Niger delta:Family and not resource control is what is needed

by ilobi austin

That the three states of Rivers, Bayelsa and to a lesser degree, Delta has for some time now become the safest haven for criminal elements and their nefarious activities is no longer news nor debatable. What is debatable however, is the reason for this act of brigandage been put forth by some of the elite and opinion moulders from the area.

In their submission, they assert that it is the near neglect of the area in terms of infrastructural development and economic opportunities when compared to the areas contribution to the national economy that has turned the youths into irredeemable criminals but that is a fallacy.
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Among the nine oil producing states that makes up the Niger-Delta region, these three can not lay any claim to been the most marginalized; with maybe, the exception of Bayelsa. In terms of infrastructure, Rivers certainly must rank amongst the most developed states in Nigeria with the type of attention it received from both the federal government and the then Dr. Odili's hard working government that won the gold medal for performance after a media tour of the states of the federation. This also holds true for the Ibori's led government that made the development of the villages it top most priority when he was the henchman of Delta state. Bayelsa, I cannot write about due to my limited knowledge of what goes on there even though I have friends' from the state.


In terms of economic opportunities, I doubt if there is any youth from any other part of the country that is blessed with the kind of opportunity available to the youths in these three states. I am in fact; persuaded that if the same opportunity is available to an average Igbo chap that most of the resources expended on home security in the country would have gone into more productivity use. Here you see youths who without any certificate whatsoever earn as much as a hundred thousand naira monthly and in some cases, far more than this amount and at the end of the job period; they are paid a severance page that would make a director general green with envy. What do they do with it? They invest it on women and cars. It is the only region were the youths scarcely think about leaving their family compound even with the derelict buildings.

There is a popular saying that opportunity comes but once but this is not applicable in the delta region. A youth from the area finishes one job, squanders the money on women and other wasting assets and after some months of being idle, gets another job through the youth organization, goes back and repeat same circle all over again. All over the three states, all you see are mainly mentally lazy but physically fit youths looking for only quick ways to make money. Even as undergraduate, they are more inclined to associate with violent groups.

The truth about the restiveness of the youths in the Niger-Delta region particularly, these three states could be trace to the total absence of parental control and care for the youths during the formative years of their lives. There is a weak if not total absence of family ties and bond among the kids of these areas. The average youth in the region has no vision of what he or she wants to do with his God given life and there is dearth of personalities that can mentor them.


The only way of life known to majority of them is that copied from their parents who, using any kind of generous scale, has failed woefully in managing themselves. It is in those states that you easily find a woman who has been married to over five men and as equally given birth to an average of two kids in each of those homes without staying to help nurture them in any of the so-called marriages. Another equally formerly married lady comes into those homes and gives birth to another set of kids and move on. All over the states, what you find are mainly mutual kids. It is very common to hear statements like na my papa pikin or na my mama pikin.

It bears repeating that to ascribe the criminality in those states to government actions and inactions is a fallacy. The oil state of Imo has consistently led other states in the federation in JAMB enrolment. Abia just like Anambra has developed along two fronts of education and business. Along with other states in the south east, they have been declared the least in poverty rankings of indigenes by the UNDP. The region has produced both extremely educated billionaires like professor Nwangwu and illiterate billionaires alike with very little government attention, due to very strong family bonds that forbids a mother to throw her child to the world without any form of training. The same applies to Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and the Donald Duke recreated Cross river state.

The family and not any other resources is what they should seek to control and as we Christians always assert, every other thing would then be added to it.
Ilobi Austin. ilobidominic@gmail.com resides in warri. visit http://www.winnersdomain.blogspot.com/ today!

while puttin finishing touches to this article, the death was announced of Rev. Fr. John Mark Ikpike. the parish priest of St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Ekpan delta state in the hands of yet to be identified gun men. according to the televsion report, he was shot at close range after which his car ws snatched.
the catholic bishop of warri dioceses, burke speaking on the sad event, underscored the need for parents to take more seriously, the issue of child rearing.
the late fr. was on errand for the bishop that monday when he met his untimely death at about 10am

YARADUA'S HEALTH: WHY NIGERIANS DESERVE TO KNOW

President Musa Yaradua’s health status first became a national issue in the heat of the presidential election campaign last year, but was personally dismissed with his squash competition assurances and a call from the then oga kpata- kpata to him in his hospital bed.

