NIGERIA IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK – PRINCEWILL

Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill was the gubernatorial candidate of AC in the 2007 general election and was hailed when he demonstrated uncommon wisdom in rejecting the offer of N1.5B from Sir Celestine Omehia to continue to prosecute his case at the Election Tribunal against the then newly installed government of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. He instead withdrew the case and joined Amaechi to form a Unity Government against the directive and stand of the National Leadership of AC stating famously back then that, “I love my party, but I love my state more.” His bold step back then set the foundations for giant strides in Rivers State and made him the only known individual to have nominated Commissioners into the Rivers State Executive Council. He was a member of the wise men that constituted the Ledium Mittee led Niger Delta Presidential Committee set up by late President Yar'Adua and inaugurated by the current President Goodluck Jonathan then Vice President to proffer solutions on the problems of the Niger Delta region. As Chairman of the subcommittee on Niger Delta of Vision 2020, he had to resign that exalted office after the Federal Government started bombing some communities in Niger Delta in search of some perceived militants strongholds. His resignation amidst other similar acts of significance jolted the Federal Government and led to the setting up of the famous Amnesty programme for the region that ushered peace in the region. The youngest member of the Rivers State Economic Advisory Council led by the famous Prof Nimi Briggs and special Consultant to the Rivers State Government on Private Public Partnership (PPP), an office in which he used to attract many foreign investments to the State.

He is the crown Prince of the Kalabari Kingdom but is commonly referred to as the Prince of Niger Delta Politics by his admirers and political opponents. He was the Leader of over 45 political parties that constituted opposition political parties known as Forum of Organised Opposition Political Parties (FOOPP) that teamed up with Gov. Amaechi to move the State forward and ensure that the State enjoys some element of peace. This extraordinary and unassuming young man is now the leader of the Princewill Political Associates a pressure group noted for its critical disposition and progressive ideals with blueprints and ideologies on how to move the Niger Delta and Nigeria forward.

As a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart and an uncompromising ally to former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, he felt so sad after watching the orgy of violence in the North and saw the dichotomy between them and the South based on the outcome of the Presidential election. He foresaw the danger that lay ahead of the nation if this ugly trend was not arrested and reasoned that while others were sleeping that Atiku Abubakar may have a role to play to bring peace and sanity to all this. He sought and got approval from the Presidency to travel to Dubai to see Atiku Abubakar reasoned on how to stop this carnage and most importantly convinced the Turakin Adamawa on the need to support Jonathan for the benefit of all Nigerians as we have no other country except this one.

The Prince who can be described as a true citizen warned the nation of the orgy of violence in the North that will come after the election but sadly nobody took him serious. In an interview in which he described the situation of Atiku Abubakar and the zoning controversy before the general election as putting the former Vice President between' a Rock and a Hard Place.' In his words; “I think and believe everybody realises that Atiku's role has become such that he cannot speak for himself anymore, he has to speak for others; and so if you look at it critically if he (Atiku) supports Jonathan and Buhari loses, then you have a situation where the northerners would blame him for not supporting a northerner. On the other hand, if he supports Buhari and Jonathan wins, the presidency will blame him for not supporting them, they will say he is not a party man, because he should have supported a PDP candidate. So, I think Atiku is between a rock and hard place. There is no winning for him, it is unfortunate, but his position reflects the position of many northerners who are now forced to trade the ethnic card. Zoning and the need to respect it is a very valid argument, but for whatever reason the President has decided that he is not going to make such a commitment. In a democracy, he has a valid argument which obviously must be in the best interest of the country, but because of the kind of country we are in, because of the kind of pluralistic society that exists, the need for zoning is undoubtedly a valid one. My luxury is that I was not there when this agreement was reached; I was not even a member of PDP then, but for all it's worth, I think it is important for us to recognise that the inability to keep to agreements or the inability to predict zoning distribution may lead to let me say an uncomfortable situation in the future and so it is imperative that these issues are cleared and not left ambiguous. But, then that is an issue for the elders, we have the good fortune of being somewhere behind the elders and we expect them to take the lead, we are not the ones that are supposed to take that position. For now, I have completely retreated to politics stateside and right now I am focusing strictly on Rivers State and the production of a credible candidate in the forthcoming elections”.

