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The Port
Harcourt Crisis: A Product of an Imposed Political Fraud by the
PDP
By Priye S.
Torulagha
Although many Nigerians
do not seem to recognize the relationship between the violent crisis in Port
Harcourt and the democratic fraud instituted by members of the oligarchy, there
is no doubt that Port Harcourt is a symptom of a much larger political problem
in the country. Another way to look at the crisis is to say that
the Port Harcourt crisis is the beginning of the unraveling of the political
fraud that was imposed on Nigeria since May 29, 1999.
Postulations
The following
postulations are made in order to unravel the core of the Port Harcourt
crisis: (1) There is a relationship between the Port Harcourt
crisis and the national political fraud imposed on the Nigerian people,
(2) the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is responsible for
planning, creating, germinating, and perpetuating cultism and political
thuggery, not only in Rivers State but throughout Nigeria, (3) the PDP Board of
Trustees, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Governor Dr. Peter Odili
and current Governor Sir Celestine Omehia of Rivers State, etc. are some of
the backers of the cults or political armed groups in Rivers
State, (4) the security forces ( Police, Army, Navy, and the State Security
Service) are active participants in perpetuating the Port Harcourt crisis, (5)
the storm troopers or cults were responsible for putting Nigeria’s political
office holders in power in 2003 and 2007, and (6) the current crackdown will not
solve the problem of cultism in Port Harcourt.
1.
There is a relationship between the Port Harcourt crisis and the National
Political Fraud imposed on the Nigerian People
It appears that many
Nigerians are assuming that the Port Harcourt crisis is merely a Niger Delta
issue because the region is prone to conflict. This assumption
could have been influenced by the growing stereotypical view that Niger Delta
people are greedy and perpetual troublemakers, hence, looking for cheap ways to
make money without actually working to earn it.
The truth is that the
crisis is a product of the national political situation in which a group of
self-appointed Nigerians decided to impose themselves upon the Nigerian
people. To do so, they pretended to be democrats and used the
system to enhance themselves by creating a political environment that
destabilizes the entire country. They threatened political
candidates and other Nigerians who do not approve their methods, massively
rigged elections, forced voters not to vote, compelled the police and other
state security agencies to look the other way and even helped them to carry out
their plans. It should be recalled that when PDP assumed power in
1999, political area boys began to rear their heads, starting from Lagos, as
political storm troopers. As the Lagos situation got stabilized,
the incidents of area boys and cults began to crop up in Oyo, Plateau and other
states. Then Anambra became the epicenter of the effort to impose
political leaders, resulting in violence. In fact, even a coup was
attempted in Anambra to try to force a governor that was installed by a powerful
individual in the PDP to vacate the gubernatorial throne. Despite
the overt violation of the law, former President Obasanjo did not do
anything. The police did not arrest anybody for staging an
abortive coup and disturbing the public peace. The
Army did not go out in full force to forestall the coup and arrest the coup
plotters. Instead, the major sponsor of the coup, Chief Chris Uba,
was rewarded by the PDP for his services to the party. It is not
surprising that the police, army, and the SSS did not go after anybody for
staging a coup, yet, the police and the SSS constantly harassed Chief Ralph
Uwazuruike and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of
Biafra (MASSOB) even though the leader and the group had promised to achieve
political demands within the framework of the legal system. Thus,
the issue of cults, political thugs, armed militias, hired hands etc. started
becoming a problem in every part of the country. In other words,
the Port Harcourt crisis is a microcosm of the national political
situation
The fact that the
Port Harcourt crisis is a product of the national political situation should not
be taken lightly, considering the fact that up till today, the Nigerian Police
Force and other investigatory agencies have not successfully prosecuted and
convicted anyone for the murder of prominent Nigerians. It should
be noted that after each murder, the police would publicly parade some suspects
on television as the main culprits and then disengage from the case.
This meant that the assassinations were carried out through the
sanctions of some highly connected individuals, thereby, compelling the police
not to rock the political hands that feed them.
In Port Harcourt, the
situation became explosive due to the fact that the Niger Delta is in an angry
mood over the issue of resource control. Moreover, there are well
established armed groups that are fighting for resource control.
Therefore, if the Port Harcourt situation is not well handled, it could
degenerate into a national crisis due to the relationship between the PH crisis
and the national political situation, emanating from imposed political
leadership and the massive corruption that the imposed system generates
throughout the country.
2.
The PDP is responsible for planning, creating, germinating, and
perpetuating cultism and political thuggery, not only in Rivers State but
throughout Nigeria
When former President
Olusegun Obasanjo ascended the political throne as the head of a democratic
government on May 1999, Nigerians jubilated and hailed the occasion as the end
of a military dictatorship and the beginning of a civilian driven democratic
system where peoples’ votes determine who becomes a political leader.
As a result, Nigerians failed to pay attention to the process which
enabled Chief/Gen. Obasanjo to become the president. In short,
former President Obasanjo was handpicked by the country’s oligarchs and imposed
on the Nigerian people. Thus, the democratic process was not
allowed to run its course or germinate. As a result, military
dictatorship was immediately replaced by the “Dictatorship of the Oligarchy”. In
particular, the military institution, as a ruling entity, was replaced by the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) syndicate.
