The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • APC chieftain, Emerhor provides free health services for community

    APC chieftain, Emerhor provides free health services for community

    It was a four-day birthday bash initially planned to be a grand event where the high and mighty would be guests. But then there was the idea of making the event an unusual service to humanity.

    For Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State in the 2015 general elections and the sole financier of the party in the state, prudence is always a key word, even as it relates to marking his 60th anniversary. His wife’s coincided with his somewhat. Hers was November 24 while his was November 25.

    However, being his Diamond Jubilee, there was cause to take the ‘marking’ a notch higher, hence the structuring of a four-day event to mark the occasion, but the form the event should take became a matter of debate.

    Explaining how the birthday celebration became an occasion to celebrate humanity and give back to society, Emerhor said he sat with his immediate family and asked if it would really be worth the cost and the effort if his 60th birthday celebration was marked the usual way, with champagnes, barbeque and other pleasurable assortments, in the company of politicians and rich men, in some posh hotel somewhere in the highbrow areas of Lagos or Abuja.

    The vote was in favour of something else; an unusual gathering of community people from far and near, given access into his sprawling country home, to wine and dine, recreate and be empowered.

    Explaining the process that brought about the spectacle of last week, the Urukpe of Evwreni said: “At 60, I should be thankful to God. If you look at the mood in the country today and people’s economic situation, what should I do to celebrate my 60 years? Is it to invite rich people, buy champagne and make merry? No! I felt that I should use the opportunity to reach out to Nigerians that are under stress. That is why, as a family, we sat down and said let’s come down to my community and carry out most of the activities here. Let’s design a medical outreach which will take place in about four communities. People will undergo various medical tests and examinations and receive free drugs.

    “We also felt that since I have a clinic in Evwreni (my home town), most of my friends who will attend the novelty match will have an opportunity to make financial contributions to support the clinic.

    “On Saturday, I also want people to come and watch cultural displays. There are cash prizes to be won, and this will help to develop culture. The grand finale will be when we will empower hundreds of youths and women. We want to support them with some grants so that they can improve and possibly contribute to the economy. My commitment will be to monitor the beneficiaries to see how well they will use the funds so that in future if there is any need to support them, I will build them up.”

    On the first day of the event, hundreds of people received free intensive eye care services In all, the eye care outreach, which drew beneficiaries from about six communities in Ughelli North and Isoko South local governments, examined and treated about 1,500 people.

    During the first part of the outreach in Evwreni and Enwhe, 500 people were treated of cataract and myopia.

    The Coordinator of the programme, Chief Collins Udi stated that free eye glasses and drugs would be given to beneficiaries irrespective of political or tribal affiliation.

    Also speaking on the success of the programme, one of the opticians Dr. Austin Issah, said: “We have been able to attend to all categories of eye problems, including cataract and myopia. Irrespective of the number of persons to be attended to, we are capable of handling those who make themselves available for the programme.”

    On Friday, November 24, which was Mrs. Rita Emerhor’s birthday, a novelty football match was played in the Emerhor Evwreni community. It was organised to raise funds for a cottage clinic donated to the community by the Olorogun. The novelty match added another unusual colour to the event. The match was played by 30 women against 11 men, all of whom are friends and associates of Emerhor. The crowded women’s side, took the day, using all imaginable skills, including re-enacting the Diego Maradona ‘Hand of God’ tactic to ensure victory over their rather lean-sided opponents. They won the match by five goals to two. High point of the match was the raising of a N1 million endowment fund for the cottage clinic by friends of the Emerhors who took part in the match.

    On Saturday, November 25, which is Olorogun Emerhor’s birthday, many praised him for his gesture to the downtrodden. The day was made more colourful by the structure of the community-oriented programmes he initiated for his people.

    The grand finale of the series of events was set for Sunday, November 26 at his country home. After a special church thanksgiving service, Olorogun Emerhor empowered 262 people with the sum of N13.1 million.

    One of his guests; former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, who is now a stalwart of the APC, Hon Victor Ochei, made an additional donation of N1 million for 20 widows.

  • Growing discontent over Bayelsa’s deep seaport

    Growing discontent over Bayelsa’s deep seaport

    Determined to make Bayelsa a developed state, Governor Seriake Dickson pledged to establish the Agge Deep Seaport in Ekeremor Local Government Area. At an estimated cost of over $3 billion, the project will be beneficial to, not only the Agge people, but also the state and the entire Niger Delta. SHOLA O’NEIL and MIKE ODIEGWE write that the Agge community is angry with the government for considering no member of the community worthy to be among the 14-member committee set up to oversee the project.

    At an estimated cost of over $3billion (about N1.1 trillion), the Agge Deep Seaport project in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, is a massive investment layout for, not only the Agge people, but also for the state and the entire Niger Delta.

    With the gigantic constructions which it is expected to commence with when the project gets off the drawing board, the state government is laying a very strong base for the economic development of the tiny, very rich but mostly underdeveloped state.

    The dream inched further towards becoming a reality recently when Governor Seriake Dickson inaugurated a 14-member committee for the project. Governor Dickson had mooted the idea of the deep sea port since 2012, shortly after his inauguration, and while inaugurating the ‘wise-men’ for the project, he said some sort of operation would surely commence before the February, 2020 terminal date of his administration.

    He said: “All I want to see before the end of my tenure on February 14, 2020, is that, some commercial port-related activities should have started in that seaport.  That is why it has become necessary to put this team together.

    “Already, a lot of work has been done.  But going forward, it is the intention of the government to create a formal platform beyond this team either by way of a state corporation, which will be established by a bill that I intend to send to the State House of Assembly. Or, we get the Agge Seaport Development Company registered as a corporate entity that will run the actual management of the assets of that company.”

    However, “the road to hell”, as the saying goes, “is paved with good intention”. It is very clear that Dickson and the present government that he leads mean well for the people in general and Agge people in particular. But he and his team might have stepped forward with the wrong foot, if the seething disenchantment from the host communities is anything to go by.

    The 14-member committee headed by Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewhurjakpor, included several known indigenes of the state, retired military officers, representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and others.

    Ironically, the list, much to the chagrin of Agge leaders, did not include any member of their communities, who have already given up 15,000 hectares of land, excluding the 15,000 more that the state government has asked the Nigerian Army to survey for it.

