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Tag: sentiment

  • 2019: ‘PDP will not choose its candidate on sentiment’

    Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom spoke to reporters in Lagos on a wide range of issues, including his achievements in the last three years, Ekiti governorship election and the preparations of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 governorship election. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    How would you assess the performance of your administration in the last three years?

    So far, I can say that we have done well. I will give myself an ‘A’, if I am to rate myself. We have done very, very well as an opposition political party leading a state that has no Federal Government presence; not even a kilometre of road. As the largest oil-producing state, there is not even a depot owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Akwa Ibom State. The corporation doesn’t even have a kiosk as an office in the state and you can’t point to anything to show that the Federal Government has interest in Akwa Ibom, which is an oil producing state.

    There are series of coalition talks aimed at strengthening the opposition and unseating the ruling APC-led Federal Government in next year’s general elections. In your view, how feasible is the idea?

    Most of the things going on now are human tactical approaches to what people think can give them an edge in the election. But, at the end of the day, what matters most is result. Everyone is hoping to carry the day in 2019, so any tactical approach that you think will give you the result is what you are going to employ. And, let me say something, no two elections have ever been the same and will never be. So, the 2019 elections will be completely different from that of 2015. So, if somebody thinks that there is a formula to it, it might not necessarily be. Above all, no matter what anyone does, it is God who determines who gets power, as all power on planet earth belong to Him and He gives it to whoever He wishes. There are situations where people have ruled without anyone casting the ballot for them; what coalition would you call that? So, I believe that these things are just human approaches to actually see what result they can get.

    You said that there is not even a kilometre of road constructed by the Federal Government in Akwa Ibom State. Could that be as a result of party differences?

    It did not start today and it is not because of party differences.

    What could have been the reason?

    I cannot explain and I stand to be corrected, if there is any. Even the so-called federal roads that we have spent money to reconstruct, we are still waiting for reimbursement of the funds that we spent. Even at that, the Federal Inland Revenue Service is telling us to pay tax on money that I am still being owed.

    How would you respond to the Water Resources Bill, which seeks to establish a regulatory framework for the country’s water resources?

    I am completely against it, because it is counter development. It also violates the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Take for example, my area, the whole life of our people is on water and the constitution does not separate the land from water. So, how can you now say water on the surface and water beneath? What happens to those of us who we live on water, survive on water and do everything on water? Does it mean that those that have land, live on land and do everything on land, their governors have control, while governors of riverrine areas where the peoples’ entire life is on water should not control anything. Is that not a violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? So, it is a total rejection not just by me, but by the entire people of the Southsouth and Southeast of this country and we just want to believe that at this time that our democracy is still fragile, we should put in things that will make the country stronger and not those that can call so many things to question. Let’s do things that can move us forward and not backward. Such a bill can take us several thousand miles backwards. Believe me, we reject it in its entirety, because it is against the constitution and it is an indirect way of saying that we are not Nigerians, because everything about our life in the Niger Delta is on water.

    Is there anything that the governors of the Southsouth are doing to ensure that this bill is not passed by the National Assembly?

    We have a chairman of the governors of the Southsouth and to be fair to him, he has been speaking on the issue, so I don’t want to make any comment that would be contrary to the statement he has made.

    What is your relationship with your predecessor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is alleged to have claimed that some key officials of your government loyal to him were sacked due to the perceived rift between you and him?

    Let me ask the question: Which key official have you ever heard was sacked? If I run the government and there was no key official that has been sacked, then the alleged claim is a big surprise to me. No official has been sacked from government. I am not aware of any, because the highest official through appointment is commissioner and no commissioner has been sacked. At times people misinterpret certain things. You know that it takes two to be in love and it also takes two to fight. So, in this case, I will give you a straight answer; there is no rift, because the second party is not available. You don’t play a football match when you don’t have an opponent.

    You have a big task in Ekiti State as the head of the PDP governorship campaign committee. What are you doing to ensure that your party retains the state, because there is likely to be a clash of powerful forces?

    The role of my committee is simple and straight forward; our voting units are not in Ekiti, so we are not going to vote during the election. But, because two good heads are better one, what we are doing is see how we can mobilize the people at the grassroots, because election is about numbers and allowing the people to make their choice. That is why we are appealing to the media to help us to emphasize the imperative of the authorities allowing for a free, fair and credible election. At the end of the day, once the election is free, fair and credible, whoever wins, everybody goes home rejoicing. It is only when the poll is not seen to be free and fair that there will be issues. Our appeal is that every election in this country, not only in Ekiti, let’s try and ensure that it is free, fair and credible. It is not only in Nigeria; even in the so-called developed democracies, there are certain states you call blue states and red states, while there are those referred to as battleground states.