The PDP tested
power and loved the result, consequently, decided to make it impossible for any
opposition political party to challenge its hegemonic power over the
nation. To perpetuate itself as the ruling political party, the
PDP appeared to have borrowed ideas from the Institutional Revolutionary Party
in Mexico (IRP) and the National Socialist Party in Germany. It
should be noted that the IRP dominated Mexican politics for almost eighty
years. It did so by rigging votes, intimidating candidates, and
imposing its candidates on the people. The opposition never had a
chance in Mexico until the late 1990s. Similarly, opposition
political parties in Germany did not have a chance against the Nazi party in the
1930s and early 1940s.
One way in which
the PDP perpetuated itself was by recruiting youths to become political storm
troopers. Some people refer to the storm troopers as “cultists”
or “area boys” or “political thugs” or “bad boys” or “killers” or
“militias”. “Storm troopers” are used here to refer to the groups which work for
politicians due to the resemblance of PDP tactics with those of the National
Socialist Party of Germany (Nazi) before and during the Second World War.
It should be recalled that the National Socialist Party and Adolf
Hitler used the pretext of democracy to get into power. After
getting into power, they recruited youths and former soldiers who fought during
the 1st. World War and encouraged them to use violence to silent the
opposition. These gangs were referred to as “Storm
Troopers”. The Storm Troopers eventually became the members of the
SS and the Gestapo. The SS and the Gestapo made sure that everyone
conformed to the masterplan advanced by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
As can be seen, the PDP came into power under the guise of democracy,
then, recruited storm troopers to protect its interest and make it impossible
for the opposition to compete. Similarly, the PDP imposed
political candidates on the Nigerian people without allowing them to vote to
determine who should rule over them.
The primary function of
the storm troopers, as envisaged by the godfathers of the PDP in the early 2000s
was to protect the political interest of the members of the PDP at the national,
regional and state levels. The storm troopers were encouraged and
allowed to use intimidation and violence, just as their Nazi counterparts, to
prevent Nigerians from truly exercising their democratic rights.
Thus, the political storm troopers made sure that political opponents
could not campaign and or win elections in the country while PDP reigns.
They made sure that voters could not vote. They made sure
that ballot materials could not reach their destinations. They
made sure that election officials did not reach their polling stations.
They stocked ballot boxes with pre-made ballots that overwhelmingly
favored the PDP. It is not surprising that the PDP presidents and
their governors supposedly won electoral victories with large margins, even in
districts where the number of registered voters were actually less than the
numbers who were reported to have voted in 2003 and 2007, especially, in Rivers
State. The storm troopers, indeed, executed their duties
magnificently, hence, no elections were held in the true sense of the word in
2003 and 2007 in many parts of the country.
Some of the opposition
political parties and candidates tried to imitate the PDP by adopting similar
tactics through creating and sponsoring their own storm troopers to counter the
PDP. However, they could not match the PDP proficiency in
executing its deadly SS and Gestapo-like schemes. They could nt
because the PDP used the resources of the state, including the police, army, and
the SSS t consolidate its strangleholed on the nation.
Consequently, opposition political parties and candidates could not
compete at all with the Almighty PDP during the 2003 and 2007 elections.
This is why only very few opposition candidates have been able to win
elections as governors, senators, representatives, and local government
chairpersons. Some of the opposition parties crumbled and the
oligarchs among their members quickly joined the PDP.
The exception
between PDP tactics and those of the Nazi Party is that the Nazi Party
centralized its management of the storm troopers by turning them into government
organizations while the PDP failed to centralize its management of its storm
troopers. This allowed individual politicians within the party to
create and manage various groups of storm troopers. By allowing
individual politicians to create and manage their own gangs of political
intimidators, the PDP and the Federal Government let loose a political
virus. The virus became malignant as the political and financial
stakes got so high, thereby, forcing politicians to adopt a do or die attitude
toward being in power. Political and financial stakes became so
high because the acquisition of immense wealth through embezzlement depended
largely upon being in political power, whether as a president or a governor or a
senator or a representative or a local government chair person or a speaker of
the house or a chair of a legislative committee or a minister or a director of a
government agency. The conditions and reasons described above
still prevail today.
In Nigeria, under the
PDP system, as borrowed from the military regimes, the acquisition of wealth is
directly connected to being in power. Therefore, making it as a
governor or a senator or a representative or a minister or a government director
etc. is critical to being rich. Since almost every politician has
a band of political assistants and storm troopers, the financial fate of these
workers are tied to the success of the political boss. If a
particular politician successfully makes it by occupying a political office, it
means that the person’s assistants too will smile to the bank one way or
another. Similarly, the storm troopers who worked for the
politician too would be enriched in terms of political power and money.
On the other hand, if a particular politician fails to occupy a political
office or become an influential government official, it means that the
politician’s assistants and storm troopers too would not make it financially and
politically since assess public money depends on being in power.
Thus, unlike the Nazi
system, the PDP system breeds uncontrollable rivalry among politicians within
the same party. When ever there is a political opening, three or
more politicians within the party compete to occupy the position.