    It was not surprising; therefore, that shortly after the state government announced the composition of a committee for the project, the leaders of Agge expressed their displeasure at their alleged neglect and non-involvement in the committee. The traditional ruler of Agge, His Royal Highness (HRH) D. G Isiayei, who praised the initiative, lamented that the communities only learnt about the constitution of the committee on the pages of newspapers.

    The monarch spoke with The Nation’s Niger Delta Report shortly after an emergency meeting of the kingdom, which was convened to find a way to deal with the announcement and their perceived neglect.

    He said: “It is a thing of joy for development to come to this area; we are a major oil-producing community and our land is blessed to be located in a place suitable for this project. We are also grateful to the governor for choosing Agge for this project. Our joy at the project should not deprive us of our rights; nobody should do that to us.”

    Isiaye, who, along with six prominent leaders of Agge, later wrote an open letter to Governor Dickson, regretted the attempt to ‘cut the hair of the Agge people without their knowledge and on their behalf’.

    The letter to Governor Dickson, a copy of which was made available to our reporter noted: “Your Excellency, it is important to inform you that the Agge people have only learnt about this mouth-watering Agge Deep Seaport Project from  the  pages  of  newspapers from its conception to the stage of commencing operation in 2020.

    “In a capsule, we have not been carried along. We have been treated as total strangers to the project while we shall be the people to provide the land for this laudable project,” the monarch who signed the document along with Chairman and Secretary of Agge, Chief Arthur Benidiwei and Dhemeon Wuka respectively stated.

    Nevertheless, prior to the announcement, the state government had released N230 million to a consultant, while the Nigerian Army was carrying out survey of 15,000 hectares of land that are required for the project, including the port and other ancillary facilities.

    Reacting to this, the Agge leaders said: “It was also in the Newspaper that we got to know that the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps shall undertake the survey of 15,000 hectares of our land. The Army came to Agge and its Federated Communities stayed with us and surveyed the land and left. We later read in the newspaper of June 6, 2013 how the head of the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, General Funso Owonibi, presented his survey reports to you.

    “No recourse whatsoever was made to us the landowners who are prepared to give you the land for this laudable project,” the letter stressed.

    No doubt, the Agge Deep Seaport is a laudable project, with an industrial park, fabrication yard, dry dock, jetty, outfield chemical plant and tank farm. It will also incorporate cement and bagging plants, port housing complex, forward operations base (FOB), container terminal, schools, steel pipe rolling mill, scrapping centres and hospital, among others, which would be powered by a 500 Megawatts power plant.

    However, the growing discontentment in the handling of the project could spell doom for its success, even before a brick is laid.

    Speaking with our reporter, the monarch noted that land is a scarce community in the area, because of its location.

    “If we are giving out so much land for this project, the least they should do is let us know what they are doing with the land.

    “We are farmers, fishermen and business people and land is essential in all of these business ventures; to take that much land and not carry us along, without hearing our pains, hopes and expectation is not good because we have to survive and our survival is tied to our land,” he said.

    Speaking in the same manner, Benediwei, who is the Chairman of Agge and its Federated Communities and the Chairman of the five-man Agge Land Committee appointed by Isiayei to handle the land required by the Bayelsa State Government for the Agge Deep Seaport, warned, “it will be wrong for the Agge people to be treated as strangers for the same project and completely taken for granted.

    “The Governor just appointed the Agge Deep Seaport Project Implementation Committee and our perusal of the members revealed coldly that no single Agge person was included in the picture for the same Agge Deep Seaport that we shall be providing 15,000 hectares of land. I know for sure that the Governor will still require land for the forward operation base (FOB).”

    He said it was important for the Agge Land Committee “to meet with Governor Dickson and the Commissioner for Land and Survey because there is so much to discuss moving forward. The average Agge man and we the members of the Land Committee do not understand what is actually going on with the Agge Deep Seaport Project.

    “While the Agge Deep Seaport Project will surely bring about development, it will make no sense if the Agge man is under-developed because of the Deep Seaport Project. Our land is precious to us and same for our maritime endowment.  We want to be on the same page with the Governor to succeed with the Agge Deep Seaport Project by February, 2020.”

    Investigations by our reporter revealed that the protest letter might be the first of an avalanche that could soon flood the state as soon as the project begins to gain traction. There are no assurances though that the others to come, particularly those by the youth of the area, would be as peaceful as those of their leaders.

    “We are watching what our leaders are doing; we respect them and we trust in their ability to handle the issue to a logical conclusion. But there is always a limit to every man’s patience and tolerance. This is a project that will impact on our lives; we want that impact to be positive and not to impoverish us,” one of the youth leaders of the town, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told our reporter on telephone.

    Meanwhile, the government explained that the community is represented in the 14-member Project Implementation Committee for the Development of Agge Deep Seaport.  The Commissioner for Works, Mr. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said the committee was the only major step so far taken by the government to begin a process of realising the project.

    “A son of Agge, Stanley Braboke, is a member of the project verification committee. How else do they want to be carried along? We are not really doing much now. We have been conducting studies. It is now that we want to start doing something.

    “There is a proposed road leading to Agge; after that there will be a stakeholders’ meeting. Experts are the ones conducting the studies. I have gone to visit them for about six times. We have not gotten to the stage where they will be involved in the day-to-day activities of the project”, he assured.

     

  • Stay off kingdom, Gbaramatu monarch warns Avengers

    Stay off kingdom, Gbaramatu monarch warns Avengers

    The king of Gbara-matu Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Pere Williams Ogoba, Oboro II, has warned operatives of the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and all those aiming to attack oil pipelines, to stay off his kingdom.

    The monarch, who spoke through the spokesman of the Gbaramatu Traditional Council, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, also advised the Federal Government to prevail on the military and call them off his area as his kingdom is not at war with the Nigerian state.

    The warning against the Avengers and all vandals of the nation’s critical facilities came on the heels of fresh apprehension in Gbaramatu over recent deployment of military hardware in the area, including gunboats and military aircraft.

    Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area has been the Avengers’ theatre of operations since it commenced campaigns against the nation’s oil and gas industry last year, destroying several key assets, which severely affected the nation’s oil output.

    But in a statement obtained by Niger Delta Report in Warri penultimate week, the monarch absolved his kingdom and his people from any connection with the dreaded militant group, adding that the group is not welcomed in any part of the kingdom.

    The statement said the monarch had given orders to all chairmen of communities to watch out for strangers or indigenes seen close to pipelines in the kingdom, hold such and hand over to security agents.

