Oluwapresley:
When this gets to front page, I will modify my post.. BTW, nice article sha, though, it looks one sided.

Proudlyngwa:
I will start with Two proverbs,
What an adult sees sitting down, A child wont be able to see even he climbs an Iroko.
When playing draught , you tend not to see the game like the man watching.
Earlier this day , A write up came up with a statement accredited to Gov. Dickson, claiming Bayelsans are lazy https://www.nairaland.com/3111431/gov-dickson-right-most-rivers https://www.nairaland.com/3110142/bayelsans-lazy-governor-dickson , not long afterwards , the Ijaw defender and PDP reformer came up with a counter article, very lovely https://www.nairaland.com/3112679/gov-dickson-goofed-bayelsans-ijaws .
Unfortunately none of them did justice as they were players on the drought board.
As someone who has worked in over 60 communities in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states (the states with the most Ijaws) as an environmentalist. This is my unbiased opinion.
NOTE: This article is meant to set records straight, is not wholistic, is open to modifications and should not be used as a scholarly record and is in no way meant for ethnic bashing. KIDS KEEP OFF.
In this article you will permit me to use Bayelsans /Ijaws inter changeably.
Ijaws are a collection of people synonymous to our coastlines in predominantly Bayelsa, Delta , Rivers but not limited to these states, as a kid growing up in Lagos we believed that anywhere there was water there was an Ijaw man. We always had this feeling that government always did them injustice by not taking them to the Olympics as they could do anything including staying underwater for one hour.
Ijaws were friendly and always smiling; they were predominantly fishermen and the only way to sell their wares was to be happy , till today you still see that happy countenance on the faces of the mothers,
Their men were free and hardworking, Ijaw men those days were hardworking fishermen and those oppurtuned to go to school took it serious as it wasn’t easy in those days, remember in old Rivers state the Riverines had more educated and influential men than the Upland people.
To cap it they loved the booze and the loved the females, I don’t know if they were into smoking that is for ijaw sons to decide.
Fastfoward to current day Ijawland (Bayelsa) and with enough federal and Industrial presence the sons of the hard working jovial men are being called Lazy.
We go back to the Draught players, there is something they know we don’t know, but there is something we see they might not see.
The current most notable Ijaw man is former President Goodluck Jonathan and he never got to his pinnacle by being lazy, agreed he had abundance of goodwill and goodluck, but he also put in tremendous effort. We have other noteable Ijaw men too numerous to include who hardwork has paid off for e.g. being our twitter senator C.E.O the Silverbird group amidst a host of others. I believe Dickson himself is an Ijaw man and he got to his position via Hardwork.

Unfortunately the shine is being taken of them by agitators, this group of people have become the poster boys for that region. Growing up in the south from the early 90s the mentality has always been that the government (north) is cheating us, this had nothing to do with resource control rather over 20something years of constant rule by people from the north(Still the Ijaws were law abiding and friendly.) PROBLEM STARTED IN NOT JUST IJAWLAND BUT NIGERDETA AS A WHOLE WHEN (1)GOVERNMENT LEFT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO MULTINATIONALS AND (2)ALSO STOPPED THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AS WATCHDOGS WHEN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WERE SETTLED E.G. ON LOCAL CONTENT UTILIZATION AND ECOLOGY DEGRADATION.

What is going on in Ijawland did not start today, but without knowing the truth we can never ever solve it.
The multinationals having been left to dry by corrupt Government officials, as humans they were looked for the easy way out. They sought the chiefs of those communities and befriended them with material gifts and then did the Abominable, empowered them to subdue their kindred’s, while offering their wards juicy positions in the oil and servicing companies.

Power corrupts but envy kills faster. Resentment grew in the region until it exploded and we have what we have today. For peace to reign the multinationals sought out the strongest youths and settled them this ones also had followers and it has become a cycle. The itch has become a sore on the testicles and amputation is not an option.


1. Acknowledgement of wrong doing, the Government(federal/state) needs to admit it failed in its responsibility of its primary duty being governance, and ask for forgiveness.

2.A massive reorientation programme needs to be carried out, even if resource control is given today, it will be hijacked by the more powerful.

3.Make it a punishable Offence for oil and service companies to give cash incentives.

4. Fast Reintegration , Most Niger delta youths are out of touch with reality, civil orgarnisations , religious bodies, media and enlightened ones have a huge role to play in dispensing the trash most niger delta youths believe in, especially on the streets.

It is only a fool will believe there is no problem in the niger delta, the problem is more psychological than physical. We must all come together to see it come to an end as I leave you with this adage of our fathers. Finally the Governor should have refined his words to pass a soul message to bayelsans, that others are becoming better because of your unwillingness to seize oppurtunities.