For instance, if four people compete for the position of governorship
within the PDP in a state, it means that at least four storm trooper groups
would be involved in the rivalry, with each group trying to force its political
boss to the throne. The rivalry leads to threats, intimidations,
and violence. Thus, in every state in Nigeria, there is a cult or
an armed group which is associated with a particular politician.
In Rivers State, the cults control the legislative districts, in
proportion to the political representatives who rule over the legislative
districts. This means that every legislative district in Rivers
State is predominated by one or two cult groups or political storm
troopers.
Although, hidden
under the rubric of democracy, the present political system in the country is
not a democracy but an oligarchy. Oligarchy is a political system
in which a small group of people govern the state, quite often, for their
self-interest. Oligarchs generally do not care about the welfare
of the citizens. As can be seen, those who have governed Nigeria
since the inception of civilian rule in 1999 have not cared whatsoever about the
plight of the Nigerian people. They have principally been driven
by the need to enrich themselves, no matter the circumstances. As
a result, it is not unusual for entire state and local government budgets to be
converted into personal ownership by those who occupy political offices.
Generally, since 1999, the governors have acted as if they have a
constitutional right to own the wealth belonging to their states.
Similarly, local government chairpersons too have acted as if monies
allocated for their local districts are merely a political gift to them.
The members of both National and State Assemblies too have acted as if
they are entitled to the national wealth of the country. In fact,
nothing has changed in the legislative branches of the national and state
governments, even with coming of President Yar’Adua. As a result,
in keeping with the notorious reputations of previous Speakers of the National
Assembly, the current Speaker of Nigeria’s National Assembly, ……Eteh is already
mired in corruption and irresponsible financial behavior.
Similarly, in keeping with its notorious reputation for corruption, the
PDP is doing everything possible to protect the speaker. Why would
the Speaker of the National Assembly care about ordinary Nigerians or show some
degree of sensitivity to ethics when she is protected by the oligarchic PDP and
she acts like an oligarch in the true sense of the word?
3.
The PDP Board of Trustees, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former
Governor Dr. Peter Odili and current Governor Celestine Omehia of Rivers State,
etc. are the backers of the cults or political armed groups in Rivers
State
Although, there is no
concreted documentary evidence to show convincingly that the PDP is the sponsor
of the Port Harcourt crisis, nevertheless, it is inferable that the PDP Board of
Trustees, both in the past and now, former President Obasanjo, former Governor
Dr. Peter Odili, and current Governor Sir Celestine Omehia, former Speaker
Rotimi Amaechi etc. contributed immensely to the crisis because they backed the
efforts of the cults in various ways to impose themselves on power and
perpetuate the PDP control of Rivers State. The actions and
inactions of the PDP and its national and state leaders are excellent indicators
of the supposition that the Port Harcourt crisis is sponsored. The
following actions and inactions reveal a lot:
a.
Nationally, in both 2003 and 2007, the PDP hand-picked candidates to
become elected public officials without subjecting them to the mandate of the
Nigerian voters. In particular, due to the increase in the
Federation Account of the oil producing states, the PDP made sure that
politicians from other political parties did not have any chance of serving as
governors in those states. Even within the PDP, candidates
selected to serve as governors in the oil-producing states were expected to
receive the mandate of the members of the inner core of the PDP because the
party wanted to use the wealth of these states to oil its political machines
throughout the nation. This is why in both 2003 and 2007, Timi
Alaibe was discouraged to run against the PDP preferred Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha
and Chief Timipre Sylva-Sam in Bayelsa State. Similarly, no one
was allowed to challenge Dr. Peter Odili in Rivers State, Chief James Ibori in
Delta State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion in Edo State, Chief Attah in Akwa Ibom
State. Thus, to ensure that the party was not threatened, storm
troopers had to be recruited and financed, particularly in Rivers State, to
intimidate any potential challenger to the PDP throne. The
stratagem was repeated in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, and Imo.
b. Due to
the importance of Rivers State to the PDP, Dr. Odili was considered a favorite
son of Chief Obasanjo. As a result, the governor was untouchable
politically for almost eight years. Even though allegations of
corruption were reported nationally, the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) did not have the political power to probe the governor.
The commission waited until the governor fell from grace of Chief/Gen.
Obasanjo after he was rejected as the presidential candidate of the PDP before
moving to Port Harcourt to probe the financial activities of the governor and
other public officials. It is possible to say that the godfather
and godson relationship between Odili and Obasanjo fell apart when Odili refused
to support the third term desire of Obasanjo. Odili could not support the third
term because he was interested in the presidential office. In
punishing the godson for disloyalty, the godfather refused to sanctify the
presidential candidacy of Odili as the flag-bearer of the PDP.
There is no doubt that
the governors of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo contributed massively to the
coffers of PDP in return for the party protection against opposition threats.
Between 2000 and 2007, Rivers State was the destination of choice for PDP
national stalwarts. Bayelsa seemed to be the second destination of
choice for these politicians. On the other hand, former governor
James Ibori of Delta State had to do everything possible in his power to
minimize the issue of whether he was a convict or not. This meant
lavishing PDP leadership and high level police officials with money.