    “We want to also warn criminals that will want to use the present threat situation to cause confusion in the Gbaramatu Kingdom. We announce to you that anybody that is caught getting close to pipelines with the purpose of vandalising them, will severely dealt with by Gbaramatu Kingdom.

    “The monarch has directed that all chairmen in the kingdom should be vigilant, if they see any person that they don’t know in the kingdom or should they see any son of the kingdom that is about to carry out nefarious activities as it affects government facilities should be apprehended and handed over to security agents.

    “We don’t support the behaviour of the Avengers to wreak havoc on oil facilities. At the same time, we want to plead with the Federal Government and its agents, especially the military and the navy, please let’s give peace a chance.

    “We are not and we don’t want to be Avengers. We are not in support of the Avengers. All we say is that we want development. Things that the Federal Government has promised such as the Ogoni clean-up, the EPZ project, the maritime university, the Omadino, Okerenkoko, Escravos roads and all that the Federal Government has said they are going to do, let them fast-track them. If they fulfil all they promised, nobody will think of carrying out any destruction of any national asset.

    “I think the inaction of some agencies of the government is the reason people have opportunity to say they want to protest. But to the protesters, we continue to plead with your conscience, sheathe the sword. That is not the right way to go. If you destroy all the facilities in the Niger Delta, we will suffer for it, we will be the losers. We don’t need to destroy government facilities for government to listen to us. Let’s sit down and talk, to jaw-jaw is better than to war-war. I repeat, we are not at war with the Federal Government.

    “Criminals who want to use the present situation to cause an unpleasant situation in Gbaramatu Kingdom should leave Gbaramatu Kingdom alone. Should we get any information that anybody wants to get close to government facilities, our youths are on the lookout, we will deal with such people. The traditional ruler has given directives to the community chairmen to ensure that this directive is carried out to the latter”, the statement said.

     

  • Assembly conducts public hearing on Ken-Poly Bill

    Assembly conducts public hearing on Ken-Poly Bill

    Public hearing on the bill seeking an upgrade of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, ( Ken-Poly ) Bori, Rivers State, has been held by the State House of Assembly, with a demand to grant autonomy to the school.

    Organised by members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Education in Port Harcourt, the state capital, the chairman of the committee, Farra Dagogo in his opening remarks said the Ken-Poly bill 2017 is meant to effect positive and realistic change that would lift the institution to the standards provided by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the regulatory body for Polytechnics in the country.

    Stakeholders at the forum took turns to canvass their areas of interest to be injected into the new bill to strengthen both the academic and administrative structure of the institution.

    For the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), led by Usman Dutse, making bills that would raise the standard of the state-owned polytechnic to bring it to the current NBTE Polytechnic operational set standard is what is paramount to it.

    Making their presentations, Dutse, who was represented by the immediate past National President of the union, Chibuzor Asomugha, from the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State said, to actualise the vision, the obsolete parts of the current bill must be removed while other parts should be amended to reflect the current reality.

    To this effect, the union canvassed, among other things, the upgrade of the school to produce both middle manpower level graduates and higher manpower level graduates, even as the school’s name be further amended to reflect the name of its host community, as it is done across the country.

    They also proposed the trimming of membership of the school’s governing council from the current 20 to 15 and that most of the members be appointed internally.

    This, they noted, will cut costs and ensure prudent management of the lean fund available to the institution. They also want the meetings of the body to be limited to four times regular meeting and a few emergency meetings every year as against the current random emergency meetings. They union equally expressed concern on the sitting allowance of the members and suggested that it should be in accordance with the wage bill policy of the state instead of fixing it by the members.

    The union equally recommended that academic qualification of the membership of the council (governing council), be not less than Higher National Diploma (HND), holders who are knowledgeable with the operation of polytechnics education while the statutory sitting on the governing council of polytechnics; a representative of the university system, be sponged.

    ASUP also canvassed for the repealing of the “special members” provision in the governing council, dismissing it as alien to polytechnics operation.

    They, however, recommended for the “Ex-Officio membership’ position which they said should be appointed internally to save cost.

    They also want the chairman and non-Ex-Officio members of the council who are representing specific interests of the state to be appointed by the Executive Governor who is also the Chief Security Officer of the polytechnic.

    ASUP also canvassed that the ‘’Director Term” currently used for principal personnel of the school be replaced with the term ‘’Dean” especially as it concerns academic operations. They issue of retirement age of ASUP members of institution was also canvassed to be from 65 years or any other year that may be applicable in the sector.

    The national body, however, agreed on the sub-dean provision, which, according to it, makes provision for academic mentorship and growth which attracts little or no financial spending. They requested that it should be allowed to remain in the bill, to stimulate growth of the institution.

    On the issue of admission of membership of the school board from anywhere, ASUP recommended that that section should be removed to avoid contamination of the system, even as they said the Ex-Officio members which include the Rector and the Deputy Rector should be part of the bill instead.

    In his submission, a social activist, comrade Ken Henshaw recommended the collapse of the discrimination in polytechnic and university certificates in the bill.

    He also recommended that to end the regime of acrimony, confusion and conflict as it concerns the successorship of principal officers of the school, the tenure of each officer should be reduced to a single five-year term.

     

  • Akwa Ibom council polls: ‘APC candidates better’

    Akwa Ibom council polls: ‘APC candidates better’

    Victor Akpan is a civil and construction engineer. He is contesting the chairmanship  of Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in tomorrow’s local government elections. In this interview, he says  the APC will shock Akwa Ibom people with its performance. Excerpts:

    for electoral contest

     

    In life, there comes a time where you take certain decisions. Here in Akwa Ibom State, and elsewhere, politics at the local government level is the arm of government that is closest to the people. It means that is where you can reach the bulk of the populace at the local level and interact with them if you are thinking about giving back to the society. When you come back and see the condition of our local government areas where majority of Nigerians live,  you are thrown aback and you wonder why so.

    We do not have the quality of leadership that is needed to move those places to the level that they should be. I think we need very experienced people to be at the grassroots level to be able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

    So, getting into this at this point has got to do with a call to service.

     

    My plans for the people

     

    When you consider the needs of the people at the local level, will understand that early education and primary health care and agriculture are paramount. That is why my campaign is anchored on those three point agenda.

    We know that employment is paramount; accessibility to funds for job creation in the private enterprise is paramount but at this level, the greatest and fastest way to enhance or emancipate them economically is for you to increase their involvement in both agriculture and early education. If you do that, you will be able to up their development and progress.

