Prince Woke
The Executive Director of Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action), Dr.Isaac Osuoka, has asserted that scriptures are deliberately misinterpreted in churches to rob the poor.
Mr Osuoka asserted the Niger Delta Anti-Corruption Learning Summit, which was held in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, May 27th, 2025, with the theme “Building Stakeholders’ Resilience for Sustained Accountability and Development in the Niger Delta.”
Osuoka said “Part of the challenge in Niger Delta is corruption with idea that people in public office can use funds for private gain. Large sums of money are budgeted for constituency projects, but the impact can hardly be seen
“We have a situation where those in power keep people impoverished. They weaponise poverty in order to turn people into political thugs. We call on those marginalised to realise their situation and resist it.
“Corruption is happening even in our churches. Scripture is misinterpreted to rob the poor. Religious leaders cannot tackle those in power due to their wrongdoings. The Niger Delta and the country at large cannot continue the way it is going. We need a change.
“Every system must be judged by how it responds to the most vulnerable. If you want to judge the dividends of democracy,you have to go to the waterside, to the communities, to see their hospitals and roads.Today, in Rivers State, there is no pipe-borne water. The majority of people are still drinking water containing benzene and chromium every day.Rivers State,Niger Delta should take a stand against impunity and corruption.”
In his goodwill message, EFCC Representative Mr Elijah Bakam said, “We are too rich to be poor because we are so endowed. Citizens’ response to the fight against corruption is too low. For instance, we have a gathering of parents promoting corruption of various grades, like cybercrime.”
In her goodwill message, ICPC representative Mrs Ekere Usiere said, “We are very passionate about the fight against corruption. Before corruption kills us, we need to kill it. We have a system that tracks constituency projects. Let us start changing the way we look at things. Projects assigned to our communities are our projects.”
Dr Etim Frank,Department of Political Sciences and Public Administration,University of Uyo, while presenting a paper on “Sustaining Collaboration for Inclusive Development and Public Accountability in the Niger Delta,” said EFCC and ICPC need to expose their ideas and processes because petitioning ICPC and EFCC before they take action is becoming tedious.
“Corruption is hydra-headed in Niger Delta. Corruption is arrested development.No House of Assembly is able to check excesses of the executive in Niger Delta. The crude oil in Niger Delta must dry up no matter how will pray. So we must use our resources to secure our future before the oil dries up,” he said.
