Politics

RSG Alone Can’t Fix Security – Alabo-George

Published

10 years ago

April 18, 2016

Alabo-George

He belongs to the young, up and mobile professional class. Ross Alabo-George is an Information Technology specialist with vast experience in providing services to the oil and gas industry and other government and non governmental organisations.
In this two-part interview with Opaka Dokubo, George shares his deep feelings about some contemporary political developments in Nigeria with a strong bias for the Niger Delta and Rivers State.
Excerpts:
How do you feel when you hear the phrase ‘Rivers of Blood?
I think that is a cliche
that’s being pushed by elements in the political arena who want to destabilise the state. You need to see the kind of impression people have about Rivers State when you travel to Abuja or Lagos. There is this impression that Rivers State is like a Boko Haram area. That notion has been pushed by certain individuals who may be, think that casting the state in such bad light will force the Federal government to declare a state of emergency.
The sad thing about this is that the people who are doing this are indeed Rivers people. I understand that there are security challenges but it is not enough to categorise Rivers State ‘Rivers of Blood’. I think Rivers State is still a largely peaceful state when compared to states like Kaduna State, Plateau State and some states in the East.
We have criminal incidences like kidnapping which indeed is very sad but I think that in past few weeks, we have witnessed a drop in some of those activities. But I think that the state government has to do more in terms of collaborating with the security agencies. I don’t think that there is sufficient sync, the interface is not wide enough. I think that the state government has enough resources to mobilise the needed security resources to deal with this.
In Kaduna State, the police declared a state of emergency and actually brought in more personnel, Rapid Response Squads from different states to address the issue and we saw a sharp drop in criminal activities once that was done. In Rivers State, in the last administration, that was achieved because the PDP controlled the state and the federal government. But I know that the way the federal government will respond to the state government will be different and that is also the problem with our politics.
This is a federal republic and that means that the state has complete and full right to the security infrastructure at the centre and it is not even at the behest of the president. It is something that has to be done and so, once the Rivers State governor demands, it behoves on the president to respond immediately. It is a complex issue and we need to address it in a pragmatic manner. It is not for the state government alone to address.
What do you make of the president’s threat to treat pipeline vandals like Boko Haram?
I think that one of the silliest things that General Gowon said in the days leading the Biafran war was to use the word ‘crush’. He said he would crush them. It didn’t sound like he was talking about his own citizens. It sounded he was talking about foreigners and I think that the international community took that statement very seriously. And I want to call on the international community to take this statement by President Buhari threatening to deal with pipeline vandals like Boko Haram equally seriously.
Book Haram is a terrorist organisation and we all know the carnage and pain Boko Haram has caused this nation. For us in the Niger Delta, it is sad that these people have caused this nation more than the lives they have destroyed in the north. The fallout of Boko Haram has affected economic activities because when you travel out of the region, everybody thinks that Boko Haram is within the country. But it’s not true. They don’t understand that Boko Haram is confined to the North-East.
We have seen terrorist attacks by Fulani herdsmen. These herdsmen have killed over five hundred people. In fact, an entire community was sacked and razed down. And as I speak to you today, the president has not said anything about it personally. It is therefore shocking that the same man will talk about pipeline vandals. So, are the pipeline more important than the people in Agatu? Certainly not.
I think the president has a communication issue and I think the entire government is not connecting with the people. There is a gap. What we need is a rapid feedback system that will carry the people along. The president is in China to borrow two billion dollars but he has not visited the Niger Delta that generates 60 billion dollars every year. He has never been to any oil producing state in the Niger Delta after he won the election. He has been very careless with some of his utterances. For example he said, “you don’t expect me to treat the people that gave me 97% the same as the people that gave me 5%.”
You categorise the people of the Niger Delta as 5% and then you threaten to attack the people of the Niger Delta…? How can you give them the Boko Haram treatment without sacking communities? And then we have seen this drama about the Calabar-Lagos railine project. I know that the contract for that project was signed in 2014. The name of that project really was Niger Delta Coastal Railine but in the wisdom of President Goodluck Jonathan, he decided to call it the Calabar-Lagos Railine to give it a national outlook. The drama we’re seeing around the project suggests that somebody somewhere does not want that project to come to light.
When you think about that project, it is the biggest project ever in this country. That project is about half of the entire national budget. It is worth about three trillion naira, about 11.76 billion dollars. That is China’s biggest infrastructural project ever outside China. That is the biggest infrastructural project in Africa. So, looking at it from that perspective, I think that some people who are concerned about the economic benefits may be worried.

Politics

Parties’ Deregistration: How Justice Lifu Overruled Appeal Court Justices

Published

1 day ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.

Politics

ADC: Okonkwo Rejects Amaechi As Presidential Running Mate, Withdraws Support

Published

1 day ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”

Politics

2027: Tinubu’s Projects Give APC Edge In South East – Yilwatda

Published

1 day ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.

He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.

Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.

“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.

“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.

“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.

“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.

“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.

Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.

“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.