HOW FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS DON'T MEAN WELL FOR YOUTHS OF SOUTH SOUTH
July 6, 2023 | News
-By Zik Gbemre
HOW FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS DON'T MEAN WELL FOR YOUTHS OF SOUTH SOUTH
One of the evils of leadership in the South South among all tiers of government has been that over the years, all interventions and resources committed into youth development are targeted at pleasing the violent among the youths to the neglect of the peaceful and law abiding.
From federal government Amnesty, also replicated by some states and local governments, which was purely targeted at pleasing militants, to other youth programmes, whether by NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, it is the violent and combative youths that determine who benefits.
Sadly, these militant leaders, name them, Tompolo, Asari Dokubo, Atake Tom, Boyloaf are unlettered, so unenterprising that all they want are bogus gratification contracts of bloated sums to live large while splashing fractions of the loots on hangers on.
In the celebration of this trajectory of lording mediocrity over merit and capacity, the violent over the peaceful, militant leaders with profound history of gunrunning, killings, oil theft and assets vandalism on the creeks/land areas have become established as not just the symbols of youth leaderships, but alternative voices to government in the land.
Aside laying all Amnesty opportunities on the laps of militant leaders and their gangs, when government doles out multi-billion naira oil assets surveillance contracts, it is militant leaders who must have right of first refusal to win the jobs. When NDDC shares largesse for youth, it is militant leaders they must look up to for sharing. Now the violent in the region determine who gets party tickets for elections or who to get political appointments.
It now pays to be a violent youth and be militants in the South South. The most respected people in the South South are the violent youths and militants. They alone gain all the attention and gratifications. Asari Dokubo was special guest to dine and wine with President Bola Tinubu, not for any outstanding leadership quality he has, but because he is a militant leader with a reckless mouth to pass the blame and exaggerate his influence in the scheme of things.
Asari Dokubo now enjoys the rare privilege
to address press conferences in the Presidential Chambers that no minister of the federation or Chief of Staff to the President or Secretary to Government of the federation, indeed any cabinet member dare sit to address the press, simply because Asari Dokubo is a militant leader.
Most senior special assistants/advisers are appointed from the violent youths in Delta state since 1999 till date, of which Sheriff rose through the ranks to become governor today. What a country promotes violent youths and militants as role models and expects to make progress? Those who are supposed to be in jail are being celebrated as great achievers and power brokers.
The educated youths are derided, neglected to embrace keke riding and commercial motorcycling as livelihoods. Which investors will take Tinubu serous in his campaign to attract foreign investments if he is dinning and winning with the Asaris, Tompolos, Boyloafs, violence merchants as role models?
With unschooled, uninformed militants as key actors and drivers of development initiatives in the South South, it means education is useless. At the community levels, only same violent youths can be community leaders, so the circle of violence is sustained.
Why do the government of the day blame security chiefs for failing to secure the country when violent youths are being recognized by the politicians in power with thieving contracts?
Zik Gbemre
July 6, 2023
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
-By Zik Gbemre
HOW FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS DON'T MEAN WELL FOR YOUTHS OF SOUTH SOUTH
One of the evils of leadership in the South South among all tiers of government has been that over the years, all interventions and resources committed into youth development are targeted at pleasing the violent among the youths to the neglect of the peaceful and law abiding.
From federal government Amnesty, also replicated by some states and local governments, which was purely targeted at pleasing militants, to other youth programmes, whether by NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, it is the violent and combative youths that determine who benefits.
Sadly, these militant leaders, name them, Tompolo, Asari Dokubo, Atake Tom, Boyloaf are unlettered, so unenterprising that all they want are bogus gratification contracts of bloated sums to live large while splashing fractions of the loots on hangers on.
In the celebration of this trajectory of lording mediocrity over merit and capacity, the violent over the peaceful, militant leaders with profound history of gunrunning, killings, oil theft and assets vandalism on the creeks/land areas have become established as not just the symbols of youth leaderships, but alternative voices to government in the land.
Aside laying all Amnesty opportunities on the laps of militant leaders and their gangs, when government doles out multi-billion naira oil assets surveillance contracts, it is militant leaders who must have right of first refusal to win the jobs. When NDDC shares largesse for youth, it is militant leaders they must look up to for sharing. Now the violent in the region determine who gets party tickets for elections or who to get political appointments.
It now pays to be a violent youth and be militants in the South South. The most respected people in the South South are the violent youths and militants. They alone gain all the attention and gratifications. Asari Dokubo was special guest to dine and wine with President Bola Tinubu, not for any outstanding leadership quality he has, but because he is a militant leader with a reckless mouth to pass the blame and exaggerate his influence in the scheme of things.
Asari Dokubo now enjoys the rare privilege
to address press conferences in the Presidential Chambers that no minister of the federation or Chief of Staff to the President or Secretary to Government of the federation, indeed any cabinet member dare sit to address the press, simply because Asari Dokubo is a militant leader.
Most senior special assistants/advisers are appointed from the violent youths in Delta state since 1999 till date, of which Sheriff rose through the ranks to become governor today. What a country promotes violent youths and militants as role models and expects to make progress? Those who are supposed to be in jail are being celebrated as great achievers and power brokers.
The educated youths are derided, neglected to embrace keke riding and commercial motorcycling as livelihoods. Which investors will take Tinubu serous in his campaign to attract foreign investments if he is dinning and winning with the Asaris, Tompolos, Boyloafs, violence merchants as role models?
With unschooled, uninformed militants as key actors and drivers of development initiatives in the South South, it means education is useless. At the community levels, only same violent youths can be community leaders, so the circle of violence is sustained.
Why do the government of the day blame security chiefs for failing to secure the country when violent youths are being recognized by the politicians in power with thieving contracts?
Zik Gbemre
July 6, 2023
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes