GbaramatuVoice: 10 Years of Telling the Real Niger Delta Story
For decades, the Niger Delta was presented to the world through a narrow and incomplete lens. National and international media focused only on our pain – images of oil spills, poverty, conflict, and militancy filled the headlines and search results. The fishing camps were shown, but our cities were ignored. The violence was reported, but our festivals were not. The struggles made the news, but our strength and culture were hidden. They never showed the joy, the beauty, the culture, or the brilliance of the people who live here.
They never showed our dances, our music, our food, our languages, or our landscapes. Our vibrant cultural expressions were silenced. Our mangrove forests, creeks, and beautiful coastlines were left out of the story. Our great men and women—community leaders, peacebuilders, artists, and innovators—were not recognized. What the world saw was not all of us. It was only one version of us.
Then came GbaramatuVoice in 2015.
From the moment we started, our mission was clear: to tell the real Niger Delta story. Not just when things go wrong, but especially when things go right. We began publishing festivals, cultural events, success stories, and everything the mainstream media had left out for years. We were asked, “Why are you only posting when people are happy?” And our answer remains the same: for decades, they only showed when we were sad. It is time for balance. It is time to tell our story ourselves.
We tell stories from across the region—not just from the Ijaw nation, but from Urhobo, Isoko, Itsekiri, Ndokwa, Ogoni, Ibibio, Efik, Okrika, Obolo, Andoni, and more. We tell the Niger Delta story in its full richness. A story that includes diversity, resilience, and unmatched culture. We show communities not as victims, but as custodians of heritage and hope. We document our festivals, our elders, our youth, our musicians, our local foods, and our environment—because these too are worth telling. These too are part of who we are.
Over the past ten years, GbaramatuVoice has stood in communities where no mainstream media reached. We have covered cultural celebrations ignored by national television. We have interviewed voices that would have been lost. We have trained young people from creekside villages to become media professionals. We have told our stories with dignity, clarity, and truth.
Now, on August 28, 2025, GbaramatuVoice will take the real Niger Delta story to the national stage. At the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, we will showcase a decade of work. But more than that, we will invite the nation to see what they have never seen. The colours of our culture. The sound of our drums. The taste of our food. The power of our people. This is not just an event. It is a declaration. The Niger Delta is not just a place of oil. It is a place of meaning, beauty, and life.
We are not going there to protest. We are going to present. To showcase. To tell our story with our own mouth.
This tenth year is a milestone. But it is not the finish line. It is a reminder of why we started—and why we must continue. We are expanding. We are building the Niger Delta Media Centre. We are investing in young talents. We are going beyond Nigeria to push our story to global platforms. We are creating a future where no one else tells our story for us again.
GbaramatuVoice was born out of necessity. It has become a symbol of cultural resistance and media truth. For ten years, we have walked through rivers, sat in palaces, danced in communities, and stood in protests—all to capture what others chose to ignore. And we are not done.
The Niger Delta is more than what the headlines say. It is more than oil. It is more than pain. It is a region of people, culture, innovation, and hope. We will continue to show the world who we are.
GbaramatuVoice – telling the real Niger Delta story since 2015.