Evidently, most national politicians and public officials who visited the
oil-producing states often returned to their homes with truckloads of Ghana Must
Go Backs. The governors were quite generous to these political
visitors from Abuja and other locations in the country. In
addition, the governors of these state donated generously to national causes, in
the hope of greasing the palms of their godfathers and godmothers and
consolidating their political and financial control of their states.
Former Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State openly said that some of
the monies for which he was accused of embezzlement were actually given to the
PDP. At first, former President Obasanjo denied Dariye’s statement
before admitting that the PDP had received some money from the
governor.
c. Dr.
Odili had presidential ambition from the moment he became the governor of Rivers
State. His entire agenda during his governorship was tailored
toward consolidating his presidential candidacy. Hence, he toured
the entire country and donated public funds to every imaginable project.
While he was very generous to national causes, he was not quite generous
to the citizens of his state. One could not recall any instance in
which he gave millions of naira to any community in Rivers State.
As the time for 2007 elections drew nearer, he spent most of the time
outside the state and gave and gave and gave money in the hope of becoming the
PDP presidential candidate.
d. Before
the 2007 elections, it was announced on the national media that a South-South
governor would sponsor the campaign activities of the PDP. Many Nigerians
thought that Dr. Odili was the likely candidate. However, some
people pointed to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the likely governor.
Thus, within two weeks of that news publication, Dr. Jonathan was
selected as the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, thereby, drawing
attention to Dr. Jonathan as the likely candidate who sponsored the PDP.
Sponsoring the PDP involves billions of naira. To do
so, the state governor must divert funds from his own state budget.
It would not be surprising that the PDP had been exhorting money fro
state governors since it got into power. One wonders how much the
oil-producing states sacrifice so much money in order to enrich the PDP.
e. The
PDP made sure that its favorite politicians and public office holders did not
fall under the investigative eye of the EFCC. As a result, charges
of corruption and alleged corruption were directed mostly at those who
challenged the PDP and former President Obasanjo. Thus, Chief DSP
Alamieyeseigha was politically protected until he began to speak more forcefully
about the resource control issue and showed support for Atiku Aubakar’s
presidential ambition. As soon as the members of the inner core
felt that he was no longer a believer in the PDP system, the EFFCC was ordered
to probe and set him up, hence, the London drama. Likewise, there
is no doubt that when the former vice president decided to run for the 2007
presidential ticket, against the interest of Chief Obasanjo, the EFCC was
directed to bring him down. Similarly, it is not until Dr. Odili
decided to oppose the third term for Chief Obasanjo that the EFCC decided to
probe him.
f.
Despite complains about the activities of political storm troopers (cult
groups), neither the PDP nor former President Obasanjo took decisive actions to
get rid of the political tumor that was growing. On the
realization that the political storm troopers had political connections to the
corridors of power, both at Abuja and in the state capitals, the federal
security agencies took a ‘ no hear and no see’ attitude toward cult
groups. Consequently, in Port Harcourt, for years, the cults or
storm troopers had more power than the army, navy, SSS, and the police.
Senior police, army and naval officers posted to the city and the Rivers
State had to kowtow to the political reality that the cults had extensive
influence and were untouchable.
4.
The security forces (Police, Army, Navy and the SSS) are Active
Participants in Perpetuating the Port Harcourt
Crisis
In Germany, in the
1930s, the official government law enforcement agencies and the army did not try
hard enough to weed out the storm troopers. Instead, the storm
troopers succeeded in weeding out prominent officers among the ranks of the
police and the army. Similarly, in Nigeria, the armed forces,
police and the SSS looked the other way and allowed the PDP to violate the
democratic rights of the people. In Mexico, the government
security agencies worked openly to perpetuate the IRP.. Similarly,
in Nigeria, the government agencies identified with the PDP. In
some circumstances, agents of these government institutions abetted the PDP in
carrying out its undemocratic practices. One could not recall any
instance between 1999 and 2006 in which the heads of the armed services, the
Inspector Generals of the Police and the directors of the SSS sternly warned the
PDP to desist from sowing the seeds of political destruction of the
country. Instead, the SSS and the police went after opposition
candidates and leaders of civil society organizations. In fact,
due to extensive collaboration between the government agencies and the PDP,
former Inspector General of Police, Chief Tafa Balogun, ended up serving as the
chief political fireman of the PDP. He spent more time covering
for the PDP and Chief Obasanjo than enforcing the law. Sunday
Ehindero, who succeeded Chief Balogun as the Inspector General of the Police,
also played the role of a political fireman for the PDP rather than being the
chief law enforcement officer of the nation. As a result, both of
them covered the political assassinations that took place during the periods of
leadership of the NPF.
a. As
stated before, the police, army and the SSS remained aloof throughout the period
in which the people of Anambra State were being traumatized. It
should be recalled that after the attempted coup failed to remove Dr. Chris
Ngige, some youths were allowed to carry out the destruction of government
properties in the state. Again, the law enforcement and security
agencies remained unconcerned. Similarly, former president
Obasanjo and members of the National Assembly acted as if the situation in
Anambra was normal. This meant that the destructive activities
were supported by the highest level of government in the country in an effort to
punish Dr. Ngige and the people of Anambra for refusing to succumb to the
pressure of the PDP to remove Dr. Ngige.
b.