This same subject made a surprise re-bound some days back when a national daily carried a report alleging that the president, contrary to what the public was made to think not believe since Nigerians scarcely believe any government statement or actions after their experience in the last nine years; was actually in a Saudi hospital attending to his health.

Expectedly, the government reaction was to refute the report, this time not from the President throwing another contest but from what the late Dr.Okadigbo once referred to as small officials. But pray, what is wrong with the President falling sick and what is equally wrong with the government admitting it to the public? He is as human as any other Nigerian walking the street and therefore not immune from ill-health.

The warts and carbuncles of his government notwithstanding, ordinary Nigerians deserves and need to know about their leader’s health status so as to know when to start praying for his speedy recovery because of many matters of state dear to them that he has demonstrated a seemingly honest commitment to tackle, in a more systematized manner.

Chief among such concerns is the power challenge that the last administration had expended according to the house of representative, a whooping $16 billion on but had ended up with a very disproportionate result. We need him to be in shape at this time of our national life not just for his favourite squash game but for other energy demanding games like basketball, polo, wrestling and even karate because of his promise of a state of emergence in the power sector; the worth of such declaration notwithstanding; then as an outsider in the racket, to go after those who had willfully harvested such a mind-boggling amount from our collective farm. That the country needs power and energy to activate the vision 2020 package needs no further education. It is enervating what the lack of these twin indispensable factors does to the economy and the creativity of Nigerians.

Another concern of Nigerians is the top of the range insecurity in the country. The rate at which dare-devil robbers now carry out daring attacks on targets with little resistant from the ill-equipped security agents is alarming. The increase in crime rate seems to have grown with the return of democratic rule to the country with the politicians’ multi-purpose militias taking to crime when disengaged or redundant and the many poverty promoting policies of the last administration, styled reform like the down-sizing and then right-sizing of the civil service and petroleum product subsidy removal or adjustment.

He has seemingly demonstrated more than a passing interest in resolving the problem in the Delta region through a more involving approach of the leaders of the area. His recent reversal of the government promoted summit in favour of the demand of the leaders of the region attest to this. In tackling the self-styled freedom fighters or agitators who seem not to be impressed with his method and bent on provoking state action, he has not gone for an all out military campaign like it happened in Odi but has continued to show understanding with the frustrating situation which the people contends with due to the lack of needed infrastructure in some of the states making up the region.

Beside all the other concerns of Nigerians, this is the first time that we are been led by a university graduate and a lecturer as our executive president. The thinking is that since he has been part of the education sector for some time that the agitations of his former colleague would not be news to him and he would therefore, act expeditiously towards resolving them and then, the vexatious issue of so-called fake graduates. As one understands it, these set of people took the JAMB UME like every other prospective student but were not lucky to score the outrageous marks of those years gone past due to their lack of understanding of the politics of passing or financial incapacitation to partake. They were however, fortunate to obtain scores within and above the JAMB stipulated baseline. The universities due to a combination of interest, decided to take in those category of students but with an additional one year to the normal graduation time. Upon graduation, this set of people has been denied the mandatory NYSC but one had thought that the last regime that started the reform that brought post-UME would have taken the simple step of stopping the schools from such practice but allow those already there to graduate properly. This was not the case. He certainly appreciates the issue better than his education minister and the NYSC boss. His lecturing skills would be needed were this two are concerned because, he is involved.

Above all, Nigerians are concerned because he is our president, father and brother besides, there has been some dash of definitive achievement by his administration that Nigerians needs him to replicate quickly in every facet of our life like the appointment of the Dora-like Farida to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission and the astute secretary to the government of the federation.

Ilobi Austin. ilobidominic@gmail.com resides in warri. visit www.winnersdomain.blogspot.com today!

