While Ijaw national agenda is proceeding at an appropriate speed, the internal situation still presents a major challenge.  The lack of political responsibility, accountability,  transparency, development and performance, in terms of delivering goods and services to the people is leading to questions, both internally and externally, about the capability of Ijaw political leaders to captain the ship of development and modernization.  Indeed, as 2008 begins, it is appropriate at this time to note that the Ijawnation is facing credibility problems. 

Increasingly, the notion that the Ijawnation stands for truth, justice, honesty, and rights is being contradicted by actions and inactions taken by various Ijaw citizens. Similarly, the notion that the Ijaw ethnic nation is a victim of Nigeria’s political and economic exploitation, marginalization and deprivations is being contradicted by activities of Ijaw elected and appointed public officials.  Resultantly, the sympathy and recognition accorded the Ijaws due to the perception that they are victims of exploitation, marginalization and deprivations are evaporating following the inexcusable behaviors of some Ijaw governmental leaders who have persistently demonstrated a lack of creativity and foresight in developing and changing the lives of the people.  Thus, it is increasingly sounding hollow when Ijaws say that they stand for truth and justice while their own leaders are exploiting and cheating them by pocketing funds that suppose to improve the Ijaw nation.

As the least developed part of the country, the Ijaw nation would have been leading the nation in terms of creativity, innovation, development and modernization, just as the Arabs in the Persian Gulf Region are turning deserts into very luxurious oases and creating island towns out of the Persian Gulf Sea.  The Persian Gulf emirates are building first class medical facilities and six-star hotels.  In Bayelsa State, which is the only Ijaw state, it appears that the leaders do not know what to do.  Persian Gulf leaders look for the best architectural plans, latest technologies, and the best facilities that money can buy.  It is interesting to note that in the annals of embezzlement in Nigeria, other ethnic groups have embezzled funds from other sources to build universities while the Ijaws allowed a situation whereby funds were embezzled from a university project to enrich individuals through fraudulent companies and contracts.  This is why the Niger Delta University did not grow as it was expected, in terms of infrastructural development.

1.  So far, Ijaw governmental leaders have not done much better than the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba political and military leaders whom the Ijaws have persistently accused of exploiting and marginalizing them.  It should be noted that Bayelsa State has continuously been ruled by Ijaw sons since 1999, yet, there is not much to show for the period.  The following testify to why not much has been accomplished:

a.  For a riverine state, Bayelsa Government has not provided any public transportation system to the Ijawnation. Public transportation includes both land and water means of moving people from one location to another.  This means that Ijaw people basically rely on private transportation to go from place to place while the state continues to receive money from the Federation Account on monthly basis.  It is indeed very expensive for the average Ijaw citizen to travel from one destination to another due to high cost of transportation and fuel.  This is quite different from the days of the Old Rivers, Bendel and Southeastern States.  One of the first things the governments of those states did was to establish cost-effective and user-friendly public transportation systems.  At one time, Bendel Lines dominated the entire country for providing luxurious public transportation system.  Rivers State provided both land and water transportation systems, hence, one was able to travel to Lagos either on land or by water.  By providing boats to ply the water ways, Rivers State made it easy for Ijaw traders to move their goods from one destination to another.  Today, whether you are a Bayelsan or a Deltan or a Rivers or an Edoan Ijaw, you are on your own if you want to engage in any kind of trade.  In other words, there is no realization among government officials that the state must actively participate in generating economic activities in order to ensure progress and tranquility.

b.  At one time, Rivers State provided a mobile hospital service to the riverine communities of the state.  Bayelsa State has no such scheme to help rural people.  Those who cannot go to Yenagoa are doomed.  It is unthinkable that a state governed by Ijaw officials would turn its back against the people that have spent almost six decades fighting for justice, political and economic rights.

c.  The Rivers State of Diete Spiff created parastatal organizations to provide loans to indigenes to conduct businesses.  Bayelsa State does not have a bank.  It does not have any financial institution that can provide low-cost loans to help finance business activities in Ijawland.  As a result, Ijaw people continue to be mere consumers of other peoples’ goods and services.  In fact, during Christmas and other major holidays, when non-indigene traders and business owners leave Yenagoa and other parts of Ijawland for their home towns and villages, business activities are drastically reduced.  When that happens, people have to postpone their major business activities until the non-indigenes return after the holidays.  In Port Harcourt, the Ijaws are not only mere consumers, but are increasingly looking like political and economic refugees.