    So, if you get agriculture to be largely entrenched at different levels in the local government area, then you will be able to create employment and get earning power down to the people at the local level.

    Then the other part of it is that education must be really enhanced for us to get the people to the level where they can contribute to the economy of the country. So, education at the early level, which is actually what lays the foundation for you to be able to attain any other height in life, must not be toyed with.

    Then, when you look at primary health care, from the studies that have been carried out in the country by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and by our own health authorities, it is our biggest problem.

    Access to basic treatment for malaria, clinics for normal delivery is totally lacking and this is where we have the highest infant mortality rate and equally death of mothers during child-birth.

     

    Reception at the local government level

     

    The reception so far has been overwhelming. When I interact with the youth and the people at the local level, I found out that they are not as naïve as we may think. When we go out on campaigns and town hall meetings to discuss with the people, I find them to be very receptive and they are all interested in seeing new things happen and being done differently from the way that they have been done previously.

    At first, they tell you all their disappointments and all that has been going on, how they have been given false promises and all the times their hopes are raised and then dashed thereafter. And when you come up and interact with them on the possibilities in the local area, you get so amazed at what they will tell you.

    For instance, 90 per cent of the rural roads are actually not motorable and it seems we are actually retrogressing because I know early on when we were little kids, when you go home you find out that people used to sweep roads in the village.

     

    Nsit Ubium and PDP

     

    Nigeria was a PDP-controlled country and now we have an APC President. Yes, we have very strong PDP stalwarts in Nsit Ubium but we equally have strong APC stalwarts too. Nsit Ubium is actually one of the local government areas that we have parity in the capacity and strength of the two political parties. Apart from that, my candidature is not about APC or PDP. My candidature is more about Nsit Ubium.

    Right now, my people are thinking in the direction of how we can get Nsit Ubium to the next level and not divided along party lines anymore. So, for me, it is not just about party. It is about the people of Nsit Ubium.

     

    APC as a platform

     

    In the past 18 years, we have been having the same kind and way of doing things, and that truly is not sustainable. Secondly, if you really do not give the people the option, then you have not really given them the opportunity to make a choice, which is what democracy is all about.

    In this case, we need to be able to have another option and the option that is truly forward was that of the party that did transparent primaries.

     

    The pedigree of the candidates of the two parties

     

    If we were to assess both candidates in my local government, we are going to look at exposure, experience and educational background. And I will say that that of the APC is the stronger and this is replicated in other local government areas.

    For instance, if you look at Etinan, Mkpat Enin and other local government areas, you will discover that the APC made a better choice. The system that threw up the candidates of the APC is a better system because it allowed internal democracy to prevail.

     

    Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) as the umpire

     

    When people feel or think the election has already been won, I think it is not very correct. Yes, the State Government controls AKISIEC and the State Government from antecedence has been doing selection of candidates instead of election.

    For the first time in Akwa Ibom, we have an opposition party that is fielding candidates in all the elections and an opposition that has a very strong presence at the national level. So, the constitution is not one that allows you to handpick a candidate for elective position. There is going to be election. It is for us to insist that the elections are done.

     

    Trust in AKISIEC to deliver

     

    I do not have the trust and confidence that AKISIEC will deliver transparently but we are going to insist that AKISIEC delivers. We will insist that the new Board does the right thing and we expect them to do the right thing.

    My reason is based on AKISIEC’s antecedence and the way things had been done before by the same political party and the state government.

     

    Nsit Ubium and political heavyweights

     

    In our own case in Nsit Ubium, I consulted across board and I am known across board. I am known by all the political heavyweights and I will like to say that they were all excited to have somebody with my pedigree involved.

    I am a candidate that has been accepted across board. Irrespective of the political differences, I know that most of the heavyweights already know who I am and what I stand for and they know what to expect. I enjoy the support of most of the prominent and exposed people in my local government.

     

  • The ‘yeye’ man called Ali Baba

    The ‘yeye’ man called Ali Baba

    A below-the-knee amputee battled poverty. Help came from a foundation. He got a wheelchair and regularly got food to nourish his spirit, body and soul. For reasons yet to be explained, he sold the wheelchair and preferred to torture himself. The foundation got wind of the development and struck him off the list of beneficiaries.

    He got angry and labelled the foundation and the ‘yeye’ man who got me angry enough to write this piece scammers.

    The ‘yeye’ man, who fought his way out of the poverty in Niger Delta to the exclusivity of NICON Town, did not take kindly to the amputee’s claim and declared that not everyone deserves kindness. He added a clincher: “A mind-set that does not know gratitude kills faster than hate.”

    It is for his posts such as this that I have decided to let his career go up in flames today.

    Welcome to the world of Ali Baba! Now, you know the man I am donating his career to the gods. It is not my fault. Let’s blame the ‘yeye’ man who packs so many talents into one body. He is a writer. He has done some fantastic photography. His poetry is in a class not a few believe only special poets belong. He also acts, motivates and hosts talk show.  The entrepreneur in him is of no mean stature.

    How can one man have all these talents and still does well? I am baffled and it is for this reason that I am deploying my writing skill to ‘finish’ the career of the one who lost his first and surname decades ago.

    Like Zaq in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water, he seems always interested in the greater meaning. I cannot tell if he left Niger Delta for Lagos with ‘unsettled emotions’ like Etiaba left New York in Maik Nwosu’s A Gecko’s Farewell.  But I can tell that where he comes from poverty dances ‘Makosa’ every minute. Many of his people live in houses made of wood and covered with palm frond, which must be changed from time to time as they wither away. So many children cannot go to school. Yet the oil of Nigeria’s prosperity is drilled in their domain. The majority dwells in hell; the minority in heaven.  It is like the people have sinned against their leaders, the men they elect to lead them.

    In some parts of the Niger Delta, they never see night. The multinational operating in these areas have their flow stations so close to homes and send out gas flares throughout the day. So, the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check their wrist watches.

    In many towns, oil pipelines are in the open. Often they burst or are burst and our soils and existence are damaged in the process.

    I can tell that this son of a soldier born in Warri but from Agbarha-Otor has risen from the flabby back of the Niger Delta to become an institution. Ask other comedians and they will tell you he is the king. Their king got me angry when, three days ago, he used his Instagram handle @alibabagcfr to explain to a follower the concept of his popular comic contest Spontaneity. The fighter in him once again returned to town. The post told me the time has come for a focus on this Niger Delta-born multi-talented soul who I have the feeling reads with the appetite of an astute scholar. He cherishes books as gifts and always celebrates people who buy him great books.

