By Uwabor Ukadike
The intrigues of the 2015 gubernatorial election in Delta state have started with the usual claims of politicians assuming larger than life image. It is even more worrisome that those who ought to know the political intricacies in the state are already fanning the embers of tribal sentiments.
The report credited to the Secretary to Delta state Govern…ment, Ovouzourie Macaulay on page 6 of the Guardian newspaper of Monday, 20th January, 2014 that no power shift pact exists among the three senatorial districts of the state is the high point of executive rascality coming from the SSG. His baseless, half-truth and misinformed analysis of events in the state’s politics has exposed his ignorance and shows how intellectually bereft the SSG could be.
Looking at the issues that Macaulay raised in his analysis of the campaign slogan of ‘’fairness and equity’’ by Anioma/Delta North gubernatorial contenders, it is rather strange and mischievous that the SSG could interpret the campaign slogan to mean vendetta against other senatorial districts in the state. What an uninformed interpretation of a simple phrase.
I am surprised that the SSG accused the aspirants of negative campaign against the past leaders of the state. Agreed that the SSG is doing his job by defending the institution that puts food on his table, but if the truth must be told that both present and past leaders of the state failed woefully. I advise him to visit Akwa Ibom state and make a comparative analysis.
M r. Macaulay goofed woefully when he asserted that people from Delta North and their leaders did not vote for Uduaghan wholeheartedly during the 2011 gubernatorial election. The fact is that out of the nine local government councils in the senatorial zone Uduaghan won five while Great Ogboru, the candidate of Democratic People’s Party candidate won four. Mr. Macaulay, the self-acclaimed member of G3 (Association of the Ijaws, Isoko and the Itsekiri’s) lost his Isoko North local government council to the opposition in the said election. What a paradox, The SSG failed to look at other elections conducted in the state since 1999. It is either he is suffering from memory failure (amnesia) or he is a poor student of history.
Let me remind the SSG that PDP under Governor James Ibori won all the nine local government areas in Anioma area in 1999. In 2003 gubernatorial election, the feat was repeated across the senatorial zone. The Aniomas voted for Uduaghan in 2007 governorship election overwhelmingly. The incumbent Governor had a landslide victory in the area. The SSG in his spurious and mischievous claims deliberately denied this obvious fact just to score a cheap political point. I wonder why a high government functionary of the status of the SSG could result to flagrant distortion of contemporary historical facts.
He equally alleged thus ‘’I am afraid that people like us will not support an Anioma person for the governorship as we are afraid’’. Someone should please ask him his political pedigree that makes him think that Aniomas need his support to produce the next governor. Even as a high ranking commissioner with all the paraphernalia of executive powers, he could not deliver his local government to PDP in the last election in the state. The truth, is that the Aniomas are not ignorant of that the clandestine move that the SSG is nursing towards being imposed as the next governor of Delta State.
He may be an insider in Uduaghan- led government but what is his political standing in the state? I do not want to describe him as a political neophyte he is certainly a political opportunist. He came into the state political limelight albeit controversially when Governor James Ibori appointed him committee chairman of internally displaced persons of Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis. His abysmal failure and funds misappropriation is a story for another day.
The late literary legend Chinua Achebe in his classical book “Things Fall Apart” advised several decades ago that those whose palm kernel were broken for them by some benevolence spirits should learn to be humble”. In advanced clime where merit and competence are cardinal considerations for appointment in government, the likes of Macaulay Ovouzourie can never come close to the corridors of power talkless of being a secretary to the state government.
The SSG also said that he is afraid that if anybody from Anioma is elected as Governor, the person may seek for vengeance. This means the SSG is already aware that the Anioma people are not being fairly treated in their own state – Delta. And if that be the case, shouldn’t all of us be thinking of how to readdress the injustice instead of one of us scheming to remain in power in perpetuity?
There is a saying that you can fool some people sometimes but you can’t fool all the people all the time.
Back to the issue at stake, the Aniomas are poised to produce the next governor of Delta State come 2015. It is clear to all right thinking Deltans that all the aspirants from Delta North senatorial zone who have already declared their intentions to contest for the governorship election are men and women of impeccable and unblemished pedigree. The likes of serving senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Erudite Professor Sylvester Monye, the Presidential Adviser on Project Monitoring, Hon Victor Ochei, Speaker Delta State House of Assembly among other contenders distinguished Nigerians with track records of service and requisite experience to take our dear Delta state to a higher height.
I read with absolute displeasure, the views of Uwabor Ukadike, casting aspersions at the very integrity of the Delta State SSG, Comrade Ovuzourie Macaulay. Of a truth, the issues raised by Ukadike may be correct to a restricted extent but the manner and rascality with which he presented his case is disrespectful to the person of the SSG. The Governorship issue for 2015 is a critical one and not a matter in the domain of mediocre and political jobbers.
Ukadike must know it that Comrade Macaulay as we all know him is a key player in Delta politics and not a personality to be ignored when it comes to political gaming in the next scheme of things. The amount of disrespect accorded the SSG by Ukadike, only show his level of political maturity (if at he is a politician) and also put to question his intellectual capacity to diplomatically handle political issues when writing for public consumption.
I do not envy him for those poor usage of words and it is necessary for him to improve his pen pushing skills if his views must be considered or respected. I must say here that the next Governor of Delta State, is yet unknown. There are several aspirants including our own Barrister Kenneth Gbagi, and all of them will have to test their political and leadership pedigree through certain criteria. At the end of the day, several considerations will be put on the scale and the best candidate will emerge at the party level while the people of Delta State through a free and fair election will determine who becomes their Governor.
Again, we have several political parties which aspirants or ethnic nationalities can use to actualise their leadership dreams and political relevance. For this reason, the good people of Delta North are free to present their candidates through any of the parties and possibly win the 2015 gubernatorial elections in Delta State. To this effect, it is unreasonable for anybody including Ukadike, to be so infuriated over the personal political views or opinion of the SSG to abuse and insult him the way he did in this article under reference.
I think the SSG deserves a public apology for the reckless and unintelligent way he roared at the SSG, vexing so much anger and hate as can be seen in his negative criticism.