Taraba Crisis: Commissioners Shun Acting Governor As Majority Leader Lambasts Assembly Speaker

The political crisis in Taraba State continued on Friday as members of the state cabinet, re-instated by the Acting Governor, Garba Umar, refused to resume work. Mr. Umar had on Thursday asked the commissioners to continue in office and ignore a statement read by an aide to ailing governor, Danbaba Suntai, announcing the dissolution of the State Executive Council.

The council members were appointed by Mr. Suntai before his accident last year. However, apparently doubting the loyalty of some of the commissioners, Mr. Suntai’s handlers promptly made the governor dissolve the cabinet upon his return from the United States where he spent 10 months receiving treatment.
In a series of dramatic fast-paced event that have become regular in Taraba in the last one week, the ailing governor’s spokesman, Silvanus Giwa, announced the dissolution of the cabinet on Wednesday, supposedly on the governor’s instructions. Emboldened by the position of the state parliament that Mr. Suntai was unfit to rule and that his deputy should continue as Acting Governor, Mr. Umar announced that the state executive council was still in place. Commissioners give reasons Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES in Jalingo, however, revealed that members of the State Executive Council did not return to their offices as directed by Mr. Umar.
When asked why he did not heed Mr. Umar’s statement, the Commissioner of Finance, Iliya Wanabiya, replied, “Ask me that question on Monday; I will only be able to answer that question on Monday.” Also, Timothy Kataps, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice who after Mr. Suntai’s dissolution of the executive was appointed the Secretary to the State Government, told PREMIUM TIMES that he could not return to the post of a commissioner.

“I cannot do that. I was appointed by the governor; I cannot reprobate and approbate. I have sworn an oath of office before the governor and he has not told me he has reversed that decision. In any case, I am the only SSG who swore to an oath of office, I remain the SSG,” Mr. Katap said. A similar view was expressed by the Commissioner for Information, Emmanuel Bello. “I am not resuming.

The governor has dissolved his cabinet and that remains the case. We have all been dissolved,” Mr. Bello said.Taraba’s funds Meanwhile, Mr. Umar has also directed the state’s bankers to respect only cheques verified as originating from the governor or himself, amid controversy over who takes charge of the state. The acting governor’s statement comes amidst fears that Mr. Suntai’s handlers could seize on the confusion and his apparently frail state to loot the state of funds. Mr. Umar acted for the governor while the latter was away on medical trip for 10 months.

Lawmakers have asked him to continue as the acting governor but Mr. Suntai’s supporters insist the ailing governor remains in charge. A statement by Mr. Umar’s spokesperson, Kefas Sule, late on Thursday said, “The bankers of the Taraba State Government are reminded to note that all financial instruments relating to the State Government’s accounts should be honoured only if they are in tandem with the provisions of the law, in which case, it must contain either verifiable signature of the Executive Governor of Taraba State, his Excellency Governor Danbaba Suntai or verifiable signature of the Acting Governor of Taraba State, his excellency Alhaji Garba Umar, Acting for the Executive Governor.”

The statement also called on the people of the state to disregard Wednesday’s announcement of the dissolution of the State Executive Council and the appointment of a new SSG as well as Chief of Staff. “The announcement is a mere attempt by a cabal to hijack the machinery of governance in the state and not a directive that was given by the Executive Governor, his Excellency Danbaba Suntai,” it said.

Speaker’s actions illegal Meanwhile, a member of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Joseph Kunini, has disassociated himself from the position of majority of the lawmakers and the Speaker, Haruna Tsokwa, directing Mr. Umar to continue acting as governor. Mr. Kunini, the majority leader of the 24-member Assembly, said the position taken by the speaker and 15 other members of the assembly, as contained in a statement, ‘does not have any force of law.’

“It’s either Mr. Speaker Haruna Tsokwa is completely ignorant of the provisions,” of the Nigerian constitution or “he is been sponsored by desperate power seekers and mischief makers,” the lawmaker said. The lawmaker, who is part of a camp of 8 lawmakers in support of Mr. Suntai’s return and actions, said since Mr. Suntai has transmitted a letter to the speaker of his return, he had since automatically resumed office as governor.

The Speaker and the majority of the lawmakers had doubted the authenticity of the letter and after meeting with the governor concluded that he was not yet fit to lead the state. They advised him to return to the U.S. to continue his recuperation.

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Assassins Storm Home of AUPCTRE National President, Kill Son

Unknown bandits have stormed the home of the National President of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees of Nigeria (AUPCTRE) Mr. Solomon Adelegan, murdering his first son, Oluseyi.

When the reporters reached the scene of crime in Aduralere Quarters, Ijoka in Akure, Ondo State Capital, sympathisers were already gathered near the house and prayers were being said for the bereaved family.

It has been learnt that the late Oluseyi, a Senior Secondary School One student, was the only one present at home, when the suspected assassins broke into the house, cutting the boy to death.

His parents were off to work, while his siblings went for summer classes. It were the siblings who discovered their brother’s body on returning from their classes.

Mr. Adelegan, the father of the deceased and the National president of AUPCTRE, was unable to comment on the murder, due to his state of devastation. The man was struggling to hold back tears.

The state police said the official statement on the incident was not ready for release. 

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PHOTONEWS: Hairstyles of Worshippers at Osun Osogbo Festival

Osun River goddess worshipers and their African hair styles at the just concluded Osun Osogbo festival.

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SHOCKING: Pregnant Woman, Five Others Killed In Jos By Gunmen

A pregnant woman and five men were on Thursday killed by unknown gunmen at Bisichi in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Four other people were seriously injured as the suspected armed robbers opened fire on their vehicle along Foron Road around 7.30 pm. while returning home from Bukuru.

The attackers said to have been armed with sophisticated weapons, dispossessed their victims of their valuables before escaping from the scene

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VIOLENCE: Woman Battered For Cautioning Lover Against Smoking Indian Hemp (GRAPHIC PHOTO)

Temitope Oladejo,26, never envisaged that the once blossoming romance between her and her lover, Ahmed Babalola, would go sour, judging by the endearing manner at which Babalola pampered her from the onset.

But today, she is looking a shadow of her old self ,following several scars on her body allegedly inflicted on her by Babalola.

Trouble according to her, started after she discovered that her lover was smoking Indian hemp. Out of concern ,she reportedly accosted him, only to be given the beaten of her life.

In this interview with Crime Guard, she barely managed to speak. She had blood- stained eyes and swollen face, no thanks to another round of beaten she received from her live-in-lover Babalola.

Narrating what she described as her greatest undoing , she said:“he came back home recently and I found a wrap of Indian hemp on him. I knew he smokes but never knew he was into Indian hemp. I pleaded with him to quit but he kept quiet.

