By Mbah Green Okem, Yenagoa
A major player in the Niger Delta religious circle, Apostle Zilly Aggrey has lauded the coming together of wives of traditional rulers in the region.
The general overseer of Royal House of Grace International Church made the commendation at the breakfast prayer session of the recent Niger Delta Queens Summit in Bayelsa which he led.
He told the women that, ‘mantle has been handed over to the queens of the Niger Delta’ noting that the meeting was divinely directed.
“When kings release their wives for a day or two, the king of kings must have directed it”.
He said the queens are positioned to be respected.
“There are things only women can understand in the Niger Delta that men cannot discern as with the woman of Samaria”, noting that it took the woman of Samaria to spread news of Jesus to her people.
Zilly Aggrey said the Niger Delta question has been with us for long tracing efforts to address it to the Justice Oputa panel in 1995, Late General Sani Abacha’s creation of Bayelsa State and 17 per cent derivation, Obasanjo’s establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and Late President Musa Yar’Adua’s creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta all of which have not solved the problem.
Said he, “All efforts of government has not been able to produce one major thing lacking which is peace. I have looked around and seen that no group except the queens can bring about peace in the Niger Delta because no matter how tough, the militants will listen to queens, Abuja too will listen. Only mothers know what it takes to carry a child in the womb for nine months and the process of bringing the baby out is between life and death….You must bring peace to the Niger Delta. When you call we will answer because the most dangerous thing is for a mother to curse her child”.
Lamenting the state of affairs in the region, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria state executive said the Niger Delta region by the quantum of oil it produces is supposed to be even more developed than Dubai.
“Our story in the Niger Delta is a pathetic and painful one. Dubai is not supposed to be better than the Niger Delta. In 2011, daily oil production from the region was 2.2million barrels daily, $15m which is N8billion daily yet today our villages are in deplorable conditions, with poor facilities and highly polluted environment, carbon causing breathing problems. Jonathan tried his best but they did not allow him to end. It is now in your hand, Apostle Zilly Aggrey advised the queens.
He charged them to commit to praying for all to bring about needed development and peace in the Niger Delta. He then prayed for boldness, fortitude, peace, unity among the queens.
