Most people from Bonny community grew up with stories of achievements made by many sons and daughters of the area in diverse fields of human endeavour. The generally positive and adventurous spirit of the average Bonny man or woman is one that is inborn and deeply etched on the psyche. Reason for this is not far-fetched because ahead of every generation of Bonny indigenes lie an array of men and women who have distinguished themselves in their chosen professions or calling and serve as a challenge to the upcoming generations.

From the first indigenous Nigeria Air Force general and Chief of Air Staff, General George Kurubo, down the line the list is endless. In business we have greats like the late Adango Kalada Hart, who was at one time Chairman of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, was pioneer Director General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), among others. In politics, there were formerly Tonye Long-John, and currently, Randolph Brown, as members of the House of Representatives; George Tolofari, Aye Pepple and currently Abinye Pepple, at the State House of Assembly; Amal Pepple was Minister of Housing; while the late Friday Tolofari, his son, George Tolofari, Toru Ofili, and Patricia Simon-Hart have been at various times Commissioners in Rivers State. Even the United Kingdom Parliament has been graced by notable Bonny indigenes like Meg Halliday, amongst others.

Other facets of society has witnessed the professional imprint of a Bonny indigene. Just recently, Bonny indigenes, Henry Halliday, served as Chief of Protocol to Governor Rotimi Amaechi; Clinton Dan-Jumbo served as Manager, Government Relations and Technical Assistant to the Executive Director of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA); Boma Willie-Pepple served as Special Assistant to Senator Magnus Abe; his younger brother, Fubara, and Sofiri Ezekiel-Hart, both served as Special Assistants to the immediate past Commissioners for Water Resources and Finance, respectively; while Godswill Jumbo served as Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past Deputy Governor. Also, Frederick Tolofari served on the State House of Assembly Commission, amongst several others in diverse fields.

However, the question remains as to what extent these forays into diverse career paths and successes have impacted positively on the fortunes of the Ibani nation. Though Bonny names dot the landscape of successful careers across Nigeria’s multifaceted national life it is yet to rub off on how the community fares in terms of development and economic fortunes. The leadership question still stares us in the face in a very uncomfortable way.

Bonny as a community, though enjoying 24/7 electricity on the mainland, yet a has large swathes of its hinterland comprising several towns and villages that make up the local government area living in darkness with no access to electricity. Water has yet to run in homes as it is still being conveyed in rickety tankers mainly on the mainland while the hinterland grapples with the abject lack of portable, drinking water with many of the villagers resorting to dug-out wells to get water. Most roads across the island are generally not motorable due to their being riddled with potholes, lacking drainages and very narrow. The towns and villages in the hinterland are all cut off from the mainland due to the suspension of the Bonny Link Road and Bridges that would have linked them to the mainland. Bonny itself is disconnected from the rest of Nigeria as the Bonny-Bodo Road that would have linked her with other parts of the State is yet to be completed despite repeated promises by successive administrations.

All these factors combine to hamper the economic boom the community should have been enjoying. Most traders have to suffer the stress of sea travel and the exorbitant fares of transporting their wares to the island. Consumers are forced to compensate this hardship by buying such commodities at highly exorbitant prices thus jerking up the cost of living on the island. Workers of the various multinationals on the island have had to sustain the capital flight associated with living and investing off the community. They earn here but spend the money elsewhere. This has become inevitable because of the security challenges that has compromised the serenity of the area once regarded as the most peaceful community in the Niger Delta. These security challenges have been caused mainly by first the sporadic visits of armed robbers attacking banks on the island in speedboats, then the sordid militancy era and more recently pistol-wielding  petty thieves and cult-related clashes across the community. Not to mention the activities of sea pirates that attack on the sea route to and from Port Harcourt.

These sorry situation, as  inexplicable as it is, is made worse by the fact that the community is host to several facilities belonging to international oil and gas companies (IOCs) such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT), Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, Chevron, amongst others. It is also home to the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Abalamabie.

The Bonny River serves as gateway into the nation’s South-Eastern business hub viz Port Harcourt, the business capital of the Niger Delta; Onne, host to the Federal Ocean Terminal, Oil and Gas Free Zone (OGFZA), and the Institute of Oceanography; Eleme, host to the Indorama Petrochemical Complex, and co-host with Okrika to the Port Harcourt Refinery.

These facts come handy given the irony associated with the community that serves the economic interest of a country like Nigeria in no small way reeling under the throes of the abject lack of social amenities, dearth of economic opportunities, and an economically disenfranchised population. The said multinationals have brazenly and shamelessly shirked and continue to run away from living up to their corporate social responsibilities to their host community. The Federal Government itself the major beneficiary of the economic activities on the island that is negatively impacting the environment as a result of the gas flaring has shown no seriousness in compensating the community adequately.

For a very long while successive administrations have looked the other way when issues affecting Bonny comes into focus. However, those issues are too germane to the corporate wellbeing of Nigeria as a nation to be wished away. The questions that should be asked are: can the number of soldiers deployed in Bonny be able to manage any uprising that would result from the resentment of the people when it boils over? Does it serve the cause of social and environmental justice for a people’s resources to be utilised for the general benefit of a nation while the owners are unjustly disenfranchised from such benefits? Is it the proper way of addressing the justified agitation and demands of a community by dealing with their leaders even when such dealings have been found to not serve the interest of the generality of the people? What is the cost of addressing the compensatory fallout of utilising the natural resources of the people?