Next day, I told him I was going to visit my mum that was ill. He also said he was going out but that he was not having any money on him. I told him I had N300 which I opted to share with him .

But when I went to take my bath, he searched my bag and found N2000. He asked where I got the money from and I told him it was not mine. At that point, he started ranting, looking for an avenue for another round of beating.

I reminded him that I was not owing him because he usually goes out and comes in without caring to drop money for our little daughter’s upkeep. Before I knew it, he gave a hot slap on my face and started beating me. When I attempted to shout to alert neighbours, he picked a towel and gagged me. I managed to escape . But by then, he had inflicted injuries all over my face”

Asked why she had not bothered to report to her family or that of Babalola, she disclosed that they were not legally married. Also asked why she did not deem it fit to report the matter to the police, she winked, saying, “ I have on several occasions reported the incessant battering to the police. But each time, they would ask me to go home and resolve the issue with him.

He beats me at the slightest provocation, particularly when I cautioned him against smoking Indian hemp. My worry was not only his smoking attitude but the fact that each time, he comes asking me to give him money and when I refused, he would beat me up.

As if that was not enough, he threatened to beat up my mother when I ran to her place for treatment. He told her to leave us alone that she had no right over his relationship with me”.

NGO to her rescue
Determined to put a stop to the beating, she said she was refereed to the Rights and Empowerment Advocacy Initiative,from where the case was charged to court.

In a letter to the President/Executive Director of Citizens Rights and Empowerment Advocacy Initiative,CREMA Comrade Rex Kennedy Saltlove, titled “Assistance to Intervene on Assault Case and Petition to Stop the Intimidation of My Mum and I by Mr Ahmed Babalola, Oladejo appealed for immediate steps to be taken before Babalola snuffed life out of her and her mum.

The case, has been charged to Magistrate’s Court 8,with the next hearing coming up on September 7, 2013.But relatives according to her, were trying to pacify her to settle the case out of court.

There is however, a new twist to the whole saga as Oladejo said she received a phone call few days ago, where the caller who identified himself as a policeman, requested to see her and her mum at Area ‘M’ Command, Idimu,that there was a petition of threat to life against them by Babalola.

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French Language Will Be Part Of UTME – Ruqayyatu Rufa’i

French language would be part of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as from 2014 for interested candidates, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, said on Thursday in Abuja.

Minister Rufa’i said this at a farewell reception held in honour of the French Language Project Manager, Mr Jean-Phillipe Roy.

She said that being multi-lingual in the 21st Century was essential as it helps individuals to operate more effectively in the international community.

"For Nigeria, the study of French language is quite a key, considering the fact that our neighbouring countries are French-speaking. Apart from the English language, French language is one of the major international languages," she said.

She said Roy came to Nigeria in 2009 under the 2nd Bilateral Agreement between Nigeria and France.
The minister noted that he has worked hard to ensure that various components of the project received due attention.

Rufa’I lauded his contributions to the reform of the UTME for 2014 in addition to the scholarships awarded to 16 teachers of French language to study in France for one month.

She said the project manager’s contributions, included supply of books to schools, award of Masters Degree in French as a Foreign Language and supply of DVD and CD players to the project office, among others.

The minister lauded the support of the French government to the Nigerian French Language Village, Badagry, Lagos, the Regional Network of French Language centres in Africa.

She also commended the association of French Language Teachers, and noted the proposed handing over of the project vehicle to the ministry for the monitoring of the teaching and learning of the lanaguage.
"Nigeria and France have come a long way in their relationship. It is a relationship built on mutual respect, cooperation and interest.

"I wish to assure you that the ministry will continue to be committed to the teaching and learning of French language in Nigeria and sustenance of the cordial relationship," she said.

She called on the French government to introduce similar programmes to complement, sustain and consolidate the achievements made so far.

Responding, Roy lauded the collaboration between the Federal government and the French Government.
"Since I have been here, you have shown a lot of interest in what we have been trying to do in terms of decision-making in critical issues and, with your help, we have been able to keep the project on the right track," he said. "The French government has so far organised 160 training sessions in various parts of the country, adding that 4,290 people participated in the programme."

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South-West Governors Consider Yoruba as the Language of Instruction for Primary Schools

South-West geopolitical zone of Nigeria may soon approve the use of Yoruba language, their mother tongue, as the language of instruction at Primary schools in the region.

It has been revealed after the meeting on Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) held by South-West Governors in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on the evening of August 29, 2013, Thursday.

Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Ekiti State, has spoken on behalf of his colleagues, said a region-wide education summit would soon be hosted by Osun state, to look at a mechanism that would allow the region come up with a common curriculum for basic education.

According to Dr. Fayemi, the curriculum would place emphasis on the use of Yoruba as a language of instruction in basic schools across the region.

It could be recalled that the National Policy on Education (1976) had recommended that the mother tongue of pupils should be the language of instruction at the elementary education level.

A few weeks ago at a forum in held in Akure Dr. Fayemi stated that pupils can learn faster when taught in their first language, according to researchers.

Speaking further on the outcome of the meeting, the Governor of Ekiti State said the region was planning an alternative economic framework that will make the knowledge economy which the region is known for, serve as bulwark against the emerging reduction in the resource-based economy that the country currently has.

“What happens to us? We are being futuristic here. What happens to us as western Nigeria and we are concerned about Nigeria as a country? What happens to us when oil no longer flows or when oil sells for one dollar? Where would the resources come from? How do we harness the energy of our people, their creativity and innovation as scholars?” Dr. Fayemi said.

Other issues discussed at the meeting were the exploration of sports as a unifying vehicle for development in the region and homeland security framework to forestall any security challenges. 

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Arik stowaway boy: The big picture

Nigerians woke up on Sunday 25 August, 2013 to learn of a stowaway teenage boy, Daniel Ohikhena, who flew with Arik’s flight W3 544 from Benin to Lagos, thinking the plane was US-bound! Daniel, probably, had fantasised of life in far away America, watched films where some movie stars in a feign 

show of bravado, stowaway precariously on fast moving cars and aircrafts , chose to be the hero in reality, difficult to tell if he was oblivious of the risk his bluster involved, how far a flight from Benin to US was, or how he planned to survive extreme weather conditions. Only the intrepid adolescent had the answers to these questions. As mother luck would have it, the flight was Lagos-bound.

In other climes, where security breaches – in the face of increasing global terror attacks - are not treated with kid gloves, heads will roll in the aviation sector. The laxity of airport officials underscores the insecurity in the country. Our ‘smart’ airport officials, come alive when luggage are in sight. Missing baggage and other valuables are common place in Nigeria’s airports.

