Nigeria’s former ambassador to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, Godknows Igali, on Tuesday, canvassed for unity among the people of the Niger Delta irrespective of their ethnic nationalities with a view to developing the region.
The former envoy who spoke with journalists at Osubi Airport near Warri noted with concern that with modernism, particularly the advent of oil industries in the region where everyone is laying claim to land and politics, “we have now become diverse with various divisions”.
He insisted that “one of the greatest undoings of the Niger Delta people is absence of unity among the various tribes in the region”.
He added that “it was the disunity among the people of the region that necessitated the formation of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF)”.
Godknows Igali, who is presently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), insisted that the Niger Delta people must imbibe the spirit of one love and unity, like their forefathers, to ensure social and infrastructural transformation of the region with gainful employment for their nationals.
He said, “We are a people who have lived together for thousands of years, and our forefathers never fought. There is nowhere in the history books that show that the Ijaws were fighting themselves or Itsekiri fighting Urhobos or Isoko were fighting Urhobos or Ijaws were fighting Itsekiris.
“There were no tribal wars. There were little skirmishes between communities over fishing, unlike the Yoruba who fought for about hundred years.
“The point I am trying to make is that in other geopolitical zones of the country there are even more deep diversities in midst of the bigger ethnic groups. The Niger Delta on the contrary have a closer history among ourselves. Our forefathers lived in peace.
“But with modernism, oil industries where everyone is laying claim to land and politics, we have now become diverse with various divisions.
“But having said that, there is always a new day. This was the basis while setting up the Pan Niger Delta Forum to bring everyone together so that when there’s time to speak, we can speak with one voice as Niger Delta”.
Ambassador Igali is billed to preside over the 2022 Press Week Lecture/Award ceremony of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Warri Correspondents’ Chapel holding in Warri this Wednesday with the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and a former Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, as Special Guests of Honour.
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