TANTITA: Why Unleash Hell on our Waters and Abort the Surplus inflow of Bonga Fish in 2023?

By Ogisi Excel – March 26, 2023

An aged African proverb says that there cannot be fire without smoke. As such, quite often rumours hold some elements of truth. This is to the backdrop that people have begun to whisper into the ears of one another that the “River is about to open or people are moving irons to camp already.”

It will be cruel to argue if the decades-long oil bunkering business has created a livelihood for hundreds of thousands of people within the Niger Delta, however, it is high time we asked ourselves if we as a people will prefer to have our tables set at the expense of our Waters poisoned and corrupt the air we breathe.

Do we fail to take note of the economic boom witnessed from the riverine since the beginning of 2023 even with the absence of illegal oil bunkering merchandise; in our casual enquiries from traders at the popular Ogbe-ijoh Market in Warri, Delta State they all expressed gladness about Ethmalosa Fimbriata popularly known as ‘Bonga Fish’ and other aquatic products coming early in 2023 and better yet in large quantities hereby creating a financial fortune for fishers and traders.

Furthermore, anyone who travels frequently across terrains such as Bernet, Batan, Ekpogbene, Gbaramatu, etc can see the remarkable recovery of aquatic life. The writer hopes the owners and occupants of the Delta riverine will not allow their imminent hunger (albeit a pressing need) to cause the further decay of their habitat and create harm for future generations as it will be too shameful to begin a ruin of our ecosystem whilst other parts of the world are active on the mark to achieving a green and clean ecosystem.