I give an applause to the Northern region for their sense of unity of purpose or oneness. We may attribute this to the practice of a centralized religious system which in turn gave birth to a traditional rule system as evidenced by the Emirs, Sultans, etc. of which their pronouncements are upheld in high esteem and dignity. But can this same unity be said to exist in the Southern Region?
A general reason most people give for the lack of unity in the Southern Region is the diversities of tongues, cultures or traditions in existence as practiced by the various ethnic groups. But yet the Northern Region is also made up of diversities as well. But as mentioned above, we may allude this unity to the Islamic religion that is unifying, but then, isn’t it proclaimed that in the south, Christianity is the predominant religion? By this, does it not imply that Christians make up the vast majority in the Southern Region? Then if this be the case, it is either southerners are not submissive to the leadership of Christ in the church, OR that majority of them are not Christians, which will render a fault to the claimed pronouncement of it being dominated by Christians!
Not quite long ago, an Elder Statesman in the person of Chief Edwin K. Clark converged a meeting of high caliber southern leaders and personalities to dialogue on the way forward out of the current Niger Delta crisis. But then, out of the blue there have been some discordant tunes from various quarters on the lack of authority for some persons to speak up for others. From these present discordant tunes it has become clear that some of the leaders in the Southern Region are being suspicious or afraid of their counterparts abdicating their responsibilities in order to gain an overall recognition or reward from the government at the center, all at their expense. It seems to me that what is going on now is a fight of who gets what in the scheme of things, or who is to be seen as the overall leader among the various fronts!
Sad to say, where leaders of the region cannot form a common front, can their citizens do the same? For Christ sake, why can’t we (the leaders and followers) do away with sentiment, greed and suspicion, and rather look at the overall benefits we all stand to gain in the Southern Region if we all work collectively? Must we continue to argue over petty and selfish issues, or being afraid of becoming less superior than others? Is/are there any group/s that poverty, unemployment, corruption, insecurity, and underdevelopment are not confronting as a people?
But one thing the leaders of the region should know is that the honour bestowed upon them by the people should not be taken for granted or abused. They are not the only stakeholders in the region. The employees, the entrepreneurs, the corporate world, the students, various groups and family fronts, are all stakeholders as well. After all, most of these so called leaders do not share in the pains and sufferings of the common masses but continue to massage their ostentatious lifestyles at the expense and to the detriments of the generality of southerners.
It is time we as a people begin to do the needful. We must be willing to sacrifice or to even lay down our lives for a change. The Niger Delta needs every rightful thinking son and daughter to contribute his/her quota to uplifting the region. If we cannot speak with one voice, then it is either we are selfish, greedy or insensitive to the challenges of the present generation, or what is to come in the future.
