life teaches us to surrender to what is. let go of what was .have faith in what will be...
The story of Minimah, from the creeks of the Niger delta region South South Nigeria in West Africa clearly depicts the above words. Having lost his father at a very tender age of five his mother has toiled day and night to make sure he acquired the basic elementary education . If education is the key to success, Minimah 's mother was the kind who will do all she can to see her only child succeed . Minimah was her tomorrow. her hope of a better tomorrow. He was simply the reason she lived.
With each passing day as he matures , he represented the hope of a happy and glorious future.
Mimimah grew up armed with the basic education . Her mother toiled to send her to college and he obtained a degree in Industrial Chemistry at the prestigious University of Port Harcourt.
However getting a job was an uphill task in a country that has limited opportunities for college graduates. He has thought that having been through school, he would assume the full responsibility of taking care of his mom. However three years after graduation and the necessary one year of youth service Minimah still depended on his aged mother for livelihood .
One day , on his way back from job hunting , he met an old friend who will later introduce him to bunkering and illegal crude oil exports. He has hated whatever was illegal as he cherished his well being and that of his mother. Minimah was limited with choices in life pursuits. Other than a degree in Industrial Chemistry, the farm work and fishing for which his community was known for had been grossly destroyed by the activities of oil and gas company explorers in his community . It was so bad that his mother though aged could no longer afford their meals.
Therefore bunkering was the only means to survive in the absence of a white collar job. He has searched for jobs in those oil companies in his community and only to be told jobs were only meant for those recommended by certain powerful individuals in the country .
In view of this current reality, bunkering became the only option. After all life is what you make of it . Soon bunkering paid off. His acolytes were well connected with foreign nationals who patronized the illicit trade of bunkering. In two years life has changed for Minimah. He has built a big house for his mother and possessed fleet of cars. The mother had thought his son has landed himself a good job. She was not fully acquainted with Minimah s kind of job.
Life was sweet at least so they thought until one day, the current Federal Government through the combined Military special force launched Operation Crocodile tears in the Niger Delta Region to tackle Militancy and Illegal Oil Bunkery. Things started to change drastically from bad to worst as the Military force was very brutal in their operations with Land, Sea, Air Assault leading to the killing and destruction of anything that moves in the creeks.
Finally, the big boys in town has turned fugitives running like rats into any hole they can find until at last they were smoked out from their hide outs in the creeks, beaten like criminals, broken spirit and arrested. It didn't take long, Minimah and his cohorts were arraigned in court, tried and sentenced to jail for Economic Sabotage and Illegal possession of arms and resisting arrest which landed them over 45years in prison. As if this was not enough, all he owned were ceased from him . His mother later died of heart attack as her aged heart could not carry on without him.
But who can speak and defend the lowly of the likes of Minimahs who constantly are victims in the hands of government insensitivity to the plight of the people in this region. Minimah's sad story also typifies the injustices people suffer due to neglect, degradation and pollution arising from hydrocarbon exploration in the Niger Delta region by the Foreign Oil Companies in partnership with the Government. Yet Minimah and his mother suffered cruelty without defense of some sort.
This kind of sad end is common to many youths in the Niger Delta Region whose lands, water ways and general livelihood has been battered and destroyed by activities of the Oil companies leading to Youth unrest and Militancy. Many Judge them unfairly but their story if heard as humans with empathy we shall all feel their sorrow and sadness.
Is there any way forward?
The way forward for this writer is for the government to be more proactive and stop playing politics with peoples lives, work with the Oil companies to first of all stop oil spillage, gas flaring, clean up polluted areas and compensate adequately the battered local community peoples ensuring they are empowered with basic skills to continue a better life. This many may say is being done but it is not enough as there is a lot left undone.
This story is just to create a sort of awareness of the sufferings in the Niger Delta Region by local people especial as a voice to the voiceless!
If you like my story could you please upvote, resteem to expose more the atrocities in the Niger Delta and follow for more
Feel free to send in your comments on what you feel should be done for the inhabitants of the Niger Delta Region.
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