With Second Term Mandate, Diri Will Do Much More For Bayelsans- INC President
11 min read
Prof Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, in this interview with TNN, speaks on the recent nomination of new members into the board of NDDC, even as he scored the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri high in terms of governance and infrastructure, about three years into his government.
Excerpts:
Let’s start with the new NDDC board that was announced last week. There have been some mix up in the nomination and it goes against the NDDC Act, just like what happened in 2019. How do you look at what has happened?
Well, in the first place, let’s at least appreciate the fact that our agitations for a substantive board of the NDDC is almost actualized and the few mixed ups like you mentioned, I am sure the persons concerned will make their observations before the formal inauguration of the board, that I am very optimistic about.
Of course I have received calls from several places, and I told him the right thing to do, is that, they should send in their protest, or what we call observations, on any area they consider as inappropriate, particularly, talking about the representation. Every state, it’s in the NDDC Act, every state must be represented.
For Ignoring Ganduje, APC’s Directives, Buhari’s Aide Gets Into Trouble
There has been this fear that politicians use NDDC funds for political gains, especially the party in power at the federal level. 2023 election is just by the corner, and there is that fear again that with the new board, the same thing may happen. Do you have this kind of fear?
It’s a systemic problem, because the politicians in our clime will always think of the next election, how to oscillate to the next position using all available means. So, the instrumentality of the NDDC could actually be leveraged on, for purposes of positioning their persons. Those are the common guesses and that is why every appointee is strategically linked to one strong politician who wants to be governor, who wants to be something and all that. But all the same, it is at this stage of our politics, when you say people should be selfless, nepotism and all these things should not really come in so that our democracy can be properly consolidated. You see that people are not concerned about those ideals, it’s about what will come to them. So, the fears are there, but we only pray that it can be minimized this time around. We are going to hold the persons accountable, the INC is already preparing a press statement; whenever the board is inaugurated, we are going to issue a press statement congratulating them and telling them the task ahead of the board because NDDC substantially has not done much when you do a comparison, talking about the dreams of the founding fathers, there is a complete deviation and so if the board is properly focused, I think the gaps that we have in the system might be covered and you can see development coming to the region once more.
If you were to set an agenda for the board, especially as it has to do with the management of the finances of the NDDC, what would you be saying?
What anybody will say is look, focus on development, focus on the purpose for which the NDDC was set up. We have so many critical issues. Look at the flood that ravaged the entire region. We were worst affected. So, the NDDC should be embarking on projects that will mitigate the kind of experience we had before. I am talking about focusing on development projects. Then secondly, it is time the leadership of the NDDC, I am talking about board members representing the states and all that, should go back to their constituencies and seek, try to understand the core issues, the core challenges, so that, let there be a kind of bottom-top approach so that projects are not just given because you want to use this to satisfy one person, you just call a politician and say ‘you’ve been disturbing me, let me help you out, is there anything you can do?’ And the man stays in the comfort of his office and say ‘give me a road project.’ Do the people actually need a road project? So, that is the kind of focus we need of them at this particular time.
The chairman is a politician, we all know.
Yes.
She belongs to a political party.
Yes, APC.
The MD is also a politician
Yes.
But the MD is our own, alright?
Yes.
Bayelsa is underdeveloped, the APC people may want to use those ones that are coming into NDDC for elections, so if you were to be face to face with the MD right now, who is your son, who is supposed to be part of the INC, he is an Ijaw person, alright? Can you tell us what direct warning you will be sending to him patterning NDDC.
Yes, in addition to the official statement that I have to make, the young man happens to be my former student, so he is somebody I know officially and unofficially, so I should be able to talk to him, to say look, please, we know the circumstances that brought you. We have to be clear, so there will be pressure on you. To begin to do things that are not civil to satisfy the interest of a few persons, but please, you owe a duty to your state, look at Bayelsa for instance, at this point we are still talking about lack of drinking water, we are talking about lack of basic amenities, look at, there is no industry in Bayelsa, everybody depends on the government. So, we have to establish projects that will attract investors so that we have factories, we have an environment that is conducive. Then again, the issue of peace is very important and to earn peace, you must provide a credible alternative that will engage constructively, the youths so that they will have something doing. When they have something doing, they will not be involved in social vices here and there. So, these are going to be my major appeal, please just remain focused, I know there will be pressure; family pressures, political pressures, your own personal pressures, but focus on the reason why you are made this thing. Even right now, there are so many arguments that why must it be him, why must it be him. But for me, it’s God that places people in positions, but while you are there, use this position to serve God, and how do you serve God? By ministering to the needs of the people. These are going to be my direct points.
There have been talks about the application of 13 per cent derivation funds by governors of Niger Delta states. In Bayelsa, would you say that the governor has properly applied the funds he is getting? Are you satisfied with what he is doing with funds coming from the federal government, are you seeing projects that he is executing?
