SOUTHERN Ijaw Local Government Area, created on the 1st of October 1991 out of the then Yenagoa Local Government Area in the old Rivers State, is arguably the most endowed local government area in the country in both human and natural resources but yet the most underdeveloped in Bayelsa State. It’s an LGA with more than sixty towns, villages and hamlets dotted across the nooks and crannies of the rainforest and the banks of the famous Atlantic Ocean. Needless to remind us of the high-wire politics that engulfed the creation of additional local government areas out of it in 1996 when Bayelsa State was created on October 1st that year, which resulted in Bayelsa State having just eight local government areas, less than the constitutional requirement of at least ten. Even when smaller local government areas were split into two or more in that creation exercise in 1996, Southern Ijaw still remained the same, large, rural and underdeveloped.
The news of the creation of Bayelsa State was received by the people of Southern Ijaw with joy, high hopes and aspirations. A mood that was replicated across the state. But with the benefit hindsight, it would be fair to say that the people of this LGA that contributes substantially to the wealth of this state and country have not been treated fairly. I cannot sit here and confidently name one local government area in this country that was created alongside Southern Ijaw in 1991 that it’s headquarter cannot be accessed by road, the way Oporoma has been all these years.
One major impediment towards the development of Southern Ijaw in the spheres of infrastructure and human capital is the lacking of unity amongst her people since its creation. I can recall how some politicians from other LGAs in the old Rivers fanned the embers of discord between two of our own, Late Chief Christopher Pere Ajuwa and Late Chief (Barr) Zebulon Abule, exploited them and Southern Ijaw consequently lost out in the governorship election that ushered in the administration of Chief Ada George. Politically speaking, one can safely say that the game plan has always been to divide the people of Southern Ijaw. Lately, political violence has been the tool been used by our detractors to divide us to achieve their political ambitions.
It is against this backdrop that the political elites of Southern Ijaw across party lines have decided to come together under the umbrella of SOUTHERN IJAW HOUSE to articulate the issues that have brought us this low, and chart a new course for the local government.
Join me in due course for sequels to this message. Thanks for your time.
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