    Take our area for example; it is a blue area, because the only development the people know had been done by the PDP. So, what new ideas are you going to bring that have not been implemented and people have seen the result? On the other hand, there are areas that are pure red states and areas that are battlegrounds. So, a state like Ekiti that has always been a blue state, you should just expect the PDP’s victory in a free and fair election. Members of my committee are not going to vote in Ekiti, as we will not even be on ground on election day; but what we are doing is to see what the PDP in the state has as its penetration strategy and contribute ideas to strengthen it. That is why we are about 40 in the committee and all PDP governors are members. We want to bring to bear the different experiences we had in our respective elections, so that the best come out.

    You mentioned that Akwa Ibom is a blue state, but given what transpired during the recent congresses of the APC, it seems that leaders of the party in your state have shelved their differences probably to give the PDP a run for its money in the 2019 elections. Are you not threatened by this development?

    Let me tell you something. There is a difference between the APC in Lagos State and the APC in Abuja, and also the APC in Akwa Ibom State. Personally, I don’t mention names of political parties, but because you mentioned a name, that is why I am doing so, though I don’t know whether the name you mentioned is a political party or whether it is Armoured Personnel Carrier, if I may borrow your words. Look at what happened on May 29 in Akwa Ibom State. Does it a show a state where you have another political party? I want to say it clearly that the PDP in my state is like a religion. I told people three years ago that if someone is coming to conduct praise and worship in a church in Akwa Ibom State and happens to make the mistake to say PDP, people will answer. Akwa Ibom is purely 100 per cent a PDP state and it is a state that the people have seen development done by the party. So, what colour of another political party are you bringing to the people of the state and what will the party do new for them? On May 29, the people came out in their numbers to say this is where we belong. Where have you seen such a thing before? Mind you, Akwa Ibom is 99.99 per cent Christians and if these people from all the 31 local government areas, led by the former National President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church worldwide, have come out to say that there is no vacancy in the governorship office until 2023 and that it is Udom Emmanuel they want, which other political party are you mentioning?

    What did you do to deserve this kind of endorsement?

    I will answer you the other way round. What would you have expected from me as a governor, which I have not done? What that means is that whatever my people have expected from me as a governor, I have done and that was why they have endorsed me for a second term.

    There are so many aspirants eyeing the PDP presidential ticket for the 2019 elections and it seems the governors have theirs, while the founding fathers of the party also have theirs. How does the party intend to harmonise these interests?

    Is there anything new with that? The answer is no. If there are no aspirants at the national level, where else will you have people indicating interest? The constitution is clear that as far as you are eligible to contest, you can indicate interest. Different people aspire for different positions, but at the end of the day it is the will of the people that will prevail. And no matter the number of people aspiring for the ticket, what matters is that we must have a candidate as a political party. If people don’t aspire, it means that the party is not alive. So, the number of people aspiring on the platform of the PDP shows the strength of the party and I welcome more to join. In fact, let’s have more than 100 aspirants, but like I said, at the end of the day, the will of the people will prevail when we go for the convention.

    What is your take on the issue of campaign fund for the 2015 elections, which some chieftains of the PDP are being prosecuted for, although some people are asking about that of the ruling body, which is not being questioned?

    We thank you for providing an answer. What else do you want me to answer? But, let me tell you something which you don’t know. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, so if you hold power, you can do whatever you want to do. This thing we call power, I don’t want it to sound like a tautology, but as the name implies, anything called power can shock; it can bring light; it can burn; it can do something else. So, depending on who holds power and how he wants to play with it. What do you define as money laundering? If I contest election right now and I try to buy face-caps and I buy them from you; what offence have you committed? I think it’s something that we might not be able to answer totally right now, but the future should be able to provide answers to some of these questions.

    How prepared is your party ahead of 2019 general elections, to ensure that you win the presidential polls?

    We can only do one thing; we will make sure that we have a credible candidate. You see, anywhere in any developed nation of the world, election at that level is won and lost based on the economic policy you put on the table, because any nation that is strong economically would be strong democratically too.