The neglect of this prophecy by this unsung prophet led to the dark angle of the country's unwarranted killing of youth corpers - our future. But the incident has happened. Will he keep quiet while his country boils? I say No. He woke me (Chief Eze C. Eze) up one morning and told me, Chief, I am off to Dubai though I have sent a text to the Presidency of my mission to Dubai, I cannot continue to stay here while my country boils without any future while I know that Atiku Abubakar may assist even in a little way to bring the desired direction to the stability and future of this country. It was while this young man was in the plane that the Presidency gave him the approval to travel.

This new face of Rivers politics who can be described as a bridge builder and does not hide his appreciation for former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar is back from Dubai after his meeting with Atiku. He spoke to Chief Eze C Eze his Media Consultant and other Journalists on his meeting with Atiku, on the general elections held, Jonathan's victory at the poll, INEC, the orgy of violence in the North, the Niger-Delta question, Amaechi's victory among other issues.

On his trip to Dubai and his thinking of Jonathan's capability of building a new Nigeria of our dream and what advice his has for Atiku Abubakar:

The Prince stated, President Jonathan has every chance to give us the Nigeria of our dream but he cannot do it on his own. He needs help. Those people who have a contribution to make should come forward and make that contribution. If Nigeria goes down, if Niger-Delta goes down, we are all going to be victims so whatever contributions we can make, let us make that contribution and let us make sure that he delivers on a Nigeria all of us, can be proud of. I have just returned from Dubai yes and I met with Atiku to sound him out on the way forward and give my own humble opinion as to what the future holds. I was glad to hear that he was ready to meet with the President and help him to leave a legacy. Coming from a man who has never been invited for a PDP meeting in either his ward, local government, state or country even though he is a NEC member and a member of the Board of Trustees, I believe he is a democrat and recognises the supremacy of the nation over the individual. That is why he never went to court or challenged the President after he lost the nomination. His silence was the next best thing at that moment.

On his impression on the elections held so far:
The Prince stated, “Well I think it was a stark improvement on 2007, I know there is still room for improvement yes on all our parts including you the media for instance in the speed and content of reporting or your scrutiny of candidates but there is no doubting the fact that we are moving into digital politics. The governorship elections for me was more hard fought, more local than the other elections and therefore more keenly contested I have no doubt that the same successes we saw in the other two elections will ultimately be translated in the governorship election. What I think is we must recognize we are making progress, an improvement on the past. In my last interview with you I said this election just held would be more free and more fair but that it is still going to be a lot less than hundred per cent I think we made that prediction come true”.

On his judgment if Nigeria has arrived democratically in view of the general elections that were commended globally:

He stated, “Not yet. I think we are on course. There is no doubt when you look at the 2007 elections and compare it to this, you will say yes peoples votes are beginning to count. I think in some cases peoples votes counted a bit more than one would have expected but there is no doubt that peoples votes are counting and popular candidates are emerging. I am impressed by what we saw in the elections but like I said, there is always room for improvement. But let us not get too carried away. Are we on the right path? Yes. Are we heading towards a better, more improved democracy? Yes. I can even go as far as saying that this is the first time we have had a democratically elected president. That is a good thing. We can build from there.

On President Goodluck Jonathan winning the presidential election

Well I think he definitely surprised a lot of us. I never thought he was ready. He appeared reluctant at the beginning especially when he started waiting for the moon to declare his intention. I was anticipating that it would not be so smooth for him through the primaries nor through the elections but he did a lot better than I expected, so I am very impressed. I think is without a doubt that is not down to any man's effort, this is definitely from above and I think all credits goes to God as clearly God loves Goodluck. I think what we have been able to demonstrate now that the party is not the only deciding factor; it is just as much if not more so the individual. In the case of Goodluck, you saw that people came across from varieties of parties, across ethnic line, across religious line to vote for one person. I think there is a message in that and I am very happy with that message. We can all learn a lesson from it.

Rating of INEC in the conduct of the general elections

I think they have done fairly well. There is no doubt about it they have always said that Jega cannot do it alone, he needs a lot of people with him so Jega announces results that were passed up to him. I think that in exercising our fundamental rights to vote, we have done so and those votes have been reflected. Could it be better? I think yes. INEC should also look to do a post-mortem with respect to these elections to find out where they can improve and I have no doubt they will.