When oil stains one finger, it affects the whole hand.

May the wisdom of the lord see us through.
God bless the Ngwas God bless the Ijaws
God bless Abia State God bless Bayelsa and the entire Niger Delta
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

cc lalasticlala mynd44 , the world needs to know bayelsans are not physically lazy.

cc dabullit tuale4u jusmudi hopeathand dearpreye tonyebarcanister MyPWisINCORRECT modath omenka dropshot and all well meaning bayelsans ijaw sons and nigerdeltans ,as well as other nigerians and foreigners who have worked in ijawland and nigerdelta as a whole. lets correct this notion once and for all, THANKS.

modath:

I'm not one to make blanket generalization about people especially when I know only a handful, but the general perception of the kind of person one would expect the average riverine male to be is a caricature, it is not sweet or rosy but it's the narrative...

However, I've known two females of Ijaw extraction and they are strong fierce females, the males, only from the distance..


I disagree that government is at fault, people who won't do right won't do right, they just rely on flimsy excuses as a crutch..I gave an example that a friend relayed to me, a community refused elementary school because the elders children were to old for basic education and the youths didn't have children to enroll, so they "shared" the money & everybody went away happy!

How is that the fault of the government??


Gov Dickson may have been right or wrong but it was totally "unstatemanly" of him to throw the totality of his people under a high speed train to be publicly jeered and maligned...

I can't shake off the feeling that he is doing this so his inability to pay salary for 5mths despite 13% would no longer be the headline.. The catchphrase now isn't Dickson is an incompetent leader, it is now his people are lazy drunkards who leech off the resources of the state...

Omokunlex:
Rubbish thread by an IPOB that want to steal ijaw oil.
Ijaws are Lazy drunkards, its just in them and it was a BIG MISTAKE to have an ijaw ineffectual buffon as president in this country.

modath:

I'm not one to make blanket generalization about people especially when I know only a handful, but the general perception of the kind of person one would expect the average riverine male to be is a caricature, it is not sweet or rosy but it's the narrative...

However, I've known two females of Ijaw extraction and they are strong fierce females, the males, only from the distance..


I disagree that government is at fault, people who won't do right won't do right, they just rely on flimsy excuses as a crutch..I gave an example that a friend relayed to me, a community refused elementary school because the elders children were to old for basic education and the youths didn't have children to enroll, so they "shared" the money & everybody went away happy!

How is that the fault of the government??


Gov Dickson may have been right or wrong but it was totally "unstatemanly" of him to throw the totality of his people under a high speed train to be publicly jeered and maligned...

I can't shake off the feeling that he is doing this so his inability to pay salary for 5mths despite 13% would no longer be the headline.. The catchphrase now isn't Dickson is an incompetent leader, it is now his people are lazy drunkards who leech off the resources of the state...

mikolo80:
by hook o by crook o you don gree say dem lazy today. we're not talking about before. but I pity them sha cos only the almighty can save them now unless that oyel fries up

modath:

I'm not one to make blanket generalization about people especially when I know only a handful, but the general perception of the kind of person one would expect the average riverine male to be is a caricature, it is not sweet or rosy but it's the narrative...

However, I've known two females of Ijaw extraction and they are strong fierce females, the males, only from the distance..


I disagree that government is at fault, people who won't do right won't do right, they just rely on flimsy excuses as a crutch..I gave an example that a friend relayed to me, a community refused elementary school because the elders children were to old for basic education and the youths didn't have children to enroll, so they "shared" the money & everybody went away happy!

How is that the fault of the government??


Gov Dickson may have been right or wrong but it was totally "unstatemanly" of him to throw the totality of his people under a high speed train to be publicly jeered and maligned...

I can't shake off the feeling that he is doing this so his inability to pay salary for 5mths despite 13% would no longer be the headline.. The catchphrase now isn't Dickson is an incompetent leader, it is now his people are lazy drunkards who leech off the resources of the state...

papparatzzi2013:
I totally disagree on blaming the govt.

The same govt gave them:

1. 13% derivation
2. NDDC/OMPADEC
3. Defunct Min of Niger Delta
4. Amnesty Programme
5. Regular allocation
6. Political appointments

The problem is cultural and fundamental. They need a visionary leader with foresight to inspire the youths and to make them aspire for greater things.

Which region apart from ND, has almost solely promoted thugs, hooligans, criminals, cultists and economic saboteur to the position of regional leadership. It says a lot about the value system of the people and what their perception of what leadership is.

