Tackling The Plight Of Niger Delta Region
By Grace Omowumi Semudara Niger Delta, as a geographical entity, her folks and the enormous gift of nature (crude oil) have been the cynosure of all eyes as their struggles dominate national discourse. It can be said with all sense of humility that the region and her people, by their endowment with abundant natural resources, should not have anything to do with stifling poverty, as postulated by many. But that is not the case, the tale of the Niger Delta is that of misery, despair, penury and haplessness in the face of immeasurable wealth, that would have accrued them, if the proceeds of their crude oil resources are judiciously used to develop their polluted lands. The region is only a microcosm of the dense citizenry of our African Giant Nigeria. A nation so blessed with human and mineral resources, yet its people live in abject poverty and sickening squalor. No thanks to the haphazard and ill planned oil exploration activities, most villages and towns of many Niger Delta state...