    For Ali Baba, keeping quiet when someone tries to rubbish you or what you stand for is not a virtue. Silence is not golden in such circumstances. You need to read his Instagram posts to understand what I mean.

    He also sees desperation in saying “I need just any job”. As far as he is concerned, only people who do not have value to add thread this path. Harvesters should not play the role of planters, he preaches.

    Hell came down when a contestant on the show who goes by the name Timelessaproko faulted the judges for writing her off as not being spontaneous. After leaving the show, she took to the social media to complain about how ‘padi-padi’ syndrome was killing every facet of Nigeria. She challenged Ali Baba to release the video of all the contestants so that the public would have the opportunity to judge.

    The ace comedian’s first response was to make her understand that it was his show and had the right to decide what standards to use. He followed up by releasing the video of her performance on the show. I watched the video, which Ali Baba released in three parts because Instagram could not take all at once. Like Ali Baba, there was nothing funny or spontaneous in her performance, except speaking Pidgin English is now considered funny and spontaneous.

    Enough of the fight! Ali Baba is much more. Ali Baba – who owns the Oniru Estate-based multi-purpose centre called Xqzmoir – stuns with almost all his Instagram posts. He has a brilliant knack for playing on words in ways that only an intelligent mind can. Do not mind the fact that this guy who is impatient with lazy minds ends almost all his posts with ‘what do I know?’

    If you doubt me, let me serve you some of his dishes. In a caption he did for pictures of a lady who was big and later became trim, he wrote: “I come from a family where we have big bones…Bone that thing.” Then in another caption on a picture of Nollywood actor Ufuoma McDermott in which her daughter was pushing her from behind, he wrote: “When your daughter’s got your back…The push is usually towards the pizza place or ice cream.”

    I still have more. Latest husband in town Banky W recently shared pictures of the stripes or cuts on his shoulder as a result of a skin cancer surgery he underwent. When Ali Baba posted this picture, this is what he wrote: “By HIS stripes you are healed…You will come back with better cutting edge songs and you will be carried shoulder high in all you do.”

    And please one more: The acronym of the names of Actor Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi is FAR. A few days ago while wishing her a happy birthday, Ali Baba played on the acronym when he wrote: “I nearly missed it…happy birthday my friend from faaaaaaar back…” His posts give the impression he thinks deeply and reflectively before typing.

    This man – who does not believe two heads are better than one – has, for some time now, been on a campaign for monuments, such as those of Fela, Awolowo and so on to be moved to places where people can access and take pictures with them like we see abroad. He sees no sense in putting them in the middle of the road, barricading them and asking people not to cross the lawn. I totally buy the idea of this success story who believes two heads can only be better than one when they are two good heads. Can you beat that?

    My final take: Ali Baba’s is not a career that is about to go up in flames because he keeps re-inventing himself. With his Ali Baba Seriously on NTA, he has added another feather. Instead of going up in flames of fire, it will go up in flames of blessing and what do I know other than to tell Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, who is ‘just a comedian’, to continue to break a leg.

  • NDDC intervention: Akwa Ibom communities count blessings

    COMMUNITIES in Odoro Iton in Ikono and Oku Iboku in Itu local government areas of Akwa Ibom State have cause to thank God and praise the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). They are grateful to the interventionist agency for making their lives worthwhile. They are joyful that the NDDC has provided them with access roads in their communities. They have never had it so good.

    As they excitedly wait for the official inauguration of these roads by the board and management of the NDDC, they were also making graphic comparisons between the inglorious past and the glorious present.

    Few of the natives have never had the opportunity of seeing let alone enjoying the spectacle and comfort of well-tarred roads and the attendant socio-economic benefits which proceed from such

    infrastructure.

    The general mood in Odoro Etok Iton community in Ikono Local Government Area was that of joy, gratitude and sense of belonging, thanks to the road network provided by the NDDC under the Nsima Ekere-led management.

    The phase I of the Odoro Etok Iton Link Road, completed and about to be inaugurated, has wide drainage system on both sides and serves as one of the star projects of the NDDC in recent times, considering its quality and value to the people.

    Considering the quality and socio-economic importance of the road to the people, the appreciative indigenes of the community spoke glowingly about the NDDC, and asked for God’s blessings on the management of the interventionist agency.

    A former youth President of Odoro Etok Iton Village, Akparawa Sunday Isaac Akpan said the road has brought so much economic benefits to the people, adding that the road is the best in the whole of Ikono Local Government Area.

    “The road is the best in this area. You have seen the quality of work done. All you need to do is drive on the road and you won’t notice any bad spot.

    “I want to advise the state government to use the standard of roads constructed by the NDDC as yardstick because some contractors use bare hands and poor quality equipment to construct roads around here,” he said.

    Etim Udonsek, a commercial motorcycle operator, also commended the commission for coming to the rescue of the community, saying that the Odoro Etok Iton Road has made his business and other businesses easier and more rewarding than before.

    Udonsek recalled that there was a time the villagers could not access the local government headquarters and places such as markets, hospitals, farms and other facilities because of lack of link roads.

    He said he was grateful to the NDDC for changing their pathetic story and giving their lives a meaning with the construction of the Odoro Etok Iton Link Road which, according to him, has brought smiles and succour to the people.

    However, Mrs Blessing Jimmy Ituen, who owns a shop close to the newly constructed road said though she is appreciative of the intervention by the NDDC, the commission should also construct the Odoro Etok Iton-Oboro Akara-Aba Link Road.

    She said the road is very strategic to the community as it links the community with the commercial city of Aba from Oboro Akara Local Government Area.

    According to her, the road has the potential of enhancing business and economic activities in the community as traders can easily move their wares to and from Aba, thereby creating wealth and development.

    One of the star projects of the current management of the NDDC is the internal road within the Oku Iboku community in Itu Local Government Area. The road, which meanders through many villages along the stretch, terminates at the popular Itu River.

    Oku Iboku is the host of the moribund Oku Iboku Paper Mill which has been neglected for years by successive governments with the consequence that the once-robust community had become a ghost of itself, with relics of the company adding to the sorrows of the villagers.

    But the NDDC has breathed life back to the once-forlorn and drowsy community with the construction of the internal road which has rejuvenated the economic and social life of the people as evident in the springing up of small and large business concerns in the community.

