For years, I have been evangelising and sermonising on Ndokwa/Ukwuani issues – preaching without a round collar, for the good of our people. I had given numerous lectures to enlighten our people; written several books and monographs to show our people the way.
Then, I discovered over time that our people are generally not interested in “grammar,” as they say. What is of interest to them is money, only money. Who is the loser?
Our People
Before I proceed further in this essay, I wish to categorise SOME of our people [borrowing the words of Nate White] as human beings, that have no class; no charm; no coolness; no credibility; no compassion; no wit; no warmth; no wisdom; no subtlety; no sensitivity; no self-awareness; no humility; no honour; no grace. I may also add to the above list that some of our people have no focus; no vision; no destination; no capacity for serious reasoning.
When I made some reasonable comments in good faith, at the initial stage of the establishment of the University of Medical and Health Sciences at Kwale, I was misunderstood and misquoted.
Some of our people generally lack the patience to read thoroughly and rationalise. All sorts of characters, who have NEVER seen the four walls of a university, suggested how universities are established and administered.
To my dismay. Such “experts” are found only in our land, where they are readily eulogised.
Somehow, a good number of our youths [many of them jobless and unemployable] have no respect for elders. They insult elders wilfully. They are political jobbers, who manage to survive from crumbs from their master’s table.
Imagine a young Ndokwa/Ukwuani lady who insulted anybody opposed to Anioma state creation. And she got away with it! Such rascality can only be tolerated in our land.
The NNU deserves respect
Some of our people are not aware of the functions and limitations of the NNU. Unnecessary demands are, sometimes, made on the NNU.
The NNU is not expected to separate fighting husband and wife from community to community.
There is gross indiscipline in our land. Imagine a branch of the NNU at Abuja, showing interest in Anioma state creation, against the well articulated stand of the NNU.
See how some of our youths are all over the place, operating at variance with the position of the NNU, vis-à-vis the Anioma state creation. No single Ijaw person will dare to go against any position of the Ijaw National Congress. Or an Urhobo man or woman opposing the position of the Urhobo Progress Union. Or a Yoruba group blatantly disobeying Afenifere.
Or an Hausa/Fulani group daring not to move in tandem with the Northern Elders’ Forum. We are NOT doing well politically because many of us do not respect constituted authorities in our land. Every Ndokwa/Ukwuani man is a superman!
The devil in our midst
On the 27th of June, 2024, one of our brothers, a pro-Anioma man, wrote on one of the Ndokwa/Ukwuani platforms as follows:
Any man who opposes the
creation of Anima state,
he and his life will
sleep and not wake.
I was SHOKED that one of us could be so mean, so callous, so intolerant, so heartless, so inhuman, so Godless.
When I opened the Whatsapp again, to see if I could find out exactly who he was, the devilish writer or someone else had deleted the obnoxious post.
This man of satanic mould wants those against the creation of Anioma state to die, so that he can inherit the earth, I wish him well. Pray for him.
Motion upon motion equals immobility
Our dear legislators at all levels, we have seen the endless beautiful motions originating from you. But, they are not translating to the improvement of our welfare, our security, poverty alleviation, job provision, education, healthcare and infrastructure. You need to be more aggressive to attract the necessary goodies to our communities. Motions upon motions, bills upon bills, do not mean much to our people.
Anioma state creation
My position on this issue has since been made public. Any state to be created for Delta North MUST not stretch ONE INCH beyond the Niger Bridge. I have repeatedly said that state creation is not Nigeria’s priority. Most of the existing states are not viable; many of them cannot pay the minimum wage of N30,000.
No civilian president can create any state by fiat. Read the Constitution, and see how difficult it is to create states in Nigeria.
The struggle for the creation of Anioma state is not an individual politician’s personal project; it should be the people’s project. We cannot be hoodwinked.
I have consulted the oracle. I have consulted our ancestors. I have consulted political pundits in and outside our land. Their verdict is the SAME: no Anioma state will be created. We should, therefore, stop making enemies unnecessarily. God bless our land.
