By Emma Arubi
Chief Omolubi Newuwumi (JP) was a one-time Commissioner for Youths and Empowerment in Delta State during the Governor Uduaghan administration. He was the past President of Itsekiri Development Association, IDA, that a youth organization that played a major role in quelling the notorious Ijaw/Itsekiri crises. He is a well known Niger Delta State activist, a Chief of Warri Kingdom and a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State.
In this interview with a select group of newsmen in Warri, he bares his mind on issues of politics, governances, insecurity and proffered reasons why militancy/criminality thrive in the country even as he gave reasons why PDP will always continue to defeat other political parties in Delta State and also advanced reasons why Oborevwori defeated Edevbie in the PDP gubernatorial primary election.
Excerpts:
What is your take on the outcome of the PDP gubernatorial primary in Delta State?
Let me first congratulate the PDP flag bearer, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori on his emergence among the lot and commend the state Governor Sen. (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa for providing the enabling environment for a successful primary.
I will also commend all the contestants for their sportsmanship in the primary.
Haven said that, there are questions being asked by people in some quarters but whatever is the case, Chief Oborevwori won because he has the Delta Political vanguard (DPV), a formidable political pressure group in the State led by Hon. Michael Diden aka. Ejele behind him. This group cuts across the length and breath of the state and its made up of persons of timber and caliber politically with youths and women who are the real stakeholders, foot soldiers and not pretenders.
They are foot soldiers that constitute the solid structure and pillar of the PDV and their patron is again the Governor of the state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.
The DPV were the ones undertaking the enlightenment of the masses across the state. The DPV is the prime mover behind the success of Rt. Hon. Oborevwori and by extension, Governor Okowa. Its nothing like magic or power of incumbency. It’s a result of hard work and a deft mastery of the art of grassroot politicking and engineering.
We all belong to the famous and all encompassing “Ibori political family” (IPF) from the beginning. The IPF as a name, is a general platform to leavage on by all politicians, but for any politician to succeed in her individual bid to ascend to any desired political office he or she must create, design and rely heavily on a solid political structure as his plan B.
What Chief David Edevbie relied on mostly in his ambition to secure the PDP gubernatorial ticket of is primarily clinging only on the wings of our former governor Chief James Ibori to deliver him hook, line and sinker. That is not good enough.
Good, he has all the academic competence, intelligence, swag, fineness, national and intercontinental reach and economic experience that he flaunts about. But in Nigeria politics all these ennobling and edifying qualities does not count for now across the board. Your outreach to the grassroot and how the people perceive you is of immense importance. Tell me for example, which political structure does Chief Edevbie has that penetrated the nooks and crannies of Delta State for him apart from the vague Ibori family? None for sure!
He was just busy parading his academic, economic and political office profile. All these would have counted well for him in a sane society where meritocracy is accorded it’s pride of place. Politics does not work that way here.
As a Chieftain of the ruling PDP in the State what is your take on the outcome of the primary in your Delta South Senatorial district?
Well, what I will say here is that both Hon. Diden and Hon. Reyenieju have legislative experiences that ably stood them in good stead. One in the State House of Assembly Asaba and the other at the Green Chamber at Abuja under the PDP. So they are both eminently qualified to aspire to a higher political level. The difference may be in their social personality mien in the eyes of the people’s perception.
Obviously, like in the gubernatorial primary, it went the same way. While Hon. Michael Diden as chairman of the formidable Delta Political Vanguard was campaigning and angling for Oborevwori across the state he was also doing so to ensure victory for his Senatorial ambition simultaneously and because the other contestants do not have that kind of formidable political pressure group as strong, solid, virile, vibrant and capable like the DPV, the delegate primary election became a fait accompliy and he won decisively.
Let us talk about the PDP Presidential flag bearer and insecurity in Nigeria – the way forward.
The question of insecurity in the Country is in the front burner of every political party because it is a major challenge giving Nigerians sleepless night and Nightmare.
