Feature/OPED
The Weeping Women of Odimodi Community
By Asiayei Enaibo
The earth will completely lack its existence without women. The complementing value to the totality of women is the true essence of God’s complete creation. He (God) knew the value and took the most precious soul out of man for the creation of a woman for continuation of the Earthly evolution. So, a woman is closer to God as the last of his finest achievements in creation. So when women weep in pain, the soul of God is angry with her plea and petitions.
A society governed by men creates obnoxious laws in the old tradition to deprive women without any explanatory values to the laws. Even though the most inquisitive woman will ask, there are no answers from the men to it. Yes, in antiquity, men dominantory leadership was characterised by greed, selfishness, and superiority claim over their women, communal men made laws, till date, some communities in Ijawland still practice this uncultured act in the pool of civilization where education has refined the minds of men and women in our society.
The Odimodi community is affronting the totality of the female gender. Odimodi community is far from the Crusade of gender sensitivity. Then, the women are about to adapt to the principles of JP Clark’s The Wive’s Revolt in the Odimodi community as the women can’t bear the pains of male chauvinism anymore.
As culture is dynamic in human existence, as humans progress and evolve within the space of time, changes take different shapes and dimensions. It is in this regard that the words of High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo become a pinnacle of hope and transformation within the cultural space of Ijaw spirituality where the High Chief said in his conversation, about what is regarded as Sei-agonoweri in Ijaw. Chief, in his inquisitive spiritual pathways, highlighted who created the moons, the sun, and the seasons. All these are created by God. God never created any month that is characterised by evil. All months are zodiacally significant to man.
So, under this cultural evolution, Dr. Tompolo discarded in Ijaw spirituality that there is no Sei-Agonowei within the context of time as evolution and cultural processes take different shapes and dimensions.
Father Igologolo, Aziza came to perfect the Ijaw’s Journey to the right things and make women sacred beings in Ijaw Spirituality—a religion of inclusiveness in Egbesu Deity as well as the feminine form of gods well known in Ijaw as Ibolomoboere, Ziba-Opuoru. This alone defines Dr. TOMPOLO as Jesus in another form.
Odimodi is a community in the Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. Weeping Women share their challenges and deep pains within the cultural space of denial of their rights and hope for a reformation that could create new visions that will transcend beyond the agonies they face.
A voice that echoes runs to the creeks and waves to the crescendo that recreates another new hope for the younger generations, particularly for the women of Odimodi community, Iduwini Kingdom in Delta state. And to begin with that, JP Clark’s The Wive’s Revolt became handy to the green space of women’s voices within the Niger Delta region. It is in this regard that Asiayei Enaibo was called upon to echo the weeping voices of the women of the Odimodi community, and this is the story.
Odimodi, that oil-rich community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State where women have no voice, where their fishing canoes and nets are consumed by pollution, chained down and mouths tied against their existence–Which gods did this to the women?
They bear children without corresponding female benefits. When they make attempts to speak, the men crow against them with communal laws, a threat to be locked in their sacred Town Hall where they barred women from entering in issues that affect the well being of the community called the “Eluwe Ware, known as the house of their progenitor.
Odimodi is a land of many scholars and professors, but their women, sisters had no fair share of oil spillage benefits where the chronic disease birthed on their shoulders and children through polluted waters and on the gill of the fishes caught in their nets. Yes, they have to take their fate like JP Clark’s Wives Revolt to demonstrate a change for fair share and women inclusiveness in the governance of oil Companies’ compensation sharing formula.
According to Doris Ingo, in her voice, “I felt the pains of denigration, subjugation, oppression, and total denial in our fathers and mothers Land.”
The recent OIL company compensation sharing formula where men could have a share of 5 million naira, or 5 hundred thousand. women will be given five thousand naira only, and any contrary voice from them, the men rebuke them on their faces that they are women, and they don’t have a right to anything is nothing short of internal marginalization. Doris said, “These men refuse to learn from the Examples of Dr Tompolo in his sharing formula. In Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, men are 60 per cent, women 40 per cent, but Odimodi community men take all and intimidate us again. In Odimodi, women are disenfranchised to vote, and vie for elective positions generally is a big problem for us. Our women are being imprisoned in their land. If you go to our neighbouring communities, women are playing active community engagements as well as Chiefs and making progress in life.
