Orubebe and Jonathan’s YES men

Uche Igwe

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, must be close to President Goodluck Jonathan. At least, that is what he wants the President and some of us among the Nigerian public to believe.  The Burutu-born politician prides himself as a prominent member of the so-called kitchen cabinet of the President.  This larger-than-life posturing has often led many analysts to conclude that he speaks the mind of his boss.  It is in this light that I want us to pause and examine the recent acrimonious media exchanges between the minister and the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, and collectively assess the implications on the polity.

There are many who believe Orubebe’s motive is to please and, probably, help President Jonathan by fighting real and imaginary enemies on his behalf, with an eye on 2015. However, by his action, he has unwittingly ended up hurting the President. One Igbo adage says that it is only your best friend who will tell you that your mouth smells. In the past one month, many prominent activists from the Niger Delta region including Ms Ann Kio Briggs of the Ijaw Republican Assembly; Rueben Wilson of the Forum of Peace in the Niger Delta; and Chief Ebikabowei Victor Ben (aka General Boy Loaf) have decried what they described as the non-performance of the Jonathan administration in critical areas of the economy. Many observers have also pointed at the seeming deficiencies of this government from time to time. How come the same people who stood behind Jonathan during the turbulent days prior to his ascendancy to the Presidency and even in his campaigns in 2011 have almost all turned around to become his biggest critics?  In the case of Orubebe, instead of being a true friend to Mr. President, he is rather busy distorting his vision and creating multidirectional minefields for him.

Many of the so-called Jonathan’s men often forget that he is the President of Nigeria; not that of the Niger Delta region only. So, why must the Orubebes of this world continue to make him look like the President of Ijaw Republic?  Why must Jonathan be made, by his advisers, to look as though he is concerned about projects in his immediate constituency only?  Come to think of it, Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum could also be seen, literally, as President Jonathan’s “younger brother”. Even if they have minor political differences, they should be allowed to resolve those internally as a family and not on the pages of newspapers. And people like Orubebe should be posturing, like true African elders, to amicably resolve whatever the issues, real or imaginary, that exist between the President and the Governor rather than being seen to be fanning, further, the embers of such discord, as it were.

Wild insinuations such as the one reportedly made by the Niger Delta Minister in Uyo recently will potentially amplify the differences and project the President as someone who cannot keep his “family” together. There are those who have accused Amaechi of nursing presidential ambition; so what? Now that the Peoples Democratic Party and many Nigerians appear to have agreed to abolish the zoning principle, it then means that anyone qualified can vie for the highest office of the land.  One thought that the PDP-led debates resulting in the final emergence, as Presidential candidate, and acceptance of Jonathan at the 2011 General Election had established conclusively that zoning was dead and buried and that any worthy candidate, irrespective of tribe or tongue, faith or religion and gender could vie to occupy the highest office in the land. Indeed, our constitution says so!  By jettisoning zoning in favour of merit, the PDP reaffirmed this fundamental right of every citizen way back in 2011.

Let me return to the East-West road issue. That road is now a scar on the conscience of the Jonathan administration and a symbol of palpable incompetence. It is such that should make every Nigerian cover his face in shame for standing between President Jonathan and one of his most important potential legacies. The minister should perform on his immediate assignment and stop playing politics. For Amaechi, let us leave that for Rivers people to decide whether he is performing or not. The now grossly-overdue completion of the East-West Road is disgraceful. The funds committed so far in the project make the delay inexplicable. What many people are asking across other regions is that if Jonathan can so neglect “his home region”, what shall other regions do?  The Niger Delta minister must be told that the current drama he is orchestrating makes it look like some people see 2015 as a fait accompli. Instead, he should be told that the signals coming from the turbulence in the PDP do not make 2015 a fait accompli.  The non-completion of the East-West Road will definitely come to hunt and hurt Mr. President’s 2015 ambition especially in the South-South should he decide to contest.

Furthermore, the leadership of the PDP ought to have waded into a matter like this to ensure speedy resolution and avoid unnecessary cracks and distractions. However, it seems that the manner in which the leadership emerged may still haunt the party for a while. It is believed that the organs of the party have been hijacked by centrifugal political forces such that most members of the executive are hardly on the same page on any issue. So who will talk to whom in this? Which legitimacy will the person draw on?  With all the realignments and talks about mergers by other political parties, how come the President’s men and the PDP leadership cannot work together to save their party from any possible implosion?

I do not know exactly what those who want to help the President to achieve his immediate political aims must do. But I know what they must not do: If they love the President, they must not complicate the big man’s problems through tribal myopia and infantile political demagoguery. They must stop shielding him from the truth that most of those who supported him in 2011 are disappointed at him. The President’s “Yes-men” must be told that they are actually harming and not helping him and must desist from such forthwith. They do more harm to the President than the so-called real or perceived enemies.

Uche Igwe