Rt Hon Dumnamene Dekor

Ahead of the March 19
re-run polls scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State, candidates of the various political parties are back in the trenches making last minute political preparations, exploring and exploiting their advantageous platforms to clinch victory at the polls.
For Hon Dumnamene Deekor, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), candidate for Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the re-run polls, his greatest political asset is his grassroots involvement, a leadership model and political strategy he imbibed and perfected over the years.
In his sense of political judgement, Hon Dumnamene Deekor, a former Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, believes that participatory democracy requires more than a passionate lust for power but a deep sense of grassroots participation to earn the confidence and mandate of the people.
Hon Deekor who spoke with The Tide in a no-holds-barred  interview in Port Harcourt recently, decried what he called the tendency of most unpopular politicians to imposed themselves on the people.”
According to the seasoned lawmaker “every politician aspiring for a representative position must be connected with the people, they must relate directly with the people, feel their pains and burdens so that they can represent them well. Anything contrary amounts to a dupe and abuse of popular will.”
He said most of those parading as candidates are completely alienated from the very people they want to represent, and being conscious of this missing link, resorts to crude measures to usurp popular mandate through the back doors.
Optimistic of his resounding victory at the re-run polls, Hon Deekor said the people of Khana/Gokana Federal constituency had freely given their mandate to the Peoples Democratic Party, and were ready to revalidate that mandate in the re-run election.
“The people of Khana/Gokana constituency are mature politically, and they have opted for the Peoples Democratic Party which is the only party on ground  in Rivers State. I have also endeared my self to the people through my grassroots affiliation with them and I enjoy the good will of the people, the opposition party is aware of my popularity in my constituency, we are going to coast home victory with ease.
Hon Deekor’s huge support base is mostly from the youths. As a state legislator, he acknowledged the fact that he made himself accessible to the youths and committed available resources to the promotion of their well being.
He said the youth constitute the active population of a given society and as such needed active mobilisation of their inherent talents to produce an egalitarian society.
Deekor further pointed out that youths empowerment would be cardinal in his development agenda when re-elected into the House of Representative. The lawmaker also faulted what he described as “social media deception”, a tool he said was perfected by unpopular politicians who use propaganda and blackmail as their yardstick for political campaign.
“I don’t believe in social media politics because it is over bloated and skewed to cover up the inefficiencies of unpopular politicians, my political philosophy is to relate directly with the people to know their needs and feelings, I know that only popular candidates will win the re-run polls the people of Khana/Gokana constituency have known the difference, they know their trusted political leaders and they cannot make the mistake of mortgaging their conscience no matter the intimidation and blackmail”.
Commenting on the recent military invasion in Ogoni land which led to the killing of some people, in Bori, Hon Dumnamene Deekor, said the unfortunate incidence was the mastermind of overzealous politicians who want to acquire political powers by all means. He said the gory incidence replicated the darkest history of Ogoni, when an army of occupation took over Ogoni territory, and challenged Ogoni politicians, especially of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to tell the truth on the matter.
Hon Deekor, also warned against the plot to militarized Ogoni during the re-run polls and advised the military to stay away from partisan politics and perform their professional duties within the ambit of the law.
The House of Representative hopeful regretted the fact that there was no crisis in Ogoni land to warrant such a military onslaught on the people. He further stated that, “what the Ogonis need at the moment is effective representation to attract development in the area, not political intimidation”, adding that, Ogoni has suffered the brunt of oil politics in Nigeria over the years, and have remained grossly under developed despite decades of enormous contributions to the economic development of the country.
In his estimation the military invasion of Ogoni was the fallout of the tactical plots by some self serving politicians in the area to polarize key organizations in Ogoni to achieve selfish political goals, rather than fostering unity of purpose among the people.”
He however, called on all Ogoni stakeholders to remain focused and resolute in achieving the ultimate objectives of the Ogoni struggle especially the strict implementation of the UNEP report, noting that Ogoni was highly mobilized and sensitized and cannot afford to be used as pawns in political chess games.
On his vision as a federal legislator, Hon Deekor, said he had the right pedigree to represent his people and give them articulate and effective representation. “I succeeded as a lawmaker at the state level by the grace of God, I am very accessible and properly groomed to represent my people, I have always been with them and I know their development challenge. As a member of the House of Representative I will work hard and contribute my quota in terms of vocal representation to ensure that some extant laws that dispossessed the Ogonis and other Niger Delta communities are amended, will work with all the stakeholders in Ogoni to ensure that unity of purposes and development is promoted among the people”, we owe posterity a sense of duty, and we cannot afford to fail our people because of diversionary motives, we must not tell lies to attain public offices, the killings in Ogoni should be properly investigated and the perpetrators should be brought to book”, he stated.
“The military have no business with the electoral process, they must not allow any politician to smear their professional integrity with partisan interest. The APC’s plot is to cause crisis in Ogoni using the military and impose themselves on the people. This will not happen. Our people are aware of all there plots and are very vigilant to nib such tendencies in the bud. The APC is not on ground in Rivers State and they cannot impose themselves on the people.”
The Khana born politician also took a swipe at the National chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun which he described as the arrowhead of APC’s vindictive politics against Rivers people.
He said the “cynical” remark credited to the John Oyegun against Rivers State indicate that “the drive for the prime objective of Rivers State by APC, is only driven by selfish, exploitative economic motive rather than a genuine concern for the wellbeing of the people of the state.”
Deekor called on the people of Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency and Rivers State in general to remain focused and supportive of the Government of Chief Barr Nyesom Wike, to enable the Governor continue to dispense quality service to the people.
According to him “only the PDP has clear vision and objectives for the development of Rivers State, and the interest of the state must not be compromised at the alter of the political ambition of self serving leaders who believe that public office is their exclusive rights.
In the final analysis, Hon Deekor said the PDP has trained its personnel ahead of the re-run polls and the party was ready to abide by the stipulated rules of the game by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said INEC should be committed to the conduct of free and fair re-run polls in Rivers State and restore its integrity.