“We, the women, can’t accept it anymore. I summoned this courage to talk to you to be our voice. Let the transformation of Nigeria’s leadership begin with our communities against bad leadership.”
Weep not. Oh, women of Odimodi. Yes, one wrapper tied their waist when oil companies refused to pay their company workers, their husbands. They make women protest for their benefits during oil servicing contracts. The men drive the women to their husbands’ places and ask the single girls to go and marry and say this money belongs to the men.
What sacrilege did Odimodi women, daughters commit before their forefathers to pass through a generational curse of deprivation?
I heard a cry from the creeks, a forest of women without hope that if they can’t speak through the Talking Drum, their hope is lost till eternity. Doris Ingo weeps in pain like a woman in labour, the pills of the cry echo through waves and storms: “It is time to protest against our fathers, husbands, brothers, and uncles to change their ways.
“This time, we are taking protests against our fathers, husbands, brothers, and uncles who refused to give a fair share of oil money that belonged to the land.”
“Who are women in this land?” The men asked.
Ingo replied: “We are the women who made this land fertile with children. Without women, there is no community and no nation. Nine months, men in their wombs disfigured their natural shapes, but when they come out from our wombs, they create obnoxious laws and deprive us of the right to social and communal benefits. When men lived to their end times, they buried them in the town, but when our mothers died they took them to a forest far from home, yes you can’t even do your mother’s remembrance in Odimodi. It is a taboo in this modern generation. If it is a tradition, this tradition is long overdue to be reviewed. With all the education of our men, no one has said anything to transform this broken idea like JP Clark’s poem of “Ibadan”
If Professor Enaijite E. Ojaruega heard this, the feminist would ask all the women to take the Nigerian Protest against bad governance from their community and will take advocacy tips for total reformative measures. It has to start from Odimodi.
This untold story of women’s discrimination and denigration in the Niger Delta region is what late Prof. JP Clark artistically addressed in his Play, The Wive’s Revolt and I dramatically see this play enacted in a reality show if the men in Odimodi refuse to have a fair share of the oil money coming to the town and strategically position women in the affairs of the community Executive, a time will come the daughters will stage a movement against their fathers, uncles and brothers.
And if it is a curse, the women are willing to embark on a spiritual journey to the Grand Master of Ijaw Spirituality in Oporoza, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo to revise it with offerings so they too can benefit and have a place in the oil-rich community.
Wailing women, their voices must be heard as Eniye Ingo expressed the grief of internal marginalization within the community.
“Another major issue is the fact that women in that community don’t vote. Where decisions are made, women are not involved in meetings or forums, even on issues that affect them directly. Women are not represented in the government or in any normal town meetings that occur regularly in open town halls. When meetings are called, the town crier makes it clear that only men are invited. The decisions taken in these meetings affect both women and men, yet women have no voice. In a world that has developed to the extent we are today, it is unacceptable that women do not have a voice in their community.”
That is one issue—they are not represented in any way and they don’t have a voice.
Secondly, they don’t vote. In Chairmanship elections, women are disenfranchised. Despite the significant population of women in the community, they are rendered voiceless. Their internal voices are muted. This time, we have emerged from the depths to speak.
Another issue is that, because they don’t vote, they don’t hold elective positions. If you look at the cabinet of the Odimodi community, there are no women—not as secretary, financial secretary, PR, or any position. If this continues, there will never be a female political figure from Odimodi, regardless of their education level. Even with a PhD, they cannot hold an elective position in the community. They don’t vote, just as it was in the pre-colonial and colonial era. This has not changed.
Yet, if Odimodi is listed among civilized communities, it will claim to be one. However, in this world where development, civilization, and globalization have occurred, and women are making impacts everywhere, Odimodi still covers its women with tarpaulin. They go to school, become classmates and colleagues with women making waves, celebrate figures like Dora Akunyili and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, but stifle their own sisters. These sisters are not entitled to the community’s common wealth.
