I was thinking this morning..... about Menopause and Niger Delta Oil

Flowing like Niger Delta Oil

I was thinking this morning..... about menopause and Niger Delta oil. I know someone might be thinking, 'this man sef, so you have nothing else to think about but this?' Trust me, I didn't wake up to think about menopause until last Sunday when a young lady gave a testimony in church. She was thanking God that after three years of ceased menstrual flow, through the power of God, her menstrual flow returned. According to her, 'when it returned, it was flowing like Niger delta oil.' Everyone laughed at the analogy but it got me thinking about the misery that follows menopause when a lady is yet to have children.

Menopause is an interesting phenomenon. If a lady is unfortunate not to have had  her children before the onset of menopause, it is assumed she has lost all. This is biological menopause. As I reflected on this condition, it occurred to me that the Niger delta region is approaching her menopause when the oil will cease to flow. This condition will be called Hydrocarbon menopause. Unfortunately, the region is yet to bear the children that will care for her at old age.

As I reflected on the reality of the post-hydrocarbon menopause, I recalled the headline a few days ago, 'Nigeria being a signatory to the Paris accord, may ban petrol and diesel cars within 10 years.' Wow! What will happen to this middle-aged woman called Niger delta, wasting her beauty and forgetting that menopause is fast approaching?

As the noise of my quietness got louder, I discovered that with menopause comes more headaches. If this is true of biological menopause, then I can imagine the migraine that the Niger delta region will feel post-hydrocarbon menopause. God help the people living in the 'head' of the Niger delta.

Okay, headaches can be dealt with, some may imagine. But do you know that in the early 1900, menopause was known as the 'gateway to death.' Menopausal women were seen to have lost their femininity, beauty, fertility and status and are seen to be standing at the 'gateway to death.' Hmm!!! My Niger delta, are we standing at the gateway to death? The hydrocarbon menopause is real. Just like the young lady will say today that her flow is like Niger delta oil, in no distant time, we will hear someone say about a menopausal woman that 'the woman don become like Niger delta.'

For me as a Niger deltan, my faith is unwavering because Psalms 92:14 says, 'They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.' Even in the face of that promise, Niger delta, this is the time to get married, bear children and nurture them before it becomes too late. Menopause is coming.

Happy Sunday.

.......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.