    That is why democracy is wobbling in Africa, because the economy is not strong. So, whoever can come with a strong economic policy that we know can drive the economy of this country, certainly that is the person the PDP should actually put forward to be its candidate. I know politics is also about popularity, but believe me, at the national level, it is not just on the point of popularity alone, because popularity at times could be out of sentiment. If you think Udom Emmanuel is popular or I can stand somewhere in Gombe and people would clap for me, how many people in Gombe had actually had personal interaction with me and how many of them actually know me? I think Nigerians can decipher and put it straight who would govern this country, and who among those aspiring has deep knowledge of the economy. Again, the person must trend. I think you know what I mean by trend. You know those who are in that category. The person must trend; he must have adequate understanding of the economic issue that can make an impact. I am from the private sector, I know how I feel for somebody who was holding hundreds of millions of naira investment and of no offence of his nor has he done anything wrong, even with that investment in his hand, he has lost more than 50 per cent value of his investment. These are things we need to look at, because the country is bigger than an individual.

    So, whoever wants to contest, I am not contesting, Southsouth is not contesting for president; almost all the major political parties say the presidency goes to the North. It is a total agreement, because if brother chop and another brother chop, e no good but the PDP will win, because if you check Nigeria today, every single thing you can call development was done by the party. Mention GSM, it is PDP. So, technological revolution was brought to Nigeria by the PDP.

  • NOLLYWOOD: DISPELLING OLD VS. NEW SENTIMENT (2)

    I received some calls after last week’s edition on the above subject, mostly from the younger Nollywood artistes, debunking perception that they started such campaign of calumny that appears to be dividing the industry along a demographic/year of entry line.

    “Young Nollywood is not attacking anyone. It’s the older people that started this divide and attacking and tearing down,” one of them said to me.

    “There’s no new or old Nollywood. It’s even more of the older people who started calling the younger ones new Nollywood,” said another.

    Your article sounds like we think we have arrived and are attacking; that’s not true o,” another one said. They said the latest onslaught started after an older colleague referred to OC Ukeje and Blossom Chukwujekwu as Instagram actors on air.

    Without sounding judgmental, I want to disagree that these two actors do not deserve that description. It seems that when we quarrel among ourselves in this manner, we are merely venting our anger on the sensations of a given time. Yet, we cannot stop the world from evolving, because, like I said in the previous piece, life is a journey of new discoveries.

    The Instagram vogue does not exclude anyone who is upwardly mobile. It is the kind of business strategy or marketing platform that drives a fan base, if you like. And it does not in any way define who these artistes are.

    Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) did not see Ukeje merely as an Instagram actor to have invited him to lead a conversation at the last edition.

    In case the guy does not know OC Ukeje, here is how TIFF described him: “a Lagos-born actor, singer and performer. Winner of the 2006 Amstel Malta Box Office reality TV show for actors, he later trained at the New York Film Academy. He has won several Best Actor awards, including the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award, a Nigeria Entertainment Award, an Africa Movie Academy Award, and a Best of Nollywood Award.”

    His films include Teco Benson’s Two Brides and a Baby (2011); Jeta Amata’s Black November (2012); Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestselling novel; Destiny Ekaragha’s Gone too Far!(2013); Kenneth Gyang’s Confusion Na Wa (2013); Seyi Babatope’s When Love Happens (2014); the television series Gidi Up; Remi Vaughan-Richards’ The Department (2015); Sara Blecher’s Ayanda (2015); and Niyi Akinmolayan’s The Arbitration (2016), which plays at the Festival.

    For Chukwujekwu who made his professional acting debut in 2009 and won the Best Supporting Actor Award at last year’s edition of Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award, here is what Wikipedia has to say: “In 2009, after several auditions Chukwujekwu landed the lead role in the yet to be released Nigeria soap opera; Portrait Of Passion. That same year he was cast in his first feature film, Vivian Ejike’s Private Storm alongside Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Ramsey Nouah.

    Blossom was profiled on Africa Magic’s Nollywood show, Jara, as one of the top 5 actors to watch out for in 2013. He was number 4 on ace Nollywood director, Charles Novia’s, list of the best actors of 2013. In 2012, Chukwujekwu landed a role in Flower Girl which was his breakout movie.

    Released in 2013, it achieved critical and commercial success in Nigeria, Ghana, the United Kingdom and film festivals in the USA and Canada. Chukwujekwu’s next block buster feature film, Finding Mercy, was one of the most anticipated and successful movies of 2013. It was the closing film at the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF 2013).

    In 2014 Knocking on Heaven’s Door opened in cinemas nationwide on April 18. Chukwujekwu’s performance as the abusive and emotionally volatile “Moses” earned him the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice 2015 Best Supporting Actor award.

