Issues
“Nigeria Needs Sustainable System”
This is part II of The Tide Roundtable encounter with AC leader Prince Tonye Princewill first published last Monday. Read on.
You sought for an opportunity to effect change in a system you perceived as bad. That, according to you manifested in the emergence of Gov Amaechi. Morally that imposes on your party the AC to help check possible excesses of the ruling party. As an opposition is the AC providing enough checks on the activities of the ruling PDP?
Well it is on-going, you may say, working in progress. I think if you look at it objectively you will see that AC has been vocal on issues of common interest even if we have some level of interest in what is going on. Our views are expressed regularly. Yes, of course, would have liked to have been in the system itself but since that didn’t work, we are where we are. The media has been a fantastic voice and so we are making progress. There are certain things we will like to have seen done differently, at least we have a voice.
One of the biggest checks and balances is the ability to speak. And I believe that the media are a fantastic voice. We have always at any opportunity thanked the media because if not for the media giving us that opportunity to express how we think, it could be impossible for anybody to know our feelings. So, that is one way we’ve been able to put checks and balances on existing system. The other way of course is that we are engaged at the source. I mean the source of decision making.
I am a member of the Economic Advisory Council, most of the state policies are discussed and debated on. Sometimes policies are even formulated in that forum. There are other opposition party members, there are also, a couple of them who are not PDP members, or even politicians. They have the opportunity of saying, you might think this, Mr Governor, but we think that. And that has really provided some measure of restraint on what the governor does. For the first time in about eight years of first PDP government, AC now has some councilors at the Wards and at state level we have commissioners, at Board level we have appointees and I believe the trend is going to continue. It wasn’t there before now. There was nothing like that.
There was no opposition person anywhere. It was just one system. So we’ve been able to create some avenues for alternative views. I think that allows for checks and balances and expect the figures that will continue to increase. In fact, at a recent meeting we had with the governor, we agreed to increase the number of opposition people in various positions across the state. That process is underway and very soon, we will see that reflecting, so I think that when you add all that together you’ll agree that work is in progress.
You resigned from a federal government committee job on the Niger Delta question, why so? And secondly, has the amnesty to militants changed your view?
The amnesty was a retreat or what I see as the break. You’ll recall when federal troops invaded those Niger Delta communities in Delta communities, about 3 o’clock in the morning I said that I can’t continue to work while somebody continues to kill my people.
How can I be involved in nation-building when a part of that nation that I belong is being bombarded heavy-handedly. However, I was relieved and happy that amnesty was eventually pronounced. But before that, some people in the system must have been thinking we are not human beings so we got to a point where I said o.k. This is step one. If you read our statement, you’ll find end to hostilities at the statement, we said that, in the days and the weeks to come, based on the reaction of the federal government’s action we will decide our own next step. So we were happy when they pulled back from that attitude and we saw the amnesty but we discovered that attitude as ineffective because it was good, yes but it was almost as if people were not thinking about the amnesty programme. It seems that it was a rushed job. How would you go and start building centres for people to be turned out when quite clearly that is not the method that has been applied, people have been collecting arms, usually going to people’s camp and collecting the arms from them. Check the budget you see that huge amount of money was put aside for these disarmament centres. It is no longer as if people don’t know what to do with money or they do not even know what they are doing. I regret resigning; of course not because first of all the action required an action that was best suited for the time. And should I go back and work with them, the answer is no because even though they talked about amnesty, what we described as half-baked, there is no international community involvement, that means, there is lack of confidence, immediately before you start.
For those of us who are members of the Presidential Technical Committee, on Niger Delta, amnesty was part of the process. That process having been followed, guns were always supposed to redeem not just the individuals but communities, if Ateke returns three thousand guns or if Ateke returns six thousand guns, there is no difference. So there is nothing that encourages more guns to be taken out of the system because if I am a militant you come back I will give them ten guns. If you have amnesty meanwhile you could have 150, 200, 2,000 guns to starsh away somewhere but you are now a beneficiary of the amnesty programme, the best strategy was that the individual guns should redeem communities so if Ateke comes with three thousand guns, those three thousand guns should be entitled to three thousand people for instance to jobs, three thousand people for instance to education, three thousand people will benefit from three thousand guns, they don’t all have to be militants. They can be just youths because if one gun redeems one person, ten guns should redeem ten people and Ateke might say well, in all my spirit of redemption, I remember, some families were victims of this crisis, please I beg see the man’s name, make him pickin go school so he has used his gun to redeem some other person. That was the only way the root redemption, is through the gun.
