Mike Odiegwu in Yenagoa reports on the current political twists in Bayelsa State and reports that even in his home state, Mr. President’s political fate seems to hang in the balance ahead of the February presidential election
FROM 1999 to 2011,
Bayelsa State was strapped to the armpit of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Though other parties existed in mushroom-fashion, the PDP dominated the political
landscape and single-handedly decided who got what and when.
In fact, the
mushroom opposition parties were pawns in the hands of the ruling party. They
only became relevant whenever aggrieved and irreconcilable PDP members used
them as platforms to seek elections only to return to the ruling party after
winning or losing the elections. Such fate befell the Labour Party (LP),
Progressive Party Alliance (PPA) and the KOWA party.
All the political
affairs in the state were arrogantly referred to as a family business of PDP.
In fact, the party paraded itself as a close-nit family where harmonization was
an acceptable modus operandi of reconciling political scores and differences.
Elections were hardly held in the state as the government reserved the whims and
caprices to decide winners of party nominations and elected officials. Indeed,
it was then said that election results were written at the Bayelsa State
Government House.
Why President
Goodluck Jonathan got bloc votes in 2011
Apart from the
sympathy invoked by his shoeless campaign mantra, President Goodluck Jonathan
got the bloc votes of his state in 2011 because of the perceived unity in the
state chapter of the PDP.
The, then governor
of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, ensured that all the votes went to his
kinsman. The Jonathan’s candidacy was the project of the entire state as Sylva
deployed the machinery of the government to deliver the state to his brother.
Little wonder the
state was made too hot for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his defunct Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC) when they came to campaign in the state. Violence
broke out at the campaign ground after some hired youths reportedly hurled
stones at Buhari. Expectedly after the election, Jonathan cleared the votes of
his state.
Reversal of
Jonathan’s fortunes
Pundits believe
that Jonathan is the architect of his alleged collapsed image and dying
goodwill in the state. They quickly recalled his internecine war against Sylva
and how he booted the former governor out of office. The President’s revenge
mission against Sylva tore the state apart and commenced the era of permanent
division in the PDP. Eventually, Sylva pulled his political structure out of
PDP to the main opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).
Apart from
Jonathan’s vendetta, there are also general misgivings among the people of the
state against the President. Many people are disconnected from his government
which is generally viewed as divisive and ethnic-driven. Observers believe that
his administration is only beneficial to his kinsmen from his local government
area in Ogbia.
They argued that
other areas have nothing to show that the President is from the state. They
feel abandoned, neglected and deliberately excluded from presidential windfall.
Even the people of Ogbia are complaining against the President style of
leadership. They conclude that most of the benefits are skewed to favour people
from his community in Otuoke.
For instance, all
the graduates in Otuoke are said to have been offered jobs by federal ministries,
parastatals and departments based on directives from the Presidency while
unemployment is ravaging other graduates from other parts of the state.
Apart from that,
Ogbia has remained highly underdeveloped with narrow old location roads of oil
companies and colonial bridges dotting the entire area. The people are also
angered that for about six years that Jonathan has occupied the Presidency,
there are no tangible projects in the local council.
In fact, other
core Ijaw local government areas are angry that they have nothing to show for
Jonathan’s Presidency in terms of physical infrastructure and manpower
development.
For instance, the
people of Koluama in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area are livid with anger
against the President over his handling of the Chevron’s gas rig explosion that
polluted their waterways and denied them their main source of livelihood,
fishing. They recalled the alleged ignominy in which President treated them
over the matter and how he has turned deaf ears to their outcries for adequate
compensation.
They have also
accused the President of deception, saying that Jonathan through his Special
Adviser on Niger Delta Matters, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, once visited them and
promised a special training and empowerment programme for women and youths; a
promise that has never materialised.
Indeed, apart from
the Federal University, which critics said, was selfishly tucked into Otuoke
community, his critics said that the state has little to show for Jonathan’s
presidency
Patience
Jonathan’s ambition
It has become an
open secret that Dame Patience, the wife of the President, has an ambition to
oust Dickson and replace him with her loyalist, Dr.
Weripamowei
Dudafagh, who is the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Domestic
Matters. Since the anti-Dickson’s plot leaked to the public, the First Lady has
been making moves that allegedly confirm it.
First, came a
report that she was instrumental to the posting of the Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, to the state with a Joseph-Mbu-like agenda. Another
was her resignation as a super Permanent Secretary from the state civil
service; an appointment she so much desired and accepted despite public
opprobrium. She was said to have tendered her resignation letter to enable her
stand on a moral rostrum to fight the governor.
