Issues

Leave Obuah Alone

Published

7 years ago

February 5, 2018

Ascribing the quality of a political enigma to the person of the Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Bro. Felix Obuah, not only in his native Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) but in Rivers State as a whole, may seem contrived to some, but it is unquestionably true when viewed in the context of his fame and popularity.
As a matter of fact, his emergence as the Executive Chairman of ONELGA in 2004 signaled the beginning of an era as he took the political scene by storm and left a bold statement that the much-sought after ‘man of the people’ had at last materialised in that LGA.
Mba Anabara Agu, as he is popularly called, Bro. Felix Obuah’s nature typifies the sobriquet which translates to the futility of raising a voice against the lion.  Bro. Obuah, politically, is a lion in ONELGA hence, his opponents who are the weaker ‘animals’ quake and dread at his fame and popularity.
In line with the truism that success not only attracts friends and admirers, but also brings with it, foes whose primary preoccupation, regrettably would be to ‘Pull Him Down’ (PHD), Obuah who is presently the Sole Administrator of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) has not only been enjoying wide support from his army of friends, relations, supporters, political associates and aides; he has also on many fronts become the subject of unsubstantiated abuse, castigation and slander carried out by self-seeking, jobless desperados and faceless political jobbers acting on the prompting of paymasters and political opponents.
That quickly brings to mind one of these faceless hirelings who recently launched another smudging campaign against the person of the State PDP Chairman through a purported World Press Conference in which the group masqueraded as ‘Civil Society Groups in Orashi Region of Rivers State’.
Without playing the soothsayer, I am fully aware that in his characteristic manner, Bro. Felix Obuah would have chosen to ignore the ranting of a faceless group and wave off their babblings as nothing but another distractive gimmick coming from the same familiar source.  But he had to respond for want of clarity and to set the records straight so that the gullible public would not be misled.
And so, while dismissing their misleading and fabricated allegations, Obuah said: “the accusation against him by a section of the so called Civil Society Groups and some members of the Orashi National Congress (ONC) after their kangaroo meeting at Omoku Civil Centre, Wednesday, January 17, 2018 of sponsoring the killed notorious cultist, Don Waney is shocking, false, unfounded and malicious”.
The State PDP boss described the accusation as yet another plot by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and his political detractors to drag his name to the mud to make way for their sinister plans ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Bro Obuah chided the teleguided so called Orashi National Congress members, all of them, APC card carrying members, for turning their gathering at the Omoku Civic Centre to a jungle court for delivering unsolicited judgment against him perceived as an enemy of their paymasters, describing them as a liability to humanity.
It’s also regrettable, Bro Obuah noted, that rather than join hands with the State Governor, Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike to fight insecurity in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (Onelga) and elsewhere in the State, the so called ONC members and their cohorts prefer taking sides with desperate power seekers to run down those who mean well for the people and those that have committed their time, energy and hard earned resources to build and develop Onelga while the real enemies of the people are being provided cover and glorified just for a pot of yam porridge.
Reassuring that he will not be deterred by the false malicious accusation, but will continue to ensure that Onelga people are liberated from the shackles of poverty and ignorance, Bro Obuah said he has invested more than any other person(s) in Onelga and cannot possibly turn around to promote insecurity or support any effort that will destroy his investments or his people for whom he has invested.
The State PDP chairman also noted that he too, has been a victim of insecurity and other acts of lawlessness, with several attempts on his life during which he lost his police orderly and driver in one of such attacks.
In the recent new year mayhem, Bro Obuah said he lost six of his relations in the senseless killing including his in-laws.
“I cannot but conclude that by this false accusation against me, my accusers are rather jubilating and celebrating over my predicament. Their actions are very understandable as none of them has any investment whatsoever in Onelga nor have invested in the welfare of the people.
“Otherwise, they should be sober and thankful to the security agencies for helping to bring life back to normalcy in Onelga by killing Don Waney and some of his gang members”, Bro Obuah observed.
Bro Obuah wondered the wisdom for his accusers to have kept quiet while Don Waney and his gang ravaged all the nooks and crannies of Onelga while he lived only to speak out now he is gone, saying their only fear was not to be exposed by the notorious cultist who was their hatch man.
Warning his accusers and detractors against treading the path of unreasonableness and danger, the State PDP boss said all that is needed now is not pointing accusing fingers and looking for scapegoat to satisfy the cravings of overzealous and power drunk politicians but to join hands with the Wike administration and complementing the efforts of the security agencies in sustaining the peace and security in Onelga and the State generally.
Bro Obuah insisted he never knew who Don Waney was until he saw his pictures after the amnesty was granted to the repentant militants and cultists by the State government and had never related nor supported him in any way.
“During the previous administration under Rotimi Amaechi, Don Waney and his group had a field day, operated unchallenged and were readily used by that government and not until this present administration came up with the amnesty programme, Don Waney would have remained uncovered and committed APC member.
