The meaning of Ijaw is truth! As a people we hold on to truth in our dealing with each other and strangers. This is why when we first encountered the Europeans in our shores we were benevolent and hospitable to them and they relied on us for commerce.

It is on record that the Ijaw people are accommodating but we need to admit that the consequence of our hospitality and industriousness contributed to slave trade and chattel slavery – which we must take responsibility for the role we played as a people in the barbaric and inhumane atrocities which engulfed the black race – even today the legacy and impact of slavery is visible across the world.

In 1914, the North and South region was amalgamated by the British Empire Government. After 46 years, in 1960 Nigeria gained her independence from the British Empire to become a Republic – a dawn of a new country but this is not the case because it was set up to fail!

If you want to hear more about the atrocities and shambles caused by the British listen to this video to hear the personal account of a British Officer who disclosed the malpractices carried out by the British Government before 1960 and after.

Account of a Colonial British Empire Officer About Nigeria First Republic

In 1958 the first oil commercial quantity was discovered in Ijaw land. This is against the back drop of the Second World War where the West was scrambling for resources to rebuild Europe and where the Seven Sisters had the monopoly in the extraction and refinement of crude oil.

The same crude oil that transformed countries in the Middle East, Europe, America etc to become a global and striving economies is now a curse to the Ijaw people! Most of the leading cities in the world were transformed because of oil money in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

In the context of Nigeria, the Ijaw people have nothing to show for it. Our people, our environment and our biodiversity, we are still paying the huge price and other part of the country are enjoying the largesse of the oil revenues from Lagos to Abuja.

Oil the major export resources which generates about 80% of Nigeria Government revenue and shared between the 36 states in Nigeria on a monthly basis. Majority of the oil exported is located in the Niger Delta region and oil producing states which the Ijaw’s are the largest ethnic group in the region.

However, the Ijaw people are practically relegated to the back seat in the political and socio-economic sphere in the country.

Nigeria is a rich ethnic diverse country, but it is not inclusive. It is a fact that the Ijaw people the fourth major ethnic group are highly marginalised since Independence across the Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA).

Despite the 13% derivation fight led by the former Governor of Bayelsa State, the Governor General of the Ijaw nation HE Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha and others, do not translate to the development of the Ijaw people.

The Ijaw people are talented and can compete but they are not visible across these areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM). The level of advance education is low comparable to other part of the country which is a shame and points to the lack of leadership and vision to build a robust human capital development which is the bedrock and great asset for any group of people development and transformation.

The world is changing rapidly. Technology is changing everything around us. Since the internet was invented many countries are diversifying from oil exploration and consumption to alternatives resources from agriculture, technology, tourism etc.

The Western countries are looking for other ways to minimise their reliance on oil and the geopolitics policies are changing the landscape.

The Ijaw people must stand up and tell ourselves the truth and allow truth to prevail.

Our time is running out and we must position ourselves in the front-seat as a people with tremendous rich heritage, driver and importance across the political and socioeconomic sphere in the Federal, sub-national and international spaces.

We must do this by active participating and seizing the opportunities to lead and equip ourselves intellectually and not as followers or spectators (where we have few champions with riches but not tangible wealth to transform generations).

We must equip ourselves with high quality education and training across STEAM and enterprises across these sectors such as financial services, professional services, manufacturing, transportation, education, construction, retail, trade, healthcare, hospitality, energy, media and entertainment etc.