Salvation Marcus Umoffia
When Senator Godswill Akpabio asumed duty as Minister of Niger Delta, he discovered unco-ordinated activities in the system. Some people were paid for non-executed contracts, most contracts went into wrong hands, the real contractors remained unpaid and Niger Delta people were still yearning for development and jobs.
The opportunists were sharing money and contracts among themselves. The attack on the minister is a demonstration of their pathological hatred toward the people of Niger Delta and Akwa Ibom people in particular.
This is similar to what the biblical Paul and Silas went through when they cast the spirit of divination out of a young girl who used such power to make money for her master, but the master was not pleased with the deliverance. Paul and Silas were dragged before the authorities in the marketplace (Acts 16:17, 19-20).
They want Niger Delta region to remain the way it is, while the keep making money. Their spell and attack on Akpabio would not work, because he has a divine mandate to do good. The bold step taken by the minister would gradually kill militancy, other evil activities and eventually restore peace in the region.
Instead of supporting and encouraging him, they resorted to attacks, asking Mr. President to dissolve the commission and sack the minister, the only serving minister from Akwa Ibom State, the number one oil-producing state in Nigeria.
I liken them to Ahab and Jezeebel’s action against Naboth in I Kings 21:1-16. They are evil-minded, wicked and without conscience. God is gracious to all, He distributes natural resources across the country with no state exempted, yet, they cannot manage or trace corruption in natural resources in their domain, but are bent on destroying the Niger Delta region.
Remember the two women in the Bible who went to King Solomon to decide the ownership of a living child? The one who lost her baby boy as a result of her carelessness because she lay on him in the night wanted King Solomon to share the living baby into two. But the real mother resisted such uncivilised and ungodly act (I Kings 3:19, 24-27).
Similarly, these people, who have lost it all through their ingratitude to God and unvalued attitudes to the resources God gave them, chose the pathway of the ungodly woman in the Bible. God will help President Muhammadu Buhari to take the right decision for the interest of the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.
With due respect, former President Olusegun Obasanjo combined his office with that of Minister of Petroleum for eight years, yet nobody was talking about probe and accountability.
Niger Delta leaders, militants and youth have eyes, but not open wide enough to see; they have hands, but not long enough to stop the insult and abuse on the Niger Delta people; mouths, but not bold enough to speak; ears but not open enough to hear; and teeth, but not strong enough to bite.
Ghana, which is not up to the size of Lagos State geographically, will soon become a good manager of natural resources and know the value where such mineral resources are being extracted in the country. Nigerian politicians must learn how to fulfil governance from Akpabio.
I am not against extension of oil money to other parts of the country, because we are one, but my point of reference is that these tribalistic, pretentious, deceptive and indignified attitudes above others must be decisively dealt with. Akwa Ibom people, as well as Niger Delta people, should be fairly treated. It is the mineral resources from the Niger Delta region that bring Nigeria’s name to international scene, keep Nigeria moving and produce a few Nigerian millionaires.
Godswill is a replication of God’s winning power bestowed on him by God, and a driving force behind his good efforts. Akpabio represents the entireness, which is beyond limit, if given an opportunity to lead a larger society (country).
He is a large-hearted person who can bring balanced development across the country and to the very doorstep of his enemies, though he has his human shortcomings.
Buhari should not lend his ears to the noisemakers and make Nigeria one, united entity. That is my earnest prayer.
•Umoffia lives in Lagos