“These enemies of the people are at it again. They never supported the amnesty programme that exposed their hatchet men who are being trailed by security agencies and this is their sole reason for wanting to incite another round of crisis in Onelga through these unfounded accusations against me”, he said.
Bro. Obuah had repeatedly alerted the world of grand plots by the APC to malign him.
He would not be deterred in his quest to serve humanity and be the good neighbour as entreated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  A wise posture though, given the fact that 2019 is around the corner and the sycophants are up again working out their heads in mudslinging just to please their paymasters.
But some of us who are in touch with reality and having followed the antecedents of this noble personage, a philanthropist par excellence and selfless servant of God would not be silent in the face of flagrant misinformation and falsehood orchestrated by a group of people whose angst would not be quelled on account that they lost the 2015 General Elections to a more credible and popular political party, hence the heavens must fall!
They adopted different tricks to pull down and rubbish the laudable paths which Governor Nyesom Wike is treading, but they have failed in all their attempts to run Governor Wike down. They declared that the inroads being recorded in infrastructure and other sectors of the economy were mere completion of projects initiated by their leader, and former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, now Minister of Transportation.
Again, their propaganda failed as Wike rather than being discouraged, swung into an infrastructural blitz that has won him many national and international accolades.
They tried unsuccessfully to promote the narrative of insecurity in Rivers State which would persuade the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the State, and they failed.
Having run out of lies and falsehood, they have turned to this infamous ‘Civil Society Groups in Orashi Region’ as a willing wanton using the Don Waney saga as their latest stunt.
Those who unmasked themselves during the show of shame called ‘World Press Conference’ were one Chief Emeni Ibe, the CMD of UPTH, Prof. Henry Ugboma and Chief Henry Odili among others.
Have they been told that contrary to their insinuations about President Mohammed Buhari and the APC-led federal government being the one that allegedly ‘funded and ordered’ the killing of Don Waney in Enugu on Saturday, January 6, 2018.
“Why is it that it is just this last one (Don Waney) that the President would order to be killed?” retorted Governor Wike during a recent interview he had with a popular radio presenter in Port Harcourt, explaining that it was the Rivers State Government and not the federal government which funded the logistics and operation that led to the death of the notorious cultist kingpin.
They blabbered about the enormity of losses suffered by the Orashi region as a result of unwarranted killings which has been known to have predated the administration of Governor Wike.
At the same radio programme mentioned above, Wike revealed among others the harrowing killings under the administration of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
“Thirty-two persons were murdered in cold blood in Omoku by Don Waney and his group with their heads cut off on December 14, 2014”, Wike revealed even as he reeled out other killings carried out under Amaechi.
That is why it is very expedient for these commentators to make their identities known so that the public would know the extent of investments they had in ONELGA so as to juxtapose same with the losses recorded during the mayhem.
Have these hirelings been reminded that aside from losses suffered by residents, multinational oil companies as well as shop owners particularly in Omoku, Bro. Felix Amechi Obuah was the worst hit individual.  The casualties suffered following the loss of close family relatives and in addition to unparalleled destruction of his investments.
Lies, no matter the efforts dissipated to fortify it, can never stand. But truth, like a rock, would always stand any test.  These masquerades should be asked why their principals would not borrow the example set by Bro. Felix Obuah by investing their wealth in ONELGA.
Bro. Felix Obuah has invested his wealth not in foreign lands like your principals do but in his native land which in the process, has gone a long way in providing gainful employment to thousands of his kith and kin.
Some of his investments located in Omoku include multi-million Naira Krisdera Hotels and Resort Limited and Annexes; multi-million Naira Krisdera International Stadium; Agwubata Commercial College (ACC), Ogba Comprehensive High School (OCHS) and Go-Round Football Club of Omoku, a Nigerian Premier League club side which has provided gainful employment to thousands of youths across the State and beyond.  These investments epitomize love for the people and fatherland!
It is inconceivable that someone would make these investments in a place and for a people he never meant well for.  It follows logically too that anyone who kicks against any individual or group that has demonstrated such commitment to his land and people is what my pastor referred to as ‘witch’ and deserved to be caged.
Bro. Felix Obuah’s philanthropic gestures for ONELGA people and those in other parts of Rivers State and Nigeria transcend politics.  The right thing for any sane person to do is to commend rather than vilify him, or better still, shut up for lack of what to say.  I therefore urge these armchair critics to leave Obuah alone.
God bless ONELGA, Rivers State and Nigeria.
Needam is a Port Harcourt-based journalist.

Jerry Needam

Issues

Wike: Destroying Rivers State And PDP

Published

4 months ago

September 13, 2024

The Tide

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.

Issues

Investing In Nyesom Wike: A Story Of Dedication, Sacrifice And Ultimate Loss

Published

9 months ago

April 10, 2024

The Tide

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