The war of words and blame trading between Arik Air and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has continued unabated.  FAAN investigations revealed “that a passenger on board the flight called the attention of the cabin crew while the aircraft was waiting to take off at the threshold of the runway, to the effect that they had seen a young boy go under the aircraft and had not seen him re-appear on the other side.” It was gathered that the cabin crew then informed the pilot who radioed the airport control tower to verify. The airport official ignored the request to conduct a check, but instead, gave the all clear for take off.
 

From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that FAAN officials were complacent, and should accept responsibility that they failed in first, protecting the airports area from intruders and secondly, conducting a thorough check on the plane before take-off. Their lackadaisical attitude and negligence of duty would have brought down the plane in shreds had it been a terrorist was the stowaway. However, security is a responsibility for all players in the aviation industry. Arik could have taken it upon themselves to be thorough. The level of complacency in this country is alarming. If there are no sanctions for this incident, the task of averting future air mishap becomes a mirage. The porous state of airport security calls for worry at a time the nation is struggling to curb the spate of insurgency, terrorists desperate to destabilize Nigeria and spill as much blood as possible are ever lurking.

But how long will it take the Ministry of Aviation to beef up security at the nation’s airports is a question only themselves can answer; starting with the delayed erection of perimeter fences across airports nationwide. Why for example, should armed bandits raid the gateway airport in Lagos seamlessly, even with the avalanche of security agencies at the airport?

Remember how the claims by the former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, that the explosives found on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, did not pass through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos? The would-be terrorist eventually opened up that he, indeed, passed through the Lagos airport, twice, with the deadly devices undetected. Mutallab was said to have told an American investigator that he got the devices in Yemen and brought them to Lagos. He then transported them from Lagos to Amsterdam. That is how safe our airports are.

The shear bravery exhibited by the adolescent stowaway is what has taken many by awe. Aviation experts are still at a loss how the lad survived the turbulence at such altitude. Information on Wikipedia reveal that stowaways in aircraft wheel wells face numerous health risks, many of which are fatal, which include: being mangled when undercarriage retracts, tinnitus, deafness, hypothermia, hypoxia, frostbite, acidosis or falling off when the doors of the compartment reopen. Thirteen cases of stowaway incidents in the United States alone were reported by a 1997 study, resulting in 8 deaths. The Arik Air flight from Benin to Lagos is a short trip which did not necessitate high altitude cruise, else Daniel Ihekina would not have survived. We would want to think that protocol should have demanded that, the SSS should have first took him for medical examined before commencing their investigation.

His bravery reminds us of the failure of governance. Citizens in droves, take to life threatening voyage, to go across borders in search of greener pastures but never before have we seen a compatriot this young, this daring. There are some points worthy of note.

First, if at his age, he could muster enough courage to stowaway, then such energy if properly groomed by education, his services as a matured adult can be of colossal benefit to the country as a pilot, in the SSS, military intelligence or any of the nation’s security agencies. It is a pointer to the abundant human resources the country possesses. As I write, he has been awarded a scholarship to university level. But was it carefully thought out? Shouldn’t we be mindful of what we reward in the face of mounting security challenges?

Secondly, the stowaway’s desperado is a reflection of the frightening level of abject poverty in the county and bleak future starring Nigerian teenagers and youths in the face. If not, the lad wouldn’t have given even a second thought to such a dangerous escapade. What is the government of the day doing to impact the lives of the common man? A teenager of thirteen years already knows he can live a better life in America. He grows up with that mindset that nothing good can come out of his country. For now, to be at par with, or leapfrog America and the rest of the developed world is almost unrealistic, but government can make life less miserable for its citizens. 

The Nigerian people are not asking for too much, just basic amenities like good roads, electricity, health care, good schools and security of lives and properties that a teenager will never have to fantasise of going abroad. An adolescent in his native country, say Germany, Netherlands, Japan or Qatar never thinks of going overseas in search of greener pastures. Government can work towards a better Nigeria where even air travel becomes affordable to everyone and a teenager won’t have any reason to stowaway, if he ever have to go to the US. And yes, who says Nigeria can’t be greater than America?

The SSS might have to overlook Daniel’s risky adventure if it is found that he had no intent to terrorise, perpetrate a criminal act or pose any threat to passengers onboard. Funny as it seem, some give him credit not only for beating the security officials at their game but also for flying safely. Incredible, isn’t it? 

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Professionalizing revenue collection in Delta State

Author: By Princess Tureme

Generally, there are three major indicators or measures of an efficient tax system - number of tax payments, time required to comply with tax obligations and total tax.

In Delta State, factors which had hindered the timely achievement of a well organised system of taxation included multiplicity of taxes before July 2009, where there is inadequate use of technology in tax collection and a defective tax dispute resolution process.

Among several other reasons adduced for the cumbersome nature of tax administration in the state were: lack of transparency and accounting, collection of taxes by touts and lack of tax awareness.

It was to eradicate the aforementioned challenges and to sanitise the revenue collection process in the state, that the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue led by Hon. Joel Onowakpo Thomas, started a process of involving experienced Tax  Professionals and accountants in the administration of taxes in the state.

The collaboration between the professionals in the state under the auspices of the Tax Audit Monitoring Agency (TAMA) and the Board of internal Revenue is already generating huge results as reflected in the tax collections in the past two years.

TAMA which comprises bodies/groups of tested professionals, tax practitioners and accountants, skilled in tax management and administration was instituted by DBIR in May 2011 with the sole objective of bringing professionalism and expertise to bear in relating with all companies in Delta state, improve on the state IGR and expand on DBIR tax net.

TAMA was also saddled with the responsibility of monitoring, auditing and investigating companies operating in Delta state shore, to enable the attainment of the actual tax due (i.e PAYE & WHT) and payable to the state Government.

 In carrying out its responsibility, the Tax  Professionals largely employed moral-suasion to convince its various clients on reasons why they should willingly comply with the tax laws in the state, rather than being compelled to do so.

Having created the conducive environment for operation, members of TAMA had been liaising with their clients to ensure that full disclosure of all employees, adequate/actual PAYE deductions, full disclosure of all contractors’ details and adequate/actual deductions of WHT.

The understanding that exists among the Board, Tax Professionals and the clients has further helped in ensuring full disclosure of all expatriate employees, provision of actual expatriate quota and monthly immigration returns, provision of expatriate deletion where applicable and prompt remittance of monthly PAYE and WHT to the bank.

Collection of DBIR receipts from their local Tax offices and provision of copies of monthly PAYE and WHT receipts to TAMA for record purpose has also become routine. At the end of each calendar year, TAMA also promptly carried out an end of year Tax Audit of its clients.

This strong and organised relationship between DBIR, TAMA and the tax-paying corporate organizations and individuals has further enhanced an efficient tax system in the state as virtually all clients promptly comply with Tax audit request.

