Niger Delta; A Slave Name We Must Get Rid Of In Order To Be Truly Free
Written By Elochukwu Nicholas Ohagi,
For Family Writers Press International.
No one in his or her right senses prides with the name 'Niger Delta' as an identity. Niger Delta as a name, describes a place where the British government, through the help of the Fulani, are stealing natural resources belonging to the indigenous people in Biafra land.
In places they merged and named Niger Delta, you would see Ijaw, Efik, Igbo, Uroboh etc. So when one say, 'I am Niger Deltan', you can't interpret exactly who such a person is or where he comes from. You don't know if he is Igbo, Ijaw or Efik.
Niger Delta is just A BUSINESS NAME bestowed on us by the trickish British government so as to perfectly insert their divide and rule strategy. No one that thinks deep about his real origin will ever describe himself as a Niger Deltan. The name automatically overshadows who you truly are and hides your identity.
Some feel that shouting Niger Delta makes the Igbo people carved into it become different from other Igbo people. That is why you see some misguided Hausa Fulani and Yoruba people always lament that Igbo people should leave Niger Delta alone.
But who is a Niger Deltan?
Is it that Efik man?
The Ijaw man or the Igbo man? What makes the Igbo man from Egbema, Elele, Asaba, Ogwashiukwu, Ndoni etc different from an Igbo man from Nnewi, Urualla and Ngwa? Some would say that they are in the so called 'South South' region, while others are in South East. But again, the Ijaws in South-south are exactly the same with the Ijaws they carved into the Western part of the country. This is exactly how Nigeria have used years of misinformation to distort brains of lots of people and forced them to carry badges of slavery and even brag with it. They made them to fight each other and never to unite as one. This is because in their disunity, those for whom Nigeria was created continue to gain massively.
Britain in their wisdom refused to fight wars to suppress the move for independence in Nigeria. They have really studied the space they called Northern and Southern protectorates and understood that for them to keep ruling indirectly, they need to merge the spaces together. It is never to help feed the North with southern resources as they claimed. It was solely for the interest of Britain.
How can you feed a Northern region that has fertile land for agriculture? Agricultural lands that when harnessed can produce food that can feed the entire Africa. A region with lands filled with lots of natural resources. How can you say you are merging the two distinct regions to feed a people capable of feeding the entire Africa?
The problem with us is that we continue teaching our young ones lies written by minds brainwashedby the whites without asking proper questions. That's why we still teach people how Mongo Park discovered River Niger. A river our forefathers navigated many years before the so called Mongo Park was born.
I have started putting everything I was told into scrutiny. The words of Ahmadu Bello comes to mind here. This descendant of Uthman Dan Fodio confidently said:
“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our grandfather, Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We must use the minorities in the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us or have control over their future.”
These words from Ahmadu Bello isn't directly from this man. It is the handiwork of Britain. Britain have seen that the only way to keep their hold on their colony and still dictate what happens is to empower the Fulani. So Britain became the friends of the Fulani and makes them think they are favoring them. Till this day, the Fulani have been following the mandate of Bello, without knowing that they are indeed following the plans of Britain, destroying the North while making sure the British government keeps ruling indirectly.
After the war, Britain effectively used the Fulani to divide the East into South South and South East; and further divided them into Niger Deltans and non-Niger Deltans. Tell me how the Fulani who are majorly cattle rearers managed to think out in 1967/70 how to divide the East and make brothers fight against each other, while Britain and the Fulani elites steal them dry. They were simply carrying out the plans of the British government, who feared the intelligence of Biafrans in the East and desperately want to keep them down.
Today, while the Fulani are being used by Britain to keep the entire East down, 87% of poor people according to World Bank survey are in their Northern Region. The North has become the poverty capital of the world. With terrorism destroying the entire region.
Like I said earlier, Niger Delta is never an identity. They are two English words that have no place in our language and culture. It is a tool of slavery and marginalization. It is a name that was used to force people to carry their badge of slavery with pride and honor.
You that still pride yourself as a Niger Deltan, when you rediscover yourself, you will understand how foolish you were, when you help foreigners bury your identity.
Elochukwu Ohagi is a Philosopher, Teacher and Activist.
Edited By Paul Ihechi Alagba
For Family Writers Press International.
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