Take a fresh look at your lifestyle.

Ijaw Nation needs collaboration to succeed -Stakeholders speak at IWC Day

Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa.

November 13, 2021, would probably continue to be a historic day for Ijaw Women Connect (IWC) World Wide,  not because it held its annual Ijaw Women’s Day celebrations but also because it was a day various speakers invited to the epoch-making event used the occasion to advise the Ijaw ethnic group, in general, to emancipate themselves from, especially, economic and political slavery.

Themed, “Reappraisal of the Ijaw Quest in Nigeria”, the gathering, held in the sprawling melting pot of the Ijaw ethnic group, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, urged the Ijaw to look inward to solve their problems.

The various speakers, both via Zoom and physically, including  Prof Moro, Miebiye Kuromiema, a retired Federal Perm Secretary, Korupamo Agari, High Chief Bobo Brown, a renowned public speaker, spoke in a similar vein.

Taking a cursory look at the political development in Nigeria over the years,  Brown noted in pain that   21 years after, with civilian rule, in form of building democracy and a lot of voting circles, things had not changed, regretting that the more Nigerians voted, the less they are in government.

“The more we vote, the less we are in government” noted Brown who gave the recent gubernatorial elections in Anambra State as an example of degenerating state of democracy in Nigeria.

He noted that the pubic wealth is used to discriminate and suppress the Ijaw nation in Nigeria.

His words: “Our people are no longer part of the public wealth. The public wealth is used to discriminate and weaken us. That becomes a real burden for the Ijaw Quest in Nigeria,” he said.

“So,” according to him,  “the Ijaw quest must begin from getting ourselves to become the focus of the public wealth and policy that manages it.”

Further decrying how prominent Ijaw elites are lukewarm to the emancipation of the ethnic group out of its present quagmire in the Nigeria nation Brown posited that about 90 % of Ijaw elites never bothered to give much attention to things on how to lift the ethnic group out of its economic and political, doldrums.

His words: “Research we conducted, the organisation I work for, Grain Consultant, we do this research every two years. We look at six national newspapers to see what is their big stories about Ijaw and Niger Delta. And I can tell you that between 2011 and 2020, we found that over 90% of big politicians from Ijaw and  did not spend 20% of their time talking about things of interest to the Ijaw nation or to lift the Niger delta economy.”

“They don’t want to touch it unless it is during elections because they do not want to be confronted with the fact that as those representing us, those who enjoyed the good life in our name, they are shying away from the brutal poverty and the wildfire of increasing insecurity that surrounds us. It is not a laughing matter.”

Further buttressing how the Ijaw and Niger  Delta elites do not care about the wellbeing of the people, the Chief Executive Officer of Grain Consultants added: “This Ijaw quest  must become  a  property of the ordinary Ijaw people, not the elite.”

“In 2021, what is our story  Ijaw people? Who are we, and why should  we bother to reappraise our quest?” He asked rhetorically.

Proffering solution to these answers, he stated:  “There is need for Ijaw people to declare what they do not want,”  urging the present Ijaw to toe the footsteps of their forefathers, the  Nembe people of the Niger Delta, who in 1895, told the British colonial agents what they did not want them to do them.

“Today, we need to put that message back into what we do. There are things by Ijaw quest we should  say should not happen to Ijaw people in their land

“We need to fire what we call collaborative advocacy. You cannot do it alone. Look around and say, how can we change things in Bayelsa, in the Ijaw nation,  across Nigeria? No, you should not be a lone voice; you should learn to collaborate with other Ijjaw women and male associations by pointing them in the direction of Ijaw Quest in Nigeria.

Enumerating the potentials in Ijaw land and Niger Delta generally that the people can harness to get what they want from it,  Brown noted:  “You and I are blessed with salt water, fresh water and we did not have fresh fish as our export commodity. We don’t even have enough to eat. So, our challenge in the Ijaw Quest is that we can not allow poverty in our communities and we cannot continue to match backwards and live at the discretion of Abuja.

“We can persuade through collaborative advocacy, we can  persuade our LGAs to invest in areas that can create a new life for our people and give the Ijaw a tall identity in Nigeria and Africa.”

