‘The Ravening Clouds Over Idoma, Igede Lands Shall Not Be Victorious’: Your Solution Cometh From The South South
The Oasis Reporters
February 15, 2025
This post is borrowing a phrase from Walt Whitman’s poem, On the beach at Night Alone. It is as a result of my two day tour of Benue State. Coming from my background as a Deltan where we are relaxed and laid back over politics, I was shockingly appalled at the wickedness that I saw in Benue and Kogi States.
Hitherto, I had heard far too many stories about those two states that propelled me to go and see things for myself.
I have gone and I saw, then I fled Igede land into civilization. I want to go back there someday to waltz with Igede land and rejoice with the people.
What cut my stay short in Igede land was the incident which a member of my delegation found herself in.
She needed to use the toilet and was directed to a pit toilet.
What?
I was horrified because when I went to secondary school decades ago, we could flush. Our toilets were not ceramic, still we could introduce water and flush. But this post is not about toilets. It is about life in Igede land where water is a luxury. Getting it is stressful.
In Delta State, Governor James Ibori ensured that practically every community had a borehole, powered by solar. We are not even from his tribe. His ethnic group is Urhobo. I’m not.
In Benue State, their politics is exclusionary. Nothing good must go to other ethnic groups. I find that one reprehensible. It was like Igede land or Idoma land could produce all the yams that they wanted. But they must have no roads to transport them out with.
You just get the sneaky feeling that that is a grand design. If they produce more yams that they cannot carry on their heads or on their motorcycles, let the food crops rot. They should plant again next year since the wicked system of exclusion must repeat itself. They must have no motorable roads.
In Delta State, we celebrate water. Nobody lacks it. If government taps were far away, kindly sink your borehole. And I need clean ceramic WC toilets.
So I abruptly announced that I was leaving. But I did not look forward to passing that tortuous dusty earth road again back to the dreary Otukpo.
Suddenly, an old man walked up to tap me on the shoulder. He pointed southwards.
Beyond that tree is Cross River State. If you can manage to drive through this bush path, you’ll get to Cross River State and there see a road under construction. Though it is an earth road for now, it is far better than what Benue State roads can offer you.
Before long, you’d hit the beautifully tarred express road that would connect you to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.
I could not believe my eyes. My delegation got up and moved immediately through the bush path in the car and indeed saw the road under construction by the Federal government of Nigeria. We followed it and got to the tarred express road that led us to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.
Since it was night already, we were directed to a Catholic Church Hotel, BISHOP THOMAS MC GETTRICKS and just for the modest sum of 18,000 naira, we got two double rooms with Air conditioning, water heater and comfortable sleeping place. Safe and secure.
As the faithful were trooping in for the Six O’clock morning Mass, we were hauling our things back into the car and driving out to Enugu. Then Onitsha, Asaba and on and on.
The implications are these. Once the Federal government completes the construction of that road, Igede land would not need to go to Otukpo again under the torturous road to find markets desperately for their farm products. Intrepid traders from the South East, Delta, Cross River, Rivers State etc would roar in with 9/11 lorries to come and evacuate the yams, excess cassava and other food crops and there would be prosperity for Igede land. They meant cash deprivation and depression for them to turn them into paupers. But God has used the Federal government to rescue them through the South South.
The shame would be on the wicked political merchants who colonize the political leadership.
Igede land, your prosperity would come from your industry. Ignore the perpetual Tiv merchants. Their noble hero, Joseph Tarka fought for political freedom from the Fulani cabal. He won with the United Middle Belt Congress, meant for the good of all Middle Belt people.
But see what his Tiv political successors have turned out to be. They’ve turned a regional struggle to a myopic tribal aggrandizing tool. Yet their Ortom could not pay basic salaries. Their Stomachs are full, but they are still hungry.
Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com . Just back from Idoma and Igede lands in Benue State