During this period, the Tax Audit Monitoring Agency has successfully Tax-audited all its clients for all prior years before their appointment,  while some for the 2011 financial year and 2012 financial year are already completed.

Because of the collaboration between the tax professionals and the tax board, tax compliance has increased, as most clients have paid up all their tax liabilities to DBIR.

TAMA also liaises between its clients and DBIR at the instance of its clients and thus enhance tax compliance by providing relevant DBIR tax details to enable the creation of a better and robust tax template for their use, expansion of tax net: sourcing of clients to increase DBIR tax clientele base and creation of client education/awareness to help them embrace DBIR.

 This innovative collaboration between the DBIR and TAMA has contributed immensely to the current improvement of Delta State IGR .

However, in order to  take the “Delta beyond Oil’’ policy to the next level, there is the need to create further tax awareness and enlightenment of the informal sector to further get more tax paying public into the tax net of the state.

The success of the working relationship between the Tax Professionals and DBIR, has also been attested to by the Executive Chairman of the Board, Hon.  Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, who said the revenue agency had engaged the services of tax professionals to work on behalf of the state government in the new reforms.

He told some World Bank functionaries recently that the consultants were going through the books of the different companies in a cordial atmosphere with their officials, and come up with the relevant taxes to be paid, based on the laws of the land.

“In the past, multiple notices were issued in respect of taxes but the new partnership between the board and the companies is meant to address such matters. The agency is committed to ensuring efficient tax generation that would lead to increased for the state.

According to Hon. Joel-Onowakpo, measures put in place were already yielding appreciable results and had led to “the remarkable increase in the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N1.2 billion when the Board was inaugurated July 2009 to N5.7 billion recorded by January this year.”

He noted that the board’s relationship with the tax gurus had led to the blocking of all the leakages in the tax system .  “Before 2009 the dependence on oil in the state was 90 per cent and what that meant was that if for instance there was a drop or a frustration in the oil price, it will affect everything in the state including the payment of salaries”, he added.

Tax Professionals at a recently held meeting in Warri, unanimously agreed that by empowering them through engagement as Tax Consultants to work with the State Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) in the areas of Tax Audit and Investigations to recover arrears of taxes, the state government has also succeeded in putting the collection of taxes on the path of sanity.

They added that with the inclusion of Tax  Professionals in the collection of taxes in the state, the government has also succeeded in creating employment for young tax consultants in the state who are now working as employees under the consultants.

However, the concept of ‘’Delta beyond Oil’’ by the Executive Governor of Delta State, His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan which s vastly gaining ground in the state was conceived as an alternative to oil receipts while focusing attention mainly on the state’s Internally Generated Revenue .

Other such strategies adopted by the State Government to empower the citizens so as to achieve the vision ‘’Delta Beyond Oil’’ include the provision of Micro-Credit Schemes aimed at supporting the Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.

This apart, the state government has been providing basic infrastructural facilities to assist the private sector operators to grow their businesses and thereby increase job opportunities for the youths in the State.

There has also been tremendous progress and improvement in security situation in Delta State through the commissioning of the Delta State Waterways Security Committee.

The empowerment of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), to address issues of under-development and creation of jobs in the oil producing communities of Delta State with the much needed basic facilities in the host communities is also making some desired positive impact.

Other efforts by the state to refocus the economy from an oil-based one include the expansion of Osubi Airport, near Warri, investment of over N15 billion (approximately US$93.7m) in Federal Government IPP Project as part of her counterpart funding to step up power generation and distribution in the state and partnership with private investors towards the completion of an Independent Power Project (IPP) to produce power for the usage of the State.

Over 100,000 people have also benefited from the promotion of commercial and industrial entrepreneurship scheme and the development of the tourism sector of the State respectively and the development of the marine sector in cooperation with Federal Government towards building a multi-million dollar landing jetty in Okwagbe, to support the state’s transport infrastructure.

The Industrial Parks such as the Warri Industrial and Business Park, the Koko and Ogidigben Industrial Park/Export Free Trade Zone and the Asaba Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park are some further measures to take the Delta State economy from depending on allocations from oil revenues.

urhobotimes.com 

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DRM pitches tent with APC

*Tongue lashes Delta State govt. on improper project planning

Author: By Brisibe Perez

A political pressure group under the auspices of Delta Rescue Mission (DRM) in Delta State has congratulated Nigerians, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the all progressive democrats on the registration of the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC).

Speaking during a briefing of journalists at Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of the State, the Director General of DRM, Mr. Ahweyevu Mukoro, said the group congratulates the party and all who in one way or the other worked relentlessly for the registration especially the merged political parties and their leaders.

While describing APC as a viable vehicle with which Delta State would be rescued from its current challenge before the next election in 2015, Mukoro questioned the policies and project planning of the Uduaghan led government saying, “There was no time that the State government ever told Deltans that at a time, they would renovate schools along the road or a particular project would be done.

“Fine, the projects are commendable but what are policies particularly as regards cost of these projects so that people can equate the value of these projects in terms of work done? An example is the Delta Beyond Oil initiative. If we may ask, what is the policy and programme behind this project as to say, at so and so time maybe a particular month, we would say this is the amount the state got from the Delta Beyond Oil initiative?

“So, you would realise that the people can’t actually hold the government accountable, but under an APC government, the reverse would be the case. We in DRM would try as much as possible to midwife the leadership of the APC, so that those in leadership position of the party would not be lacking in knowledge, political theory, development and practice which has been the hallmark of the APC governors,” he stated.

urhobotimes.com 

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PDP’ll Win Delta Central By-election-Prof. Utuama

… Fly clean; don’t think of rigging -Odibo

Author: By Onitsha Shedrack

The Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama, has assured the People Democratic Party (PDP) faithful in Delta Central Senatorial District that the party will win the forth-coming senatorial by-election to fill the vacant seat occasioned by the death of late Senator Pius Ewherido, noting that the Urhobo Nation cannot afford to remain in the opposition. However, Chief Richard Odibo, a Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) senatorial aspirant warned all parties to the by-election to fly clean and should not think of rigging as DPP is prepared to resist any forms of rigging.

Prof Utuama while addressing newsmen at the Osubi Airstrip on his way from a medical treatment in the United States of America over the weekend, stated that he was happy for the reception he got on arrival: “I want to thank my people for coming to receive us. This was not planned, much unexpected. I believe that God, who has arranged this, will be on this to foster the unity of our people. And my prayer is that whatever we are seeking in terms of our political ambition, we should seek it within the larger frame of the government of the day.”

On the by-election, the Deputy governor has this to say; “Well first of all, let me say that at the time we lost our Senator, I was not available because I had some medical challenges which I have being dealing with in the US and I thank God that the surgery was successful and I am back hale and hearty as you can see.