    A visit to the area presents one with the spectacle of one in coma gradually coming alive after a miraculous touch from a divine force.

    Grateful natives and residents of the community, traders, fishermen, fish and crayfish sellers, commercial motorcycle operators, boat owners and riders have attested to the fact that things are looking up with the construction of the internal road in the Oku Iboku community.

    Eyo Utip, a fisherman, who plies his trade at the Itu River, said his business has improved tremendously because of the newly-constructed internal road by the NDDC.

    He said: “My business has really picked up because of the road. It was difficult for fish sellers to come to this beach to buy fish from us because of the bad road. The situation has changed now as people from Uyo and far-flung places come here to patronise us. The reason is simple. They can now access this beach. I thank the NDDC for constructing the road for us.”

    Mayen Etuk has a provision shop along the newly-constructed road. She admitted that she has more customers now than before because they have access to her shop.

    According to her, she almost shut down her shop some months back because she was not breaking even due to low patronage.

    “Most times, I had to resort to taking my items out to the local government headquarters and popular markets around the state because I had very poor sales. I collected loan from LAPO Micro-finance Bank to stock my shop as I didn’t want to take chances.

    ‘’Sometimes, some of my items perished, especially the perishable ones. I persevered. When the NDDC began the construction of this road, I had some ray of hope. Even construction workers

    began to patronise me and things changed for good.

    ‘’Today, I am counting my blessings. This is the fruit of NDDC intervention and I will ever remain grateful to the Ekere-led NDDC for its good work which has wiped away our tears and brought hope to us here,” she said.

    A community leader, Chief Nelson Akpakpan said though the dilapidation of the paper mill many years ago has negatively affected the community, the NDDC road intervention has given members of the community the hope and confidence that government has not forgotten them.

    He appealed to the state and Federal Government to resuscitate the moribund paper mill, adding that the internal road constructed by the NDDC should serve as bait to corporate institutions, government and rich individuals to explore the rich aquatic potential of the area.

  • Better future for Niger Delta dominates talks at forum

    Better future for Niger Delta dominates talks at forum

    Representatives of oil-producing states and development partners gathered in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, to discuss how government and private sectors-led interventions can drive socio-economic growth in the Niger Delta. It was at a two-day Niger Delta Development Forum (NDDF) organised by the Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND). WALE AJETUNMOBI reports

    FACTORS that led to the failure of various development plans for the Niger Delta became subject matters at the sixth Niger Delta Development Forum (NDDF) held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, last week.

    The two-day confab whose theme was “State-led Framework for Planning and Developing in the Niger Delta” was organised by the Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) and it focused on how the region could leverage the non-oil commodities and services to accelerate its development and fast-track investments.

    Local and international development partners and delegates from nine states making up the oil-producing region engaged in discussions centred on the need to adopt a workable fixed-period development plans that would provide short-term and long-term results in addressing the contemporary challenges facing the oil-producing region.

    Lack of ownership, the discussants pointed out, is one of the key hindrances against the successful implementation of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan adopted by the Federal Government in 2006.

    Stakeholders agreed that the 11-year-old development master plan had provisions that could engender sustained growth and promote lasting peace in the region, but said the states and local government areas were not carried along in the implementation of the document.

    The forum, in the last six years, has become a platform where strategic decisions are taken for the development of the region.

    In his opening speech, Executive Director of PIND, Dr. Dara Akala, said the forum was envisioned to create a Niger Delta that would generate income, employment and create economic opportunities that would be unhindered by market and policy-related constraints.

    He said: “The time can never be more appropriate than now to discuss planning of better future for Niger Delta. The recent recession, for good or ill, has given us the opportunity to critically assess the sector that can drive growth, increase our domestic resources mobilisation and contribute to a truly diversified and robust economy.”

    Akala said PIND had worked in partnership with governments of Niger Delta states to drive programmes and policies that increased wealth creation, economic opportunities and agricultural investments.

    He said: “What we have seen strengthens our belief that Niger Delta states can learn from each other’s experience to improve their processes and economic performance. Strengthened regional partnership can help each state better identify ideal partners, reduce replication, learn from past mistakes and interrogate examples that have worked. With development planning, the region can better prepare for a prosperous future by helping to improve policy coordination that will improve socio-economic outcomes.”

     

    State-led development planning

     

    Delegates registered their opposition to the centralised planning adopted by the Federal Government in implementing Niger Delta Development Master Plan, saying previous effort to drive development in the region failed because the states were not incorporated in the implementation phases.

    Senior Special Adviser to Cross River State Government on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, who moderated a discussion panel with the theme “Framework and Tools for Implementable, Fundable and Sustained Growth and Development Planning in the Niger Delta”, said the current approach to Niger Delta development is not sustainable.

    Inconsistency of the development framework, she said, has led to social crisis, internal contradictions, lack of co-operation between stakeholders, and policy summersaults among the Niger Delta states.

    Toyo said: “There is need for long-term strategic planning and implementation of key deliverables. The Federal Government should know that any development plan that did not create platform to engage the state and local people is doomed to fail.”

    Dr. Akala said exclusion of states and local government authorities from the implementation of the development plans gave rise to projects duplication and a waste of resources. He said states must play active roles in implementation.

    He said: “The state is the most viable entity in which any development master plan can be based. There is need to build ownership around development plan and incorporate each state in the implementation. This would give people a sense of belonging and inclusion.”

     

    Political patronage must stop

     

    Against the backdrop of poor development and widespread poverty in the oil-producing region despite huge resources allocation by successive governments through public corporations, such as Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), delegates assessed the impact of politics on the development of the region.

    The Chief Whip of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Tonye Emmanuel, decried a situation whereby contracts for multi-billion Naira projects initiated for the development of the region were given to politicians who only collected the money without executing the contracts. He said NDDC became a conduit for politicians from the region to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

    He said: “Anybody that is appointed the chairman of NDDC purposely aspires to become governor in his state. As such, they play more of politics than the developmental issues they are appointed to solve. They give out contracts for political patronage and abandon the core mandate of this intervention agency, which is to carry out developmental projects that will change the lives of the people.”

    Hon. Emmanuel also lamented a situation where the State House of Assembly cannot summon the leadership of the intervention agencies set up by the Federal Government in cases of abandoned projects. He noted that there had been proliferation of agencies in the Niger Delta working without coordination and with little supervision by the Federal Government.

