As They Take The Political Leap Of Faith

It is no longer news that po
litical office holders across the states of the federation interested in elective offices come 2015 resigned their appointments and joined the race to govern their states of origin. What is news, however, is the number of politicians that have proceeded to pick the governorship interest and nomination forms for the primaries of their respective political parties.
The move has since increased the rising political tempo as the parties’ inch away to their primaries. While the primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is slated for November 29, 2014, the All Progressives Congress (APC) holds her own in nearest future.
Apart from the governorship race, many party men and women who are interested in national and state assemblies elections are also not leaving anything to chance since the countdown to 2015 general elections began.
The decision by seven ministers to quit President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, did not come as a surprise to many who know them. The ministers whose resignations have added value and tension to the already charged political atmosphere included Labaran Maku – Information, Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike – State for Education; Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu – Health; Emeka Wogu – Labour and Musiliu Obanikoro – State for Defence. Others were Samuel Ortom – State for Industry, Trade and Investment as well as Darius Ishaku – State for Niger Delta. Maku, Wike, Chukwu, Wogu, Obanikuro, Ortom and Ishaku are deep in the race to govern Nasarawa, Rivers, Ebonyi, Abia, Lagos, Benue and Taraba States, in that order.
The ministers’ resignations after months of speculation was a clear signal that they have finally decided to throw their hats into the ring and battle for Government Houses in states of origin. President Jonathan and other members of his council bided them farewell at the emotion-ladden valedictory session of the council in Abuja on October 15, 2014.
After an opportunity to serve the nation at the highest level of executive authority in the country, the ministers exited the cabinet with the huge experience they had gathered under Jonathan.
“This is truly a very difficult and an emotional moment for me and my colleagues who are about to take a leap of faith in our lives as individuals and as officers of the state… A time comes in the life of people, when they make decisions, when they are convinced that those decisions will further the vision, development and future of their country under a leadership they believe in,” Maku said with journalistic dexterity that drew ovation with emotion.
Part of the experiences Maku and his colleagues gathered under Jonathan include the capacity to stay focused in spite of distractions, name calling etc; keeping eyes on the ball of your policy and Jonathan’s cosmopolitan approach to leadership in Nigeria.
Interesting as the politicians are positioning themselves for battle for the souls of their states, what is perhaps making waves is the person and the political clout they bring into the race. The governorship race in Rivers State is not immune to intrigues that characterize Nigerian politics.
But why are the intrigues in Rivers State in superhighway? The reasons are not far-fetched: Rivers State since the inception of the present democracy had been under the umbrella of PDP but suddenly ‘ported’ into the warm embrace of the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the alleged differences between President Jonathan and Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi erupted.
The ‘porting’ did not go down well to many especially because it has rubbished the image of Rivers State that reportedly gave the President the highest number of votes in the country in 2011. Another factor that favours the battle for the soul of Rivers State is the fact that the state which is the home state of Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is in the APC divide, which many believe, is not healthy to the coast of her husband.
The determination of PDP to go for a “rescue mission” in Rivers State is therefore understandable. Wike, who had positioned himself to be the battle axe for the “rescue mission” promptly accepted to re-build the broken walls of PDP, retrieve Rivers State from APC’s grip and return her to the centre of national reckoning. Wike, however, is not alone in the PDP governorship race in Rivers State. As at last count, about 20 aspirants are known to be warming up for the ticket, preparatory for the race to the Brick House come February 2015.
Though the chances of the aspirants will be tested and harvested at the primaries, the PDP governorship aspirants in the state also include Barrister Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Engr. Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack, Barrister Nimi Walson-Jack, Tonye Princewill, Ibinabo Micheal West, Emmanuel Georgwill, Alabo Paworiso Samuel-Horsfall, Fafaa DAn-Princewill and Williams Romeo Obene, all from the Kalabari ethnic group of the state.