“Let me use this opportunity to condole with the immediate family and the extended family and the Urhobo nation for the sudden death of a distinguished Senator Pius Ewherido. Having said that, the vacancy is yet to be declared by INEC, and I believe as a people, we will sit down and screen whoever will replace him. But what I can assure you is that, that seat will go to the PDP for now, which is the party I belong to,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a media chat with Journalists in Udu, Chief Richard Odibo, a senatorial aspirant on the platform of the DPP and the Director General of Chief Great Ogboru campaign organization in the 2011 election, has warned all political parties running for the Delta Central senatorial by-election to fly clean because there would be no room for rigging as any attempt to rig the election would be resisted.

While briefing the press why he joined the race, he noted that the untimely death of late Senator Ewherido is a big setback to the Urhobo Nation, and therefore there is need to send a vibrant and articulate Urhobo son that has the overriding interest of the Urhobo people to the senate to build on and complete what Ewherido started.

“Today’s gathering is to enable you people to understand where we are coming from. Late Senator Pius Ewherido was like a younger brother to me, and I was one of those that helped him into becoming a Senator but it became unfortunate that he passed on the way he did. Nobody planned for it, but no one can also question God. As he had passed on we have laid him to rest, his seat of course is now vacant at the National Assembly. Though, INEC has not declared it vacant, so many people have indicated interest to run for that seat. I too as one of his former mentors have been prevailed upon by members of my party, the DPP on whose platform he ran and won that seat before now, to also come forward and represent the party.

Having decided and I have accepted to represent the party, in the democracy, you don’t do it alone, others have also indicated interest to run for the party. But, in due course I will emerge as the candidate for the party, hope so,” he stated.

On what he has for the people of Delta Central, Chief Odibo has this to say, “The Urhobo as a nation today is saddled with a lot of problems. There problems here are numerous, but one of the most important one is that the nation is being sidelined and it is now becoming a subject of ridicule in the committee of the nations. My intention is to build a bridge of friendship across to other ethnic nationalities and I think that is the beginning of solving so many other issues. Like I view it, that bridge of friendship is to enable us discuss or deliberate on other important issues like DSC issue which is becoming a current decimal.

He added: “The Urhobo nation is supposedly on an imaginary war with so many ethnic nationalities around. Our brothers and sisters, the truth is that there is no war.  It is all imaginary. This people are in bed every night. You cannot see any Urhobo family without an Itsekiri or an Ijaw person. Even me speaking here today I am also maternally an Ijaw person. So, Urhobo nation is not at war. I want to make it clear to everybody that Urhobo nation is not at war with Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko or other ethnic group in the state. Unfortunately, Urhobo is receiving blows from all sides.

“UPU today is working seriously with a view to ensuring that all these setbacks are taking care of, these impressions which have been built over time are cleared from the system. And it is my intention to work inline with UPU’s agenda if I emerge as the candidate and as the Senator.  We can build the bridge of friendship across, then all other problems as I have identified will be taking care of.

“Having said that, the next thing is, by his grace, all the candidates of the parties that will emerge I will want to send this message to them. We should please try to fly clean. We should endeavour to fly clean in this forth-coming by- election. PDP, APC, including my DPP, none of these should think of rigging, because they will not find it easy. I am bold to say that any party that intends to ring this forth-coming by-election will be resisted very early. We want peace in Urhobo land, so they should please not think of it at all.

“Because I read in one of the papers recently, Vanguard precisely, one group calling on UPU to just allow the governor to pick up a candidate so that the UPU will not work at variant with the federal government. That is not democracy. Having read it, I was happy to also read in the paper either the next day or two days after, a quick response to that. Please, let this note of warning go to them. Nobody should think of rigging. Let us follow it democratically to the end. If I lose on a clean slate, that is, on a free and fare election, I will accept it and go and work with whoever emerges victorious.  And if I win, I expect the other candidate, to walk up to me and embrace me so that we can work and put Urhobo back to its glorious days.

“Urhobo as a nation, we want peace, we don’t want violence. The last election 2011 was well conducted here, and we voted enmass for the President. But, on individual bases, we voted for the other candidate. That was how Ewherido emerged as the winner. So please, they should not bring in the national politics to come and play here. They should not say that since Urhobo voted DPP, then Urhobo is against the federal government; that is not true. If in the last election we voted Jonathan and we voted DPP when it came to other parties, it means that Urhobos are working with their conscience.”

On the alleged movement of the late Ewherido political family from the DPP, to APC and their adaptation of Chief Otega Emerho for the Delta Central senatorial by-election, Chief Odibo said that “the Ewherido political family was made up of individuals; DPP has structures all over the state. Ewherido political family is for Central and the governor has structures in the whole of centrals. It is unfortunate but we are still relating, some of them are still with us, I don’t want to mention names, but they have the right to choose the party   they want to go to.

“Right now, they don’t want to come to us openly, because Ewherido took that position before he died and if they come to us openly, it will look like betraying their mentor or their principal. But I can tell you that a lot of them are still with us and the APC has no structures just now as it were. They have just been registered. ACN was in Delta State, ACN had nothing doing in Delta State even in the last election with their candidate who was even a popular Urhobo son, but they couldn’t pull anything when it came to election. So, I don’t think they have any significance to this by-election.”

urhobotimes.com 

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There is no interim Exco of Delta APC –DRM

                 

Author: By Brisibe Perez

A social-political movement in Delta State, Delta Rescue Mission (DRM) which has promised to midwife the leadership of the All Progressive Congress in the State for good governance of Deltans, has reinstated to its supporters and faithful in the State that the party for now, has no executive as speculated in some quarters and newspaper publications.

Speaking on the progress of the group in relationship with the APC in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state, the DRM Director General, Mr. Ahweyevu Mukoro, said the party only have an interim national executive and hasn’t gotten state executives in the State.

“What we only have are potential members as nobody has an APC membership card yet. So, whether interim or permanent, there is no APC executive yet in Delta State,” he said.

When asked if the party has endorsed any aspirant in the forthcoming Delta Central Senatorial by-election, he said, “As at today, the party has not fully been formalized and nobody has been issued with a nomination form, they are all aspirants hoping to become members of the party of whose platform they want to contest.

“Nobody has been nominated as they too are potential members as well, owing to the fact that there is no APC membership card with anyone as at today.

“By legal fiction, the merged parties, are deemed to be APC members but based on personal identification, nobody has an APC membership card in Delta State. They are all encouraged to fly the party flag but they should be democratic and cautious enough not to claim that so and so is the chairman and secretary of APC in Delta. No such persons exist as at today and that is what I condemn,” he added.