Before I delve into it, let me first congratulate our flag bearer, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku on his emergence as our next president to be at the delegate election of the party. I also commended the determination and courage of other contestants who did not make it. Only one person can emerged at a time in such contest.
The insecurity in the country has to do with inhuman dare-devil activities of the notorious Boko Haram sect in the Northern part of the country, the irredentist bent of the irrepressible Indigenous People of Brafria, IPOB, killings and banditry and all the heinous criminal activities by both known and unknown gunmen across the country.
Let me state without mincing words that all these gruesome killings, arson, vandalism and so on became the vogue because the Federal Government failed to handle the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis which later metamorphose into the Niger Delta crisis appropriately.
The Federal Government handled that crisis with kid gloves in such a disappointing manner that gave the public impression of rewarding belligerency, irredentism, militancy, vandalism, arson and so on.
The handling of the Warri crisis by the Federal Government felt short of credibility and failing to deploy the provisions of our laws or constitution. I say so because if you take your mind back you would come to the obvious conclusion that every of the criminality now being perpetrated by Boko Haram and others equally happened during the Warri/Niger Delta crisis against the minority Itsekiri people.
The injustice and insincerity embed in the handling of that genocidal war by the Federal Government by awarding the aggressors all manners of undeserved rights and privileges.
This actions gave these current criminals the impetus and impunity to also engage and disseminate their own nuisance value more crudely and brutally to attract attention and are truly ripping the benefit they desire from the Federal Government to the detrimeny of all Nigerians today. In Nigeria there appears to, indeed, dignity and benefits in creating chaos as in killing, looting, burning and so on.
If Atiku finally emerge as president of Nigeria, and he wants to truly curtail incidences of insecurity he should go back to correct the injustices in the Niger Delta as metted out to the Itsekiri. Its not about wielding guns to fight insecurity it has to involve working on the mentality of the people also by way of engaging the services of experts in conflict resolution management to the round table with open minds to look at salient issues wholistically and proffer workable solutions.
As the fight persist up North with arson and burring down of houses, the Federal Government is busy building them back. But in the Niger Delta crisis the Federal Government who took responsibility should have built back those houses burnt down during the Warri crisis none of the burnt houses has been rebuilt/built back by any government till date.
So the Federal Government must go back to the drawing board and embark on a workable solution that can solve this hydra-headed security issue in Nigeria within the ambit of our laws and justice. That’s my candid advise to our incoming Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
In Delta State in particular, the Government did not build back burnt houses too, instead it openly rewarded criminality in all its ramifications.
For me, I would suggest to the in-coming Government of Chief Oborevwori to look into 3 keys area that would go a long way towards ensuring peace, security and harmony in the state and these are security, management of Youths and Women affairs respectively.
By way of security, the governor should work on the mentality of the youths by developing their capacities through skills acquisition and education. To achieve this, he must create 3 ministries. Two of the suggested ministried are already in existence but function only as a Directorate and not a full fledge Ministry. These are very key to the success of any government.
One is a full fledge ministry that would manage all issues of insecurity in the state and would be charge with the responsibility of putting together a community based security outfits. Security in any area has no bearing with ethnicity. It has to do with the inhabitants of that area or environment from where the personnel would be recruited.
The ministry will work directly with the Police commissioner in the state and other security agencies. They must always have a position paper to present to the government at any security Exco meeting. It would lead to a very robust synergy that would guarantee peace and ensure security in the state.
For the other two Ministries, that should be full fledged, that is, with the statutory powers to present their budget to the House of Assembly and then proceed to defend same as oppose to a directorate whose budget estimates are sent only to the governor for approval.
The two Ministries are women and youths. These constitute the bulk of the popele in the state and are one of the most important segment in any society. These are the ministries that touches the soul of every government. So why would they be treated less in the scheme of good government? They constitutes the bulk from where the leaders of our tomorrow emerges. Making them a full fledged Ministries would enable them go deep down into the grassroot to give them a real sense of belonging.
