Protocols
As a guest speaker of this event for the second
time in two years, it is indeed my honour and privilege to stand before you,
the youths of our dear Ibusa community. It is my love and patriotism for our
community that compelled me to be here despite my very tight schedule. Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen, to convey enhanced understanding, this lecture is divided into two
major parts- ‘pre-1990 Ibusa’ and ‘post-1990 Ibusa’. This will readily apprise
us of where we are coming from, where we are today and where we will might be
tomorrow. Finally, we shall narrow the lecture to expected roles of Ibusa
youths.
The
Ibusa community
Geographically, Ibusa is located west of the River
Niger Basin; strategically surrounded by a number of notable towns and
communities. It is bounded to the North by Okpanam; to the west by Ogwashi-Uku
and Ewulu; to the East by Asaba, Okwe and Oko and Abala-Unor to the South. It
also lies close to other important Anioma towns such as Issele-Azagba,
Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Okiti, Aboh-Ogwashi and Akwukwu-Igbo. All the communities that
circumscribe Ibusa are important. For instance, Ibusa lies 6 miles to Asaba, the
state capital and further lies close to Akwukwu-Igbo, which is the headquarters
of Oshimili North, the local government area under which it is administratively
situated. Ibusa people speak Enuani, which is a dialect of Igbo.
PRE-1990
IBUSA
Having acquired geographical knowledge of Ibusa, it
is now apropos that we take a deeper consideration of Ibusa in relation to its
past history of development. Colonial Ibusa was one that the community ranked socially
high among communities with early foundation of educational and religious institutions
in present day Nigeria. By 1898, Rev Fr. Carlos Zappa, a missionary had
established in the town, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church. With this arrangement,
Ibusa and Asaba became centers from which Christianity was spread to other parts
of Anioma. By 1908, Sacred Heart Elementary School had been established in the
community. There was also the establishment of CMS Primary School. This was
followed with the establishment of very good number of secondary schools. In
1928, St. Thomas’ College was established; first as St. Joseph’s Teachers’
Training College and it became the first higher institution in today’s Delta
State and one of the earliest in Southern Nigeria as a whole. It was perhaps in
the 1970s that Ibusa reached its peak of development.
After the civil war, agricultural life of the
community not only picked up but improved tremendously. Umejei Road was tarred
and it became the major road in the community, bisecting the community along
two lines; the Post Office located at Umuekea was reopened for postal services.
General Hospital was commissioned in 1970. There were healthy competitions
among indigenes that enabled the community to rank high among Nigerian
communities with the highest number of educated persons. By 1983, Ibusa had
completed political representation at the three arms of the legislature i.e. the
Senate, House of Representatives and the then Bendel State House of Assembly.
POST-1990
IBUSA
Post-1990 was a period of decline for Ibusa, so that
it would appear that Ibusa had already attained its period of greatest
prosperity in the preceding decades. With the declaration of the community as
part of the Capital Territory Development Area in 1991, following the creation
of Delta State, hopes of development were stifled and repressed by complete
neglect of the community by the government and the effect was foreseen or unescapable
reliance on self-help. As a matter of fact, only little can be discussed of
this period in terms of development. Former Governor Kefas built what he called
‘Kefas Park’ with seesaws. In 2014, former Governor Uduaghan sited a recycling
plant in the community, a project that the government had planned to inconspicuously
undertake. However, in the months ahead, luck would smile on Ibusa as
former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Vice-Admiral Joseph Dele Ezeoba
(rtd), an Ibusa indigene as the nation’s Chief of Naval Staff. The Naval Chief,
in his brief stay in office added to the community, a naval school. In 2016, the
school was officially renamed University of Science, Arts and Maritime and on
July 1, 2016, the present Chief of Staff announced plans for the school to be
jointly administered by the Federal Government of Nigeria and foreigners. This university
became one of the biggest projects ever attracted to the Anioma region in
recent times and by far, the biggest project in Ibusa since 1970 when the
General Hospital was commissioned.
Post-1990 period also recorded some execrable events;
the community became overwhelmed with darkness for nearly a decade and the
situation remains so. Worse still, unlike in the 1970s, the community can no longer
boast of portable water. Social analysts and commentators have also noted the
community to have suffered its worst in terms of moral direction and
value-system because the period was characteristic of advanced fee fraud
popularly called 419.
From the above analysis you will have discovered that
Ibusa is steadily returning to a former less advanced state.
How
the Ibusa youths have fared
Having broadly analyzed the social development of
Ibusa under pre-1990 and post-1990 eras, the question now is how have the Ibusa
youths fared? It has been submitted that about 51% of the sociopolitical vices
among the youths of Ibusa are perpetuated by non-indigenes residing in the
community. But sadly, these non-indigenes are often guided or aided by Ibusa
natives.
Our Ibusa society is so loose that our youths in
some cases aid non-indigenes to commit crimes in the community. Recently, I
discovered a youth group on Facebook in the name of Ibusa, created by a
non-Ibusa native and administered by four other non-Ibusa youths, yet
patronized by the membership of teeming Ibusa youths. I think it provokes
emotion, pity and an unfortunate development that we often fail to guard
jealously the things that concern us collectively. However, in the end, it
haunts us as a people.
Nature of youth inclined vices in Ibusa:
1. Advanced
fee fraud popularly called 419 (a person makes deceitful pretences and defrauds
another of his valuables usually money)
2. Cultism
(well, they call it ‘cultism’ but in proper English language, it is called
‘gangsterism)
3. Illegal
sale of lands otherwise known as ‘egodinaoshia’ (a common intentional deception
in which a particular land is deceitfully sold to different people. Sometimes
too, the land may not belong to the seller)
4. ‘Chopulum’
(a common parlance for forcefully or unduly obtaining money from a person)
5. Electoral
violence (some youths allow themselves to be used by politicians to perpetuate unprovoked
aggression)
What
you should do as an Ibusa youth
1. Love
Ibusa with all your heart because you have no place to call your home other
than Ibusa. Some of you seated here especially the men may eventually become
our Obuzor, Senior Diokpa, Diokpa ogbe.
2. Contribute
your quota to the development of Ibusa. You have no other community to call
your own.
3. Allow
politicians to do their things. Don’t risk your life or die for anyone
4. ‘Chopulum’
is contemptibly paltry for the glorious career you must build for yourself
5. Stop
engaging in incessant or illegal sale of Ibusa lands or your children will have
nowhere to live in future
6. Build
your tomorrow by furthering yourself in education, attend seminars, workshops etc.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, we have
no place to call our home therefore, we must come together to build a stronger Ibusa
for ourselves. On this note, I thank you all
Being a Keynote Address Delivered by Elder Emeka
Esogbue at the Ibusa Youth Forum which held in Lagos in 2016
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