The men have so stifled their sisters and daughters that they are not given a platform to make an impact in this competitive world. In neighboring communities and ethnic groups, there is stiff competition, yet Odimodi covers its own. How far can they go in a world where numbers are power when a significant part of their population is relegated?
The sad, untold story of Odimodi Community women is a tale of pre-colonialism in the modern era, where women’s authorship in English Literature was often under male names.
Yet, nobody says anything due to the culture of silence. This evil has been normalized to the extent that women who marry into the community from outside are more relevant than the Odimodi daughters. This shows how insignificant Odimodi women are made to feel in all areas, including the common wealth, which is finally bringing this issue to a head. This final straw is about the distribution of common wealth money. These issues have been happening for too long, and there will come a time when enough is truly enough.
The pain endured over time, anguish, and deprivation have made us women speak through the media. We will bear any threatening sword that faces us. Eniye Ingo opens the book of women’s lamentations, hoping for a change for the born and unborn girl child in the Odimodi community.
If any man doubts what I have said, let them tell us the history and unravel the mystery for us to benefit as women.
It is appalling to my readers of this chronicles of the weeping Women of Odimodi to read the story from the lips of Doris Ingo, a great daughter of the land who is hopeful that the media will help to put an end to such entrenched selfishness in the sharing of golden opportunities meant for the women however hard their gender is denigrated by the fathers, brothers and uncles to take a step for changes before international communities and women advocacy groups join their voices.
Asiayei Enaibo, a cultural journalist, writes from GbaramatuVoice
By Louis Strydom
Last year, I argued in my piece Lean Carbon, Just Power that a limited and temporary increase in African carbon emissions is justified to meet the continent’s urgent electrification needs.
That position was not a retreat from climate ambition. It laid out a credible lean-carbon pathway that reconciles power systems development realities with climate arithmetic.
The central question remains: not whether emissions must fall, but how much temporary headroom is tolerable to accelerate energy prosperity for a continent responsible for roughly 4% of global CO2.
The flexibility equation
The future of Africa’s electrification is neither “all renewables tomorrow” nor “gas indefinitely”. Intermittent renewables alone cannot power the continent’s fragile grids at scale. Solar and wind require highly dispatchable power capacity to ensure the reliability of the system.
The real choice is not between renewables and fossil fuels in the abstract; it is between flexible firm power that complements solar and wind, and the de facto alternative: the increasing reliance on high-emissions diesel backup and widespread grid instability.
I argue that a realistic transition strategy must embrace “a capped carbon overdraft”: a strictly bounded, time-limited deployment of flexible power plants running on gas that supports the deployment of renewables and declines according to a binding schedule. This strategy means accepting minimal, temporary emissions to allow for a faster, cleaner and more resilient clean transition.
The response to this argument drew serious scrutiny. Three objections deserve a direct answer.
First: Does the case for flexible thermal power hold on a full life cycle basis?
It does. Our power system studies in Nigeria, Mozambique, and Southern Africa consistently reach the same conclusion – the least-cost long-term system is renewables-led, with flexible engines balancing variability. That holds across capital, fuel, maintenance, carbon pricing, and decommissioning. South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan 2025, approved in October, makes the point concretely: it projects 105 GW of new capacity by 2039 with renewables as backbone, yet includes 6 GW of gas-to-power by 2030 explicitly for grid stability. Even the continent’s most industrialised economy concludes it needs dispatchable thermal capacity to underpin a renewables-heavy system. The question is not whether firm power is needed, but how to make it as clean and flexible as possible.
Second: Does this argument talk over Africa’s ambition to leapfrog fossil fuels?
No. It is designed around that ambition. Wärtsilä launched the world’s first large-scale 100% hydrogen-ready engine power plant concept in 2024, certified by TÜV SÜD, with orders opening in 2025. Ammonia engine tests now demonstrate up to 90% greenhouse gas reductions versus diesel. These are not roadmaps. They are ready-to-use technologies. The honest difficulty is timing. Sub-Saharan grids averaged 56 hours of monthly outages in 2024. The African diesel generator market is growing at nearly 7% a year, projected to reach 1.3 billion dollars by 2030. Nigerian businesses spend up to 40% of operational costs on fuel for backup power. That is the real counterfactual – not a continent neatly powered by sun and wind, but a billion-dollar diesel habit deepening every year the grid stays unreliable. Even Germany is tendering 10 GW of hydrogen-ready gas plants with mandated conversion by 2035 to 2040. If Europe’s largest economy needs transitional thermal flexibility to backstop an 80% renewables target, insisting low-income African nations skip that step is not climate leadership. It is development deferred.