Recently, Mrs.
Jonathan’s relationship with the Transformation Agenda of Nigeria (TAN) has
been in focus. It was reported that the state chapter of TAN, the main campaign
group of Jonathan, has been hired by the First Lady to kick-start the
Dickson-must-go project.
It was observed
that TAN immediately went through radical leadership overhaul. All the
loyalists of Dickson in TAN were weeded off to allow the associates of Dame
Patience have full control of the group.
The group, which
was hitherto under the control of the Chairman, Bayelsa State Local Government
Commission, Chief Talford Ongolo, was handed over to a former Deputy Governor
and Patience’s ally, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu. Key members of TAN in the state
are past political office holders, especially persons who served under the
former governor, Chief Timipre Sylva.
Without mincing
words, since the ambition of the First Lady became public knowledge, there has
been sharp division in the state chapter of the PDP. The party is now polarized
into two camps – pro Dickson’s camp and First Lady’s bloc. Members of the two
factions view one another as mutual enemies.
The two camps are
separate and distinct as they try not to be found together in social and
political gatherings. Persons found associating with loyalists of Patience are
viewed as haters of Dickson and vice versa. Pundits believe that the discordant
tunes in the party, allegedly orchestrated by Patience, may cost Jonathan the
bloc votes of the state.
Analysts put the
blames squarely on the doorsteps of the President and his wife. While they
argue that Dickson is busy preaching peace and working for the reelection of
Mr. President, the First Lady is preoccupied with an ambition to remove
Dickson, a distracting aspiration that is clearly stalling the Jonathan’s
project. Moreover, pundits are confounded that the President has not called his
wife to order.
Youths at war over
Patience
Already, the
internal crisis is threatening the Presidential campaign of the PDP scheduled
to hold in the state in February 5th. Youths under the aegis of the Bayelsa
Youth Vanguard (BYV) issued a statement recently barring the First Lady from
accompanying her husband to the state on the proposed campaign date. They
further threatened to disrupt the rally if Mrs. Patience ignored the warning.
The youths accused
her of causing crisis in the state, warning her to desist from her divisive
conduct or face the consequences. They accused Mrs. Jonathan of planning to
destabilise the state and fuel needless crisis and political tension in the
state the same way she did in Rivers State.
The youngsters in
a statement signed by their spokesperson said Patience would only be allowed to
come to the state “if she retraced her steps”, adding, “or otherwise, we will
mobilise against the President’s rally.”
“We are
constrained to issue this statement to bar the President’s wife from
accompanying President Goodluck Jonathan to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital,
for the presidential rally on February 5.
But Dickson
immediately rose to condemn the threat. He said the state would remain home to
President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife, and every citizen of the country.
He said the
government and the good people of the state will at all times, accord Jonathan,
his wife, and other members of the first family their due honour, respect and
reception in the state, “as we have always done”.
In fact, the
threat has continued to generate reactions in the state. Commenting on the
development, TAN in a statement signed by Egba, called on security agencies to
probe the group’s outburst.
Egba said: “We
have noticed that since alleged cold war between the State Government and the
First Lady became a topic for public discourse, more individuals and groups in
the state have become emboldened to make statements that are clearly
disrespectful to the office and person of the First Lady.
“Inspite of the
foregoing, TAN would like to appeal to the First Lady to accept this
indiscretion as part of the price for leadership and forgive all those who may
be found culpable, as the Mother of Nigerians.”
Furthermore, No
fewer than seven youth groups have rallied round Dame Patience and warned
troublemakers to steer clear of the PDP Presidential rally. The youths vowed to
use “all means possible” to deal with anti-Patience elements.
The warning was
issued in Yenagoa at a joint press briefing by the George Turner-led Jonathan
Youth Vanguard (JOY 2015), Coalition of Bayelsa Youth Groups and Coalition of
Bayelsa State Students.
JOY 2015 and the
coalition of other youths said they had concluded plans to mobilise 10,000
youths to attend the rally and provide maximum security for the Dame Patience.
Speaking on behalf
of the coalition, the state Coordinator, JOY 2015, Mr. Daniel Etai, said it
would be suicidal for anybody to think of preventing the First Lady from coming
to the state.
He said the
“authentic youths” and students’ leaders from the state were eagerly waiting to
welcome the First Lady to the state.
