In late September 2025, the company reportedly disrupted an alleged plot to blow up pipelines and kidnap oil workers, seizing arms subsequently handed over to security agencies.
These claims, as presented to the author, represent an evolution from confrontation with the state to participation in addressing insecurity.
The Pipeline Surveillance Controversy
It is against this background that his recent comments on pipeline surveillance contracts should be understood.
The author states that while planning his final coronation Se Diye scheduled for 19th December 2026, a video by commentator Joel Omoshere Agho, known as Mr Common Sense, which painted him in bad light, went viral.
In a widely circulated live video response, Dokubo-Asari stated that he is not linked to any company currently holding pipeline surveillance contracts. He argued that Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd, led by fellow Ijaw leader High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), should not be singled out while other firms in the surveillance business escape comparable scrutiny, citing Pipeline Infrastructure Company Ltd among others.
Subsequent commentaries have questioned the figures cited and argued that public contracts should not be treated as the entitlement of any ethnic group. Those questions about transparency and accountability deserve consideration.
The distinction in Dokubo-Asari's intervention, as conveyed to the author, is this: defending what he perceives as selective criticism of an Ijaw brother does not amount to placing anyone above scrutiny. All contractors, including Tantita and others, are entitled to scrutiny. The central questions remain: who received contracts, under what terms, for what value, what payments were made, and what services were delivered.
The Freedom of Information Act provides a framework for such disclosure.
The Niger Delta's history of economic exclusion makes questions about access to opportunities particularly sensitive. That history does not establish that any contract belongs to an ethnic group, but it explains why equitable participation remains a charged public concern.
The 2023 Aso Rock Meeting
According to the account shared with the author, following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's inauguration in 2023, Dokubo-Asari visited the Presidential Villa. The two share a friendship spanning over 25 years.
During the conversation, the President reportedly asked whether he wished to have a share of the pipeline surveillance contract. His reported response was no.
The account is significant because it introduces a personal dimension. The author states that Dokubo-Asari had initially applied for the contract, was not awarded it, and advocated for its redistribution, but later stood down after intervention by the Ijaw National Congress and the Bayelsa State Government led by Governor Douye Diri.
His reason, as told to the author, was loyalty to the Ijaw platform that shaped him: he had given his word not to pursue the matter further, a position he has maintained since, hence his response at Aso Rock.
Beyond the Headlines
Da-Amakiri Tubo's life cannot be reduced to one video, one allegation or one article. He has been a religious seeker, political activist, prisoner, entrepreneur, security-sector participant and traditional ruler.
His critics are entitled to question his statements. He is entitled to express his views. Neither criticism nor advocacy should be exempt from the discipline of evidence.
His emergence as Amanyanabo of The Source, Elem Kalabari, Torusarama Piri, places him within an institution whose significance extends beyond his individual life. What ultimately defines this phase will be the institutions he strengthens, the culture he preserves, the opportunities created for the next generation and the tangible improvements his people experience.
Beyond the crown lies the responsibility of service. And beyond the struggles of yesterday lies the enduring question of what can be achieved for the people of tomorrow.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
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