Itsekiri People Decry Marginalisation of Micro-minorities in Oil-producing Communities
Sunday Okobi
The people of
Itsekiri ethnic nation have vehemently decried what they described as the
marginalisation of micro-minorities in oil-producing communities in Nigeria by
the majority, saying the situation is regrettably responsible for the
underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region.
Using the Itsekiri ethnic group as
an example, the leader of the people, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, at a press
conference held in Lagos yesterday lamented that the Itsekiri ethnic
nationality is the highest oil-producing block in the region but remains the
least developed. Briefing journalists further, the Rights activist,
Lori-Ogbebor, who read a speech titled: ‘Marginalisation of micro-minorities by
larger minorities in Nigeria: Don't kill the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs’,
said people are dying of treatable ailments in the oil-producing community as a
result of oil prospecting and production. Consequently, she said the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should focus on the development of the
region and eradicate extreme hunger, diseases, and all-round underdevelopment.
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According to her, "Today, on the subject of the ‘marginalisation of
micro-minorities by larger minorities in Nigeria, it is necessary to note
that Delta State is the foremost oil and
gas-producing state in the country, and the Itsekiri nation is by available
statistics, the highest oil and gas producing area in the state.
"This
area, like all other oil and gas producing areas, has become blighted. The
flora and fauna of the Itsekiri nation are suffering the debilitating, poisonous,
negative and devastating effects of oil and gas prospecting and production. Its
major economic activity of fishing and other forms of aquatic agricultural
activities have been made impossible.
"Our people have been ravaged by
health challenges as a result of oil and gas prospecting and production. The
cases of cancer and other deadly diseases have taken an alarming turn. There
has also been an increase in unreported cases of people who died of ordinary
malaria which was untreated because of excruciating poverty in the region.
"There is a glaring lack of basic facilities of portable water, schools,
hospital, electricity, roads, and habitable shelters among others in our area.”
The veteran journalist alleged that: "The derivation funds have been so misapplied,
mismanaged and stolen to the detriment of the future of the people in the area
that produces the resources that survives the country.
"The NDDC like other intervention agencies is
known for uncompleted projects in our area. It appears as if it was designed
mostly to withdraw money criminally from the system, as there is no fear of
sanctions. It has, therefore, made little or no impact on the lives of my
people. "The NDDC was created as result of many decades of struggle for
the development of Niger Delta, which predates our Independence as a nation.
The Willinks Commission Report of 1958 also captured our plight. “We are
therefore calling on the federal government and relevant government agencies as
well as a highly-spirited individual to come to our rescue and give us our fair
share of development, as we can’t be living by the ocean, but washing our hands
with spittle.”
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