THE NIGER
DELTA AND POLITICS IN NIGERIA: The Obasanjo in our confusion.
SEYI
ODUYELA
The
impeachment of the Mr. DSP Alamieyeseigha, former Governor of
Bayelsa State did not come as a surprise and it has attracted
mixed reactions. Some have commended the Bayelsa House of
Assembly members, while some believe that the Federal
government had forced Assembly men to impeach their erstwhile
benefactor.
Was the
Federal government involved in the removal of Alamie? Why was
the government of Obasanjo interested in the removal of Alamie?
Of what and whose interest will this serve?
I will try
and answer these questions as we go along.
Was
Obasanjo government involved?
The answer
is yes. We all know that the escape of Alamie from house
detention in London was not only a shock to Obasanjo, but also
an embarrassment. The Attorney General and Justice Minister of
Nigeria had gone to London to tell the court that Obasanjo’s
government cannot guarantee the return of Alamie for trial if
he was granted bail to leave London. This showed the clear
hand of Obasanjo’s government in the case. So many people have
argued that it was right for the government to do so as to
show that the federal government is serious about fighting
corruption, but it is not clear to us if Obasanjo’s government
had done its homework in verifying some of what we read in the
newspapers on Alamie as regards the money found in his house.
We did not know if there was any correspondence between the
Presidency and the Governor.
This is
not to say that Alamie is innocent, I know he is not, he can
never be! His arrest did not come to me as surprise at all.
In one of my articles, I have reported a case of a Niger
delta governor who was duped by some Arabs to the tune of $72m
for the purchase of a private refinery. Alamie was approached
by two Arabs, who flew into Nigeria in a private jet to offer
him the sale of a private oil refinery for $144m. He was to
pay 50% of the money and come to London two weeks after to pay
the balance and get the papers. Alamie, according to my source
paid the 50% but when he got to London, he could not locate
the Arabs. It was Alamie who ensured that the Speaker of the
Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 1999 contested and won the
election even when he was 2 years younger than the legal age
to contest election. He said this in an interview he granted
to a reporter published in Source Magazine back in 2002.
Alamie removed the Speaker when he was becoming too powerful
and boasted about it. But he mentioned something then that has
been a thing of interest to me. He accused the Governor of
Rivers State of sponsoring crisis in Bayelsa. Before the
creation of Bayelsa State, the people of Bayelsa were part of
Rivers State.
Alamie
once served in the military, Nigeria AirForce to be specific.
He was caught cheating during a promotion examination. He was
court martialed and later dismissed. He left the Air Force as
a Squadron Leader. One thing that showed that Alamie is guilty
of the money laundering charge is the fact that since he came
back, he has refused to address the fact that 1.9m pounds was
found in his house in London, rather, he resorted to
propaganda.
Why is
Obasanjo after Alamie?
You do not
need a rocket scientist to tell you that the issue is
politically motivated. Most of those that have been indicted
in any case of corruption so far are people who do not belong
to Obasanjo side of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). While
everyone supports the fight against corruption, no one sees
any sense in selective fight targeted towards a certain group.
DSP Alamieyeseigha is a friend of the Vice President Atiku,
which is clear. They both live in Potomac, Maryland here in
the US. When Jennifer Atiku, in 2003 did the launching for her
Gede Foundation here in the US, Alamieyeseigha was among the
three Governors, along with Bonnie Haruna and James Ibori who
came from Nigeria to grace the launching. The late Owambe
First Lady was here too. This show the link between the former
Governor of Bayelsa and Atiku. Since the open war between
Obasanjo and Atiku, some of his friends and political
associates have been bruised by Obasanjo. Some members of the
Adamawa State government are been investigated now.
Of what
and whose interest is it?
The
removal of Alamie does not serve anybody’s interest except for
the people who orchestrated it. This is done not with a
genuine reason but as a face-saving mechanism. I remain
unimpressed by this government. It has done nothing to
alleviate the poverty of the people. It has not told the
country, how much it has recovered from the Abacha family and
how the loot recovered so far has been spent. President
Obasanjo owns the Block of flat (Sky Scrappers) at the
junction of Garki Village in Area 11 Abuja. It was difficult
for people to have access to his assets and liability
declarations at the Code of Conduct Bureau, but it does not
take his government time to use the same Code of Conduct
Bureau against Alamieyeseigha.
On the
members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, I will tell
the story of Jesus.
Jesus was
standing preaching to the people when the Pharisees came to
him with a woman accused of adultery. They told Jesus of her
offence and quoted the Mosaic Law that whoever does that
should be stoned to death. They wanted Jesus to give them the
go-ahead to do that. Jesus looked at them and said: “He that
has not sinned before should cast the first stone.” They left
the woman. No one in the Bayelsa House of Assembly can claim
that what he has today is legitimately acquired. They are a
product of the same system instituted by Obasanjo’s Political
party- government of “chop-i-chop.” We all know that the
Assembly men were blackmailed into impeaching their governor,
while some who have been sidelined in the scheme of things saw
that as an opportunity to get back at Alamie.
Where do
we place the Bayelsa people here? They are still at the
receiving end. They are still the losers. A people ruled by
Kleptomaniacs, ruthless, insensitive and inconsiderate
leaders. While they were ravaged by Obasanjo in 2000, with the
attack on Odi, they had a governor who is taking away their
sweat abroad to help improve western economy and yet when he
came back home from London, they organized a welcome rally for
him. What a people?! Let us how Obasanjo government is going
to recover all the loots from US and London and the ones in
Nigeria.
In a
speech read on his behalf at an occasion in Niger delta,
President Obasanjo said that Resource control is greed, he
argued that rather than fight for resource control, the people
should think of how we can manage the resources. Whose
resources? I do not know if the black was discovered in the
West or north if they will be talking of resource control now.
I am sure the north would have left Nigeria and I doubt if the
west (Yoruba) will allow the derivative formula. I regard
Obasanjo’s statement as rude and insultive to the people of
Niger delta but unfortunately many of them did not see it that
way. We know that their leader are not sincere, we know they
are corrupt, but we have corrupt leaders in the West, East and
North too. No single governor in the West will pass the
corruption test if it is carried out, not even the Ogun State
governor or his counterpart in Lagos State, who has resorted
into Abracadabra system of government. Obasanjo knows this, he
sees it but not interested.
To be
continued….
Posers:
James
Ibori, Lucky Igbinedion coming up in part III
