Emulate First Republic Politician-----PDP Chieftain Advises politicians

By chukwuemeka eze

Joe Ezuma
Port Harcourt
Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Chieftain in Rivers and an ally of Atiku Abubakar prince Tonye Princewill today advised Nigerian leaders and politicians to embibe and nurture the visionary leadership and spirit of national service of the first republic politicians.

Princewill told the Moment in Port Harcourt that that the decay in the polity , which he said, ''is characterized by selfishness, corruption, political assassination and lack of idealogical school and finesse in language of message'', was because contemporary Nigerian politicians have failed to imbibe , nurture and pursue the patriotic fervors of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo,Abubakar Tafawa Baelewa, Saduana , and others of their clan.

Princewill who was the Action Congress Leader and its governorship candidate in the 2007 general elections in Rivers State and a Kalabari Prince. Noted that most of the current Nigerian politicians , especially in the last 12 years, had exhibited crass lack of national spirit, respect to the people , and fear of God , vision and intellectual bent, but have revelled in show of ignorance, lack of depth and impunity in carriage and conduct.

He however expressed the hope that Nigerian would soon be endowed with crop of good leaders from the emerging trend in the current dispensation were some politicians had shown promise of service to the people. National reconstruction and transparent and responsible leadership.

Prinwill described Atiku Abubakar, Senator Bola Tinubu and Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi as members of the crop of ''outstanding politicians in Nigeria today after the exits of the great sages like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Tafewa Belwa among others.''

“I must state that I have watched and worked closely with these great minds and can tell you this, I would hate to be on the other side of any of these men. These three giants apart from being warriors are the best political tacticians you can think of in our politics today.'', he posited.

''Look at what Tinubu is doing in the South West, pocketing the almighty Obasanjo in that zone. Though he is in the opposition, he has proven his worth and mettle. Come to Rivers State and you will know that Amaechi is not an ordinary Governor. For changing the fortunes and landscape of Rivers State in less than four years is an assiduous task and challenge for any other politician to equal'' he said.

He advised the opposition in Rivers and other aspirants to the governorship of the state to forget about their ambition and team up with Amaechi, saying, ''I laugh at the funny attempt by Dr. Abiye Sekibo and a few others who still can not realize Amaechi is in control because since our exist from the opposition camp in the politics of the State, opposition in the State can only be described as non existence or noticed only in the pages of newspapers or on some miserable posters''.

He regretted that the PDP delegates who gathered to prick a candidate for the party could not leverage and from exploit the dynamism and patriotic force of Atiku to move Nigeria to the next level in the next 5years by picking him as the ultimate candidate.''

''This is a man whose vision and preparedness to give Nigeria and Nigerians the best of leadership is hard to be found among our present leadership. With hindsight the words of Amaechi my friend and brother have now come home to roost that it is the Governors that would decide who would be the next President.'', he said.

Princewill noted that although , admittedly, the tone of Atiku's speech on that day may have been a bit caustic, he would urge people to reflect on it, saying, ''Atiku echoed the mind of anybody who really loves Nigeria. It takes men to confront the system. And the system needs confronting. Mr. President himself must appreciate this.”

On the future of democracy in Nigeria and the way to water it, Princewill said: “As a democrat, I will like to see a situation where ACN, CPC, Labour and ANPP unite to offer an alternative to PDP in this election. I want the people to have a choice. But my fear is the politics of it. The idea is good but can they, will they, have they got what it takes to make a success of it on the field?''.

''For them to achieve this, he posited, ''several men and women will need to sit round a table without sleep between now and the election. They will need to love themselves and put country and state before self. Finally they will need to systematically educate the electorate and rationalise candidates. If they do this PDP will have a problem. But will they? Now is a good a time as any but my experience tells me they will not”. (ENDS)