    The state delegates agreed that political patronage must be discouraged in the implementation of the development master plan if the Federal Government is serious about realising its objective. They also called for collaboration between the NDCC and the states’ agencies.

     

    Regional integration

     

    There was convergence of opinions among the delegates at the forum on the need for all the oil-producing states to unite and create a common economy. Regional integration, they said, would afford each state great benefit, leveraging on the principle of comparative advantage in non-oil commodity production.

    Dr. Akala said: “What we are saying is that, the states working together, collaborating and trading with each other will make them collectively better off than doing things independently and individually. That is the long-term goal that states in the region should be working towards.”

     

    Leveraging agriculture and market programmes

     

    Leveraging non-oil commodities as driver of socio-economic growth and opportunities in the Niger Delta was part of the recommendations in the previous NDDF. This cause, as being championed by the PIND, is already yielding fruits.

    The objective is to look beyond oil as source of revenue for the impoverished denizens bearing the brunt of the intrigues in the oil exploration. This has led to introduction of agricultural and market programmes, which are targeted at the poor.

    In the last two years, Market Development for Niger Delta (MADE), an agro-market programme being funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), has been implementing sustainable intervention programmes that generate pro-poor and inclusive growth in the nine states of the Niger Delta, using Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach.

    The MADE initiative is making impacts in vocation in which poor denizens are actively engaged, including agriculture, aquaculture; palm oil processing and cassava production, among others.

    Also, thousands of low-income farmers and fishermen in small and medium businesses have benefitted in the Maximising Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) II programme supported by the DFID.

     

    NDDC’s new paradigm for development

     

    The era of political patronage and duplication of development projects has end, Stephen Onerhime, the Senior Technical Adviser to NDDC Managing Director, Isima Ekere, said.

    He said the commission had introduced a 4R Policy to restructure the balance sheet in project implementation, reform its governance system, restore effective implementation of the Niger Delta Master Plan and re-affirm the commitment of the people in driving growth.

    Onerhime said the commission was ready to engage the Niger Delta states in tackling duplication of projects and collaborate to deliver common goals.

    He said: “We have created a framework on how NDDC will work together with state governments to give them information on all our projects, including technical data. We will create a committee for a joint inspection of projects. We will also engage civil society organisations in project inspection.

    “We have already started this initiative in Ondo and Bayelsa states. I believe the success if this would silence the naysayers who have been pushing campaign of calumny against the NDDC.

  • NDDC intervention: Akwa Ibom communities count blessings

    NDDC intervention: Akwa Ibom communities count blessings

    COMMUNITIES in Odoro Iton in Ikono and Oku Iboku in Itu local government areas of Akwa Ibom State have cause to thank God and praise the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). They are grateful to the interven     al mood in Odoro Etok Iton community in Ikono Local Government Area was that of joy, gratitude and sense of belonging, thanks to the road network provided by the NDDC under the Nsima Ekere-led management.

    The phase I of the Odoro Etok Iton Link Road, completed and about to be inaugurated, has wide drainage system on both sides and serves as one of the star   ought so much economic      benefits to the people, adding that the road is the best in the whole of Ikono Local Government Area.

    “The road is the best in this area. You have seen the quality of work done. All you need to do is drive on the road and you won’t notice any bad spot.

    “I want to advise the state government to use the standard of roads constructed by the NDDC as yardstick because some contractors use bare hands and poor quality equipment to construct roads around here,” he said.

    Etim Udonsek, a commercial motorcycle operator, also commended the commission for coming to the rescue of the community, saying that the Odoro Etok Iton Road has made his business and other businesses easier and more rewarding than before.

    Udonsek recalled that there was a time the villagers could not access the local government headquarters and places such as markets, hospitals, farms and other facilities because of lack of link roads.

    He said he was grateful to the NDDC for changing their pathetic story and giving their lives a meaning with the construction of the Odoro Etok Iton Link Road which, according to him, has brought smiles and succour to the people.

    However, Mrs Blessing Jimmy Ituen, who owns a shop close to the newly constructed road said though she is appreciative of the intervention by the NDDC, the commission should also construct the Odoro Etok Iton-Oboro Akara-Aba Link Road.

    She said the road is very strategic to the community as it links the community with the commercial city of Aba from Oboro Akara Local Government Area.

    According to her, the road has the potential of enhancing business and economic activities in the community as traders can easily move their wares to and from Aba, thereby creating wealth and development.

    One of the star projects of the current management of the NDDC is the internal road within the Oku Iboku community in Itu Local Government Area. The road, which meanders through many villages along the stretch, terminates at the popular Itu River.

    Oku Iboku is the host of the moribund Oku Iboku Paper Mill which has been neglected for years by successive governments with the consequence that the once-robust community had become a ghost of itself, with relics of the company adding to the sorrows of the villagers.

    But the NDDC has breathed life back to the once-forlorn and drowsy community with the construction of the internal road which has rejuvenated the economic and social life of the people as evident in the springing up of small and large business concerns in the community.

    A visit to the area presents one with the spectacle of one in coma gradually coming alive after a miraculous touch from a divine force.

    Grateful natives and residents of the community, traders, fishermen, fish and crayfish sellers, commercial motorcycle operators, boat owners and riders have attested to the fact that things are looking up with the construction of the internal road in the Oku Iboku community.

    Eyo Utip, a fisherman, who plies his trade at the Itu River, said his business has improved tremendously because of the newly-constructed internal road by the NDDC.

    He said: “My business has really picked up because of the road. It was difficult for fish sellers to come to this beach to buy fish from us because of the bad road. The situation has changed now as people from Uyo and far-flung places come here to patronise us. The reason is simple. They can now access this beach. I thank the NDDC for constructing the road for us.”

    Mayen Etuk has a provision shop along the newly-constructed road. She admitted that she has more customers now than before because they have access to her shop.

    According to her, she almost shut down her shop some months back because she was not breaking even due to low patronage.

    “Most times, I had to resort to taking my items out to the local government headquarters and popular markets around the state because I had very poor sales. I collected loan from LAPO Micro-finance Bank to stock my shop as I didn’t want to take chances.

    ‘’Sometimes, some of my items perished, especially the perishable ones. I persevered. When the NDDC began the construction of this road, I had some ray of hope. Even construction workers

    began to patronise me and things changed for good.