Despite the fact that Dr. Nigige was being threatened, the police
actually removed the body guards that protected him. At a time,
the police were allowed to guard Chief Chris Uba while allowing Governor Ngige
to go without any police security. Thus, the chief coup plotter
received police protection and the victim of the alleged coup did not receive
any protection. As the events surrounding the attempted coup were
being revealed, the chief police officer (Commissioner of Police Agu)
responsible for carrying out the coup died mysteriously, in a typical PDP
inspired method of neutralizing those who know too much or are considered to be
a threat to the hegemonic power of the organization.
c. In
Port Harcourt, the security services even helped to heighten the state of
tension. It was obvious that the government agencies were taking
sides. It should be recalled that Dokubo Asari was the first to
renounce the use of violence, as a leader of the Niger Delta peopled Volunteer
Force. He negotiated with former President Obasanjo and Dr. Peter Odili, the
former governor of Rivers State. He surrendered his arms as part
of the agreement to deescalate conflict. However, while he opted
for a peaceful negotiation of the issues, the police and army constantly
provoked him by harassing his followers. On the other hand, the
security services did not go after the groups and leaders who, at the time, had
not renounce violence. On numerous occasions, Asari was compelled
to speak out publicly on why the security forces were constantly after him even
though he had renounced the use of violence while leaving the leaders of other
groups untouched. Eventually, the police tricked him and had him
arrested and charged for treason. It was after he had been
detained that the police and the army started going after Ateke Tom.
Suddenly, the police and the army started harassing him and his
boys. On two or three occasions, the army launched major attacks
against him, under “Operation Flush Out’. Like Asari, Tom had to
speak loudly in the hope of dissuading the security forces from coming after
him. He even mentioned in one of his press statements that the
governor of the state wanted him killed. While the police and the
army went after Tom, they ignored other groups that were doing the same thing
that Tom and his group were doing. This meant that the political
godfathers in the state were no longer favorably disposed toward him.
During this time, Soboma George was untouched and was allowed to roam
free. This meant that the political leaders of the state were
favorably disposed toward George. tHus, the police and the army
did not go after him the way they were going after Tom.
d. In the
current security crackdown, attention is focused on Soboma George and Ateke
Tom. Other cult groups or storm troopers in the state are not
being sought. The fact that the focus is on two or three groups
and not others, even though it is a widely known fact that cult groups are
scattered all over the state, means that national and state political leaders
are only interested in weeding out groups that are now considered threatening to
the political interest of those in power. It also means that
political leaders are not interested in thoroughly purging the state of
cults. Similarly, when the current governor of the
state, Sir Omehia, says that he is going to demolish the impoverished waterfront
neighborhods around Abonnema, Njemanze etc., he is saying that he wants to
destroy only the groups that are threatening his political hold on the state,
not all the cult groups in the state. Otherwise, he would have
requested a state-wide crackdown of all cult groups or political storm
troopers. Thus, barely a week after the Port Harcourt crackdown,
cult violence erupted in Emohia and in Ogoniland.
Twenty people were reported to have been killed.
e. It
could even be said that the PDP, state officials, and the security forces are
now focusing on Soboma George, Ateke Tom in an effort to eliminate
them because they know too much about the activities of national and Rivers
State officials in sponsoring political violence and assassinations of prominent
individuals in the state. If George and Tom and other group
leaders were to talk about all the deals and activities that have taken
place in the state involving them and state officials, many heads
could roll. Otherwise, the Army would not have destroyed an entire
hotel just to try to kill George. In the process, innocent
Nigerian lives were sacrificed. If the Army knew that he was in
the hotel, why did they not try to arrest him and make him talk so that
investigators could gather evidence to go after the political godfathers that
sponsor various storm troopers? The blasting away of the hotel
reminds one of Odi and Odiama. In other words, when ever the
military confront some obstacles, they tend to overact uncontrollable, thereby,
reinforcing the view that the Nigerian military is still focused philosophically
on the tenets of the West African Frontier Force that was created by the British
to subdue African ethnic groups during the process of colonization.
As a result, the armed forces do not feel comfortable around
Nigerians. They tend to view the Nigerian civilians as enemies,
hence, brutalize them during any confrontation. This is not an
understatement, considering the fact that after cracking down on the storm
troopers or cults, soldiers man-handled innocent residents of Port
Harcourt. Fortunately, probably for the first time in the history
of Nigeria, senior Army officers spoke loudly against the behavior of the
soldiers. This was a marked departure from the past in which
senior military officers always support the actions of their men.
5.
The Storm Troopers or Cults were Responsible for Putting Nigeria’s
Political Office Holders in Power in 2003 and
2007
Based on the discussion
above, it is inferable that the so called elected national and state elected
officials, whether in 2003 or 2007, were put in power by the ‘votes’ of the
storm troopers and not by those of the Nigerian people. These
groups rigged the elections, destroyed ballots, stocked the ballots, intimidated
voters, forced election officials not to show up at their polling stations,
threatened political opponents not to mount successful political campaigns,
threw bombs, and assassinated those considered to be too threatening to the
political interests of the anointed candidates.
Evidently, it is not a
coincident that prominent Nigerians have died more between 1999 and 2007 than at
any other time in the history of Nigeria. It is also not a
coincident that the PDP led government is responsible for assassinating more
Nigerians than any other regime in the country. In short, the PDP
makes Gen. Abacha’s regime quite civilized.