Yes. You know Wike’s public declaration at this point in time, though intended to score political goal against his perceived opponents, but I think on the other side it has also opened the eyes of many persons that these things were coming, particularly in a situation where they were not announced. Wike too did not announce that he was getting these things until now, but all the same, he has placed the governors on their toes and they have started telling people what they have spent this money for. I saw Ifeanyi Okowa rolling out what he has done. Bayelsa has done the same thing and I heard the governor saying that you cannot make comparison because to put up a road in Bayelsa State, one kilometre road will cost three times over there. So, I think the onus is on the governors to come out plain to render stewardship, to say this is what we used these monies and all that and all that, and as a matter of fact, reading through what the Bayelsa State government and the Delta State government for instance have rolled out, I think substantively, most of those monies went into projects that are visible. It might not be 100 per cent, applied because there are also many factors; like, there are people government pays regularly just to keep the system going. So those who have been in government since 1999 still want to be in government, the moment you push them out, they go on the opposition and they start shouting. These are persons you circulate and recirculate. So monies spent on these persons are not things you see, they are not tangible but they are monies that are going to keep the peace, to keep the system going. But going forward, for me what is very important about this is that people are beginning to ask questions and the government must also learn from this, that at the end of the day, you would be held accountable for the monies that come and how we spend it, things will be very much better and one point I’ve always been saying is that in the past, these monies were spent with impunity and nobody accounted for anything, if not for EFCC and other investigative institutions that have tried to at one point or another come in to say this. But you see that this particular dispensation of politicians, I mean the governors and others tend to be more careful and they are also realizing that the worth of their projects or their investments in the lives of the people count, moving forward. They know that gone are the days that you just tell people vote for me, they want to know what you have done. You can see the elections that brought in Douye Diri, you saw what happened at the polls. People were actually working or banking on his predecessors and coming from the same government this is what we felt., So the same thing, like the second tenure of Okowa for instance was very easy because people counted his projects and they saw that he has things on ground spread across and another thing is that the same man who is saying all of these, you should be able to also tell the world the extent to which his projects are being spread across. Are they concentrated in one local government or within one ethnic nationality? So, if all the flyovers are in a particular ethnic group, within the purview of a particular area, what about our Ijaw people. As we speak, there is no state government presence even in Bonny. Most of the riverine communities experience lack of basic infrastructure, but they are all part of Rivers State. So, I feel that while rolling out what he has done with 13 per cent, he should also be able to tell us the extent to which equity was applied in all of these.
So what would you say of the governance style of Douye Diri, what would you say of execution of projects, which ones have you seen, are you really proud of what he has done as governor?
Yes, yes, yes. In the first place, what I find very encouraging in Douye Diri is that he has brought unity across board, across divides, political divides, ethnic divides, geographical divides. You can see a government that is all embracing. That is very important because one of the major problems we faced, was, it was a government of ‘you against us.’ Some persons were barred from coming to Government House, some persons just resigned and all that, but he has embraced as many persons that are willing to join him in the governance, so there is some level of all- inclusiveness which is very important. Then secondly, if you talk about the peace and security, you can also see that he has done so well in the sense that every attempt of threat to life, violence and all that has been, he handled professionally, even where these cases of military brutality, invasion of communities and all that, his response capacity is very, very encouraging. Now, in terms of infrastructure, you can see that the major roads like the Ekeremor axis, these other three senatorial roads, these are major, mega projects that he has also started. So, I will think that if he had enough money, if he had more money coming, then, if some of the encumbrances-there are some big stakeholders that you must continue to appease, you have to service and appease them, they are very big, and the moment you turn your back against them, they can mess you up. So, those things are there. Moving forward, I think I will say he has done well, but he has opportunity to do better.
Are you proud of him? Are you saying he needs more money?
I am saying both. Yes, he has, for me, he has done well. Then secondly, he also needs more funds. I see him doing more if given a second tenure, because I am sure he must have consolidated at that point.
I am not a politician. As president of INC, I am a leader to everybody. So, I am not campaigning for him.
(Cuts in) But you are saying if he has a second tenure…
(Cuts in) If he has a second tenure he will do more, he must have learnt from the experiences of the first term and do more, that is just what I am saying, then, in terms of those encumbering him, I think they should be spoken to. I have done that in different fora that we find ourselves, where we have to call them and say look, please, you have to allow this system to work. At some point like I said look you’ve been a commissioner, you’ve been in government for some years; you cannot be a liability any longer. Why you are there, you are supposed to be a creator of jobs, not a liability, because if you don’t do all these, what opportunity are you creating for other people?
(Cuts in) After eight years.
Several years, yes, after eight years, no, some persons we are talking about are from the old Rivers State.
(Cuts in) And they are still encumbering him?
Yes, they are still in the payroll, since 1999. It’s unfortunate and as we speak, there is no way you can do away with them, these are the political gladiators, you must carry them along, and that is the balancing we are talking about. In the eyes of so many persons, you will say this guy (the governor) are not doing anything. So that is where we are.