There is a huge problem at hand and they need to face it squarely. This generation has missed it, but they can still save the next.

mrvitalis:
This is a known fact and I don't know why u want to twist this,
We grew up in pH knowing that ans ijaws man only sit and drink ogogoro while his many wife's go fishing and after fishing they hand the money to him and he give them what he feels like to cook for thire children and use the rest to marry new wife

These people are not as hard working as the igbos or hausas, they don't take education as serious as the igbos or yoruba

I remember one of my friends then told me if his father won't register for jamb lesson for him He should leave, the James was 2k per month and that guy bought a shoe of 7k the next day

Today am a graduate and he hasn't written jamb for once, that's the mentality of most ijaws but there are few that are very serious minded but majority are lazy

TheNonce:




O.p All most of your leading politicians, thugs and people know how to engage in is drinking, cultism, killing, oloshoing, dry raking and lootery!


The are mostly LAZY! End of story

Proudlyngwa:


I am not from Bayelsa
I have worked in the Niger delta region for more than 10 years and know much about them.
Agreed they are into most of what you said, what am saying is that most of these ideologies grew because of wrong orientation due to inefficiency of the govt.
The government made a mistake allowing multinationals negotiate directly with communities on communal development, the multinationals abused it by handing out cash incentives, you have what we have today, question is how do we eradicate it

TheNonce:






Clean up the NDDC 1st! That place is a cesspit of corruption! It denies your region all sorts of development!




And you guys should endeavour to look towards leaders who have ideas and not those who only seek to share looted funds amongst you all or those that are criminal militants!

Proudlyngwa:
how come riverine men were more educated and influential than their upland cousins in old rivers state.
If you tell me there is more fear factor and aggressiveness in Ijawland , I will agree, but laziness is a general thing, but more noticeable in the nigerdelta region as they are no more travellers, therefore giving the idea that they are not hustlers.

mrvitalis:

Do u have the facts to back this up??
Ijaws dominated old Rivers politics yes, because of larger population, Ogonis are the most educated Rivers tribe as far as I know, ikwerres are even worst than ijaws

Babacele:
Mo give it to the ijaw woman anytime: strong,loving and an home maker .
Let me tell you Dickson is a pretender! he is part of the stewpid priviledged IJ political elite who prefer a lazy minded populace in order to continue to manipulate them for their selfish gains. isn't laziness a mind thing? From Alam , Gej to Dickson ehn, tell me 1 important revolutionary project they initiated or initiating to evolve the bayelsan mind? rather and until recently, it is sponsoring violence /communal clashes with heavy killings that the Nigerian Press don't even report....the culture of using guns to conduct election or settle scores is one of their projects before OBJ adopted it to a temporary national strategy in 2003 elections!

The mentality is 'so you Mr governor and your family would want to enjoy without sweating or lifting a finger all from our oil money but would want us to go carry digger- na lie OO; share the money! ' You can imagine my people asking for money before they registered to vote for their son as the president of Nigeria while Hausa-Fulani travelled far distance from their pocket from Rivers to sokoto ,Kano etc to happily register n even donated to the GMB campaign funds!
Today Dickson is the governor and number citizen of Bayelsa with all the power of the people handed over to him to bring a better Bayelsa, so what strategies is he putting or has he put in place to liberate the minds and Not the hands of my people? History will judge him tomorrow but he still has the time to pioneer or birth the ideas for the kind of Bayelsa he envisages. God bless Nigeria.

Proudlyngwa:

my sister understanding of the problem is the only way to solve it,
The government left most of these communities to be developed via MOU with multinational oil companies.
the oil companies tried to look for short cuts and created a financial reward scheme called sit at home.
This sowed a seed which has become an ideology today, until we correct this mistake, the Niger delta youths will keep on being agitated wrongly.
we can condemn their violence, which I also do condemn , but that is just cutting off the branch not the root.

Omokunlex:
Rubbish thread by an IPOB that want to steal ijaw oil.
Ijaws are Lazy drunkards, its just in them and it was a BIG MISTAKE to have an ijaw ineffectual buffon as president in this country.

Ariani:


Take a look at the pic below, they are not IPOB, they are Yorubas, both old and young( look at that seemingly innocent Yoruba child in the background), male and female. And guess what they were all after? Yea, Niger Delta oil wealth. They were even shamelessly calling it their oil, ie "our oil", just read the placards, and this was as early as 1968.

You should be ashamed of your people.

TonyeBarcanista:
" Ijaws were friendly and always smiling; they were predominantly fishermen and the only way to sell their wares was to be happy"



This is a fact! You can't separate an Ijaw man or woman from his/her smiles till date even in poverty and suffering.

Ijaws are just unfortunate to be cursed with clueless and evil political and traditional leaders at all level. This must change.