Now, using the argument
being made by many public officials and some Nigerians that political office is
an investment, the storm troopers or the cults or the area boys or the armed
boys are demanding a fair share of the loot being perpetrated by public
officials whom they helped to put in power. It should be reminded
that Chief Chris Uba and many political godfathers and godmothers had insisted
and continue to insist that money given to political candidates is a form of
business investment and they have a right to recoup their investments in
political candidates. Therefore, using the same logic, it appears
that the storm troopers or cults or political thugs are also demanding a return
on their investments. After all, without their sacrifice, most
elected officials in Nigeria would not have had the opportunity to occupy
political offices, thereby, amassing unbelievable personal wealth
They are demanding a
return on investment because they invested their lives to put the elected
officials in power. What is happening is that most of the so
called elected officials are very greedy or are forced to become greedy by their
colleagues and the incredulous system they put in place to hoodwink
Nigerians. As a result, when they finally get into power, they
quickly forget the boys who helped them to succeed. The boys
become angry that their services to the elected officials are not being
compensated fairly, based on the totality of the amount being acquired by the
elected officials through looting. For instance, if an elected
official suddenly becomes a multimillionaire for being a governor or a senator
or a head of a legislative committee, the boys, through intelligence, are able
to know the sudden wealth being acquired by the official whom they helped to put
in power. If the official is suddenly worth N300,000,000, the boys
want a share of that wealth. If the official refuses to
compensate the boys based on what the boys think is a fair share, the boys will
react one way or another to show their displeasure
Apart from helping to
put political candidates in power, the boys have also been called upon by the
highly connected in society to provide escort and security services to oil
bunkering operations. Generally, oil bunkering is carried out by
high government officials, highly connected businessmen and women, high ranking
military and police officers, and international syndicates. This
is why ocean going vessels are involved in bunkering. This is why
a number of oil bunkering ships have literally disappeared while in the custody
of the Nigerian Navy. This is why Nigeria’s political leaders are
not very serious about enforcing the law against bunkerers. This
is why the owners of African Pride are not in prison. Thus, when
the boys protect the ships, barges, and trucks that transport stolen oil to
their destinations, they expect to be paid well for the risks they take in doing
so. Unfortunately, like the so called elected officials, many big
oil bunkerers seem to be greedy and not willing to treat the boys fairly, as the
boys imagined.
.
One major reason why
the storm troopers or cults or area boys or the bad boys are not treated well
after elected officials get into office or an oil bunkerer makes a big deal is
due to the fact that many of the boys come from low socioeconomic
backgrounds. As a result, the elected officials and the oil
bunkerers assume that they can get away by ignoring the boys and using
government security forces to protect themselves against the boys.
However, the boys are very bold and smart, they are able to beat the
government security system and directly threaten officials who refuse to pay
them their fair share.
Their ability to
outmaneuver the politicians was amply demonstrated when the mothers of Governor
Omehia of Rivers State and the Bayelsan Speaker of the House and an 11 year old
son of a member of Bayelsan House of Assembly were kidnapped.
Similarly, in Port Harcourt, the storm troopers have divided the entire
state into political and financial zones.
As the politicians and
major national oil bunkerers ignored them after having achieved their political
and business goals, the boys quickly learned to survive. They
turned themselves into armed militias and use the skills acquired in executing
political violence and escorting ships, barges, and oil trucks into a well-oiled
bunkering operations. To do so successfully, they fight among
themselves to control oil-bunkering territories. Today, many
cults or armed militias or area boys or storm troopers are self-sufficient in
terms of money and guns. They have acquired arms beyond what the
politicians originally provided for them. Thus, they have
developed ingenious ways to sustain themselves.
Although, denigrated,
insulted, and castigated for their services as ‘hired hands”, the storm troopers
or area boys or cults, or thugs, or bad boys or militias have extensive
knowledge about those ruling Nigeria. They also have extensive
knowledge about which businessman or woman is doing what. They know how many
Nigerians became rich through illegal means. Therefore, the storm
troopers are not afraid of any political official in Nigeria, whether at the
national or state level. How can they be afraid when they know how
public officials got into power? How can they be afraid when they
know how some of the multimillionaires acquired their wealth? How
can they be afraid of the law when they know that political leaders do not obey
the law? How can they be afraid when they know that the
politicians relied on their services to protect their political and financial
turfs?
To understand the
The Rivers State
situation like the Bayelsan situation is made worse by the dirty game that the
PDP played within the party to select candidates during the April 2007
elections. It should be recalled that before the April elections,
a number of names were floated by PDP as the potential gubernatorial flag
bearers of the PDP in Rivers State. Then with fanfare, former
Speaker of the House of Assembly in Rivers State, Chief Amaechi, was anointed as
the future governor. Thereafter, without any explanation, he was
removed and replaced by Sir Omehia. Both are said to come from the
same area. Some even say that both are related.