Four gubernatorial hopefuls from the Ogoni extraction – Senator Lee Maeba, Pidomson Gabriel, Prof Don Baridam and Dunbari Ben-Dimkpa are also eyeing to be Amaechi’s successor. Dr. Sowaribi Victor Tolofari and Hon Tamunosisi Gogo Jaja (Bonny), Major Lancelot Nyanya (rtd) and Hon Sampson Ngerebara (Andoni), Sunday Nwankwo (Etche) as well as High Chief Ateke Tom (Okrika) are also jostling for Rivers Brick House.
Of the number of PDP gubernatorial aspirants wanting to pick the ticket, Wike’s aspirantship is not without opposition from Governor Amaechi and some ethnic groupings. Amaechi, at different fora, had argued that it is improper and unjust for an Ikwerre man to succeed him as governor, apparently referring to Wike who is of the same ethnic stock with him (Amaechi). And he is not mincing words about his promise to stop back-to-back Ikwerre man for governor after him.
While Amaechi may have lofty wish and influence about who succeeds him, it is also worthy of note that God is the ultimate decider of who becomes a leader at a given point in time. Rightly, the governor acknowledged this fact at the just-concluded APC mega rally held at Adokiye Amaesiamaka sports complex at Igwuruta-Ali, Ikwerre local government area of the state. A good example of the hand of God in making a leader can be found in Amaechi’s emergence as the Chief Executive of Rivers  State in 2007 after several months of legal battle in court.
However, the APC and Wike’s Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) are locked up over Wike’s resignation and governorship ambition. The Rivers APC believes that “the political calculation in the state does not support anybody from the Ikwerre extraction to succeed the current governor,” claiming that “the moment he (Wike) picks the ticket to contest the governorship election, voting based on party lines or affiliation will melt away.”
Wike has since picked up the governorship forms like some other aspirants, but his (Wike’s) heroic welcome in Port Harcourt after he dumped his ministerial job in Abuja clearly shows that the moment of truth is here and that he is determined to make a ‘political statement.’
The boasting of GDI secretary-general, Samuel Nwanosike that Wike-patron of GDI – would not only win the PDP gubernatorial primary but also win the general polls come 2015 perhaps points to the ‘political statement’ of the former minister who reportedly resigned to answer the avalanche of calls and demands from well-meaning Rivers people cutting across ethnic lines and social groups to offer himself for governorship election in the state.
APC may argue that there is merit in its clamour for power shift to other ethnic groups, but GDI notes that “there is a disconnect with politics of ethnic sentiments in today’s Rivers State. We bother more about the caliber and quality of the candidate under the PDP’s “rescue mission” to regain the lost mandate from the APC and redeem the rapidly dwindling fortunes of the state, and Wike possesses the stuff to deliver on the rescue mission,” Nwanosike said.
The clamour for the battle axe for the rescue mission may have informed the decision of PDP in the state to throw open all the elective offices for interested and qualified members of the party to get the best formidable team of contestants that have what it takes to confront and beat the incumbency. Though, the PDP decision is not going down well with some persons in the rank of the party, it said the policy is with good intention and irreversible.
Despite criticisms against PDP policy of no zoning, an Ogoni-born PDP governorship hopeful, Dunbari Ben-Dimkpa endorsed the party’s stance of giving every aspirant an equal playing ground rather than zoning it to an ethnic group. According to the aspirant, what Rivers people need now is a leader that has the pedigree and the general interest of the state at heart, hoping that PDP will reclaim its stolen mandate in 2015 elections in the state.
Meanwhile, it is to the credit of Amaechi that he has popularized APC in the state. But whether party members especially those interested in elective positions are doing enough is yet to be seen. Political observers are of the opinion that they are “not pushing enough to make clear statement that they are in for serious political fight come 2015. Or are they waiting for the “anointing hand to put the food on the political table for them?’ Up till the time of this analysis, only Senator Magnus Abe and Hon Dakuku Peterside are rumoured to be interested in picking the gubernatorial ticket of APC in Rivers State.
It may be right to argue that the APC governorship hopefuls are strategising underground, but political observers caution against the danger of coming to the market late in the day.
Now, as the aspirants under the platforms of PDP, APC etc prepare to slug it out for reckoning, the peace, unity and progress of Rivers State should be above personal interest.

Samuel Eleonu