    ‘’Today, I am counting my blessings. This is the fruit of NDDC intervention and I will ever remain grateful to the Ekere-led NDDC for its good work which has wiped away our tears and brought hope to us here,” she said.

    A community leader, Chief Nelson Akpakpan said though the dilapidation of the paper mill many years ago has negatively affected the community, the NDDC road intervention has given members of the community the hope and confidence that government has not forgotten them.

    He appealed to the state and Federal Government to resuscitate the moribund paper mill, adding that the internal road constructed by the NDDC should serve as bait to corporate institutions, government and rich individuals to explore the rich aquatic potential of the area.

  • Soon, very soon

    There is politics in the air. If you doubt it, you need to go back to bed. When you wake up, smell the air and believe me, chances are that you will feel it. But as a guide, let me tell you things you can watch out for.

    At times like this, you will hear stories about aides being sacked. You will hear talks about cabinets being re-constituted to inject new blood. And soon and very soon, more of such stories will become public knowledge.

    Friendship, trust and loyalty are about to start suffering once more in the South-south. Politics will bring some together and push others apart. Almost nowhere else will the race to pick tickets to run for one elective office or the other be as fierce as it is in this oil-rich region.

    Soon and very soon, you will see opponents carry a casket and say what they have inside is the body of a man who is alive—yes, their living political adversary. Blows will be exchanged; guns will boom; and ways will be parted — soon and very soon.

    Soon and very soon, everything will become Charly Boy Show where anything can happen. Soon and very soon, you will have cause to wonder whether it is all about serving the people or serving their pockets and egos.

    Soon and very soon, some people’s prayers will be answered; others will gnash their teeth. Money will go down the drain and no ticket to show for it. Their ambitions will have to take a break.

    Some godfathers will have their prayers answered. Their prayers to grab a ticket for themselves and tickets for their sons to run for governor, Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly will be granted. They will attribute all to God, who, in His infinite mercy, shows them some love.

    Soon and very soon, tickets will make men sing discordant tunes.  Their portrayal of the godfather before and after getting the ticket will make you wonder if they are the same guys who had dressed down the godfather some months back. They will describe him as a quintessential leader after equating him to the devil. These will, indeed, be interesting times.

    Soon and very soon, men and women will run with the vision— yes divine vision they will call it. Men and women whose lifestyles do not show any allegiance to God will tell you their pastors — or are they ‘babalawos?’—prophesied that they would govern their states or they will be in the House of Representatives or some other offices. For this reason, they will risk so many things.

    If you doubt me, let me give you an example from the last general election. Godswill Akpabio was governor of Akwa Ibom State. He wanted to go to the Senate and install Udom Emmanuel as his running mate. His then Commissioner for Finance, Bassey Albert, wanted to be governor. Akpabio stood his ground, and one day sacked Albert as commissioner alongside others against the Emmanuel-must-succeed-me project.

    Albert and others vowed to frustrate the Emmanuel-must-be-governor project. Albert based his actions and insistence on being governor on a divine vision, which must not be truncated by man— Akpabio.

    Their actions angered Akpabio and he declared at the sod turning ceremony for the PDP secretariat in Akwa Ibom in July 2014: “Christ did not say that there will be no Judas. Even our God Almighty recognised that even the people he worked with, and called them angels, that one of them was going to betray him. And that was Lucifer, what did God do? He threw him out of heaven. Has he entered heaven till today? Those who have betrayed the governor will not enter Government House.

    “You empower your children so that they will be a pride to you. You don’t empower them so that they come and betray you. That is the lot of the world.

    “I go back into the Bible, the Game Changer (Adamu Mua’zu, who was PDP National Chairman at the time). I saw the story of Absalom. And I said may God take away the spirit of Absalom from our midst. Who was Absalom? The son of David, the father trained him and empowered him as the would-be King of Israel. Because of impatience, Absalom wanted to take over before the age of 30. He wanted to kill King David. And the King said, leave him to his fate.”

    He then asked the crowd at the ceremony: “Did it end well with Absalom?”

    The crowd responded: “Nooooo!”

    He went on to explain what happened to Absalom: “As a young man, he died, while his father continued. I am assuring the Game Changer (Muazu) and the President (Dr. Goodluck Jonathan) that those who want to take power through the backdoor will die. They will die! And the PDP will continue. In Akwa Ibom State, those who want to betray, who were supposed to be our political children, of course they will end like Absalom. But if they change their minds, then they will obtain favour from the sight of God.”

    Albert did not take kindly to Akpabio’s statement.  In an interview published then by this newspaper, he diplomatically ‘finished’ his political father. He said the story of Absalom was quoted out of context. His reason:  “If you read your Bible very well, then you know that despite Absalom’s behavioural deficiency, King David was still in love with him. I want to say that if the governor was referring to me as Absalom, then he should love me to the end.”

    It seemed the governor listened to Albert’s advice. He sought him out and fences were mended. The same senatorial position Albert earlier rejected is what he eventually settled for and I ask: what happened to the vision that he would be governor. May be it is postponed till after 2023, when the next governor would have served out two terms.

    Brace up guys, soon and very soon, interesting stuffs are going to come out of the Niger Delta, where electoral contests are like wars, which must be fought with cudgels, machetes, guns, bombs and so on and so forth.

    At a time like this, I cannot but remember that soon and very soon good men who dream of contributing to Niger Delta’s development through political offices will have their wishes crash like a pack of cards. I remember one such good man, Dr Ogaga Ifowodo, poet, rights activists and university teacher. He tried running for office in the last general elections but delegates did not find him good enough. Or was it that he had no enough cash to run the race?

    Soon and very soon, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and loyalists of embattled ex-First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan will be at war over who gets what in the state. That is what I have seen in the crystal ball. And in Rivers, the crystal ball shows that Governor Nyesom Wike will clinch PDP’s governorship ticket for a second term—no contest.

    Will the All Progressives Congress (APC) be able to give him a good fight? My crystal ball says that can only happen if the house is not divided against itself. But, in politics, 24 hours is a long time. What seems clear now can soon and very soon take another shape.

    My final take: Soon and very soon, new friends will be made; old ones will be discarded; and new alliances will be cemented. One can only hope that candidates will have it at the back of their minds that it should be about service and that if it is about service, violence should play no role. Guns should not boom; thugs should be made redundant; and peace should be the ultimate goal of all.vice, violence should play no role. Guns should not boom; thugs should be made redundant; and peace should be the ultimate goal of all.