Speaking at the New Central Town Hall in Rivers State, Benjamin Okaba, the President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), addressed the ongoing political turmoil in the state, framing it as a symptom of broader national issues.
Okaba began his address by clarifying his perspective, stating, “Let me disappoint those who expect me to speak as the president of the Ijaw National Congress; I am going to talk as a professor of sociology.”
Acknowledging the diverse opinions present, Okaba noted, “I have listened to all the contributions, and it is not surprising that we are a divided house.”
He then shifted the focus beyond Rivers State, asserting that the local issues are intertwined with the “wider, very pathetic political situation in this country.”
Okaba argued, “Rivers matter is a symptom of a failing political system. It is about state capture; when you say state capture, it is not about the capture of River State, it is about the Niger Delta.”
Drawing on his role as the chairman of all the president generals in the Niger Delta, Okaba suggested that the region’s abundant resources have made it vulnerable to manipulation.
He stated, “That because our region is very rich, the policy of balkanisation has been penetrated over time, the policy of divide and rule, the policy of making us fight against ourselves. And just like the colonial period, when there is a crisis orchestrated using our own people to cause the crisis, then the federal government will begin to exploit our resources while we clap hands for those persons.”
Okaba further accused some individuals of becoming “agents of exploitation,” readily used to instigate conflict that ultimately benefits external interests at the expense of the Niger Delta’s development.
He reiterated his consistent stance, saying, “That is why I try as much as possible as president of the Ijaw National Congress to state every time I am given the opportunity that this is not an ethnic crisis. And whoever wants to give it ethnic colouration is an enemy of the Niger Delta.”
Beyond the issue of leadership, Okaba also highlighted a “greater followership problem,” pointing to “blind followership.”
He criticised the practice of political actors who “by impoverishing and starving the people, then throw grains, and the people will follow.”
He lamented the lack of ideological grounding among many, noting that “people are flitting from one political party to the other.”