2.  It appears that most elected Ijaw public officials (both elected and appointed) in Eastern, Central, and Western Ijawland have no clue whatsoever about the concept of strategic planning and development.  Similarly, many do not seem to have any experience concerning parliamentary procedures, hence, are mere figure heads. 

3.  The rate of corruption in Ijawland is incredulously high.  It is very disheartening that Ijaw elected officials would turn against their own masses and join the outside forces in fleecing their own people dry.  This is most obvious in Bayelsa and Rivers States.  The embezzlers are building oversize houses that resemble castles, thereby, clearly informing the onlooker that the houses are products of stolen wealth. Ordinarily, most of these “castle builders” would not have been able to to do so with their hard earned incomes.  Of course, the same situation applies in Delta, Edo, Ondo and Akwa Ibom.

4.  There is too much concentration of political power and official authority in Ijawland.  Elected and appointed public officials, starting from the governor and ending with the most rudimentary level of authority across the breadth of Ijawland seem to think that their official positions are God-given to them.  As a result, official functions are highly personalized to the extent that there are no clearly stipulated standard official procedures for conducting official business.  Across the Niger Delta states, if a citizen wants to conduct official business with a state or a local government director, access seems to be granted only to those whom the officials know personally or are in business relationship with.  Other Ijaws are shut out of the governmental process.  In other words, you have to know the minister or director or permanent secretary personally for the person to grant you access to see him or her.  It is not uncommon for government officials to make a citizen wait endlessly before granting official access to discuss official business.  Concentration of power and authority also affect members of other ethnic groups in various states in the Niger Delta.  Again, this is quite different from the days of Diete Spiff, Melford Okello, Samuel Esuene and Samuel Ogbemudia.  Even Ada George, the former governor of Rivers State, is shocked by the lack of government interest on providing services to the citizens.

A major reason for the concentration of power could be the need to maximize the ability to exploit the public purse without public awareness of the process.  Hence, only very trusted individuals are allowed to gain access to those in power.  Those considered to be outsiders are discouraged by every means possible from getting

 too close to the scene of action. Common expressions often used to dramatize the concentration of power are “he is my boy or she is my girl, let/him/her come in; without me he/she is nobody; and I made him/her what he/she is today; who are you?.”

5.  Elected and appointed Ijaw officials behave as the masters of the people and not as the servants.  Judging the mannerism, attitude and behavior of the officials, it appears that both elected and appointed public officials expect to be worshipped by the people.  They forget that the government belongs to the people and they are merely temporary caretakers of the government for the people.  Unfortunately, they operate more like gang bosses and expect everyone to worship them.  Their personal assistants act like personal body guides, instead of as civil servants working for the state.  They have a tendency to create obstacles that make it impossible for ordinary citizens to gain access to government officials.  This means that Ijaw public officials, across the entire ethnic territory, do not care about public opinion.   One could recall that in Rivers State, about two years ago, many helpless Ijaws visited Dokubo Asari instead of state officials to seek help.  Likewise, many Ijaws have visited Comrade Joseph Evah, Dr. Felix Tuodulo, Chief E.K. Clark and other public figures to help them resolve matters relating to governmental affairs while government officials avoid public contact. 

6.  Due to the extensive concentration of power, creative ideas that are suggested by well-meaning Ijaw citizens are ignored.  In fact, such ideas are viewed as threats to those in power, hence, are ignored.  Due to lack of creative ideas in the administration of government, governments in Ijawland tend to operate without any systematic plan.  If Ijawnation were to be developed, the political leaders must put up a dedicated team of individuals who are specialized in various aspects of development.  There are Ijaws who have the wherewithal to design and institute a workable electrical system somewhere in the world.  There are Ijaw sons and daughters who have the technical know-how to turn Ijawland into the computer Meccah of Nigeria.  There are Ijaw sons and daughters who can institute an economic development plan that can turn Ijawland into a modern center of economic activities in Nigeria and West Africa.  There are Ijaws who have the educational and technical know-how to create, develop, and institute urban development plans.  There are Ijaws who can establish and operate financial services, thereby, turning  Ijawland into a major financial service sub-region of the country.  Unfortunately, such people are not encouraged.  The Peoples Democratic Party System encourages mediocrity and self-serving individuals to dominate the political process. 

