Dear Rivers State, the Clock is Ticking -By Ebenezar Wikina

2028

We have less than 5 years to start thinking of domestic energy generation using our natural gas, ocean breeze, and the sun. The IEA has said solar energy is set to overtake coal in energy generation for the first time by 2028, and with the Electricity Act signed, we cannot waste any more time staying plugged to a national grid that collapsed 12 times in 2024

2034

We have 9 years to begin diversifying our economy aggressively, as the Tyndale Climate Research Centre has stated that for the world to keep global warming below 1.5 °C, big oil producers would have to start transitioning away from fossil fuels by 2034. Being a majorly Hydrocarbon economy, what other sources of growth can we turn to? We have vast arable land and massive potential in entertainment, technology, culture and tourism, and other sectors. We must build our local economy and support the private sector.

2035

With our current growth and birth rate, projections from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics show that 4 million extra people will be added to our population, bringing us up to 13 million by 2035. What will they eat? Where will they live? Where will their kids school? How can we incentivise family planning to control this growth? And how can we ensure efforts to support satellite towns like Bonny, Elele, Bori, and Omoku are sustained? How can we build affordable housing that is truly affordable?

2040

NASA has predicted that in 15 years, global sea levels could rise to 16cm, putting our coastal communities at risk of being washed away. How can we rethink infrastructural development and mimic how mangroves sustain on water to build the coastal houses of the future? How can we ensure building permits are properly given, and we do not allow people to build on natural waterways??

2045

Children, like my son, Sean, born in Rivers State over the next 5 years, will start work in the 2040s after going through 16 years of basic, secondary, and tertiary education. They will be working around the same time Goldman Sachs has predicted that 50% of jobs globally will be fully automated. This will be a time when AI will reign supreme. What can we teach them now to prepare them for a world we cannot see?

We must ensure that education is given the highest priority as a State. We used to have the best primary school classrooms in the entire country, but many of these classrooms have been left to rot for silly political reasons. A Needs Assessment conducted by Dr Anne Famuyiwa of ReadCycle recently has shown that so many of these classrooms are dilapidated and our children do not have the books or teachers required to support their education needs today.

A child from Rivers State is picking periwinkle when they should be in school? This is an insult to all of us as a State. We are failing the current and future generations.

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This timeline might seem far away, but it is only 3-4 election cycles away.

There is so much at stake for us as a State that we cannot afford to keep getting distracted by petty fighting and greed.

Our lives are on the line. We need to wake up and act quickly.

Join us to envision a resilient Rivers State over the next 25 years through the Rivers 2050 Vision.

Visit Rivers2050.org to learn more.