    He has featured in a handful of TV dramas & series, such as Tinsel on MNET, where he played Mr. Akinlolu Hart, MTVBASE’s HIV themed Shuga, CATWALQ by Emem Isong and Monalisa Chinda, Greg Odutayo’s My Mum and I, About to Wed and Married.

    Chukwujekwu plays the lead role of Kelechi Pepple in Nigeria’s first indigenous Telenovella; Taste of Love (2015).

    If you described the two actors profiled above as Instagram stars, that was a careless talk. And indeed, you don’t expect the younger filmmakers to sit back and not set the records straight by correcting wrong impressions.

    The fact that you are old school does not mean you should not be in vogue. Not when someone like my grandmother is on Facebook. People should make use of the tools available to them to rule every moment of their lives.

    I am a witness to how Tunde Kelani and Tade Ogidan have celebrated Kunle Afolayan. Those are elders who mean well for the industry and are not afraid of competition. Afterall, don’t we pray that our kids should surpass our achievements in Life?

    Respect is reciprocal. And this is not just for the guy who denigrated the above actors but for other older folks with similar mind. Call some other younger actors Instagram stars and you’d be fine, but not OC Ukeje and Blossom Chukwujekwu.

  • Ajimobi: sentiment, bane of growth

    Ajimobi: sentiment, bane of growth

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has called for a paradigm shift from the culture of tribal sentiment, corruption and tax evasion.

    The governor spoke yesterday at the convocation lecture of the University of Ibadan, entitled: “Challenges of Good Governance in an Emerging Democratic Setting: The Nigerian Perspective”.

    He decried the wide gap between the rich and the poor, which he said was antithetical to the nation’s growth and development.

    According to him, for things to work well, there must be a complete shift from the status quo towards sanitising the public sector and the political space.

    The governor identified the challenges to good governance as under-developed institutions, poor political governance and representation as well as weak social structure and institutions.

    He said: “Many Nigerians do not yet understand the workings of democracy. This is why people can be bribed to vote for a candidate of questionable character.

    “There have been instances where people without education or adequate knowledge won elections against good candidates. Rigging and snatching of ballot boxes are common in Nigeria.

    “This has led to poor representation. There is no way such incompetent candidates, who won elections through rigging can perform well.”

    Ajimobi added that the country’s social structure and institutions were fraught with  problems.

    Listed among such problems were ethnicity, tribal sentiments and vote-buying.

    The effects of these challenges, according to the governor, weredisregard for the rule of law and human dignity, general indiscipline among the populace, bribery and corruption and wide inequality between the rich and poor.

    “In a cursory look, Nigerian economy is under-developed. It is sad to note that since Independence in 1960, Nigeria is not food-secured.

    “A country that cannot feed its citizenry but imports rice, fish, toothpick and other food items is not on the path of good governance.

    ‘’We need to re-examine the concept of true federalism and operate it accordingly. What we have in place now encourages a system of robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

    As a way out of the quagmire, the governor recommended a robust town-gown synergy for community public impact, as well as mass mobilisation of the citizenry in pursuit of good governance.

  • March 28… Niger Delta, Jonathan and sentiment

    By President  Goodluck Jonathan’s admission, Niger Delta has not benefitted anything special on the basis of his being the region of his birth. To the president and his handlers, it means he has been a leader for Nigerians and not the people of the Niger Delta. But not many in the region agree with him. Those who disagree with him feel that even on the scale of fairness, the region has not gained equally when compared with other geo-political zone. To this set of people, the president has been wicked to his people.

    In Otuoke, the sleepy Baylesa community where he hails from and spent the early parts of his life, his multistory mansion, which he built for himself and close family while in office, is the most impressive building there. The house is not far from the street where he grew up. The street remains a haven of rusting iron-roofed shacks.

    The school where he had part of his primary education was in a state of disrepair until The Nation did a number of reports on it, pointing attention to its terrible state. Now, it looks better, but not ‘presidential’.

    The community has Jonathan to thank for the Federal University Otuoke, which was completed in 2011. It has about 1,000 students. The teaching and non-teaching staff outnumbers the students. There community does not have light, neither does it have potable water. Not a few of the people of the community are disappointed that their status as kinsmen of the president has brought them neither water nor light. For sentiment sake, they will, however, still cast their votes for the president on March 28.

    The Amnesty Programme, which was started when Jonathan was Vice-president, may be another thing the region can point at as its benefits from Jonathan. He was not the country’s number one when it started but he has sustained it and many believe he had a hand in its design.