Thus, the PDP leadership in the state played politics with these
two politicians, their supporters and the people of the state. By
playing one against the other, their supporters were forced to become
violent. The storm troopers that are associated with Amaechi
became hostile to those that are associated with Sir Omehia. This
tension was recreated throughout the entire state during and after the elections
or periods of political imposition of political candidates. The
rivalry is magnified because now that Sir Omehia is the governor, it means that
his assistants and armed supporters are smiling uncontrollably as the money
flows into their pockets as paybacks for their services. On the
other hand, the political assistants and armed supporters of Chief Amaechi are
angry because they have to scramble to make a living. The Amaechi
vs. Omehia rivalry is replayed hundred times all over Rivers State as political
winners and their supporters are smiling while the losers and their supporters
are angry for being cheated by the PDP system.
Due to the intertwined
relationship between the storm troopers and the political leaders of the state,
the police, army and the State Security Service cannot do much to neutralize the
storm troopers. It should be recalled, as stated above, that when
Dokubo Asari decided to make peace with President Obasanjo and Governor Odili,
he was surprised to realize that both the president and the governor were not
too interested in disarming the boys that were sympathetic to their political
side. In fact, Asari, on a number of occasions wondered why the
police and the army were not making any effort to disarm the other groups in the
state while he had surrendered his arms. During this time, Ateke
Tom was untouched by the security forces while Asari boys were constantly
harassed. Then, when the state political leaders decided to go
after Tom, he was harassed the way Asari was harassed earlier.
While Tom was being harassed by the police and the army, no effort was
made to clamp down on the groups that were said to be on the good side of the
governor and members of the government.
Thus, by playing the
‘divide and conquer’ game with the storm troopers, the political leaders
literally set the stage for violent confrontations by the armed groups.
It should be recalled that the PDP played the same dirty game with
Bayelsa State after Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was nominated as a vice presidential
candidate. Instead of anointing the deputy governor as the
gubernatorial candidate of the party during the April 2007 elections, the PDP
politically traumatized the state by picking one candidate after
another until Chief Timipre Sylva-Sam suddenly emerged as the gubernatorial
candidate of the party. In both states, the electoral process was
so hampered that almost two-thirds of the states populations did not
vote.
6. The Current
Crackdown will not Solve the Problem of Cultism in Port
Harcourt
Based on previous
history, the current military crackdown will not solve the Port Harcourt
problem. Neither will the crackdown solve the state
problem. The reasons for the doubt are based on the following
factors:
a. As
usual, the crackdown is temporary and selective. The focus is on
groups that are not receptive to the governor and the government in power
now. Groups that are on the good side of the governor are left to
exist tactically. As stated before, crackdowns in Rivers State
have always been selective. At one time, Asari was the target,
later, Ateke Tom, now, it is Soboma George. There has never been a
political will to solve the problem in a comprehensive manner. It
should be recalled that Operation Flush Out was instituted to stop Asari.
Then, the army was unleashed to stop cultists in Abuloma.
The army has been sent more than two times to flush out armed gangs in
Okrika. Even Ogbakiri has been visited by the army.
Despite these occasional operations, no other steps have been taken to
get to the root cause of the problem. Therefore, the current
military/police operation too will only result in a temporary
reprieve.
b. The
crackdown will not solve the problem because both national and state politicians
are in a state of denial. They are pretending as if they do not
know the root cause of the problem. The PDP created the problem
because it wanted to exercise political power by shortchanging the democratic
system. Every elected official, including the Speaker of the
National House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Eteh, Governor Omehia of Rivers
State, the Rivers State Minister of Information, the Commissioner of Police, the
Army Command in Rivers State etc. are making statements as if they are innocent
of the violent drama they conceptualized and activated.
c. The
Port Harcourt problem will remain because everyone is trying to blame the youth
gangs instead of the politicians and the PDP which invented the storm trooper
philosophy in its political roadmap, the heads of the security services for
allowing the PDP to impose candidates and prevent the electoral system to truly
determine who should rule, and the national bunkerers who are enriching
themselves through the services of the boys.
.
d. The
cult problem will remain because the political and financial stakes are
high. It is a known fact that in Nigeria if a person becomes a
governor or a speaker of the house or a senator or a representative or a local
government chairperson, the person would instantly become
wealthy. On the other hand, if a person is unable to occupy a
political office, his/her chance of acquiring wealth becomes slim.
This being the case, politicians, not only in
e. The
military crackdown will not solve the problem because those who are engaged in
oil bunkering need the services of the storm troopers to carry out clandestine
operations. There is no doubt that the army, navy, police and the
SSS are quite familiar with those highly connected Nigerians who are engaged in
this treasonable offence. As far as those connected Nigerians
continue the trade, the storm troopers will always be protected one way or
another. Hence, the government only seems to engage in selective
crackdowns.
f. The
military crackdown is selective because the boys know too much about who is who
in Nigeria. They know how the politicians got into power.
They know how the politicians amass their wealth. They
know how certain individuals become super rich. Therefore, if a
comprehensive crackdown were to be carried out, some youths would talk and point
fingers at some of the biggest political fishes, not only in Rivers State but
throughout Nigeria.
g.