To reduce the concentration of power, it is necessary to delegate authority and make people accountable in the performance of assigned tasks.  This will lead to an open governmental system, thereby, increasing accessibility, efficiency, and effectiveness.

7.   The reach of the government does not extent beyond the state capital and local government headquarters.  If anyone wants to accomplish a task involving government, the person must go to the capital or local government headquarters, otherwise, nothing happens.  This means that governments in Ijawland are not designed to fulfill the aspirations of the people.  Without a public transportation system, it is difficult for many citizens to even go to the state capital or local government headquarters.  In short, Bayelsa could end up like Rivers State in the sense that it could become a one city state.  Rivers State has been in existence since May 1967, yet, it has only one city.  Everything is concentrated in Port Harcourt.  Bayelsa could end up with Yenagoa being the only modernizing city as everyone rushes there to put up a building.  .

8.A considerable number of high level public officials do not seem to have any clue about strategic planning, goal setting and outcome achievement.  They are in government because they know somebody or are members of the Almighty Peoples Democratic Party.  The PDP, in short, is wrecking havoc in Ijawland because it allows people who do not know what they are doing to dominate government.  The PDP is the main source of political tension in most parts of Ijawland since party leaders constantly try to dominate the political process.  Sometimes, one is compelled to theorize that perhaps the PDP deploys the current spoilt system in order to recycle wealth out of the Niger Delta.  It does so by putting Ijaw and other minority faces on government and then use them to siphon off the wealth of the region.

9.  Clean and safe drinking water continues to be a luxury for most Ijaw people.  It is easy to assume that a government dominated by the Ijaws would move very quickly to provide safe and drinkable water in every community.  It is also very easy to assume that local government bosses in Ijawland would work hard to ensure the provision of water, public buildings, electricity, and health clinics to their constituents.  This is not the case, hence, people still fetch water in the open river as they have always done in the past. 

Due to lack of effective planning and coordination, the rate of development and rehabilitation of existing infrastructures and institutions is very infinitesimal, as the following indicate:. 

1. The schools are in a serious state of decay.  School buildings, equipments, and furniture are dilapidated.  In short, the schools are unworthy of being places for imbibing and advancing knowledge to future leaders of the ethnic nation.  Most secondary schools have no laboratories.  This means that science courses cannot be effectively taught.  The fact remains that in the contemporary world, science and technology are very critical in ensuring the advancement of industrialization and modernization.  The Opuama school situation is simply a tip of the iceberg concerning the deplorable educational situation in Ijawland.

2. Teachers are highly disrespected.  Sometimes, they are not paid.  Retired teachers sometimes go for months without retirement benefits.  Due to hopelessness, teachers and principals are compelled to engage in extracurricular business activities in order to keep up with the Joneses who are living in castles.  Ijaw officials are forgetting a cardinal truth which is that in order to ensure progress, tranquility, social equilibrium and able leadership, it is necessary to produce a well educated youthful population.  In order to produce a well educated youthful population, it is absolutely compelling to build and equip schools that can provide high quality education.  It is doubtful whether the existing refugee camps known as schools in Ijawland can provide high quality education to Ijaw youths. In other words, the current crops of Ijaw public officials are cheating the future leaders of the ethnic nation by either knowingly or unknowingly under-equipping them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies that they need in order to become able leaders in the future.

3. Employment seems to be based upon whom you know.  If you know somebody, then a job is guaranteed.  On the other hand, if you do not know anyone, employment is impossible.  Similarly, if you know somebody, you get a contract.  On the other hand, if you do not know anybody, then contract is not possible.  The concept of MERIT does not apply.  Thus, a sociopolitical and economic fault line that could come to haunt the ethnic nation is being planted and germinated as some youths are perpetually unemployed while a few are able to gain employment as a result of the fact that they know somebody or have name recognition.  In short, Ijaw leaders either knowingly or unknowingly establishing a socioeconomic farm and planting political seeds that could result in the germination of perpetually angry political youths who feel cheated and deprived, thereby, wanting to pay society back violently.  The signs are all over the place.  By failing to provide the youths with the necessary educational and technical skills, those who are looting public funds to build gigantic private homes and hotels are simultaneously planting the political seeds that would grow to threaten them and their offsprings in the future.  The kidnapping of relatives of elected public officials and the wealthy is indicative of the future direction of political crimes in Ijawland and the Niger Delta.