It would be recalled that there were reports in the media of a purported Delta State secretariat of the APC located at No. 248 Nnebisi Road, Opposite Wema Bank, Asaba.

The report also referred to Chief Isaac Tobore Ajueshi as the interim State Chairman and Engr. Peter Ofili as interim State Secretary.

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Great Ogboru: Greater Than Conspiracies

Author: By Efe Duku

PREAMBLE

‘He is a coup plotter.’ ‘He is a debtor.’ ‘He has no money.’ ‘He wins elections but not allowed to govern.” “He is a coward.’ ‘He is too principled.’ ‘Ogboru this, Ogboru that!’

For so long, these have been recurrent allegations against Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru by his enemies, opponents or haters. The motive of Ogboru’s accusers has always been and remains how to dim his constant star and stop the irresistible change he stands for. It is time to clearly meet these allegations with truth, facts and confidence. And it will so continue.

Change has always been a counter force wrestling against an existing resistant order. It takes courage, vision, integrity, and a constancy of purpose to make change happen. These are the defining qualities of the leader of a serious change agenda. Real change does not come on a platter of gold. Obstacles or opponents are enemies of change. But, as the great writer Og Madino put it, “… victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacles is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better … or quit.” The possibility of a better future is thus lost when we fear or turn away from enemies. They are to be confronted.

Change is often difficult and tortuous where enemies are strategically positioned. It is even much more difficult when external enemies manage to become internal enemies, or what Pentecostals call ‘unfriendly friends’, who are extremely deadly cancers that kill from within. They are dangerous, mean and sometimes just petty. They live by hate – hate so deep and incurable. Their major interest is to bring down whoever leads a popular quest for change. This evil is assuming a different dimension in Delta where the Ogboru political factor is a constant pain to the enemies of Delta. It is a situation where injured and unfit politicians rehabilitated by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) have become deadly conspirators fighting the air to do the impossible: Discredit an innocent Ogboru and stop change! Such an agenda is evil and has to be quickly buried.

CHANGE IS NEAR

The endless fear of the Ogboru factor by enemies of change and agents of hate often reaches an intolerable level at critical political moments such as election times. It would seem that the forthcoming senatorial by-election for Delta Central has presented yet another opportunistic moment for cheap political blackmailers, interlopers, and even certified madmen to launch a wave of propaganda to attack and discredit the iconic personality of Chief Great Ogboru. Their list of ‘discrediting charges’ against Ogboru as adumbrated above is endless. But discrediting Ogboru is a ‘mission impossible’. You need more than empty propaganda to be successful. You have to prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Ogboru is the real enemy of the people and not those who have persistently made it impossible for Ogboru to govern the people as they desire with their votes.

Clearly, our people are not idiots. They know and deeply respect good men. They hate unholy alliances against upright leaders. They easily identify and punish corrupt and evil men. Men with skeletons in their cupboards waste precious time when they try to pull down respected leaders. Our people prefer aspiring leaders to convince them on their own agenda to better their lives rather than plot the downfall of noble men. An agenda to discredit Ogboru is not in itself a manifesto. Our people prefer aspiring leaders with verifiable history of success based on a track record of honesty. Our people just don’t want to listen to persons who have nothing to offer but smear campaigns.

Attacking Ogboru because he reasonably prefers better strategic alignment of political forces will not change the political sentiments that have been resolved in his favour. Ogboru deeply respects peoples’ right including the right to join a party of their choice. He also fiercely resists attempts to destroy his own party (DPP) by those who came from PDP, but now want to leave to somewhere else, or even anyone for that matter. To him, it is immoral to do so.

Ogboru, like many Deltans, knows the real problems of Delta State. He refuses to be blackmailed, intimidated or stampeded to join any party without a clear roadmap to deal with the serious challenges facing Delta. He knows his people want guarantees that their votes would count and he insists on those guarantees. He is determined to find practical answers to the very specific and unique electoral problems facing Delta, whereby fishes and periwinkles reportedly vote as humans! He does not believe in empty talks and electoral sloganeering, going forward.

Ogboru feels his people. They have questions and he knows it is his duty as a leader to give answers. That is true leadership. Not so surprisingly, those who now understand his real motivations have started talking seriously. And that is good because the dynamics of existing political equations have started moving dramatically. There is a great new hope for change in the horizon. “Great Ovedje Ogboru” remains the handwriting on the wall! Go, tell it to the doubting Thomases that even the blind are seeing it!!

And that is to say, soon, very soon, Delta shall be free from misgovernance and wild corruption. Free from lack of vision; a sub-culture of inhumanity and immorality; political rascality; and a targeted ethnic hate policy of “genocide by instalment”. Free from illegitimate and mediocre regimes. Indeed, Delta is heavily pregnant. A miscarriage is impossible. Change unstoppable is near. A new Delta beckons. Unknown to the agents of hate, Great Ogboru firmly holds the ace in victory.

In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote, “… I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” This perfectly describes Ogboru’s consistently inspiring life of integrity, responsible leadership, and humility. More specifically, it captures his bold intervention in the stormy waters of Nigerian politics, after his return from a 10-year self-exile in year 2000.

Originally, Ogboru did not return for politics. He had rationally assumed that with the return of civil rule, Deltans were safe in the hands of James Ibori, whom he did not know before he left in 1990. The proud ‘ordinary crayfish seller’ returned to do his business. His plan was to re-organise his business empire and privately extend the “good life” to more people. His businesses had suffered severe setbacks due to continuous violations by successive military regimes. He quickly settled down to correct all that, even as he immediately went to court to challenge the illegalities done by the military and later won in a landmark judgment, awarding him billions of naira in damages against the Federal Government.

With a rare iconic personality defined by integrity, vision and a huge wealth – attained when he was just about 25 years of age – Great Ogboru has an undying mystic and personae so feared by people who delight in bad governance. These qualities would sooner than later pull him to intervene in politics to challenge the absence of sane governance in Delta. Ibori was feared by all. Even the antagonists who now enjoy the freedom of propagating hate against Ogboru either hid themselves in dark holes in fear or were hero-worshiping Ibori! But Ogboru simply demystified, defied and defiled Ibori.

Assuring all that Ibori was a “goner”, given the atrocities coming out of Delta, Ogboru boldly launched the South-South Rainbow Coalition (SSRC) to mobilise the people towards a sane political leadership direction. He foretold it that the battle would be long because of the huge State resources available to Ibori and his cohorts to protect their dynastic hold on political power in the State. And truly, Ibori showed his hand very early in the day when Ibori hastily organised a panicky rally on March 7, 2002 to stop the public merger declaration of the SSRC and its over 100 associate political organisations with the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun. At this ill-fated rally, an apparently licenced criminal gang was let loose to wantonly commit arson, destroy public and private property and take innocent lives including that of Charles Afigo!