The crackdown on the storm troopers will only be very
selective and temporary because those in position of power, not only in Rivers
State but throughout Nigeria would not want the boys to talk openly about who
ordered who to be killed. In other words, the armed gangs are
quite familiar with who ordered former Attorney General, Chief Marshall Harry,
Chief A. K. Dikibo, Barnabas Igwe and his wife, Funsho Williams etc. to be
assassinated.
h. Even
an imposition of emergency rule will not solve the problem of storm troopers in
Nigeria, particularly in Rivers State. First, no politician, not
even the president would be willing to declare an emergency in Rivers
State. Similarly, no current public office holder, including the
president, governors, senators, representatives, and local government chairs
would support new elections. To do so, they would have to agree
that they assume their current political offices illegally. The
PDP would be forced to admit that it has been imposing candidates on the people
of Nigeria without the votes of the people to determine who should rule or
not. If the president were to impose an emergency rule with a
view of conducting new elections, the governor of Rivers State could challenge
the president in court by saying that the president does not have the legal
right to do so since his own position too was determined by other means and not
through genuine elections.
i.
The Port Harcourt problem will not be resolved because there is a
tendency to focus on Port Harcourt and ignore the national character of the
problem. The Port Harcourt problem is indeed an extension of a
national problem because the PDP created it in an attempt to grab power and
reward its members.
j. The
cult problem in Port Harcourt will remain because the Army, Navy, Police and the
SSS do not have the manpower and the resources (equipment) to engage in a
comprehensive cleaning of the problem. If these forces try a
national clamp down, they would overstretch themselves, thereby, enabling the
storm troopers to grow even stronger.
k.
Passing an anti-cult law too will not lead to the disappearance of
cults. The cults are the procreations of the politicians and the
elite generally. The politicians would not engage in any act that
would diminish their political importance in a country where the primary means
of acquiring wealth is through the occupation of public office.
If such a law is passed, the police will be tactically prevented from
enforcing it, considering the fact that when ballot machines were found in the
residence of Chief Adedibu, the most powerful individual in Oyo State, former
Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, openly said that he had no power
to arrest the political godfather. In other words, Ehindero was
saying that the police did not have the political clout to arrest such a
powerful individual.
l.
The Port Harcourt crackdown will not solve the problem because the storm
troopers or armed gangs have developed classical guerrilla tactics to evade
annihilation. As the troops and the police mount roadblocks, the
armed boys will lie low and wait. Some of the boys will surrender
while others would not. Some of the public officials making noise
in Port Harcourt today will pay later when the boys decide to payback in kind
what the army and Airforce had done to them and their supporters.
Conclusion
It is evident
that the Port Harcourt cult problem is a microcosm of a national political
problem because the PDP systematically created it. In order to
solve the Port Harcourt problem, it is necessary to develop a national action
plan to deal with cultism or political storm trooping. To
successfully do so, the war on corruption must be executed fearlessly.
This is the only way to reduce the perception that political power
amounts to financial wealth. As far as acquisition of wealth is
connected to being in political office, those who want to acquire wealth will do
anything, including hiring the services of political storm troopers to pave the
way.
As can be seen, Nigeria
is gradually degenerating into a state comparable to Colombia and
Pakistan. In these two countries, armed groups are so embedded in
the fabric of society to the extent that the national armed forces are unable to
wipe them out. In both countries, there are regions in which
national security forces cannot step in. If they try, they are
easily overwhelmed by the armed groups. In Nigeria,
there is no doubt that the Niger Delta is increasingly becoming a no-go zone for
the armed and police forces. If the political and economic issues
are not amicably resolved before it is too late, what is happening in Port
Harcourt will be described as a child’s play compared to what the situation
would be without the resolution of the multiple issues.
Recommendations
If President Yar’Adua
is really interested in deescalating armed confrontations, he must do the
following:
a.
Accept the Port Harcourt crisis as a symptom of a national political
problem generated as a result of the violation of the democratic process through
imposition of public officials by the PDP. Develop a national
policy aimed at reducing cultism throughout the country and not only in Port
Harcourt.
b. Reform
the entire electoral system so that rigging and imposition of candidates are
drastically reduced. In subsequent elections, no one should be
allowed to occupy any public office without winning a majority of
the votes of the voters for that particular office.
c. Allow
the courts to process and proceed with ongoing legal suits being filed against
the PDP over the election results of 2007. The decisions of the
courts must be obeyed in every case involving pubic offices.
d. Thoroughly clean the
PDP of non-democratic elements so that the party stops imposing individuals as
elected officials on the Nigerian people.
e. Remove
any public official from power who is connected to the cults, regardless of
whether the person is a governor or a minister or a director.
f. Fight
corruption. Currently, the acquisition of personal wealth is tied
to holding public office. Thus, in the last forty years, wealth
has primarily been associated with working for government.
Consequently, people get into politics because they want to acquire
wealth by looting from the public treasury.
g. Impose severe
punishment on those who embezzle. It is impossible to reduce armed
confrontation when the financial stakes are so high as politicians compete
fiercely to be in power and acquire wealth.
h. Create
a conducive environment for economic growth so that the youths would have
legitimate means of sustaining themselves.
i. Visit
the resource control matter to reduce armed opposition in the Niger
Delta. As far as national, regional, and state politicians and
public servants steal from the state and violate the rights of the indigenes of
the oil-producing region, the youths there would continue to resist by every
means possible.
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