THANK GOD FOR THE MEDIA

But for the media both print and electronic and particularly the satellite television stations, our made in Nigeria for Nigeria politicians would have made the rest of us think that what they do in the country in the name of politicking is of global best practices to borrow from my field of study.

The American presidential election processes especially in the last two weeks has shown that what we do in the country is just an inversion of what the rest of the world knows as democracy. There has been a clear demonstration that the opposition Democrat Party stands a good stead to win without any form of harassment from the ruling party.

The citizens has not been left trying to decode the meaning of any agenda, there is no issue as at today that the citizens of America and the rest of the world doesn’t know the position of the two major political on. They are sure that project implementation would be right on target and as promised.

The height of the campaign was watching the Democrat national convention. It was like a scene from a high budget movie; the colourful display, layouts and even the speeches of the different speakers. It was just too good to be a political gathering.

Nigerian politicians are quick to defend their disgraceful actions as learning process and quickly point out the years difference between America’s democracy and ours but don’t apply the same argument about the kingly monthly allowances they earn. They don’t bring that argument when they corruptly enrich themselves from the national treasury at the expense of their compatriots.
Thank God for the media because we now know better.

Ilobi Austin. ilobidominic@gmail.com resides in warri.

NIGER DELTA: MASS REORIENTATION FOR PARENTS.

By ilobi Austin
If there is any statement from some of the leaders and elite in the Niger delta region that is absolutely the truth and nothing but the truth, it is that a military campaign in the region would not solve the problem of youth restiveness in the area; however its intensity or extensiveness.

The statement, juxtaposed against every day life in the region is easy to appreciate if you live in the region. Just like those American war movies involving the Vietnamese, who never gets totally exterminated, the buccaneers in the region self-creates themselves and as such would be difficult to pacify.

There is a saying that the tail of a snake must always follow the path already navigated by the head. The brigandage that is now a way of life did not start with the present youths’ what they have simply done is to take it to the next level. These youths are simply reproducing their parents’ personality. It is a rarity to find average parents that desires to take responsibility for the up bringing of their God given children beyond the first ten to maybe fifteen of their lives; after which they are forced by deliberate deprivation to hit the street and become men and women and like one of our past leaders once said, continue the continuous.

It is almost a hopeless situation seeing the life styles of most of the youths of the region particularly in the three states of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta; specifically, its southern part. They live almost for nothing; they neither dream nor see visions of the future ahead of them. Everything about them is about the now. There is nothing long lasting ahead of them that that seek to achieve other than, stuff one of the rooms in their father’s compound with the latest electronic gadgets, buy car and then date and impregnate as many of the equally disillusioned young ladies that comes their way; who off course, are shown the way out when a suitable replacement is found or the source of the financial tap suddenly dries up; which ever comes first.

If there is ever going to be a kind of stop to what is been experienced in the region, then the country’s leadership, from the presidency to the national assembly unto the state and local government must resolve to save the people from themselves. The country must be committed to rescuing the people from their self- destruct life styles through a massive reorientation campaign involving this time not the dubious self styled leaders but the mosque, church, their place of work and the town unions. These are the places where the parents and potential parents are likely to be found not because of any inducement, but because they must be there on a particular day. The campaign needs no flyers, neither radio nor television jingle that the orientation agency finds but rarely gets a second thought from the target audience as they regard it as this government something.

These institutions must be persuaded by the state to focus their message on the home- the family, attachment, friendship, pregnancy, responsibility to oneself and to the child, the duties of the father and mother to their children and ward. It must include the opinion of the holy books of both religions on negligence; the benefit of strategic thinking as it relates to the family rather than the current practice of the lord loves a cheerful giver message of the modern church.
It is time to engage the youths, parents and elders in the region through those whom over the years have through demonstrated honest concerns for their situation earned their trust, love and respect, otherwise. Organizing a summit and submitting the entire resources obtainable by the nation from the region to them, will only increase the predilection of the youth for suicidal quest against the state and self.
Ilobi Austin. ilobidominic@gmail.com resides in warri.

www.winnersdomain.blogspot.com