IN HIS book,The Challenge of Ikwerre Development in Nigeria,Okachikwu Dibia attempts an advocacy-cum-inspirational academic exposition of the Ikwerre people, their history, agonies and their quest for transformation.The book is a product of a deep-seated anger of a freeman in captivity. It clearly creates an impression that though the Ikwerre nation is located in a sovereign Nigeria, her people are still in bondage of identity and development; and that until this toga of mistaken identity is removed the Ikwerre people would find it difficult to go beyond their current level of perpetual under-development.The text is divided into five chapters of 387 pages. Chapter One traces origin of the Ikwerre people and attempts a linkage of the people with the Benin Kingdom and the Sudan. According to the author, the hitherto impression that gives the view that Ikwerre people are of Igbo extraction is not only erroneous but misleading. The population of the people, according to the author, stands at 1.4 million and they can easily be found in Emohua, Ikwerre, Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government Areas of Rivers State, South-South Nigeria.Dibia argues that Port Harcourt belongs to Rebisi people who are Ikwerres but denied opportunity to control the administration of the city over the years, first by Igbo when it was part of the Eastern Region and later by the Ijaw people following the creation of Rivers State in 1967. The landmass of Ikwerre covers about 21,000 sq km. On the strength of its population and resources, the Ikwerre people, the author maintains, deserve about 27 per cent of the income of Rivers State Government or about 1 per cent of the Federation Account.In short, the chapter enumerates the critical challenges of the Ikwerre, which has to do with misplaced identity or identity crisis, as an average Ikwerre man is either perceived as Igbo or Ijaw.The next chapter reveals how the Ikwerre people came into contact with the Western World in about 1849. Following the partition of Africa in Berlin, Ikwerre fell under the control of the British Colonial Administration. Over the years, the various values and ideals of Ikwerre were gradually eroded. Lands were taken away from Ikwerre by the Federal Government, State government, corporate organisations and individuals. The denial of Ikwerre indigenes in participating in the governance of the area continues even during and after colonial administration, such that the Ikwerre language is not allowed to be spoken in the church. There are cases of imposition of Igbo names on Ikwerre children, streets, roads, compounds, villages and towns in the then Eastern Region.In order to advance the interest of Ikwerre and improve her lots, the author outlines some political strategies to be employed as panacea towards enhancing Ikwerre participation in government.Consequently, the book deals with Ikwerre growth and development. The author contends that over the years, there has been growth in Ikwerre in terms of increases in social, educational, infrastructural and economic activities but development is lacking. This is as a result of the inability of the Ikwerre people to produce items that are required for her economic development.Dibia, therefore, argues that Ikwerre development must be rooted in her major endowments and traditional occupations such as the production ofIji,Monowiri,OknuandRufuwith the use of modern technology.The author laments that some of the problems bedeviling the Ikwerre nation include internal rancor among its influential people and state-imposed crises. These problems have created division among Ikwerre sons and daughters, and therefore made cohesion and better organisation impossible.Therefore, the author lays emphasis on the need for self-awareness and better organisation ability among the Ikwerre so as to attract better results for the people. The author recommends the articulation of a social philosophy for Ikwerre development like setting up of a central traditional leadership; all of which will work in one way or the other to advance the interest of the people home and abroad.
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