Taneh Beemene/ Susan Serekara-Nwikhana

Until his enlistment
into the long list of governorship aspirants under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atamuno Ajubo Atamuno was a relatively quiet philanthropist not given to partisan politics. But when he finally emerged, many realised that he indeed meant business.
That business is to contribute to the well-being of the thoroughly impoverished Rivers people in general, and men and women of his immediate constituency the Okrika speaking Ijaws of Rivers State. To be seen as a serious contender, an aspirant under the PDP, according to him, would require an initial investment of N100 million.
This covers, office structures, logistics, contact and mobilization and indeed initial campaign financing. Others are collection of Expression of Intent form, N1 million, Nomination form N11 million, State Administration fee N3 million and South/South Zonal office fee N2 million.
After all these, what was his impression regarding inta-party democracy and what options are left for him, was a question The Tide posed to him. His answer was simply ‘awful.’
Atamuno is an apostle of zoning of political offices for equity, unity and political integration. It is his belief that Rivers State in 1999 experienced relative political peace within the PDP on account of the fact that the founding fathers of the party willingly ceded the governorship slot to the upland part of the state, which led to the emergence of Dr. Peter Odili.
After eight years, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who succeeded Odili is also from the upland of Ikwerre ethnic extraction.
This makes it unacceptable for another uplander, not to mention an Ikwerre son to succeed Amaechi  as flag bearer in the 2015 gubernatorial elections.
Atamuno described as bad political calculation the emergence of Chief Nyesom Wike as flagbearer of the PDP, saying it will be a burden on the party, as it was likely to engineer protest votes. “How do you explain to the average Ijaw voter in the state that he will be denied political power at the governorship level for 24 years? Atamuno wondered.
So what are the options left for him? Atamuno said he expects the National leadership of the PDP to properly address the issues raised by all the aspirants and undertake a broad-based reconciliation to ensure that all aggrieved stakeholders are pacified and reunited behind an eventual flagbearer.
“Afterall there can only be one candidate of the party”.
But if that is not done, he warned, just as some have defected to other parties, many more would follow suit. Although, he said, not all the governorship aspirants are serious individuals, some of them can make a change that could impact on the party’s fortunes.
Atamuno said he had no personal quarrel with Nyesom Wike, but thinks that the succession of an Ikwerre man by yet another Ikwerre son, is poor political calculation. Besides, the process of Wike’s emergence through the total colonisation of the party structure, according to him, made it difficult for anyone to enjoy a level playing ground.
“Using party structure to close-out other aspirants and winning the primary is one thing and using that same capacity to win the general elections is another challenge.
What Atamuno expects the eventual PDP primaries’ winner and the party leadership to do is to carry out an all-embracing reconciliation of all aggrieved aspirants and not pick and choose stooges to speak for others.
Atamuno, who is the facilitator of the Rivers Mandate Group and Okrika Cultural Foundation said his primary concern is to contribute meaningfully to the development of the people, especially of the indigent youth Rivers in the state in general and his local government area, Okrika in particular.
Whether he succeeds in his political ambition to become governor or not, he would continue to pursue that mission. Already, as many as 120 young men and women have responded to his call to obtain free JAMB forms for enrolment into tertiary institutions.