Now all these will have been avoided if they had consulted if they had just literally consulted. But of course, this is the same issues I keep saying when you are powerful, you don’t feel you need to talk to anybody. You are used to issuing decrees, you are used to just giving orders, you are used to just taking decision and the ability to build consensus is not something that we think we have to do because to be truthful and building consensus take time.
But what it is, it saves you time later. The event of people of the amnesty committee looks like if you asked them some of them would say, look, we don’t know what we are doing; they are the committee that presupposed to driving the amnesty, they don’t know what they are doing.
If you have consulted with the militants, consulted with the community, consulted with the Oil Companies, consulted with the state government, a lot of the state governors were not consulted, so what kind of a system are we operating, so, I described the amnesty as half-baked, it wasn’t that I was saying that I did not appreciate it. I appreciate it but I expect more of the government, I expect more of the leadership in a country like Nigeria where we have so many resourceful people, the results we produced do not reflect on all the country.
Just follow up, still on the amnesty thing. By first week of October, the amnesty will last, yet there are so many militants that have not surrendered, what will be the next option?
There are variety of options that could come. One is that after the fourth of October, the Federal Government can decide, can step down on people and start to catch people carrying guns. The other is that the amnesty could be extended. The third one is that instead of all out military option, they could be very selected targeted seizures. The position of the matter is that all these scams be avoided, it can be avoided because if you look at all the militant leaders none of them have said that the idea of amnesty is normal. Even MEND has said well, amnesty o.k. but what exactly are you doing after amnesty. Even the governors saying what are you doing for post amnesty, I don’t know whether you guys in the media have heard but I haven’t heard what post amnesty just they probably don’t even know what to do in post amnesty. Post amnesty what they should do is to issue a white paper on the Technical Committee Report and implement it.
That is what post amnesty should be, is just to issue a white paper in this report what are you going to implement; then implement it. And if they go some length to addressing the issue then people will be happy but may be there is a genuine interest in extracting the oil and not putting anything back in which case it will not work; is not about any individual power or individual might, is just justice and ultimately it has to be done and it will be done but I think they are the ones who are under pressure now. I don’t think anybody out there in the creek or anywhere else is worrying too much as what will happen post October 4.
We want to know if attempts have been made to meet with them?
Several attempts have been made. Yes, but I always answer truthfully so I will tell you yes, but like I said I am not comfortable; I can’t be led by somebody I don’t respect and so if we are in a meeting of PDP people, I will start abusing them and they will probably drag me out of the hall. So it will be impossible for me to be led by people I don’t respect. As the chairman of the organised opposition, we were going to see Amaechi but we were taking a plan from him, they said ha, how you go talk like that, I said no, if you people are not going down that part, you tell me now so we stay here, I am leading that kind of delegation. We go there we talked we spoke our minds, when we finished, we feel dignified, but if he gives you Fifty Thousand Naira is not going to change your life so I want dignity because of the hunger level in society.
People become dependent on government; I left the shores of this country with thirty pounds and landed in London in 1991. I landed London with thirty pounds and I built what I have built that brought me back in 2002, 2003 to come and do business in Nigeria, from a position of strength, not a position of weakness. In UK there is no safety net, if you die you die, here you can run to a brother and sister, uncles and things like that there is nobody to run to, in UK so you have to survive and you have to do well. But how did I pay my ticket to London, my father did not want me to go, infact he refused me to go, I hustled just here, opposite Traditional Rulers Council where I was working, selling photocopy machines, and selling computer sets, eventually I managed to make enough money, I was okay. My father said where are you going? From that hustling I paid my ticket, I plaid my way down to London, and I have come back now, I find it so easy because if you put me in a room, I will find the opportunity, that’s the way I worked any other people are sleeping I am awake I am working.