If the answers to the above questions are in the negative rather than affirmative then it calls to question why addressing the issues they remain a mirage. The blame ordinarily would go to the gatekeepers of the community being the political, traditional, religious and opinion leaders. Every Bonny indigene cannot walk to the Presidency to ask for one benefit or the other. It behoves those whose responsibility it is to promote, project and defend the interest of the generality of the people to utilise every avenue to put in the front burner issues germane to the progress and development of the area. It is their duty to make demands and be unabashed about it with a view to maximising available opportunities for the betterment of the people of the area.

Why can’t the whole of Bonny be connected by roads and bridges? Why can’t water run in homes like electricity is on the mainland? Why can’t the rural communities such as  Orupiri, Oloma, Iloma, Ayaminima, Sangama, Burukiri, Georgekiri, Polokiri, Agbalama, Banigo-Isile, Dan-Jumbo, Iyoba, Ererekiri, Fibiri, Kalaibiama, Dema-Abbey, Beresiri, Ayama, and several others be connected to the electricity grid that serves the island? Why can’t the roads in and around Bonny be remodelled with drainages and pedestrian walkways and possibly medians integrated into them? This would make them safer, more motorable and also preserve more pedestrian lives. So far the only major medical facility on the island is the Bonny General Hospital. Presently it is as antiquated as antiques in a decrepit and long abandoned monastery. The facilities are begging for critical overhaul. Not only is it understaffed, the staff are severely behind the times in terms of hands-on professional know-how. The educational sector is worse off.

Then there is the surging population of unemployed youths both graduates and non-graduates. Many of these youths on both sides of the divide I understand have competences in diverse areas. The natural and worrisome fallout of having such mammoth crowd of unemployed youths in any community is primarily the natural predilection to resort to crime to survive. Then there is the availability for unwholesome tendencies such as thuggery, politically motivated violence and restiveness. All these are very discomforting scenarios that are basically needless where the leadership chooses to do the needful.

Doing the needful would begin with harnessing the opportunities, varied as it may, available to the Ibani nation. Who is where and doing what? Those opportuned to be at the legislative houses in the country be it Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly, and Local Government Legislative Assembly should rise to the occasion by sponsoring, supporting and influencing the enactment of laws that would directly or tangentially benefit the community. Those serving in any aspect of the executive arm of government from federal to state to local government should initiate or cause to initiate policies, programmes and projects that would positively impact the area. Bonny indigenes in the private sector should consider investment opportunities that would open up the area, create jobs, create wealth and build entrepreneurs in and around the community. Opinion leaders should become vocal and proactive in their advocacy of issues that are germane to the holistic development of the area. Political, religious and other mundane, pecuniary and pedestrian considerations should be set aside at this time as they would be defeatist, counterproductive and utterly unhelpful to us as a people.

Corporate entities doing business on the island should no longer sleep with their two eyes closed when the surrounding environment of where they make their billions are grossly inadequate. They should not wait to be told to rise to the occasion and discharge their corporate social responsibilities. It is not that they are completely obdurate but they need to do more to meet up with what is commensurate to what they are taking out of the area. Nasty stories of compromises in the engagement processes such as bringing in non-indigenes to fill up indigenes positions are to be modest unacceptable and worse still insane and provocative. A maddening dimension to it is bandying illogical excuses like “there are not qualified or competent indigenes to man critical positions giving rise to the need to bring in outsiders”. Such rationalisation of wrongdoings smacks of taking a whole community cum ethnic nationality for granted and poking spite in their faces. Such trend have the unpalatable outcome of fostering acrimony and generating an aggressive attitude from the victim community towards the culpable companies and should be discarded for the better and more rewarding benefit of host community/investor relations.

The Federal Government on its part should be forthcoming in accommodating host community agitations and interests in its bid to drive foreign direct investments (FDIs) homewards. While we appreciate the fact such FDIs when consumated locally will provide jobs, empower individuals and communities and boost the economic potentials of the nation and its federating units it is trite that the investors cum multinationals get up close personal with the CSR imperatives associated with doing business here. In their quest to privilege us with investments in our country they also reap huge economic benefits, provide their citizens with overseas work experience, and boost the international outlook of their businesses, nationals and home economies. On the other hand our environment is negatively impacted, our livelihoods destroyed, our people intimidated and impoverished and a lot of other negative consequences. We deserve commensurate compensation for these.

The advantages that Bonny as a community holds are myriad. It is the home of civilization South of Nigeria. Historians have found this very helpful. It is beautifully bequeathed with verdant vegetation and virgin environment waiting to be harnessed investment-wise. It is a natural tourism destination with beautiful, azure shores lining the Atlantic Ocean from Fibiri on the Western flank to Finima in the centre and then to Agaja and Ifoko on the Eastern end bounding Oyorokoto, the largest fishing port in West Africa at the boundary between Bonny and Andoni local government areas. Its seas, Rivers and rivulets are home to millions of species of edible fish rich in proteins. Above every other positives about her is the tremendous hospitality of her people. It’s a destination of excellence in many respects and as such should given the right attention to develop it holistically.

Godswill Jumbo, a Port Harcourt based media executive and development expert, wrote this article in 2015