4. Local government workers are at the mercy of local government chairs and secretaries.  It is not uncommon for LGC chairs and secretaries to embezzle entire budgets allocated for payment of salaries of their workers.  Thus. local government employees have no rights whatsoever.  It is indeed an abomination for an Ijaw to work for an Ijaw state and not being paid for months. It should be recalled that the people of Patani had to take legal measures against their local government representative about one or two years ago.

10.  Representatives and senators generally do not seem to be aware that the power of the purse lies with them and not with the chief executives, be it the president or the governors, since in theory they are the true representatives of the people.  Unfortunately, they surrender the power of the purse to the chief executives.  As a result, throughout the states in which the Ijaws are found, the governors control the budgets and the parliamentarians act as house boys and girls, begging the governors to share the loots with them. Thus, the governors seem to be free in spending their state budgets while the parliamentarians appear to be very powerless due to the fact they have compromised their positions, hence, cannot constitutionally and legally check the addictive financial behaviors of the chief executives.  Generally, it is the responsibility of the legislative branch to check the activities of the executive branch of government and to make sure that executive branch officials do not abuse their official powers. 

Unfortunately, in the oil-producing states, including Bayelsa, there is no such thing as a legislative oversight of the executive branch.  The governors collect the funds, make the budgets and spend the funds at their own discretion.  The legislators wait in anticipation of being rewarded financially for not impeding the governors.  The governors use the funds to manipulate the behavior of the legislators. This is why the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha, spent most of his official time in overseas.  Former governor Dr. Peter Odili of Rivers State was so generous dishing out Rivers State money to others throughout the country as if he was a Santa Claus.  He even bought a plane supposedly for medical care without incurring the wrath of the Rivers State legislature.  Now, Chief James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State and Chief Lucky Igbinedion, the former governor of Edo State are being compelled to account for their tenure in office.  If the legislators in Bayelsa, Delta and Edo  States had done their jobs, the embarrassment that the people of the Niger Delta states are now facing would not have taken place.  The legislators in Bayelsa would have given Chief Alamieyeseigha an ultimatum, “either you stay at home and develop Baylesa State  or we transfer power to another person.”  If the legislators in Delta State had done their jobs, the EFCC would not have been doing their jobs for them now. The same goes for the legislators in Edo State.   Where were the state legislators when the governors were literally privatizing the wealth of their states?  Soon or later, the EFCC would have to go after Dr. Peter Odili and or Sir Celestine Omehia.

As can be seen, it is not far-fetched to say that government is defective in Ijawland.  Between 1999 and 2007, particularly, in Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States, it is very difficult to say that the Ijaw masses have seen any progressive change in their lives.  Only those who are connected to those in power, contractors and civil servants in the accounting departments that can say with any degree of certainty that their lives have been improved.  The rest of the Ijaw population lives at the mercy of God and the ancestors.

In Rivers State, not only are the Ijaw masses deprived, they are also under the constant threat of being annihilated by political thugs hired by the politicians to keep the people under control.  Throughout Ijawland, there are some youth groups who are willing to become hired hands for political incumbents to prevent the political opposition from winning any election.  After participating in such dishonorable activities, they openly demand compensation.  It is the need to be compensated for blocking the democratic process that is leading to the kidnapping of individuals who are associated or related to the politicians.  The politicians made promises to the hired-hands and then renegade when it is time to pay for the service.  The youths react by kidnapping those associated with the politicians who made the secret deals with them.

The youths who are engaging in this dishonorable political business do not realize that by serving as political storm troopers to corrupt politicians, they are actually depriving themselves, their off-springs and relatives of a better future because they help to put and perpetuate oligarchs in power who do not really care about them.  After clamoring for political and economic rights for decades, it is very difficult to fathom the idea that Ijaw politicians and some youth groups would actually engage themselves in activities designed to prevent their people from exercising political rights. 

If one were to compare the period 1970-1980 with 1999-2007, the former period beats the later period at all levels of comparison with the exception of corruption.  This means that Chief Diete Spiff, Col. Samuel Ogbemudia and Col. Samuel Essuene did wonders for Rivers, Bendel, and Southeastern States than the crops of PDP governors that have paraded themselves as the leaders of the oil-producing states.  The amazing thing is that Spiff, Ogbemudia and Esuene were military governors and the PDP governors are supposed to have been elected by the people to represent them, theoretically

Due to lack of performance by public officials in the oil producing region, Nigerians from the non-oil producing regions are insisting that there should be no additional increase in the revenues of the oil-producing states since their leaders are unable to effectively manage the current levels of allocation that accrue to them.

11.  In reviewing various websites with a view of determining the rate of Ijaw utilization of various means of communication, the impression is created that the Ijaws are still not comfortable utilizing internet technology to communicate.  Whether the search engine is google or yahoo or any other, information about various aspects of  Ijaw culture, traditions, and existence is very limited.  There are no major pictures of Ijaw dances, masquerades, artefacts, towns, villages, costumes, festivals  etc.  Of all the festivals that take place in Ijawland, only Odi Ogori Uge has pictures, thanks to the effort of Mr. Francis Udisi.  Even pictures of the destruction of Odi, Odiama, Obuama, Okrika etc, are rarely seen.   The Ijaw websites, with the exception of Ijawnation and United Ijaw States are non-interactive.  In other words, they are very stale.  This is also the case for the Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States websites.  These governmental websites look more like students’ projects.  They are not updated regularly and they do not offer much information.  In fact, both the Bayelsa State Council for Arts and Culture and the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture need to have their own websites, apart from being mentioned in the state websites.  Likewise, the Niger Delta University needs to have a very interactive website. 

In examining Nigerian pictures of various groups, it was very difficult to get Ijaw pictures.  It was much easier to get pictures of smaller ethnic groups based in the North than that of the Ijaws.  The Okrika Adumu (Odumu) festival and Ogwein masquerade appeared in little pictures.  Only one Opobo masquerade appeared much larger.   Some Kalabari pictures appeared through the effort of Sokari Douglas Camp.

The implication is that the Ijaws still do not seem to realize the fact that a picture speaks a thousand words.  Thus, the Ijaws  have an extensive work to do in order to inform the world about their existence in pictures  As stated in an article earlier, the Ijaws must document their existence, using every available communication technology.

12.  A new approach is needed in dealing with territorial disputes.  Instead of going for a war option, a very simple traditional method could be very effective in deescalating such conflicts.    For instance, in the ongoing Ijaw-Urhobo territorial dispute involving Aladja, why not call on both sides to swear in honor of their ancestors?  If the Ijaws are convinced that the land is theirs, then why not swear by Egbesu or some other ancestral deity  to the effect and let the consequence takes its course?  In fact, some Ikwerre families applied this method in the early 1970s when some people presented fake property documents to claim land in their territory.  The Ikwerre families simply told those who came with such documents to swear by their ancestors that they actually purchased the lands that they were claiming on the documents.  Most of those claimants never returned as soon as the idea of swearing in the name of the ancestors was suggested. 

This option is even more effective than the courts since it is generally believed in traditional African cultures that it is an abomination to swear falsehood in the name of the ancestors.  It should be reminded that the Secretary of the Ondo State Government, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke suggested this method for determining truth when some Ijaw youths demanded payments from the governor and government of Ondo State.  He said that the youths should swear by Egbesu.

Many people would find this suggestion indigestible due to their socialization and religious orientation.  Nevertheless, something has to happen, otherwise, the Ijaws might end up constantly fighting wars with themselves and their neighbors over territorial ownership.  Already, the impression is being propounded by Ijaw detractors painting them as a ‘bunch of troublemakers and war-mongers’.  Territorial disputes would get worse in the future as people realize the importance of building resorts near the sea and move downwards.

13.  The Ijaws should realize that sooner or later, the significance of petroleum in the world economy would diminish as the industrialized countries search for alternative fuels.  Already, Brazil is leading the world in using sugar to produce fuel.  If countries like the United States, Japan, China, and India join the bandwagon for alternative fuel, Ijawland would cease to become a strategic territory.  If that happens, Nigeria will ignore and abandon Ijawland.  Other Nigerians would laugh at the Ijaws for their inability to develop their territory. 

Finally, it is crucial for Ijaw leaders to focus their energies in developing Ijawland infrastructurally, economically and otherwise now, before it is too late.  There is no more time for extravagant spending in the ethnic nation by public officials.  The Ijawnation cannot afford to have its credibility tarnished due to lack of performance.