I give a typical example for instance, I arrived International Airport about 2002, and I was watching what was going on, the trolleys were very bad, they were scrapping the ground, after watching carefully and watching carefully I now was able to get some people to put together an idea and through some people I got to the Minister of Aviation and said why don’t we charge for trolleys you go around the world people pay for trolleys. Why don’t we charge for trolleys? The woman was thinking a lot, I said don’t worry, if we charge we will pay you every month One Million Naira.
All those touts at the airport, we will take them, brush them up and they will be dressing neatly, we called the business Sky Blue. Now that business services, is in the new terminal in Lagos. I don’t need to rely on government and that’s why I can speak freely about Amaechi because tomorrow if Amaechi says Tonye Princewilll should not come to Government House, it won’t change my life, but for Christ sake, let us have our voice, let us be free to speak our mind. But if we look at opposition and during party, the difference is just which side of the fence you are.
If I wanted to be in PDP, they will give me a heroes welcome but I would be muffled, I will be part of a system which do not really focus on improving our own system. Is not helping us. Amaechi is trying.
PDP, some of you must be card carrying members of the PDP, not interested in helping the people. That is not; is simple as that. Amaechi sometimes scratches himself on how he can make his policies people friendly?
How does this things affect the common man in the streets. A lot of the policies are not getting to the people. All these roads, they are doing here yes as of August 2008, we have spent about N140 billion on roads. O.k. how is it helping the common people? O.k. Schools they are building plenty schools, how is it helping the common people.
Health centres, of course health centers where are doctors, how is it helping the common people. Microfinance is not working so how are we helping the common people, if you look carefully, you see that the man is trying but his problem is that by the time you rolled the contracts out they will just grab it, it never left these people. So the problem is the common people and is difficult for a governor at his level to supervise that grassroots empowerment so my brother, then they said they want to rule for 60 years, I can assure you that if they carry on the way they are going, there won’t be a Nigeria.
America said that by 2015, Nigeria would disintegrate what did they see before they made that statement what security report did they assess. They predicted the break up of USSR, they predicted the break up of Yugoslavia, they have now predicted the beakup of Nigeria.
If they continue the way they are continuing, there will not be a country to run in 60 years.
Nigeria is in danger of not qualifying for the 2010 world cup, the first to be hosted in Africa, where have things gone wrong?
The time when they scored that second goal, it was as if somebody shot me, I was standing after and I fell down on the carpet in the floor. What sports does for you is that it gives you a false sense, you think that every thing is OK, if my team Manchester United wins today, I will be happy for the whole of the day, I will be happy meanwhile may be I still have problem, I still have issues to address but I forget those issues for that moment in the euphoria of the victory.
And Nigeria has so much going wrong, may be this euphoric, let me call it schizophrenia that would have invaded the country because we are going to the world cup I think it would remove us from the serious issues that we need to focus on that we have problem, of course across the country but also in sports, the problem of leadership. We had a good chance of turning around the very bad situation, Amaechi was helpful in making sure that the team had everything but I think that there are most of the things that even gone wrong that was why a taskforce was even required in the first place.
I think most of the things that went wrong, are all traceable to this same issue of leadership why would people like myself watch football in Europe is because when I watched football in Europe, I don’t know who is going to win, the chances that the likelihood of victory are up in the air, there is not the likelihood that corruption is compromised there is not the likelihood that, fans of a loosing team will descend on fans of the winning team to the extent where people’s lives would be lost, so the leadership of those places have been able to put a system which is sustainable which is appealing and is unfortunate that we have not been able to do likewise here.
Even though people like GLO have come in with money and so and so forth, but the regulatory authority and the leadership of this authorities have been found wanting so what Nigeria should be doing now is not rebranding we just need to fix. The basic issue you don’t rebrand something that is spoilt you fix it and I think Nigeria requires fixing and not rebranding.
To be contd
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
