The Executive Director of Optimistic Outlook, a non-governmental organisation, Mr. Somi Uranta, has called on the Federal Government to make haste and pay reparations to oil-producing Niger Delta area for the degradation and pollution the area has suffered since oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in Oloibiri in the late 1950s.
Uranta, who is also the younger brother of the late activist, Tony Uranta, made this call yesterday in Lagos as part of activities to formally unveil his NGO.
He insisted that the current condition of the area has reached an embarrassing situation, saying unless the area was properly taken care of, things would continue not to be well with the country.
He likened Niger Delta, which he claimed produced more than 90 per cent of the resources with which other parts of the country was developed, to a proverbial woman, who gives birth to twins and triplets each time she delivers but neglected.
His words: “Once upon a time there lived a very productive and fertile woman who always bore twins and triplets every time she gets close to her husband. She was so productive that her community became envious of her family and then conspired and killed her husband.
“They took her children away and commenced raping and abusing spree on her. The community so debased, bartered and bespattered this woman that she couldn’t even set her eyes on any of her children, not to talk of reaping from the fruit of her labour.
“After a long while, the community became diseased. The Laws of Retributive Justice, of Boomerang, of Karma, of cause and effect etc. has set in. Things have fallen greatly apart and the centre can no longer hold. Every single step forward results in 10 steps backward. The only panacea, the only solution to resolving the problems confronting the community is to do a restitution, an atonement for the mindless evils meted out to this woman and her family.
“The pitiful story of this woman and her family typifies the Nigerian State and the Niger Delta, where over 95 per cent of her export earnings come from since 1958 when oil was discovered in Oloibiri, present day,” he narrated.