On the violence that broke out in the Northern parts of the country shortly after the presidential election that consumed lives and properties

Well there is no doubt; absurd is one word we can use. Yet another word to be used is unfortunate. I think it goes without saying that what we are looking at now is an election which to all intents and purposes met the expectations of Nigerians and not just Nigerians but people outside Nigeria. Because we have come from such a low in the past, Maurice Iwu and 2007 there is no doubt that some people are extremely excited about Jega and 2011. My big worry then is that when this election, generally acceptable across the country and across the world is being welcomed with this kind of violence one will start to wonder where the disconnect comes from. I have no doubt that some people must be aggrieved, some people not be happy with the result. If so there are channels for them to pursue those grievances and those channels are called election tribunal. I think that it is only the people who are uneducated, people who are violent-prone, people who are idle and with little to lose who will subject themselves to this kind of action at the expense of innocent people and innocent lives. I think it is unfortunate, it should be condemned from top to bottom. I am looking forward to not just the condemnation but also action to show that we have moved away from the politics of ethnicity and religion. Everybody needs to identify with this new order which basically now looks at the quality of individual rather than where he comes from or what religion or background he represents.

Churches were burnt during the violence, bringing religious connotation into the polity.

Don't you think Nigerians should have outgrown religious bias? I agree, I absolutely agree. One of the problems we have here is that religious bias has been preached by local regional politicians and now has been acted upon by individuals and I think this is a lesson for all of us. Sometimes we say a word and these words we say, we don't realize how far they go. While not wanting to finger point approach, I think what we must do is recognize that all leaders have the responsibility to preach peace, unity and the prosperity of our nation. Whatever we say or do is likely to be translated especially by those people who are not too educated like some of us who see violence as the only means of securing their opinion and their position. I think it is unfortunate, I think that the quicker we get out of this the better I am happy that there is little or no response to this act and I would like that to be a sign of things to come. Let us isolate these people; we don't need to descend to their level. I am hoping that, this message will echo across the length and breadth of this country while we recognise that unemployment of the youths is a key catalyst and must be addressed immediately. The significance of this issue should not be underestimated.

If you are given the responsibility to recommend, what areas do you think Jonathan should pay more attention to?

For me electoral reform must continue, he should not stop here. We have made some progress but we must continue. Security clearly is an area we must work on; there is the need to give value to human life. Power and the provision of basic infrastructure for the country, health, education, but more importantly to me, resolving the Niger-Delta question. I think this is my key issue. Crack it and you crack Nigeria.

How would you want the issue of the Niger-Delta region to be addressed?

We have a Niger-Delta technical committee report which is a combination of a lot of work done by Niger-Deltans on the issue of Niger-Delta. To me, the solution is already in place. The president knows about it, he was the one that inaugurated us. Amnesty is all well and good but it was supposed to be in a context. Ultimately the best solution is the technical report and my hope is that President Jonathan would recognize it and start to act on our recommendations.

How would you want to see Nigeria in the next four years?

I want to see a Nigeria that we all can be proud of. Where I can travel out of the country and make progress based on where I came from. Right now we are at a minus, if we can get ourselves to a point where we can start to compete within the world economy, I think we will begin to make progress.

What is your take on the nation's judicial system?

Before now I was very optimistic, but recent developments have left me a little worried. But one thing is clear and that is judiciary has proved many times before now that it is the last bastion of democracy. Where you have the executive and legislature letting you down, the judiciary has come to retrieve things. There are a lot of judgements that have brought in the governors post-election that have pleased me and I think that definitely has helped the democracy we are enjoying. But Judiciary is often times a reflection of the society and the negative aspect has sneaked their ways into the Judiciary I pray that the Judiciary should recognize this and ensure that this does not happen. Unfortunately for them, we have been relying on them so if they are our last hope and they are compromised, then there is no hope again.

Now that Amaechi has been re-elected for another four years, what is the agenda for his administration?

First of all let me just correct you and say he has only done three and a half years not four. But unknown to many people he has made Fashola look like Fayose. When he came to power there was a curfew, gangs controlled the city and he had no foundation to build on. Rivers people are not fools. They remember who looted them and who gave them insecurity. They know the difference between then and now and they refused to go back. The next stage therefore must be to consolidate on the gains made in infrastructure, health, education and security whilst securing employment for the unemployed. We are going to do this by diversifying the economy, paying particular attention to agriculture. If corporate Nigeria as we predict starts to flow in to the region, we will have the twin effect of private sector and public sector employment growth improving the prospects of the new Rivers state. The only state with a full and functional emergency call centre (112), a monorail service, free good quality accessible education, free good quality accessible healthcare, that is building a new city, doubling its IGR and all in less than the allotted four years. And you wonder why God gave us our wells back from Akwa Ibom? Watch the next four years. Rivers state and Lagos state will set examples for Nigeria. Their peaceful elections are just the beginning.