    Ex- militants, such as Ateke Tom, Mujahhid Asari-Dokubo and Government Ekpumopolo, have become multi-milionaires under Jonathan. They get lucrative pipeline surveillance contracts and got paid handsomely despite the fact that oil theft has gone up.

    Jonathan can also claim to have made sure  the highway the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa, connecting to the Rivers Sate capital, Port Harcourt, is now smooth.

    The region will, however, not forget in a hurry that Jonathan policies in power and farming have not benefited its people. The power sector privatisation has not led to more electricity supply for the people; neither has the people gained from the fertiliser scheme. Whatever gains have been recorded in the agric sector, Niger Delta cannot stand to be counted.

    The East-West Road is a project which the Jonathan administration has been unable to complete. Goal posts have been shifted many a time and no one is in doubt that the project will not be delivered during his first term in office. The incomplete status of this road means that people will continue to go through hell using it, especially during the rainy season.

    Dokubo-Asari, in an interview with Reuters, said whatever Jonathan’s faults are, he deserves to complete the region’s slot by being given a second term.

    His words: “He who pays the piper must dictate the tune, and the delta has been paying the piper for so very long. If they make war, we can make war. We have the capacity to take what’s ours.”

    Since blood is thicker than water, many in the region will still go with their man. Like Happiness Ebi, an indigene of Otuoke, told Reuters, despite their disappointment, “he’s our brother” and they will of course still vote for him.

    Ebi said: “We haven’t really seen much benefit since our brother became president, except the university… There’s no light, no water here. We’re disappointed.”

    Ex-militant leader Reuben Wilson  believes that “we have been oppressed, we have been sidelined, and we are the people feeding this country”. For this reason, he is ready to do battle to see their man back.

     

     

  • Saraki to Nigerians: cast your votes without sentiment

    Saraki to Nigerians: cast your votes without sentiment

    •Buhari/Osinbajo ticket ‘ll restore Nigeria

    Former Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki has urged Nigerians to eschew sentiments in the 2015 general elections.

    Saraki, a senator and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), noted that the victory of the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari/Prof Yemi Osinbajo ticket in next year’s presidential election would restore Nigeria.

    The senator representing Kwara Central, who addressed reporters at the weekend in Ilorin, the state capital, said: “We have now removed religion. Let us look at the candidate, access their character, their capacity, their ability to fight issues that are important. This is not about sentiment, it is about Nigeria; it is not personal.

    “General Buhari and Prof Osinbajo are people who want to restore Nigeria. These are not individuals that are going there to make a mess of themselves. They are going there to restore and make Nigeria better.

    “Now, the difference between APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is clear in the way we conducted our primaries. The way we picked our candidates and the way they emerged. PDP had wanted the elections to be about religion. Now, there is no religious issue. PDP has a Christian and Muslim on the ticket, APC has a Muslim and a Christian on the ticket.

    “The emergence of the APC presidential and vice presidential candidates shows the kind of party that we have. If you go back to about nine months ago, some of the stories that were being given by the PDP were that APC will break; that the party is about people with self interest, a party that is interested in is ambition.

    “When it came to the issue of vice president you all saw again what transpired. The sensitivity of issues of like religion, give and take and integrity were the factors that played the key role. If it was about self ambition, capacity of resources and political structure, you know who would have been the vice president, but these are people who are ready to make that sacrifice. Truly APC is showing that it is an amalgam of people that can make sacrifices. It is a party that really wants to move Nigeria forward.

    “That the party cannot go to a convention or primaries without collapsing; that there will be no unity etc, you all saw democracy at it best; you all saw in the primary how delegates came out in drove to vote. The primary was very transparent and everybody that participated accepted the outcome of the result and those that lost also gallantly approved and recommended and gave their support to the winner.

    “And the party shows unity, it shows it not a party of selfish individuals but a party with people that have the mission to save Nigeria. The presidential primary witnessed internal democracy at its best. You saw what happened at the state primaries across the country. I don’t think there is any state in the entire 36 states in the APC where there were parallel congresses, unlike in PDP where there were parallel congresses, parallel results and parallel result sheets. In some places we have three or four results sheets.

    “For some of us who used to be in the PDP we were stunned at what happened that in some states they had two to three congresses and up till now some are still in court disputing the results.

    “It was even in APC that you would have expected this kind of breakdown, but instead of that, despite all the issues you can see that in most of the state’s primary election results were declared on the spot. It shows you that APC is a party that is ready to serve because the interest of Nigeria and the processes of democracy come first as opposed to selfish interest.”