I AM certain that the title of this piece will 'unsettle' some people. They know themselves and I don't intend to get in their way! And by way of assuring them, this piece has nothing to do with 2015. Trust me.
I also do know for a fact that quite a huge number of our people will take keen interest in the title of this piece and many of them are people like us - the silent majority who by means of geography and ethnicity are regarded as Nigeria's minority tribes. Even in the comity of minority groupings in Nigeria, Bayelsa can be considered as the least of them all! Whereas we are the only homogenous Ijaw state - the home base of all Ijaw people and the epicenter of Ijaw civilization and culture, yet we are the least in terms of land mass and population! The entire state only measures up to 21,110 km2 (8,150 sq mi).That is the total area measurement, which includes land, vegetation, creeks, rivers and ocean.
The population, going by the last census, is put at 1,998,349. So give or take, with increase in population since the last census in 2005, our population as at today should beslightly above two million.Of course, it is important to note that the state was formed in 1996 out of the old Rivers State and is thus one of the newest states of the Nigerian federation.
Interestingly, this is the state where crude oil was first discovered in Nigeria in commercial quantity. In fact, it is on record that Bayelsa has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in the whole country. Aside from its natural endowments, Bayelsa also enjoys the rare privilege of producing the first President to emerge from a minority ethnic group - the very first minority President from the least of allthe minority ethnic groups. Can you beat that? God is sure awesome!It is indeed amazing!So amazing to the extent that the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956, according to Wikipedia, ended almost 50 years of unsuccessful oil exploration in the country by various companies.
Indeed, the discovery launched Nigeria into global reckoning as a major oil-producing nation, considering the fact that over 5,000 barrels were pumped per day from the swampy oilfield of OML 29, measuring about 13.75 square kilometres.No doubt, the enormous wealth that came from the discovery of oil, ultimately accounted for the substantial investment in infrastructure by the then Federal Government in building cities like Lagos and Abuja. It is, however, sad to note that the developments were done at the expense of the land from whose womb the wealth was gotten or perhaps, ill-gotten. The oil wells in Oloibiri have since dried up.
The land and its inhabitants lie desolate. The community is a shadow of itself, stripped of all its virtues and today it has become a clear metaphor. What a shame!In shame we have forged on as a people, carrying with us the deep scars of injustice, neglect and deprivation even as we take solace in the divine intervention that miraculously brought about the emergence of a President from among us.
We also take solace in the contributions of our heroes to the Nigerian state, sons of the soil, whose giant strides have brought great honour and pride to our nation at different times and space.
Today we pay glowing tributes to men like Prof. Lawrence B. Ekpebu, born May 2, 1936 inOkoloba, a once picturesque village in present day Bayelsa, now ravaged by the harsh consequence of exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta.From a destitute background where there was hardly opportunity to graduate from primary school, he went on to become the first African to bag a Havard degree, graduating with Honours in Government with specialisation in International Law and Relations.
He won one of Havard's most coveted prizes for graduating seniors, the Francis H. Burr (1909) Prize Scholarship and broke an all- time record as the only Black person to ever achieve this feat in the history of Havard till date. Indeed, his achievement convinced America of the brilliance of Black People, prompting the institution to grant scholarships to not just Nigerians but across Africa and even the Caribbean.As a result, the scheme produced additional 200 professors from Nigeria alone and several others across the African continent. Among these are Prof. BolajiAkinyemi, Kalu Idika Kalu and His Excellency, President Quattara of Cote Ivoire. Prof. Ekpebu went on to bag Masters from Princeton University and later PhD from Havard.
There is also Ernest SisseiIkoli of blessed memory (1893-1960), a nationalist and pioneering journalist, who is a native of Sangana, Akassa, in Brass Local Government Area of present day Bayelsa State.Ernest Ikoliwas very prominent in pre-Independence Nigerian politics and remains the first man from present day Bayelsa State to have made as much significant foray into national politics. But, as a journalist, he was the first editor of the famous Daily Times newspaper in Lagos in its formative era in 1926 and as a politician, he was the President of the Nigerian Youth Movement. In 1942, Ikoli even represented Lagos in the Legislative Council. Another significant first by all standards in the history of Nigerian politics!
Many will remember Melford Obiene Okilo( November 30, 1933 - July 5, 2008), a proud Ijaw politician of Ogbia extraction from Emakalakala in Bayelsa State. He had a long and distinguished career as a politician from pre-Independence Nigeria, but his career as a politician gained tremendous prominence in post- independence times until his untimely demise in 2008.He was a member of parliament from 1956 to 1964 and a Minister in the Nigerian First Republic. He was Governor of old Rivers State between 1979 and 1983 during the Second Republic and a Senator representing Bayelsa East between 1999 and 2003.
Only recently, the nation had cause to mourn the painful demise of General Andrew OwoyeAzazi, who died in an ill-fated helicopter crash last year. He had a distinguished military career and was arguably one of the finest in the history of the Nigerian Military, who rose to the pinnacle of the force.
A Chief of Army Staff and later Chief of Defence Staff, Azazi, a native of Peretorugbene in Ekeremor LGA, Bayelsa State, had for some time had one of the fastest growing military careers in the history of present day democratic Nigeria, between May, 2006 and June, 2007.
The General had worn the ranks of Major General, Lieutenant General and General. General Azazi, who had retired on the 20th of August, 2008, was appointed National Security Adviser by President Goodluck Jonathan on October 4, 2010 and died on the 15th of December, 2012.
DANIEL IWORISO-MARKSON
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