Featured

Wrong Path To Change …That Caution From Bishop Kukah

Published

10 years ago

September 19, 2016

For the umpteenth time, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari told Nigerians that he inherited nothing from the previous administration. That would mean the first few months salaries paid to federal workers upon assumption of office last year were from his pocket or that of his All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
Expanded further, it would also mean that the allocations to the Federal, States and Local Government areas also came from same source. The same may also be true, if you may, of the funding of the first few foreign trips by Mr President, where, he took the vilification of his predecessor to annoying international heights.
If the President is to be believed, it would also be trithe to conclude that the proceeds from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Tax holiday, by which some bail-out went to States, were not inherited from the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
But such was the extent of demonisation the Buhari-led APC government unleashed on a man whose political maturity saved the country from bloodbath, even disintegration. In vilifying his predecessor, Buhari did not spare the country which fluctuating fortunes he was elected to address.
What he did not consider was that due to the extent of his magnification of corruption, no sane foreign investor would deal with the Nigerian economy even with a long spoon. Those whose investments made Nigeria Africa’s largest economy even reconsidered their preferences and moved their investments elsewhere.
Where are we now? From N87 a litre which fuel sold before Buhari’s inauguration, the commodity is pegged officially at N145 and between N150 and N170 in the informal market. And with a likelihood of further hike, although government sources denied it.
This is the government of a party that promised to fix all the nation’s ailing refineries and stop the importation of refined petroleum products. That indeed is the government of a party that promised to establish new refineries.
On Monday, March 23, 2015, then APC Presidential candidate, Buhari told a rally in Owerri, ‘I’ll make Naira equal in value to the Dollar. What do we have today? More than N400 to the dollar, inflation at its all-time high and prices of goods and services beyond the reach of the common man.
With schools soon to re-open, there is the clear possibility of many students and wards remaining at home due to inability to pay fees. Civil servants are groaning just as job seekers, but nothing has changed from the lifestyle of the present administrators. In the midst of recession, wages of lawmakers and members of the Federal Executive Council remain the same.
The regular renovation of Aso Rock Villa with funds running into billions was not expunged from the 2016 budget just as the situation has not discouraged avoidable foreign trips in this time of global communication and viable embassies across the globe.
The display of vain wealth and opulence among elected and appointed federal officials has not changed. The prospensity to acquire choice automobities, neither.
Yet, the blame game continues. Virtually every failure of the administration is blamed on others except the government in power. But that was not why Nigerians voted them into power.
Yet, nearly two years into a four-year tenure, the blame game still will not abate, it gets even more fierce, sounding almost like a broken record.
That is why the recent caution by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah to President Buhari seems very timely. Apparently inundated with the endless complaints and blames heaped on the Jonathan administration, Kukah urged Buhari to stop complaining about the past and give fresh direction to true governance. Kukah said if the only thing Buhari would continue to do is to complain about the past, then, he has no reason heading a government.
According to the fiery Bishop, most Nigerians agreed with the Buhari-led APC that a lot was wrong that needed to be fixed and that its Presidential candidate Buhari had the magic wand to effect the needed change, which were why the party was elected, with President Buhari as armour bearer.
Buhari and his party were not elected to lament over the same problems Nigerians elected them to solve.
If what they have done, thus far, is the best they can offer- an endless blame game, with no extra effort to build the new, as Socrates enthused, then they have no business remaining in power.
Kukah is right. Nigeria is going through very challenging times. It is indeed a period when the people expect their President to speak to them from the heart, only as Buhari should, without any recourse to the demands of flowery romanticism in speech making.
The ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign indeed offered an opportunity for the Nigerian President to pour out his soul to the people. He was expected to be original, frank, truthful and indeed empathising. He did not require enchanting prose to convince Nigerians of the need for attitudinal change.
But no thanks to Presidency’s speech writers, the President is now on the global news frontiers for the wrong reasons. Part of the speech Buhari gave to push Nigerians to jettison their old ways for new and better ones, was copied from a speech once made by US President Barack Obama.
It is called plagiarism.
This is the only flaw not yet blamed on the Jonathan administration by presidential aides. Even the campaign itself is now being said to be somebody else’s intellectual property, not credited but high-jacked. Although Information and Culture Ministry has denied the claim, the social media is awash with demeaning comments, on the subject, with a threat to weaken, the campaign’s punch.
How can such campaign succeed and usher the expected change? This is very unlike the Tunde Idiagbon-inspired War Against Indiscipline (WAI) which was made effective not by flowery speeches, but by straight-from-the heart talk and social engineering.
Now perhaps is when to remind the APC –led government that most of its promises that resulted in electoral victory remain unfulfilled. That the government has proven to be worse than its predecessor and that unless something meaningful is done to address the situation, Nigerians may, demonstrate their regrets same way they demonstrated their resolve to elect the party into power.
Interestingly, each time this suggestion is made, the government at the centre resorts to personal attacks rather than explain otherwise.
The noble path to change is not to blame all woes on others except themselves and embark on near endless vilification of others – the old. The secret of change is about building something new. Something different from the old.
That is what Nigerians are yet to see. And what Nigerians are eager to see. Continuous blames on the Jonathan administration has become a hardsell and should be done away with. And only something truly, truly positive and new can do that.
My Agony is that most of those from whom Nigerians expect change are used and recycled politicians with one true agenda – Be politically relevant and line their pockets, endlessly. No change can come from such people, because none can give what he lacks.