Third: Does the carbon comparison include full life cycle methane?
It must. Methane leakage materially worsens the climate profile of gas-to-power because methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO₂. If leakage exceeds a few per cent of production, gas loses its advantage over coal on a 20-year timeframe.
But the IEA notes that 40% of fossil methane emissions could be eliminated at no net cost with existing technology. My claim that gas has a lower footprint than coal is conditional on aggressive methane management – eliminating flaring and venting, enforcing measurement under frameworks like the EU Methane Regulation and OGMP 2.0. Without those conditions, the arithmetic fails. But the real choice in most African markets is not between pristine gas and pristine renewables. It is between ageing coal, a growing fleet of unregulated diesel generators, and new fuel-flexible plants that start or transition to gas and convert to hydrogen or ammonia on a contractual schedule. Displacing diesel and coal with well-managed gas in future-fuel-ready engines cuts CO₂, local pollution, and water use now, while building the infrastructure for fuels that eliminate fossil dependence.
The critics are right to demand rigour, full life cycle accounting, methane transparency, and credible timelines. Those are exactly the conditions that make a lean-carbon pathway work. Africa does not seek permission to pollute. It seeks the tools to end energy poverty while peaking emissions early and declining fast. Build engine power plants that run on available fuel today. Mandate their conversion tomorrow. The carbon overdraft stays small. The payback stays fast. And the technology to switch to sustainable fuels is already here.
Louis Strydom is the Director of Growth and Development for Africa and Europe at Wärtsilä Energy
You’re back home after mudik (homecoming), the suitcases are unpacked, and the excitement of being with family for Eid already feels like a long time ago. But just because Eid is over doesn’t mean the special connection of being with family has to fade. Here are the best group chat features for beating the post-Raya blues.
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Keep The Vibe Going by Sharing Ramadan Highlights
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Keep the Memories Rolling with Status: Your Status feed doesn’t have to go quiet just because you’re back home. Post the most memorable throwback photos from the Eid reunion and add questions to spark responses like “What was your favourite Raya dish?” Add music and stickers to Status to keep the energy alive.
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Express Yourself with Text Stickers: Turn inside jokes, family slogans, or a favourite Eid quote into a Text Sticker. It’s a quick, personalised way to add some warmth and humour to the group chat.
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Skip the Stock Cards, Use Meta AI for a Personal Touch: Don’t just send a generic “Hi” or “Good morning” in the family chat. Use Meta AI to make your personalised greeting card or quickly transform a single photo into an animated image to send a heartfelt, animated check-in.
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Schedule The Next Reunion
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Plan Your Next Post-Raya Get-Together: The blues often hit when the fun ends. Keep spirits up by creating a new Event in the group chat right away. Add event reminders so everyone doesn’t miss the opportunity to connect.
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Schedule a Call, Don’t Just Say “Call Me”: Carry on the family tradition of staying connected, even when you’re miles apart. Tap + then Schedule a call in the Calls tab to lock in a regular “Post-Raya Check-in” video call. Send a reminder so everyone can join on time.
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Keep the Raya Spirit Alive by Getting Everyone Involved
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Assign yourself a fun “tag” in the family group: Are you the one who always ends up cooking? Or the one who plans the itinerary for family trips? Or the master of GIFs who keeps everyone amused? Use the Member Tag feature in the group to give yourself a witty, funny, or practical role—”Next Event Planner” or “Tech Support Guru,” maybe?. Member tags can be customised for each group you’re in.
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Share a Spontaneous ‘I Miss You’ Video: Did you just see something that reminded you of the reunion? Press and hold the camera icon to record a spontaneous Video Notes message. It’s faster than typing and instantly brings warmth and real-time emotion back into the group.