Another group
rises against Patience
Hardly had some
youth groups assured the First Lady of her safety than creek warriors under the
aegis of the the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) repeated the threat of the
Bayelsa Youth Vanguard. The creek warriors insisted that the presence of
Patience at the proposed rally would cause tension and security breaches in the
state.
The group, in a
statement signed by its President, Mr. Opuyo Engobara, and Secretary, Mr.
Warrman Aderi, said the First Lady’s actions and pronouncement in recent times
were fueling crisis in the state.
The youths
enumerated eight sins of Dame Patience and accused her of opening a new
secretariat for TAN in the state with an intention to mobilise against the
governor. They noted that Mrs. Jonathan tinkered with the leadership of TAN and
aided her loyalists to hijack the campaign group.
The youths further
lamented that Dame Patience used the occasion of sharing Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) items at the Samson Siasia Stadium to make inflammatory statements
against the governor.
APC’s incursion
Strategists
believe that the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) may
eventually become the main beneficiary of the internal crisis rocking the PDP.
However, signs
that things are no longer as they were in 2011, became more visible recently
during the Presidential campaign of the APC. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who
was booed and stoned in 2011 when he came to campaign in the state as the
Presidential candidate of the defunct CPC, received a heroic welcome at the
Samson Siasia Stadium recently.
Youths chanting
“sai Buhari”, trooped to the stadium to catch a glimpse of the APC presidential
candidate. The campaign also received a boost following the presence of Sylva
and the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi. It was, indeed, Sylva’s first
homecoming since the PDP denied him reelection. The crowd paid rapt attention
as Buhari articulated his plans for the state and the Niger Delta region.
In fact, before
the cheering crowd, Sylva disowned Jonathan as his brother. He said: “Bayelsa,
you are known to lead the way against oppression, against ineptitude. Today, we
must take that leadership. Let us as Bayelsa people lead the rest of Nigeria to
vote out the PDP.
“Today, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari is here in person and I want to assure you that I have gone to
the east of this country, I have gone to the west. I have gone to the south and
north of this country and I bring you goodnews. One assurance is that
Gen. Buhari has won already”.
The former
governor whose speech was interrupted by applauses from the crowd, asked the
people to join the winning train.
“Go and tell your
sisters at home. Go to the creeks of the state. In less than six weeks we will
have the opportunity of exercising our fundamental human rights of voting. That
opportunity we must use wisely.
“This time, you
will use your hands to vote APC and Gen. Buhari into office and welcome
prosperity into your home. You will welcome good governance into Nigeria once
again”, he said.
Also addressing
the crowd, Amaechi said the next election will be based on merit and challenged
President Jonathan to show his scorecard in the region and the state. He said
the Niger Delta, after years of clamouring for resource control, got an
opportunity to control the entire country through the election of President
Jonathan.
He, however,
regretted that Jonathan who was also a product of the struggle has only
succeeded in rewarding the region with poverty, hunger and lack of development.
He said: “They
said President Jonathan refused to develop Rivers State because he is
quarreling with me. Why has he refused to develop Bayelsa or is he also
quarreling with Governor Dickson? What has Bayelsa people benefitted from this
government? Nothing.”
Sylva further
lampooned Jonathan and gave reasons why he publicly denounced the President as
his brother. He said the President failed to develop the Niger Delta region.
Besides, Sylva
said Jonathan denied him all the love, care and protection expected from a
brother. Insisting that the President betrayed the aspirations of the people of
the region, he said that Jonathan by so doing rejected the brotherhood of his
people.
Sylva said he was
convinced that the candidature of Buhari would change the polity and the nation
for good. He said the bond he shared with President Jonathan ended when he
removed him from office and hatched series of plots to put him in jail without
success.
The former
governor, who is flying the flag of APC for the Bayelsa West Senatorial
District, said he feels more comfortable working with his new political friends
than Jonathan. He said Jonathan plotted his political downfall and serially
failed to attract the expected development to the region.
He said: ”Please,
go and ask my so-called brother. If he is really my brother. I don’t think he
is my brother. Who is your brother? Your brother is who looks after you. He who
looks after your back. This is a so-called brother who pushed you to the fox.
As far as am concerned, my brother is the one I met on the street and took me into
his home.
“And am sure you
will agree with me that a brother who pushed me into the street for the fox to
eat me up is not my brother. As far as am concerned, I don’t see him as a
brother anymore. Please, I don’t think Bayelsa should make the mistake. His
problem is that he only thinks about himself.
Bayelsa: What’s going on in Jonathan’s backyard?
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Monday, January 26, 2015
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