Hycenth Igwe
Comrade Joseph Evah is the Coordinator, Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG) and a former Publicity Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress. In this encounter with select journalists, the Niger Delta activist who speaks truth to power no matter whose ox is gored cautioned President Bola Tinubu on issues he must avoid, especially ethnic-centered appointments, and need to embrace the opposition for an all-inclusive government. He also cautioned Nyesom Wike, former governor of Rivers State and FCT minister on the danger of his recent actions which he warned is capable of destroying his legacy, by throwing Rivers State into chaos. He called on Tinubu to call him to order.
Evah spoke on other critical issues including the November Bayelsa governorship election and the political tension in Rivers State among others.
Excerpt
*Let’s begin with your state, Bayelsa, the preparation in this November election and what you expect from the contest, especially if governor Douye Diri will be victorious for a second tenure?
Well the election is just few days near but I can tell you that Senator Diri, our governor, has done well. We are saying that the governor from all that we are seeing, he has performed, he has delivered democracy dividends and the evidence is there for all to see. But more especially, this is his first term, he should be allowed to complete his second tenure. This is also because he has done well, so his performance will be a boost. By the standard of the Niger Delta, in terms of development Diri has done well. Also by the standard of arrogance in most of our Niger Delta politicians, Diri is humble. Infact, one can say that he is a study in humility. Niger Delta politicians are very arrogant and here is a governor who is not only humble but will embrace his political opponents when he meets them. He has this good mentality of politics without bitterness, like Ibrahim Waziri, of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) in the days of Alhaji Shehu Shagari (NPN), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (NPP), Chief Obafemi Awolowo (UPN), Aminu Kano (PRP). Diri is one of the few governors we have seen from our Niger Delta region since 1999 that operates with politics without bitterness lifestyle. We want the election in Bayelsa to be peaceful and if there is tension in Rivers State, it can spill over to Bayelsa election which is quite close, and we don’t want such.
So you are advising Bayelsans to support the re-election of Gov. Diri?
Definitely. We have other politicians who are also governorship candidates, they are all my friends but since this is Diri’s second term, and based on the facts that he did well, he deserves another tenure. This is a very young state and there will be other time for this competition and the future is still ahead of the contestants because they are still young. We do not need to heat up the state, especially, now that we have a roadmap that the governor is doing well. You know that the Presidential election where the Supreme Court has recently validated the victory of Asiwaju Tinubu has generated a lot of controversy and tension in the land. So to continue to heat up the polity will not do anyone any good, it will not move us forward and the country will suffer the more. I think the best we can do for now is to rally round Tinubu and assist him to succeed because there is hope. If we continue to fight over the election, it will not be in the best interest of Nigerians. Let the opposition be integrated into government. It should be an all-inclusive government. Let those in-charge calm down and work for the betterment of the people, for the growth of the country. It should not be a winner-take-all government. If we continue to drag the election, we will lose focus. Look at the exchange rate? I think politics is over and what is needed now is good governance and it require all hands on deck. Look at the removal of fuel subsidy and the refineries are not working…So, it’s time to position people who will help do the job. Those that will do the job are not only in Mr. President’s party (APC), they are in all the political parties and you need to get them and engage them. When you engage them properly, putting round pegs in round holes the anomalies that we are witnessing now will become a thing of the past. The truth is that there are those who have good ideas, who can make things happen. There are those who stand tall on competence, look out for them and engage them and you see Nigeria bouncing back, you see a turnaround in a short period of time.
Chief Edwin Clark gave an interview during the week indicting former governor of Rivers State and at the moment, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesome Wike as the brain behind the state of chaos being experienced in the state, in a bid to remove the state governor, Fubara from office. Do you share in this view of the elder statesman?
