 Published
December, 27th, 2009The Niger-Delta is a
geographical area in Nigeria . It is has two words namely
the Niger and Delta. Each of these words has five letters.
Delta is the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet. It actually
means an area of lowland shaped like equilateral triangle
where a river divides into two branches towards the sea. Its
of great importance to note that the 4th letter is very
indivisible and indispensable. Indivisible for the fact that
it cannot be substituted or replaced and indispensable for
the fact that without it the entire spectrum of the great
alphabets will be nonexistence.
Its actually the letter that gives light meaning to the
others and without light, man will be groping in outer
darkness. The true meaning of Delta is light, so the 4th
Greek letter is light. This is the spiritual meaning of
Delta. This actually confirms the holy scripture where on
the 4th day ,the almighty God created the body of lights to
give lights to the earth. ‘’And God made two great lights:
the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to
rule the night, He made the stars also(KJV,Gen1:16). It was
the creation of these lights that made it possible to
distinguish the day from the night. Thus, 4th is synonymous
with light. Its high time these fundamentals are known ,
imbibed and inculcated into us that our steps can be truly
traced; where we have erred or gone wrong and make amends in
order for us to fulfill our destiny here on earth and in
eternity.
More so, Delta is a five letter word. This five letter word
is also associated with the riches in the sea.
Nigeria , our father land is derived from the word Niger -
five letter word and this name is within a particular
geographical area of our country. Let it be understood that
without the name Niger , there wont be any Nigeria as long
as name is concerned . The basic meaning of this revelation
is that the foundation of our father’s land , Nigeria , is
in the Niger . Nigeria has its roots in the Niger and in its
geographical area – the Niger-Delta. The name a father gives
his child is what the child is known for , this speaks
volumes of the conditions surrounding his birth, and gives
insight of the possibility of his future. I wish to re-echo
that without Niger and Niger –Delta area, there wont be any
Nigeria as an international and world entity. With this
background knowledge, it becomes absolute necessary to note
that all the area called and known as Niger-Delta is a
‘fragile baby’ that has to be handled with great care. Thus,
Niger-Delta is akin to a miniature Nigeria . Its survival is
the survival of Nigeria . The commitment to the progress of
the Niger-Delta region is the commitment to the progress of
Nigeria . Without the total and comprehensive development of
the Niger-Delta region, Nigeria cannot and will never
realize her visions and dreams—the vision 20-20-20.
The unity and peace of Nigeria lies in the unity and peace
in the Niger –Delta region. Its failure is Nigeria ’s
failure. This is the region that can make or mar our father
land. At this juncture , I wish to commend the Federal
Government for its Amnesty and Post-Amnesty program in the
Niger-Delta region. I wish to commend Mr. President for this
laudable leap towards resolving the Niger-Delta issues.
Its worthy to note that by providence, Nigeria has its roots
and foundations in the Niger and Niger-Delta region. The
holy scriptures puts it clearly that
“ If the foundations be destroyed , what can the righteous
do? (KJV, PS11:3)” This is a great and disturbing question
and has an obvious answer. The righteous has a root or
foundation that makes him dwell in the spirit of
righteousness and operate in the realm of righteousness.
When this righteous foundation is destroyed , righteousness
will be in extinction , the result will be confusion ,
wickedness, indiscipline, total state of anarchy ,
immorality and all vices that have to do with darkness and
not light. Assuming this foundation is destroyed , there
will be a lot of wastages and losses in terms of resources
because the entire building will collapse. The Nigerian
project is on the foundation of the Niger and Delta region
and we cannot allow the foundation be destroyed. Its high
time we realized this and know that Niger-Delta is an
indispensable entity as long as the Nigerian project is
concerned. When the Nigerian project is built on a solid
foundation, it will be able to withstand any form of rain,
floods or winds which may tend to blow or beat upon it.
However, if the foundation of Nigerian project is not solid
enough, great will be its fall with the invasion of rains
,floods or wind; it will become a byword and a proverb— how
are the mighty fallen !
Nigeria, right from its foundation ,is created great and
endowed with great talents or resources to make her great.
The problem has been on its foundations that is continuously
been shaken and disturbed. There is continuous distortion in
the foundation giving rise to constant vibration which has
extended beyond the elastic limit of tolerance causing
cracks, fracture and pains. These cracks , pains and
fracture have to be squarely tackled so that lasting repairs
and healing can be achieved . Its important to note that for
a building project to stand firmly against all odds , it
must have a very solid foundation. Therefore ,lets all rise
up to the rebuilding of our foundation. Let us not sow empty
wind. so that we wont reap the whirlwind. We need to fix the
cracks in the foundation and get such that are disjointed
join together , the breaches stopped. We ,the Nigerian
people should rise with one voice and should not hesitate to
speak the known truth though there may be many adversaries
and dissenting voices. I am sounding this note because there
are wolves in sheep clothing who do not see any good in the
Nigerian Project and may want to exploit the opportunity to
perpetrate their heinous crime. We have to be very sober
,watchful and prayerful - - for the God of Nigeria will
definitely be on our side since we are determined to right
the wrongs already done to the foundations. The Nigerian
strength is not decayed yet, she is equal to the task. The
resources necessary to rebuild the foundation is at her
disposal and with God on our side though the work be great
and large. To the foundation, to the foundation ,let us all
labor for victory will be ours at the end. Let us move ahead
,continue with the complete , rigorous and comprehensive
developmental master plan of Niger-Delta region for it is
the known foundation of the Nigerian project and within
which the core of the nations wealth comes from.
M.I. Ajaeroh(Ph.D.)
Head , Department of Physics
University of Abuja , Nigeria.
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