'If you no do gra-gra sometimes, dem no go hear you' - Olu of Warri tok about di suffering for Itsekiri land
- Author, Tamara Ebiwei
- Role, Broadcast Journalist
- Reporting from, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria
- Read am in 6 mins
"Ogbonge Itsekiri son, no be say na imbecile, e dey live inside river, you fit throw stone from wia im dey and e go knack oil installation and we dey tok of 500, 600 billion dollars wey don come from dat same ground in sixty years, e fit don pass like dat sef, and you no fit use three million dollars do electricity make evribody get light?"
Dis na one of di kwesions wey di Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III dey ask Nigeria govment, oil producing companies and oda intervention agencies as e chook mouth inside di lack of basic amenities, social infrastructure and neglect wey di Niger Delta region for Nigeria dey face.
Since dem discover crude oil for Oloibiri for 1956 under former Rivers State, wey be Bayelsa State now, di pipo for di Niger Delta region dey known for poverty inside wealth wey dia land dey produce.
Most of dem no get access to good healthcare, education electricity, portable drinking water and dem dey suffer serious environmental pollution sake of oil spill and gas flaring.
Di Olu Warri wey be di King, wey im pipo na Itsekiri wey also be oil producing area dey para sake of di suffer-suffer life and poverty wey dey di land.
Dis poverty no be lack of money to chop food evriday, na wetin big pass daily meals.
Issues like lack of basic tins wey go help pipo live normal life.
Di Niger Delta region lack basic amenities like good water, healthcare, education.
Dem be mostly farmers and some of dem stop dia fishing and farming work sake of environmental pollution.
E don reach ova 60 years now wey all of us for dis Niger Delta, weda you be Itsekiri for Delta, Ijaw for Delta, Ijaw for Bayelsa, Kalabari for Rivers di problem na di same.
Wen you use eye take look you go see say di problem dey similar all over di place.
Di Monarch wey speak on behalf of di itsekiri pipo tok say, im pipo nomlike trouble and dem be peace makers. "sometimes wen you dey carry body like oyibo for dis kain environment wey you dey, somtimes dem no go ansa you o! If you no vex, if you no tok dem go just waka leave you.
And our pipo somtimes dey dey vex, dem go do small protest dem go tok, oil caompany go say okay wey don hear we dey come, govment go say we don hear wey dey come..."
According to wetin im tell BBC News Pidgin, before bifor govment, di oil companies and intervention organizations go come di tin wey dem carry come gom don reduce and somtimes dem no dey even come at all.
Di Ogiame say na 'Chinese whisper' be one of di problems sake of say di intervention wey govment wan do or anytin wey oil companies wan do for di Niger Delta dey reduce small -small sake of di many hands e dey pass through.
'Dem don whisper sometin for ear, to do dis job, di next pesin go hear am, from dia e don dey change, dem go dey change am small, so di first pesin don ansa di prayer, but di pipo wey di tin dey pass dia hand, small tin go dey reduce dey reduce, by di time e con reach di pipo wey dey cry, dem no wan hear story o, dia own na say wey dey suffer..."
'If you no do gra-gra somtimes, dem no go hear you'
Di King of Warri explain to BBC Pidgin say even though gra-gra no good generally, "somtimes you need to vex, you need to shout make dem hear you if not dem no go ansa you" im add.
According to di Ogiame, law na di legitimate use of violence [gra-gra] if anybody apply violence outside di legal framework e don turn to crime. im say Itsekiri pipo dey civilised and dem dey follow di law.
"Sixty years don pass, you don hear say Itsekiri in 60 years we dey blow, we dey destroy, we no dey do am, so na wetin dey make di pipo dey provoke. We don be law abiding for 60 years, na so anoda 60 years go pass baba we no go do sometin?" dis na di question wey di young monarch say Itsekiri pipo dey ask am.
Im say govment dey quick to respond to reports of violence but dem no dey fast to respond to di suffering of pipo for di Niger Delta region. As a leader im dey try to come in-between govment, oil companies, oda intervention agencies to balance tins.
Indigenes host communities for di region dey suffer all kind of environmental pollution wey don kill pipo .
'Out of di billions of dollars na only small we dey ask for'
"E dey pain pesin well-well" dis na how di Ogiame Atuwatse respond to di neglect wey Itsekiri pipo dey face.
For di area wey BBC Pidgin tori pesin visit, di communities neva carry dia eyes see govment light, na generator dem dey use all dis years.
Dem no get standard school and di only Primary Health Care Centre for di community no dey work.
Infact, di delivery room [theatre] wia pregnant women suppose born pikin no get light.
BBC Pidgin tori pesin see expired medicine for di hospital wey di only staff wey dey dia tok say "dem just supply dis medicine to us for December".
Di toilets be like wetin dem neva wash for months.
Na all dis tins dey pain di Olu of Warri wey make am dey do small gra-gra in di legal way.
"Dem [oil companies and Nigeria govement] no fit spend anoda three millions dollars make di pipo get beta water to drink? Pipo dey suffer."
E challenge dem to bring out beta plan wey dem get for di region and e beg dem to remove all di middle men for di delivery process to avoid di 'Chinese whisper'
Im say if dem deal directly wit dis communities life go beta pass as e dey now.
Even though e claim say im neva hear from di authorities afta e raise dis issue, e dey beg govment go replicate wetin dem dey do for Ogoniland for Rivers State throughout all di Niger Delta communities wey dey suffer neglect plus environmental pollution wey don claim many lives for di region over di years.
However, Nigeria govment , oil companies and intervention agencies dey always tok say dem dey do dia best to help pipo for di region live beta life.