Out of this number, 20 will be granted automatic scholarship if they succeed in gaining admission into universities to read Engineering, Law, Political Science and Accountancy. According to him, this number will be reviewed upwards annually and expanded to include many more disciplines.
Atamuno identified a lull of competent manpower as responsible for the engagement of foreigners and non-indigenes by multi-national firms operating in the state. This is not healthy and needs to be tackled in time, to avoid major youth protest in the future.
Atamuno said he was discussing with foreign firms over the possibility of coming to Rivers State to invest in the marine construction sector. With two such investments, graduate unemployment within the area, he said will be wiped out completely. “If two such companies start operations in the Okrika axis of the state, unemployment of the youth of the area would have been eliminated completely.
Charity, he said begins at home, and hopes to target the Okrika youth in particular and those of Rivers State in general as the focal group of his development initiatives.
That feeling, he said accounted for his involvement in the formation of Okrika Cultural Foundation, non-political pressure group that has pioneered the development of the Okrika Language, through the sponsorship of various events, seminars, symposia and revival of indigenous Okrika language programme on Radio Rivers FM.
Atamuno, an International Business mogul with offices in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, said his preference to assist the needy was indeed deliberate. “I have seen poverty. I have tasted it. I have fought poverty. And I can tell you, it is not easy.
According to him, he had tried his hands in many ventures, including buying and selling detergents in the open Lagos market and streets to break even. Such travails with-out support can never be easy and was not.
That is why he has chosen education as a choice of investment to assist the needy and indigent write JAMB and gain admission into universities. With the free JAMB initiative and scholarships for successful candidates, Atamuuno hopes him, empower young men and women to pursue their dreams.
These, according to hi, form part of the compelling reasons for his enlistment into the roll of governorship aspirants within the PDP. And because he is very passionate about it, nothing would stop his poverty alleviation  programmes with or without his emergence as governor of Rivers State.

Soye Wilson Jamabo

Atamuno Ajubo Atamuno

President Goodluck Jonathan has described the death of his younger brother, Chief Meni Jonathan as “particularly too painful to bear”.

Jonathan made the statement on Saturday at Meni’s funeral, held at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Otuoke in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 “My younger brother, Meni lived a good life, his death is particularly too painful to bear.”

“Meni is supposed to bury me and not for me to bury him but no matter the pain, with people coming to sympathise with me and my family, it gives us hope and courage,” Jonathan stated.

Jonathan said he had ordered that Meni be flown to Abuja after he noticed that the young man was looking frail when he visited home on a Friday, sometime last November.

“This was a young man I came home on a Friday, he came to my house, nobody carried him, he moved down just from his house across the road. We discussed, I noticed he was a bit frail so I told him to follow us to Abuja for a medical check up.”

The President said that Meni drove himself to Yenagoa, before boarding a chopper to Abuja.

Jonathan said he would particularly miss his younger brother as he “has been covering the home front for us.”

Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta and Peter Obi of Anambra were at the funeral. It was also attended by service chiefs and other top government functionaries and dignitaries.