Again, herdsmen invade Enugu, kill seminarian

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016 — 47
AFTERMATH OF BOTCHED PDP NATIONAL CONVENTION:
Unusual quiet in A-Ibom
By Chioma Onuegbu
THE quiet in Akwa Ibom
became apparent as the
whole state especially
stakeholders in the state capital,
Uyo appeared to be mute on the
controversies before the election.
Even the usual crowd
newspaper readers at the
popular Newspaper stands at
the ‘Plaza’ discussing and
arguing about trending and
controversial political issues/
stories in both national and local
tabloids disappeared for days
after the failed convention.
The unusual quiet and low
morale that enveloped the
political atmosphere in the state
is however viewed as a clear
expression of anger and
disappointment.
The disappointment, however,
was not surprising as many
supporters, and stakeholders of
the PDP in the state were
optimistic that the national
convention would hold despite
threats by Ali Modu Sheriff
faction to stop it from holding the
second time.
In fact Akwa Ibom state PDP
stakeholders and statutory
delegates as well as those who
were supposed to contest certain
national positions of the party had
prepared very well ahead of that
national convention.
The Commissioner for
Commerce, Investment and
Industry, Barr Emmanuel
Enoidem resigned his
appointment to contest the
position of National Legal
Adviser of the Party barely 24
hours to the date fixed for the
convention.
Even few days to August 17,
2016, the South-South Publicity
Secretary of the PDP, Bishop Etim
Ante an indigene of the state was
still confident that his party
would hold a successful national
convention contrary to
speculations in some quarters.
Ante who spoke during an
interview expressed high
expectation that the Pro Jerry
Gana led-reconciliation
Committee would be successful
in resolving the differences
between the aggrieved Senator
Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator
Makarfi Caretaker Committee
factions before the date of the
national convention.
He equally held the strong
belief that the decision of the
party to zone the National
Chairmanship position which
has been the major contention in
the party to the South West and
the presidency to the north would
have put an end to the lingering
crisis.
In his words, "I am optimistic
that the reconciliation committee
led by Prof Jerry Gana which was
set up by the BoT members of
our party to reach out to both the
THERE has been unusual quiet in Akwa Ibom State
over the failed national convention of the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP where some of the state’s
leading persons had intended to break forth.
Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Ali
Modu Sheriff factions will be able
to bring them together.
"And with the zoning of the
presidency to the north and the
National Chairmanship zoned to
the South I don’t think that
Sheriff will want to continue to
hold onto the National
Chairmanship position when the
presidency is what the north has
been yearning for.”
The South-South image maker
of the PDP even expressed doubt
over the allegation that Modu
Sheriff was working for the All
Progressives Congress, APC to
destabilize his party.
He reasoned that Sheriff as a
human being was only
aggrieved for not being allowed
to continue as the National
Chairman of the party even
though he saw no reason for him
to continue to feel aggrieved after
having enjoyed the support of
key stakeholders of the party
before the party conventions to
change their leadership at the
different levels.
Ante, however, was quick to say
that the peace accord put in place
will determine whether the
speculations about Sheriff
secretly romancing with APC
were true or not, stressing that
nobody, not even the legal battle
would stop the scheduled
national convention.
"Senator Ali Modu Sheriff may
be aggrieved as a human being;
it is normal because he wanted
to continue as the National
Chairman of the party. And that
is why the BoT of the party
decided to set up a reconciliation
committee to reach out to him and
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to bring
the two factions together.
‘If he now decides to look the
other way as being speculated
we will know through the peace
accord. But if Sheriff accepts to
embrace the peace accord, then
there will be no room for doubt.
‘’Whoever is for the party must
show that loyalty to the party by
agreeing to the reconciliation
because what the party is
seeking is unity, progress, and
peace.
We are preparing, and we are
all looking forward to a successful
convention, and no human being
or spirit can stop it” he had
asserted.
Meanwhile, Uyo based legal
practitioner who preferred his
name not mentioned said he was
not surprised over the failed PDP
national convention failed.
The controversial lawyer, who
was reluctant to speak on the
matter initially said, ‘’I never
supported the idea of the PDP
picking Sheriff who is a
controversial figure initially. And
the things happening in the PDP
now, especially the failed
national convention last
Wednesday has confirmed my
fears."
Worried that with the lingering
crisis in the PDP that the party
may not be a strong opposition
to the ruling APC government
adding that formidable
opposition is important in every
democratic government.
"The opposition always serve as
a watchdog, a formidable critic
of any democratic government,
and we all know the purpose of
a watchdog, but in this case, there
is the absence of formidable
opposition. The PDP which
would have ordinarily served that
purpose is having a crack,
fragmentation in its leadership
and the ruling party APC is
capitalizing on the crack and
even masterminding the crack",
he said.
Delta @ 25:
Our people don’t believe
in complaining — MAYUKU
Continues from page 42
the gallery.
Governance is a serious
business and does not succeed
by mere whitewashing or
populism. What is crucial at the
end of the day is for genuine
work to be done in service to
the electorate.
The current uprising in the
Niger Delta region has
wrecked havoc on oil and gas
facilities situated in your
constituency, thus crippling
Nigeria’s economy. What in
your opinion can be done to
halt the hostilities?
The underdevelopment in the
Niger Delta which is my
constituency is very
conspicuous.
The vibrations of enslavement
permanently occupy such a
large space of the Niger Delta
geography that the aborigines
are invariably tempted to
embrace the confrontational
ideology in their range of
agitations.
That the terrain is difficult is
only an escapist fantasy
because from the same difficult
terrain millions of barrels of
crude oil are shipped abroad
and sold by the Nigerian
Federal Government.
The trillions generated from
the Niger Delta are sufficient
to confront and defeat the
developmental challenges of
the region.
Should we then take up arms
to press home our demands?
The answer is no.
The destruction of oil and gas
facilities under any guise is not
justifiable. The scale and spate
of the attacks are quite
disturbing and capable of
•Mayuku
undermining the relative peace
the people in the area have
been enjoying for a while.
I must similarly point out that
the task of achieving peace in
the Niger Delta is to my mind
coterminous with creating a
habitable environment in the
Niger Delta.
The task of creating this
environment is one, which we
all are involved. It is disturbing,
to expect people to live in an
environment where they
cannot access their farms and
livelihood.
It is unacceptable to pollute
the environment and cut off
food supply to communities by
having oil spill un-cleaned and
no compensation paid for
damages incurred for months
and years.
We all have a role to play to
reverse this circular trajectory,
which has not benefited
anybody.
On Delta State government
Commendably, the Delta
State government is pursuing
with vigour her advocacy
initiative in collaborating with
law enforcement agencies, oil
companies so as to build trust
between the communities and
government with a larger aim
of achieving a better economic
environment.
I find it equally remarkable,
that the Federal Government
has shifted ground to
comprehensively dialogue with
the people.
On our part as the people’s
representatives, we have firmly
resolved that it will not be
business as usual. We are ready
to work with all stakeholders to
ensure that it is no longer more
economical to allow spill into
the environment
and abandon it but
rather it will be far
more cost effective
to stop spills and
clean-up the mess.
The oil
companies must
turn a new leaf in
the way they
handle oil spills
and show more
positive inclination
to clean up spills
and pay adequate
compensation to
the real people
affected.
They must
effectively
operationalize the
Nigeria Local
Content Act, by
outsourcing
significant
percentage of their
projects to
indigenous
contractors.