In his presentation during the panel discussion, Prof. Dauphin Moro, the lead panellist, and a Niger Delta activist decried economic and political developments in Ijaw land.

According to him: “Any time I think of the economic and political development s in Ijaw and what they are passing through , I cry in my closet because God has given us everything,” he lamented.

Prof Moro says Ijaw slavery spanned over five decades. Recalling the great Akassa raid, he pointed out that the Ijaw man is suffering today because they inherited it from their forefathers.

Blaming the woes of the Ijaw man on the Nigerian nation, Moro stated: “So we must take the bull by the horn. To die by the sword is better than to die by hunger.”

The Prof, who recalled that the Ijaw nation has been arbitrarily constricted in Nigeria, lamented that the discovery of crude oil, which is supposed to be a blessing is now a curse to the Ijaw ethnic group.

Reiterating that the Ijaw believe in indivisible Nigeria, he, however, pointed out that “our desire to have the Ijaw Republic can’t be jettisoned,” adding that the best solution to Nigeria’s stability  “is a federation of ethnic nationalities”.

However, he added: “The   Ijaw voice alone cannot achieve restructuring but collectively with other ethnic groups.”

Prof Moro was also concerned by the deplorable state of the region’s environment.

“The health situation of Niger Deltans are threatened because of the poisonous atmosphere inhaled, as the whole environment has been destroyed, “noted Moro, who

further proffered solutions on how to attain stability for all sections of the country.

“All the obnoxious military laws must be abrogated and indigenes of the oil-rich Niger Delta allowed to have a stake in the sale of our resources.”

He also advised against divide and rule policies among Niger Deltans and enjoined musicians of the region’s extraction to sing songs “on how we are oppressed”.

Describing Ijaw women as unique, Moro advocated for loan facilities for them.

“Federal government should give loans to Ijaw women with low-interest rates, treat Ijaw fairly,  as producers of oil. We are calling for resource control.

“As Ijaws, we should take responsibility for our development, we shouldn’t play politics with it.

“We believe in one Nigeria but we clamour for resource control. Develop our land; don’t use our resources to play politics, “ he added.

Other speakers at the panel discussion session included Dr. Timiebi Korpamo Agary,Ex. Federal Permanent Secretary, who advised Ijaw ethnic group to stop seeing themselves as underdeveloped, instead, the Ijaw should put their house in order to attract better opportunities for development.

“We should stop the lamentation game. Ijaw has contributed so much to the development of Nigeria. We can’t sit and be complaining; we should put our house together,”  the former Federal Permanent  Secretary advised. He emphasised focus on vocational skills and mentorship for youths.

On his part, MIebiye Kuromiema, Ex. IYC Secretary-General, and President IYC, in his presentation during the panel discussion through Zoom, focused on youths of the Ijaw nation.

He advised youths, especially the girl child to “understand your foundation as Ijaw girl, the identity and sovereignty  of the Ijaw.”

He decried the progressive loss of Ijaw identity, recalling: “The Ijaw are the oldest people to live in the Niger Delta area, oldest language, oldest people to have Lived in the coast.

The Ijaw are republicans; it means we make decisions together. The Ijaw  are more democratic; that is our culture

“We have 78 Ijaw clans, Ijaws are the first people to meet the whites.”

Dr. Ayakeme Whiskey, in his remarks, frowned at the prevalence of drug abuse among Ijaw girls and advised the IWC to carry out campaigns to check such acts he described as damaging the Ijaw girl child.

READ ALSO: Ex-Gov. Seriake Dickson joins Bayelsa West Senatorial race

Rosemary Naigba, National President, IWC, represented by her Vice, Dr. Vivian Elenwo, in her remarks, while appreciating members for the continuous support to make the association a formidable force in enabling the Ijaw woman to have a voice and in the course of emancipating the ethnic group, she disclosed that several girls of Ijaw extraction have been empowered.

“IWC has been empowering girls for three years. Don’t neglect the Ijaw girl; they are the future of the Ijaw nation,” she added.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of money to schoolgirls from various schools for the payment of JAMB fees.

Also, several Ijaw personalities, both men and women were honoured for their contributions to the development of IWC and Ijaw land.

Comments
Loading...