| Hope dries tears in
Akassa
By FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
“May these evils of palm oil not get to our children”
was a popular prayer among the early inhabitants of Akassa
Kingdom when faced with the ruthless attempt of the Europeans
to control the palm oil trade in the Delta. This prayer remains
unanswered as many years after, the exploitation and exploration
of crude oil has brought the kingdom to its knees.
Except for slave trading houses, the European cemetery, Royal
Niger Company (RNC) building and a jetty, nothing would suggest
to a visitor that the kingdom was one of the few places that
had the earliest contacts with Europeans.
Neglected by government both at the local, state and federal
levels and despised by oil companies operating in the Kingdom.
The signature of primitive living and grinding poverty are
stamped on the 19 communities that form Akassa Kingdom, which
has invariably led to youth restiveness and violent acts against
the oil companies.
But in a bold move to get back on its feet, the kingdom, through
the intervention of two-non-governmental organizations- Niger-Delta,
Wetland Centre and Pro-natura International have joined together
to restore the glory of the kingdom.
Comrade Tekena Blackson, youth president of the Kingdom, voiced
the frustrations of the youth: “ I am from Ogonibiri
Akassa Kingdom, youth restiveness is one of the problems faced
in this kingdom. But before we talk of arresting youth restiveness
we must talk of putting a stop to the situation where oil
companies come to exploit our resources. We want a development
where our youths would be engaged because an idle mind is
the devil’s workshop. In this part of the country, the
youths are unemployed therefore they find it easy to cause
trouble”.
Mrs. Draper of Pro-natura International also lamented the
neglect of the kingdom: “The Niger-Delta is responsible
for the oil resources in Nigeria’s oil Industry. Unfortunately,
the people who bear the burden do not benefit from the oil
wealth. For a kingdom that was prosperous and rich with very
hardworking people before the advent of oil, the people had
no choice than to re-invent the strategies that made them
survive the harsh realities of the past. Draper explained
further
: “The community has therefore taken matters into its
own hands, having realized they have the potentials to move
their community forward and develop.
“The way the oil companies have been extracting oil
without devoting time to the human relations is very wrong.
My personal opinion is that government can still do more by
channelling funds for development into oil communities. The
government and oil companies have a lot to do”.
Friday Amain of the Akassa Development Foundation (ADF) explained
the rationale behind the intervention of the two NGOS: “We
realized that the struggle for oil has brought us more sorrow.
We now thought of what we can do on our own without waiting
for government and oil companies, because the more we wait,
the more we become underdevelop.
Now in Akassa without looking up to the wealth derived from
oil exploitation, many homes in the kingdom are gradually
being freed from the harrowing grips of poverty through the
micro-credit scheme set up for them.
And rather than pressurize and beg government for projects,
the kingdom through self-efforts has been able to construct
their own road network.
Indeed, in Akassa hope has appeared in the horizon for the
kingdom to re-discover and re-invent itself.
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