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Digital Hugs: Making the Long-Distance Moment Count
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Share a Moving Memory: Don’t just send a still photo. Share a Live or Motion Photo to capture the ambient sound and movement of a recent Eid moment. It makes your memories feel more vivid, personal, and real—a perfect antidote to feeling disconnected.
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Your Group Chat Background: Create a vibe with Meta AI: Don’t settle for a plain background for your family group chat. Use Meta AI to generate unique, custom chat wallpapers that reflect something uniquely memorable to your family: be it food, travel or a sport that unites everyone. Every time you open the chat, you’ll feel the warmth, not the distance.
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Make Sure No One Misses Out
No More FOMO: Send the Conversation History: Just added a family member who couldn’t make it to mudik? When adding a new member, you can now send up to 100 recent messages with the Group Message History feature. No need to recap; let them catch up instantly and feel included from the first tap.
By Olumide Balogun
Nigerians are natural explorers. Whether finding the best supplier in Balogun market, hunting down a recipe for party jollof, or looking for the most affordable flight out of Lagos, we are always searching.
Today, human curiosity is expanding, and the way Nigerians express it is evolving. We are speaking to our phones, snapping photos of things we like, and asking incredibly complex questions. For the Nigerian business owner, understanding this shift is a massive opportunity to get discovered by eager customers.
Here are four ways AI is rewriting how Nigerians search, along with simple steps to ensure your business is exactly what they find.
1. Visual Discovery is the New Normal
People are increasingly using their cameras to discover the world around them. Picture someone spotting a brilliant pair of sneakers in traffic and wanting to know exactly where to buy them. Today, shoppers simply take out their phones and search visually.
Tools like Google Lens now process over 25 billion visual searches every single month, and many of these searches are from people looking to make a purchase.
How to adapt: Your product’s visual appeal is paramount. Make sure you upload clear, high-quality images of your products to your website and social media. When a customer snaps a picture of a bag that looks like the one you sell, having great photos ensures your business pops up in their visual search results.
2. Conversations Replace Simple Keywords
Shoppers are asking highly nuanced, conversational questions. They are typing queries like, “Where can I find affordable leather shoes in Ikeja that are open on Sundays and do home delivery?”
To handle these detailed questions, new features like AI Overviews act like a superfast librarian that has read everything on the web. It provides users with a perfectly organised summary and links to dig deeper.
How to adapt: Answer your customers’ questions before they even ask. Create detailed, helpful content on your website and fully update your Google Business Profile. List your opening hours, delivery areas, and unique services clearly. This ensures the technology easily finds your details and recommends your business when a customer asks a highly specific question.
3. Intent Matters More Than Exact Words
Predicting every single word a customer might use to find your product is a huge task for any business owner. Thankfully, modern search technology focuses on the underlying need behind a search.
If someone searches for “how to bring small dogs on flights,” AI understands that the person likely needs to buy an airline-approved pet carrier. The technology looks at the true intent of the shopper.
How to adapt: You no longer need to obsess over guessing exact keywords. By using AI-powered campaigns, you allow the technology to understand your products and match them to the customer’s true needs. Your business will show up for highly relevant searches, bringing you customers who are actively looking for solutions you provide.
4. Smart Assistants Handle the Heavy Lifting
Running a business in Nigeria requires incredible hustle. Managing digital marketing on top of daily operations takes significant time and energy. The next frontier in digital advertising introduces agentic capabilities, which hold a simple promise of delivering better results for your business with much less effort.
The technology now acts as your personalised assistant.
How to adapt: You can simplify your marketing by using the Power Pack of AI-driven campaigns, including Performance Max. You simply provide your business goals, your budget, and your creative assets like photos and videos. The AI automatically finds new, high-value customers across Google Search, YouTube, and the web. It adapts your ads in real time to match exactly what the shopper is looking for, allowing you to focus on running your business.
The language of curiosity is constantly expanding. Nigerians are discovering brands in entirely new ways using cameras, voice notes, and highly specific questions. By understanding these behaviours and embracing helpful AI tools, you can let the technology connect eager customers directly to your digital doorstep.
Olumide Balogun is a Director at Google West Africa
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