Soye Wilson Jamabo

Featured

RSG Floats MNET Culture Content Promo

Published

4 days ago

November 6, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism has floated a culture content platform in collaboration with digital television group, Multichoice.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Freddy Ndigbara, disclosed this after a meeting with MultiChoice Head of Content Acquisition, Don Dotun Ojon, in Port Harcourt.

He assured that content entrepreneurs and film makers would enjoy the platform by promoting culture and other contents to sell the states tourism potentials.

He said MultiChoice M-net was now open to increase its patronage for content shots on locations in Rivers State, describing the State as one that has numerous potentials for film tourism.

“We were privileged to have Don Ojon with us at the Rivers International Film Festival (RIFF) at the weekend in Bonny and he saw, first hand, the numerous sites and opportunities that are open to creatives in the State. After that, we felt it was important to deepen the conversation and he obliged. This is a cheering news for the sector in the State,” he said.

Ndigbara stated that “Rivers State has many more untold stories to tell, many more contents to reel out and the assurances from the M-net Acquisition Manager is an indication that the industry in the state will soon enjoy a new lease of life”.

The Permanent Secretary thanked Ojon for the visit and assured that creatives in the State would grap this opportunity and show the world that Rivers State is a major hub for film tourism in Nigeria.

On his part, Ojon said the visit was to discuss on ways of promoting tourism in the State using creatives and film.

Ojon said although the company has recently been acquired by canal+ France and is undergoing restructuring, he would promote the chances of Rivers State to host the MultiChoice talent factory in the State.

With Asaba, capital of Delta State, being saturated, Ojon said the next port is Rivers State, which he said is capable of building fresh crop of creatives, new locations, new story lines and concepts.

He, therefore, called for collaboration from stakeholders in the State.

Kevin Nengia

Featured

APC Presidential Campaign Storms PH, ‘Morrow

Published

4 days ago

November 6, 2026

The Tide

Barring last minute changes, the presidential campaign train of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will storm Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, tomorrow.

This is according to a campaign timetable released by the APC Campaign Council last month.

The Tide reports that the APC presidential campaign kicked off in Kaduna on October 24 with President Bola Tinubu in attendance.

The campaign train later moved to Cross River, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ekiti on November 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima representing the President at the rallies.

President Tinubu is personally scheduled to attend 12 states including Rivers, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.

The Rivers State rally, scheduled to hold at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, is expected to witness a large crowd of party supporters drawn from a coalition of political parties in the State.

The party is expected to round off its presidential campaign in Lagos State on January 9, 2027.

The Tide reports that Tinubu has not visited Rivers State as President since he assumed office in May 2023. His last physical visit to the State was before his inauguration on Wednesday, May 3 – Thursday, May 4, 2023, when he was hosted by then Governor Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt to commission the Rumuola/Rumuokwuta Flyover and the Magistrates’ Court Complex.

Tomorrow’s visit will be his first to the State since assuming office.

Featured

2027: Be Politically Neutral, Fubara Tasks Traditional Rulers

Published

2 weeks ago

October 30, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has charged traditional rulers in the State to maintain neutrality, ensure fairness and uphold peace in their domains as the country prepares for the 2027 general elections.

Fubara gave the charge on Wednesday while declaring open the 126th, 127th and 128th Combined Quarterly Meeting of the Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council, in Port Harcourt.

The governor said the primary function of traditional rulers is to administer justice and ensure fairness, saying their conduct must not lead to division and unmanageable crises.

“Let me therefore, request, if that is the right word to use, that please, as we are entering into this political season actively, everyone should ensure that your conduct promoted peace in your place. Your actions should not be what would lead to the division and multiple crisis that we cannot manage as a government.

“I think with that, we can all live as one and we can also continue to make this progress that we are trying with all our mind, our body and our soul, to ensure that we deliver to our dear State,” he said.

Fubara urged the royal fathers to abide by the oath and constitution they swore to before ascending their respective stools, in the interest of stability and progress of the State.

He also enjoined them to set aside individual sentiments and place the interest of Rivers State above personal considerations, noting that this principle has guided his own day-to-day governance of the State.

“I want to enjoin everyone to keep aside issues of individual sentiments and ensure that the interest of our state supersedes whatever thing that we have in our mind. This is not just what I’m saying here, it is what I’ve also practiced and displayed in my day-to-day life in the governance of our dear State,” he said.

On the appeal for improved welfare for traditional rulers, the governor clarified that the delay in actualising some of the requests they made in the past was not from the government but from the inability of the Council to put its house in order.

Fubara explained that the issue of stipends paid to the traditional rulers by the local government councils, was a statutory benefit provided for in the constitution and not what a state governor can change by mere verbal pronouncements.

He assured that he remains a man of his word and will fulfill his promises to the traditional rulers before leaving office, next year.

He reaffirmed his respect for the traditional institution as custodians of culture and the closest link to the people, thanking them for their prayers and support.

The governor urged the royal fathers to ensure that the combined quarterly meeting featured fruitful deliberations that will strengthen peace and development in the State.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers and Paramount Ruler of Apara Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Eze Chike Amadi Worlu Wodo, expressed profound gratitude to the State Government for its efforts in maintaining a cordial relationship with the traditional institution.

Wodo highlighted the importance of traditional rulers in conflict resolution, noting that their closeness to the people places them in a strategic position to mediate in disputes involving chieftaincy matters, family disputes and land ownership in their respective communities.

The royal father drew the attention of the State Government to some challenges affecting the performance of the traditional institution, particularly the lack of official utility vehicles and logistical support needed to discharge its responsibilities effectively.

He also appealed for improved monthly stipends and better welfare provisions to reflect prevailing economic realities.