We may have forgiven and that is the right thing to do as God’s people, but how can we forget that such extreme crimes had to be brazenly committed just to scare the people and stop Ogboru “at all cost”? But they failed as Ogboru refused to give up. While the blood of the innocent is still on their hands, heads and paths, Ogboru remains at peace with himself.

The SSRC has since seen strategic transformation, but remains true to its objective of providing an alternative avenue for better leadership. SSRC was the engine room of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). It is integral to the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). Those who think they can destroy the DPP in a flash are just naïve because they just know nothing about its genetic make-up and driving force. True DPP members are wedded to the SSRC creed or values – unbreakable,  tougher than hope and deeply formed around the iconic legacy of Ogboru, a true leader who though is human, appears divinely committed to helping his people no matter the obstacles.

A leader’s capacity to deal with obstacles, including misrepresentations of his life and actions without losing focus on his mission is key to his quest for change. The legacies of Lincoln, Gandhi, Mandela, King Jnr, or even the greatest of them all, the Master Himself, Jesus, speak volumes in this regard. All was done by even ‘Iscariots’ around them to undo their stars, yet they never dimmed. They just refused to quit. In the end, they prevailed. The more the obstacles, the more their lives changed the world because, falsa demonstratio legatum non perimi – a legacy is not destroyed by an incorrect description. Their legacies continue to transform the world inspite of the efforts to kill, distort, or wipe out their essence from humanity. One is therefore not in doubt that those who seek to perish what Great Ogboru stands for are on an impossible journey.

It was the great Chairman Mao Tsetung of China who reasoned that a good leader deserves to be encouraged to lead “provided he really helped the people when times were difficult, did good before and keeps on doing good without giving up.” Yes, our people agree without question that Ogboru is that leader. But a few see him as their biggest ‘problem’. But how is he really their problem? Let us now consider the noisy allegations individually but sometimes jointly, as the case may deserve.

ON THE ORKAR ACTION OF 1990

When in year 2000, the process of rescuing Delta from leadership recklessness began with a simple poster captioned “The Man” which summed up the enigma of Great Ogboru as the leader of the change agenda, Ibori’s arrogant response was essentially: ‘He is a coup plotter whose wealth had dried up and would therefore run out of steam very soon’. The baseless allegation that Ogboru is a poor coup plotter is therefore not new. The lazy haters are only borrowing a leaf from Ibori’s torn playbook by recycling a worn-out propaganda.

First, it is a fact that the Major Gideon Orkar action of 1990 was targeted at an unelected, illegitimate military regime. Any revolutionary action targeting an illegitimate, tyrannical regime is legitimate, proper and moral. No apologies. To this end, Ogboru has himself said repeatedly that his conscience will always support actions against tyrannies.

Secondly, the Orkar action was prompted, as it were, by choking imbalances in the Nigerian nation, including unwritten codes that gave some sections a “Borne To Rule” title while others must be servant followers. Ogboru was reported to have single-handedly provided the huge financial backbone and logistical support for Orkar and his gallant team to fundamentally change the existence of two classes of citizens in Nigeria. This is generally believed because, just a year before, i.e. in 1989, the same Ogboru had similarly made the largest donation for the liberation of Namibia. It is however on record that the Federal Government later cleared him of any wrong-doing in a gazette signed by then Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. This was after untoward hardship had been brought upon his family, including loss of lives and several attempts to assassinate him abroad.....

urhobotimes.com 

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Great Ogboru: Greater Than Conspiracies

Author: By Efe Duku

PREAMBLE

‘He is a coup plotter.’ ‘He is a debtor.’ ‘He has no money.’ ‘He wins elections but not allowed to govern.” “He is a coward.’ ‘He is too principled.’ ‘Ogboru this, Ogboru that!’

For so long, these have been recurrent allegations against Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru by his enemies, opponents or haters. The motive of Ogboru’s accusers has always been and remains how to dim his constant star and stop the irresistible change he stands for. It is time to clearly meet these allegations with truth, facts and confidence. And it will so continue.

Change has always been a counter force wrestling against an existing resistant order. It takes courage, vision, integrity, and a constancy of purpose to make change happen. These are the defining qualities of the leader of a serious change agenda. Real change does not come on a platter of gold. Obstacles or opponents are enemies of change. But, as the great writer Og Madino put it, “… victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacles is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better … or quit.” The possibility of a better future is thus lost when we fear or turn away from enemies. They are to be confronted.

Change is often difficult and tortuous where enemies are strategically positioned. It is even much more difficult when external enemies manage to become internal enemies, or what Pentecostals call ‘unfriendly friends’, who are extremely deadly cancers that kill from within. They are dangerous, mean and sometimes just petty. They live by hate – hate so deep and incurable. Their major interest is to bring down whoever leads a popular quest for change. This evil is assuming a different dimension in Delta where the Ogboru political factor is a constant pain to the enemies of Delta. It is a situation where injured and unfit politicians rehabilitated by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) have become deadly conspirators fighting the air to do the impossible: Discredit an innocent Ogboru and stop change! Such an agenda is evil and has to be quickly buried.

CHANGE IS NEAR

The endless fear of the Ogboru factor by enemies of change and agents of hate often reaches an intolerable level at critical political moments such as election times. It would seem that the forthcoming senatorial by-election for Delta Central has presented yet another opportunistic moment for cheap political blackmailers, interlopers, and even certified madmen to launch a wave of propaganda to attack and discredit the iconic personality of Chief Great Ogboru. Their list of ‘discrediting charges’ against Ogboru as adumbrated above is endless. But discrediting Ogboru is a ‘mission impossible’. You need more than empty propaganda to be successful. You have to prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Ogboru is the real enemy of the people and not those who have persistently made it impossible for Ogboru to govern the people as they desire with their votes.

Clearly, our people are not idiots. They know and deeply respect good men. They hate unholy alliances against upright leaders. They easily identify and punish corrupt and evil men. Men with skeletons in their cupboards waste precious time when they try to pull down respected leaders. Our people prefer aspiring leaders to convince them on their own agenda to better their lives rather than plot the downfall of noble men. An agenda to discredit Ogboru is not in itself a manifesto. Our people prefer aspiring leaders with verifiable history of success based on a track record of honesty. Our people just don’t want to listen to persons who have nothing to offer but smear campaigns.

Attacking Ogboru because he reasonably prefers better strategic alignment of political forces will not change the political sentiments that have been resolved in his favour. Ogboru deeply respects peoples’ right including the right to join a party of their choice. He also fiercely resists attempts to destroy his own party (DPP) by those who came from PDP, but now want to leave to somewhere else, or even anyone for that matter. To him, it is immoral to do so.

