Niger Delta a Region Dying from the Negligence of its own People

Finally the people of the Niger delta, south-south Nigeria have their son in power yet the region remains a shadow of its self. This is a clear reminder that Nigerians must not allow herself to be drawn into electing people to power based on ethnic sentiment but rather they must take the courage to interrogate critically those who sought their mandate so as to see the substance of their candidature.

Judging by the attitude and mood of the people from the Niger delta before Jonathan was elected, a vote for their son means good bye to poverty and so those oppose even from within them are labelled as traitors who must be dealt with and never be allowed to raise their voice, even when their concerns were genuine. Today south-south Nigeria inspite of its enormous natural endowment remains a region whose people are faced with abject poverty, educationally backward and economically far behind places like Lagos.

A Jonathan ticket will never and can never be the solution to the plight of the people from that region but rather the people themselves must be active participant in any developmental quest it wishes to engage in. They must endeavour to engage government and other private concern in the development quest of the region. This is important because what the people of the Niger delta suffers today is not lack of infrastructure but lack of men and women with genuine interest and vision for the common good of all citizens of the region. What the Niger Delta parade as leaders are merely individuals with that egoistic tendency for the self.  

Since the era of Ken Saro wiwa, the region is yet to see true fighter who will stand up and say no to the banality and abuse going on. In fact after Ken Saro wiwa, the pen has suddenly gone dry of ink while the sword has become the potent tool for negotiation used by all who feels it’s time to take their own share of the oil wealth.  This fundamentally is the reason Niger Delta is a region dying from the negligence of its own people. If and only if the people from that part of the country are intellectually reawakened then they will truly see the darkness they have been in all these while. Mental darkness not just physical darkness is the most potent way to keep a people consistently suppressed. They cannot see who they truly are once they are in this state. This is the reason bad governance and corruption is prevailing not just in the Niger delta, but in Nigeria and Africa in general.

The key to bringing light therefore is to illuminate the minds of the people by getting them properly educated and skilled so as for the people themselves to have a greater mastering of their own destiny. This is because you cannot give development to a people but rather equip their minds so as for them to be creators of their own development. This is the sure way out of the mediocrity we see today in the region. 
yek keme
@yekeme