Of course, you know that Chief Clark cannot speak on the issue without getting his facts and information right. He is a grassroots man and will always get the correct report. The truth is that the former governor (Wike) is using the name of the President (Bola Tinubu) to burn down Rivers State and we will not allow that. We will not allow a Samuel Doe in Rivers State. Wike should stop using the name of President Tinubu to be lawless in Rivers State. He claims that he is the one that installed Tinubu, so he can do whatever he likes. Only him couldn’t have installed Tinubu? Even the current governor, Fubara and other stakeholders were also among those who mobilized for Tinubu’s emergence in the election. He always boasts that he was the one that gave the PDP the highest votes when he was fighting his mentors in the party. So as a result, he is the one that determines what happens, not the party or any other individual. If Tinubu is not careful, Wike will bring up or raise the same campaign that he installed Tinubu singlehandedly. They better manage him well now before he becomes another Samuel Doe or Idi Amin of Uganda. Some people say he is politically arrogant but this is beyond arrogance, this is that of somebody that is perhaps, obsessed with power. We were praising Wike before now, using him as a reference point in terms of development, in terms of growth and performance, in terms of what he was doing with his oil derivation percent. I have always praised him and clapped my hands for him in terms of development as far as the Niger Delta area is concerned but when he is now behaving this way to the extent that you turn yourself to a god then there is a problem. It means unknown to him, he wants to destroy himself, so people should advise him. And the only person that can control him now is the president of the country, especially, now that we are expecting an election in Bayelsa state. We are already having election tension and you want to increase it by creating another tension in Rivers State. Rivers State is like Lagos in our own region, so we have to be worried because any violence in Rivers State will snowball into our state (Bayelsa). The truth is that people like Wike were still in their mother’s womb when the founders of the state were struggling to create Rivers State. You know that our politicians have free this and free that, so some of them behaves like drunks. This is a country we want to leave legacies for our children, so we have to challenge them when they behave this way, we must call them to order.
*Sheik Gumi recently attacked Wike and asked President Tinubu to sack him…?
(Cut’s in) What is Gumi saying? What is he implying? Abuja was built with our oil money so what is he saying? Even then, we were supporting Wike and other well-meaning Nigerians spoke in defence of Wike but before you could say Jack, Wike is now entangling himself, messing himself up by fighting his home state. We are defending Wike and he is setting his own state on fire. He should retrace his step and be peaceful in his conduct and be a statesman as age is telling on him. He should not be a confusionist thinking that being a confusionist and causing problem like Mobutu Seseseko is what will make him to be a great man or give him popularity. No. Those people were never great until they left this world. Yes, they were never great despite their arrogance with power, they were never popular rather they became notorious and are today remembered from the dark side of history as evil and wicked rulers. Is that what or how Wike will want to be remembered? He should watch his actions because it is getting out of the normal. The president of Nigeria should think about the sensitivity of Rivers State and talk to Wike’s senses. The image he is creating for himself now is not a good one and he should not allow his legacies to be rubbished by a single avoidable mistake. Wike should listen to people like our national leader, the Father of Niger Delta, Chief Edwin Clark and humble himself, he is a small boy. As I said earlier, he was still in his mother’s womb when people were struggling for the creation of Rivers State, so we cannot allow him to come and destroy the state.
Speak on the House of Representatives making case to acquire SUV Jeep cars costing about N160 Million?
If I have my way and I am telling you the truth, I will go to that their Green Chambers with KOBOKO cain and flog all of them. I will go there and chase all of them away. They are causing problem for this country. They are the ones causing the hardship in the land, and they are not feeling what the ordinary Nigerians are going through. We have said it countless times that the National Assembly should be made part time, and let it be one parliament. Don’t you see that some of them when the TV camera beams on them, you see them sleeping. There is nothing that they are doing that one parliament cannot do. They are just disgracing the image of this country. The only institution in this country disgracing Nigeria is the National Assembly. Look at the Senate President, when he is talking he will be laughing even on very sensitive issues. Does that show any seriousness? It is better that we should even go and carry the National Assembly members of Togo and Benin Republic to come and manage us. What they are asking for: Is it not a security risk? Are they not threatening Nigeria’s security? They are talking about Jeep for luxury when ordinary Nigerians are dying of hunger. That statement by the National Assembly alone is capable of inviting chaos in this country. They are far from reality, they don’t know the condition of ordinary Nigerians, the pains and the harrowing experience they are subjected to.
*Some Nigerians are beginning to condemn the appointments made by president Tinubu…?
(Cut’s in) I was also coming to that. We are telling President Tinubu to stop following the footstep of Buhari. Buhari was an unpopular president and nobody knows again or let me say that many people have forgotten if Buhari was the president of this country because of his unpopular or crude politics. He is not the type that Tinubu should imitate, in terms of being an expert in ethnic appointment. Following Buhari’s queue will not do him any good. President Tinubu saying that Buhari had already set tone for increase in fuel pump price and have done the subsidy removal before he came into office is an argument that does not hold water. You are only being logical but far from the truth. Tinubu is the President and it is not binding that you must take or follow Buhari’s decisions or policies. You have the power to change or fine tune it. Buhari never wanted Tinubu to be president of Nigeria. Of course, Tinubu himself is aware that Buhari never wanted him to be president. It is simply God and Tinubu’s experience in politics and his contacts that gave him the advantage. There was nothing, that Buhari was doing that made him popular in positive light. So, let Tinubu be wise not the follow Buhari by appointing only his people (Yoruba) at key positions. Let him also be wise to talk to Wike and call him to order.