Ogboru, like many Deltans, knows the real problems of Delta State. He refuses to be blackmailed, intimidated or stampeded to join any party without a clear roadmap to deal with the serious challenges facing Delta. He knows his people want guarantees that their votes would count and he insists on those guarantees. He is determined to find practical answers to the very specific and unique electoral problems facing Delta, whereby fishes and periwinkles reportedly vote as humans! He does not believe in empty talks and electoral sloganeering, going forward.

Ogboru feels his people. They have questions and he knows it is his duty as a leader to give answers. That is true leadership. Not so surprisingly, those who now understand his real motivations have started talking seriously. And that is good because the dynamics of existing political equations have started moving dramatically. There is a great new hope for change in the horizon. “Great Ovedje Ogboru” remains the handwriting on the wall! Go, tell it to the doubting Thomases that even the blind are seeing it!!

And that is to say, soon, very soon, Delta shall be free from misgovernance and wild corruption. Free from lack of vision; a sub-culture of inhumanity and immorality; political rascality; and a targeted ethnic hate policy of “genocide by instalment”. Free from illegitimate and mediocre regimes. Indeed, Delta is heavily pregnant. A miscarriage is impossible. Change unstoppable is near. A new Delta beckons. Unknown to the agents of hate, Great Ogboru firmly holds the ace in victory.

In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote, “… I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” This perfectly describes Ogboru’s consistently inspiring life of integrity, responsible leadership, and humility. More specifically, it captures his bold intervention in the stormy waters of Nigerian politics, after his return from a 10-year self-exile in year 2000.

Originally, Ogboru did not return for politics. He had rationally assumed that with the return of civil rule, Deltans were safe in the hands of James Ibori, whom he did not know before he left in 1990. The proud ‘ordinary crayfish seller’ returned to do his business. His plan was to re-organise his business empire and privately extend the “good life” to more people. His businesses had suffered severe setbacks due to continuous violations by successive military regimes. He quickly settled down to correct all that, even as he immediately went to court to challenge the illegalities done by the military and later won in a landmark judgment, awarding him billions of naira in damages against the Federal Government.

With a rare iconic personality defined by integrity, vision and a huge wealth – attained when he was just about 25 years of age – Great Ogboru has an undying mystic and personae so feared by people who delight in bad governance. These qualities would sooner than later pull him to intervene in politics to challenge the absence of sane governance in Delta. Ibori was feared by all. Even the antagonists who now enjoy the freedom of propagating hate against Ogboru either hid themselves in dark holes in fear or were hero-worshiping Ibori! But Ogboru simply demystified, defied and defiled Ibori.

Assuring all that Ibori was a “goner”, given the atrocities coming out of Delta, Ogboru boldly launched the South-South Rainbow Coalition (SSRC) to mobilise the people towards a sane political leadership direction. He foretold it that the battle would be long because of the huge State resources available to Ibori and his cohorts to protect their dynastic hold on political power in the State. And truly, Ibori showed his hand very early in the day when Ibori hastily organised a panicky rally on March 7, 2002 to stop the public merger declaration of the SSRC and its over 100 associate political organisations with the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun. At this ill-fated rally, an apparently licenced criminal gang was let loose to wantonly commit arson, destroy public and private property and take innocent lives including that of Charles Afigo!

We may have forgiven and that is the right thing to do as God’s people, but how can we forget that such extreme crimes had to be brazenly committed just to scare the people and stop Ogboru “at all cost”? But they failed as Ogboru refused to give up. While the blood of the innocent is still on their hands, heads and paths, Ogboru remains at peace with himself.

The SSRC has since seen strategic transformation, but remains true to its objective of providing an alternative avenue for better leadership. SSRC was the engine room of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). It is integral to the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). Those who think they can destroy the DPP in a flash are just naïve because they just know nothing about its genetic make-up and driving force. True DPP members are wedded to the SSRC creed or values – unbreakable,  tougher than hope and deeply formed around the iconic legacy of Ogboru, a true leader who though is human, appears divinely committed to helping his people no matter the obstacles.

A leader’s capacity to deal with obstacles, including misrepresentations of his life and actions without losing focus on his mission is key to his quest for change. The legacies of Lincoln, Gandhi, Mandela, King Jnr, or even the greatest of them all, the Master Himself, Jesus, speak volumes in this regard. All was done by even ‘Iscariots’ around them to undo their stars, yet they never dimmed. They just refused to quit. In the end, they prevailed. The more the obstacles, the more their lives changed the world because, falsa demonstratio legatum non perimi – a legacy is not destroyed by an incorrect description. Their legacies continue to transform the world inspite of the efforts to kill, distort, or wipe out their essence from humanity. One is therefore not in doubt that those who seek to perish what Great Ogboru stands for are on an impossible journey.

It was the great Chairman Mao Tsetung of China who reasoned that a good leader deserves to be encouraged to lead “provided he really helped the people when times were difficult, did good before and keeps on doing good without giving up.” Yes, our people agree without question that Ogboru is that leader. But a few see him as their biggest ‘problem’. But how is he really their problem? Let us now consider the noisy allegations individually but sometimes jointly, as the case may deserve.

ON THE ORKAR ACTION OF 1990

When in year 2000, the process of rescuing Delta from leadership recklessness began with a simple poster captioned “The Man” which summed up the enigma of Great Ogboru as the leader of the change agenda, Ibori’s arrogant response was essentially: ‘He is a coup plotter whose wealth had dried up and would therefore run out of steam very soon’. The baseless allegation that Ogboru is a poor coup plotter is therefore not new. The lazy haters are only borrowing a leaf from Ibori’s torn playbook by recycling a worn-out propaganda.

First, it is a fact that the Major Gideon Orkar action of 1990 was targeted at an unelected, illegitimate military regime. Any revolutionary action targeting an illegitimate, tyrannical regime is legitimate, proper and moral. No apologies. To this end, Ogboru has himself said repeatedly that his conscience will always support actions against tyrannies.

Secondly, the Orkar action was prompted, as it were, by choking imbalances in the Nigerian nation, including unwritten codes that gave some sections a “Borne To Rule” title while others must be servant followers. Ogboru was reported to have single-handedly provided the huge financial backbone and logistical support for Orkar and his gallant team to fundamentally change the existence of two classes of citizens in Nigeria. This is generally believed because, just a year before, i.e. in 1989, the same Ogboru had similarly made the largest donation for the liberation of Namibia. It is however on record that the Federal Government later cleared him of any wrong-doing in a gazette signed by then Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. This was after untoward hardship had been brought upon his family, including loss of lives and several attempts to assassinate him abroad.....

urhobotimes.com 

Read More