Issues
Probing Women In Rivers Assembly ..Score Sheet Of Hon Irene Inimgba
For the first time since the creation of Rivers State, the State House of Assembly presently parades four female members, namely, Hon. Irene Inimgba, representing, Port Harcourt Constituency II, Hon. Barizeze Felicia Taneh, Tai Constituency, Hon. Maurine Tamuno, Ogu/Bolo and Hon. Linda Somiari-Stewart representing Okrika.
These women are pacesetters in their own right, in legislative affairs, of whom so much is expected. What has the Rivers Assembly benefited from their stay in more than three years? What can they bequeath to history as dividends of their representation? Indeed, what difference have they made in the fluctuating fortunes of their constituents? First and foremost, how accessible are they to their various constituents and what prospects do they have, should they aspire to return to the Assembly in 2011? Generally speaking, what have they achieved in a predominantly male-dominated Assembly? Is their stay in the House a curse or blessing?
In today’s Mandate Search, we beam our searchlight on one of the privileged four women in the House, a trained nurse, mother and housewife, Hon (Mrs) Irene Inimgba.
No thanks to a section of the Port Harcourt media, the mention of the law-maker’s name at once paints a very gloomy picture of inactivity, wasted representation if you like. And due to this perceived unfavourable media exposure, there are no fewer than six persons within the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which she won the April, 2007 elections into the assembly, are battling to nip in the bud, her second term bid, long before she even dreamt of it.
Usually unwilling to judge a book merely by its cover, Mandate Search set up a probe into why Hon Irene Inimgba was a failure, if indeed media comments in that direction are any leads to go by. When we found her, this was the first question we posed to her.
Being one of the four privileged women in the State House of Assembly, how would you describe your representation? Is it a curse or blessing to womanhood and indeed the people you represent? We ask because, going by media reports, you have achieved nothing.
The main intention of that approach was to force out the beast in most angry politicians, particularly when their ambition is threatened, and that way, assess her ability to absorb shock, handle annoying constituents and indeed negative press. More importantly, it was to break her defences, but what we found is what you are about to read.
Rather than take offence over the pretentious conclusion, Hon. Inimgba thanked The Tide for breaking away from the league of newspapers that chose to shave her head in her absence. “I thank you because you realise that a story involving more than one person cannot be complete without getting all sides of the coin,” she said and told her story as any good house wife and devoted mother would.
“My major undoing in office,” she explained, “is my belief that whatever service one renders, while, in office is what, one was elected to do and as such does not require undue publicity.”
So what can she tie to her name nearly four years after, as member of the House?
Elected in 2007, to represent Port Harcourt Constituency II, covering, Wards 4, 5, 6, 7 and 20, spanning D/line to the whole of old Port Harcourt township, through Bundu, and then to the New Layout, up to Borikiri and their adjourning waterfront-settlements, and again from parts of Aggrey road down to slaughter axis, traversing Amadi-ama, Ozuboko, Okuru, Abuloma, Azuabie and Tere-ama, the constituency is easily one of the largest in the State.
However,within seven months in office, in addition to her effective and very purposeful representation in the House, she initiated, completed and put to use a Constituency Hall, a necessary liason that did not exist prior to her election.
Three years after, Hon Inimgba has successfully touched lives of virtually all stake-holders through countless projects that have direct bearing to them, after extensive consultation.
For instance, in Abuloma can be found, a completed eight classroom block, 102-stalls market and a vibrant constituents’ empowerment project for people facing various social challenges like funerals, marriages, academic pursuits, child birth and homelessness all of which attract various stipends as a way of reducing the financial burden on the family.
Okuru-ama devasted about five years ago, today has eight-classroom block built by Hon. Inimgba, thus removing the burden on children who trek miles to schools in Amadi-ama, Abuloma and other areas.
There is also at the Borikiri axis of the city another eight-classroom block, already in use by children of the UPE School while awaiting completion of the Model Schools being built by the Rivers State government.
At Bundu, there is another market, built by Hon. Inimgba, and is today a major relief for women who hitherto worked as far as the Railway or Creek Road Markets to shop for and sell their wares. The Garri market along Churchill Road was also renovated by the honourable member.
What of the Marine Base Water Project? There, can also be found two functional water schemes of about 4,000 litres, each complete with a generating set and house.
In this year’s budget, a mini-stadium is in the offing for the D/line axis and when completed would encourage sporting activities and also lend a big boost to the Youth Development Project enunciated days after her election in 2007.
Under that scheme, the honourable member annually convokes a Miss Constituency II Beauty Pageant and Talent hunt among creative but little exposed youths. The maiden edition was held in 2008 and a second in 2009 while, plans are on for the 2010 edition.
But easily one of the biggest of her achievements is her community relations, family outreach effort, the ability to relate to others, ability to strike the necessary chord in empathy with her constituents in need and above all, her ability to instill hope in her countless admirers and followers.
Apart from her effective representation in the House, her private member bill on the state of the school of Nursing and Midwifery and the need to upgrade its facilities, has gone far passed second reading. That effort by the State Assembly, we understand also earned both the institution provisional accreditation and halted plans to send the students away to other accredited schools.
But Hon Inimgba has a bigger dream. She foresees a day when there shall be a College of Nursing, in a university, alongside medicine equipped with the most modern of facilities, qualified lecturers and a grade ‘A’ medical structure that would be the pride of all Rivers People. Other unqualifiable gestures include regular free medical check-up and treatment for needy constituents, monthly empowerment for widows and other single mothers, donation of books to all schools including Islamic Schools within her constituency and the recent facilitation of overseas scholarship for five constituents who today study in various schools across Europe and America.
So what is her relationship with the party leadership in the various wards and the Constituency Headquarters? As usual, her answer was simply, ‘please find that out by yourself.’
Like many other grateful constituents, a party executive told Mandate Search, that any one battling to unseat Hon. Inimgba is fighting against quality representation and true success.
“Do you know that she lives in her matrimonial home at Amadi-ama, close to the constituency office, instead of the honourable members’ official quarters?
Also, a foremost leader of the party in Port Harcourt Constituency II, simply said, ‘Hon Irene Inimgba has made a mark very few can beat”.
So, will Hon Inimgba contest the 2011 elections? “My people will be disappointed and consider it a betrayal of trust, if I don’t.” she replied matter-of-factly.
With what we found, you be the judge.
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
