…commends peaceful zonal elections in Nigeria
The Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress of the Americas (INC-A), Ebikeme Amafini, has called on the Ijaw nation to replace the long-standing phrase “Ijaw struggle” with a more progressive “Ijaw development agenda.”
Amafini made the appeal in a statement congratulating the parent body, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) in Nigeria, on the peaceful and successful conduct of its recent Western, Central, and Eastern Zone elections ahead of the national leadership polls.
He stressed the need for a transformation in both language and mindset guiding Ijaw activism, describing the term “Ijaw struggle” as counterproductive.
“The term ‘Ijaw struggle’ has become a psychologically infectious label. It conjures the image of Sisyphus from Greek mythology, condemned to roll a boulder uphill only for it to tumble back down. That’s not the narrative we want tied to our collective agitations,” Amafini said.
He argued that rebranding the movement as a “development agenda” would reshape the collective consciousness of the Ijaw people, steering it toward tangible progress and sustainable change.
Amafini expressed hope “that a paradigm shift to ‘Ijaw development agenda’ would subconsciously redirect our mindset towards development, securing tangible outcomes, rather than using the gains of the agitations for personal advancement as happens in a mindset of struggle. The shift in terminology could promote integrity, transparency, and accountability among our leaders who rise to meet the challenge of Ijaw development.”
He also pledged the commitment of the newly inaugurated INC-A executive council, led by Dr. Ebizimo Nagberi, to actively champion development-focused initiatives for the Ijaw people both at home and in the diaspora.
Amafini promised that under the chairmanship of Dr. Nagberi, the new INC-A executive council, sworn in penultimate month in Houston, Texas, USA, “will relentlessly work and create initiatives that promote unity, economic empowerment, and overall developmental growth for Ijaws across Nigeria and the diaspora.”
