Rivers People Not Lazy – Political Activist

An Ikwerre politician, Chief Sydney Nyeche has debunked views held by some section of the country that Rivers people are not hardworking.

Chief Nyeche made the assertion at a book launch titled, “The Politics of Petroleum Economy in Nigeria: Federalism and Niger Delta Perspectives,” held in Port Harcourt over the weekend.

The Ikwerre-born politician said such views are not only erroneous but aimed towards painting a bad image of the people of the state.

Apart from being  hardworking, he asserted that Rivers people are focused and intellectually strong and therefore can compete with any group in the country.

He lauded the author of the book, Okene King Keddina for making the Ikwerre people and Rivers people proud by writing the book.

Chief Nyeche stressed that the book posed a big challenge to the national question, considering the injustices Niger Delta people have suffered from their natural resources.

In reviewing the book, Senior Lecturer and Co-ordinator, Adult and Community Education, Dr. N.H.A. Nwafor said, “Mr. King Okene in this work…has produced something that serves as a stepping stone for achieving greater heights in the future”.

Dr. Nwafor said the book projects the plight of the Niger Delta from an intellectual point of view, while recommending it for its coherence, organisation and objectivity.

The author in his remarks earlier observed that the aim of the book was to project the problems in the region where oil is being exploited for so many years.

Frowning at government posture over the development in the area, he challenged the country’s leaders to follow the tenets of democracy as a way of redressing the long term neglect and sufferings of the people.

The book has 11 chapters and chronicles the history of oil exploration to the present era of militancy and agitation in the Niger Delta region.