A research fellow at the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, (NILDS), Abuja, Dr. Charles Alfred has flayed the lack of proper documentation in the Niger Delta region.
This is as he called on political leaders in the region to make conscious efforts to empower people in the zone who will speak on their behalf and defend them when they would have left public office in the event of any attack directed at them.
Alfred spoke during the public presentation of a book ‘Footprints of Nkpoo Sibara, Dele Giwa and Ken Saro-Wiwa’ written by a Niger Delta activist and author, Patrick Naagbanton in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He explained that it was one of the reasons the region cry of being marginalised over the years because of the failure of those who have the privilege of holding key political offices to do what was expected of them.
Alfred said, “The people of the Niger Delta have been complaining of marginalisation. But you cannot talk of marginalization when you yourself are not doing the things you are supposed to do for yourself. For instance we do not document our problems.
“We do not document our successes and we do not document and refute allegations against us. That is why the region is so porous in terms of documentation,” he stated.
Dr Alfred who edited the book expressed worry that such cavalier attitude towards documentation may affect the coming generations, saying, “Because we do not document, we and our children and children, children may not get a clear idea of what to follow.
“That is why for an issue like resource control now, it is difficult for one to get a proper definition of that because of the absence of accurate documentation.
“But if you talk about Arewa or the issues that concern the South West, a good number of the people can tell you what they want. So, we (Niger Delta) are suffering from a lot of documentation deficiency. Even in our universities we do not do it. We do not celebrate our own”.
The research fellow expressed unhappiness that nobody is speaking for the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke in all her travails, because she did not empower someone to be her official spokesperson.
Diezani Allison-Madueke do not even have a spokesperson. All the allegations against her like the issue of her health, nobody is talking because she failed to empower any of her people. Spokesperson goes beyond the tenure.
“You must empower the spokesperson. We have a lot of media people in Bayelsa, Rivers State and even the South South. She never deliberately cultivated the help and that is why nobody is talking. That is the problem of documentation I am talking about. All what she did there were no documentation. What we hear is that she is a thief.
“Is she really a thief? What is it she stole? It is not known and cannot blame the journalists that are not from the zone for feasting on it,” the research fellow noted with concerns.” He stated, pointed out that a serving or former President, a serving or former governor as well as minister should have an official spokesperson that will outlive the office.
Today, if you attack the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonji Iweala, somebody will come out and refute it. If you attack late former President, Musa Yar’adua, Segun Adeniyi is there.
He however expressed happiness that the book addressed some of these issues, saying, “It is one of the finest works from the Niger Delta. It covers almost fifteen years of our lost history,” describing the book as a must read.

Dennis Naku