Rivers State Labour Party governorship candidate, Tonye Princewill, until recently, aspired to govern the state on the platform of PDP. In this interview with Assistant Editor (South South), JOE EZUMA, he talks on poverty of ideology in Nigerian politics, why he preferred LP to APC, his disagreement with his erstwhile political associate, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, among others.
Dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Labour Party (LP)
I joined LP out of the several others that were wooing me because of the calibre of people there and the solid ideological basis of the party. Why am I leaving PDP? PDP as a party was built on necessity of the time without ideological foundation. I am leaving PDP because of my agenda that I have been carrying in my hand as a baby; I want to deliver it. Yes, some people accuse me of being unstable, but those are people that don’t understand that there is no difference between the political parties. PDP is based on the building of a coalition against the military. I chose LP for several reasons, apart from the quality of the individuals in the party and then the ideology. I complained about political parties lacking ideology, but LP is the one that has the most robust ideology of all.
Problem with Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State
I parted ways with Amaechi because he was prosecuting a war against the president, a war which he ought not to have waged. Why should we keep abusing our leaders? I don’t want the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket. APC ticket is to fight the president. We are in the LP because we want to move the state forward, and this is hinged on one policy direction: job creation. This is because the creation of jobs is derivable from other variables such as stimulation of the economy through development of commerce and industry, improvement of security for protection of lives, property and investment climate, education for the production of trained manpower that would further generate job opportunities.
Chances in LP and the current explosive political situation in the state
It is not so much about entering an explosive environment. The way I see it is that the people are looking for representation and I am offering myself for that representation. Many people see us as entering the race now; but I believe that we have been inside the people’s hearts and minds for several years. We are not coming from zero. Whatever level you want to rate us, it cannot be zero.
For me, our job is to make sure everybody knows about us before the day comes for you to put your fingers down and vote. That is the task, and with the team that we have, I am convinced that it will happen.
On the issue of the violence and the bombs exploding, I think that when we are entering is even the best time. If all of us were entering at the same time, people would not know where the bombings and the explosions were coming from; they would think that we were also part of it. But since we were not there when all these things were happening, they cannot hold us responsible. Now that we are entering into the scene, I think Rivers people have seen what the others had to offer, and it is at this stage, I believe, that the demand for something different is at its peak.
That is why I believe that timing is everything. If we had come in a lot earlier, we would have been drowned by those noise. Rivers people have seen that there is no genuine difference between APC and PDP. We are a clear distinction; people’s ears are ready to hear our message. So this timing is perfect. Of course, that is my opinion.
Absence of ideology in Nigerian politics
I still stand on my assertion that the parties lack ideology. But really, there are some very fundamental things that need to have been addressed by now. What is the parties’ position on unemployment? Why do I like Jonathan? You can go to the youth development and several other policies by the present federal government that are creating jobs. Could he have done more? Definitely yes! But previous governments had nothing in place; no agenda for job creation. So, while I am criticising PDP, I am looking at Jonathan with some sympathy because, as an individual, he defined himself. But what he failed to do (and this is one of his failings) is to instil some of those things in him in his party. An instance is lack of internal democracy.
Unfortunately, in politics, they only highlight the negative. In our politics, we don’t understand that you can like somebody and yet criticise certain things he does. When I was working closely with Amaechi, I was one of his chief critics. Politics is not about friendship. I didn’t come into politics to make friends; I came to politics to develop my people. Therefore, if somebody who in his responsibility fails or errs in any particular way to perform, it is my responsibility, not to him, but to the constituency that I am interested in, to speak out.
In essence, lack of ideology has been pervasive in our politics. Have many of us as politicians sat down to ask ourselves, where do we stand on these issues? If you are a House of Assembly man, you may get away with it. But when you go to the House of Representatives, Senate or as a governor, you can be asked very pertinent questions on where you stand on issues and you cannot afford to say, “we’ll, I have not thought about it.” That is not the representation we are looking for. So my advice to politicians is, go back and ask yourself who you are and define yourself.
Revamping Rivers economy and resuscitation of state-owned companies
This phenomenon had over time been caused by several factors of governance and management. The first thing to do is to arrest the drift. Of course, there will be need to see if any of these companies can be resuscitated; then you will need to look into it. There is a long list of companies within the downstream oil and gas industry that have gone down. That is an industry in which I am a player as well. I know what it takes to keep your head above waters; it is very difficult.
But I will tell you that many people don’t understand that the number one issue affecting businesses today, especially small businesses, is access to affordable capital. Now, with the fall in oil price and the increase in the interest rate, any business that wants to survive will begin to find it extra difficult. Many banks today survive on the oil price, and this reduction in oil price is going to affect banks; it will affect lending and immediately the rate will go up.
Returning to PDP, joining Nyesom Wike and directing them ideologically than moving to the LP
The aspect of ideology is a statement that I have always argued because I came from a political tradition where you needed to define the party and the party’s position. In the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) days, General Ibrahim Babangida literally tried to force an ideology on the two political parties because he understood that parties needed to have a position on issues. I queried the founders of PDP in those days: Why don’t you come up with an ideology? And they said to me: “Tonye, what we were looking for then was to string enough coalition to face the military. We were not thinking of ideology; we were just looking for an assemblage of strength and power to confront the military.” So, you can see why we are where we are today – politics was defined by power and strength, not by brain or wisdom. So, you should not be surprised that we are seeing the violence that we are seeing today; we built something to fight the military, not that we will deliver our people.
Endorsement of Jonathan by LP
I think the LP leadership, at the national level, is in the best position to answer that question. But I think it is not a hidden secret that LP is favourable towards Jonathan presidency. One of the reasons I chose LP is beacause of association with the president. I know that one of the other political parties, Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), was uncomfortable with my direct, bold and blatant association with the president. I wanted to reserve the right to support President Goodluck Jonathan. For that reason, I decided that LP would make sense to me.
Riverine/upland dichotomy politics in Rivers
I have never really liked the riverine agenda. Many people have this ethnic agenda. I am sorry, I have to apologise; it has never been my agenda. I always said that Wike should come and contest; but let them just create a level-playing field, even small. They don’t have to level it completely; they should just level it a little and let us see what happens. But I didn’t even see the field, let alone a level-playing field. I always argue that all of us should contest. Even when the other aspirants were saying Wike should not contest, my voice was never heard.
But because you are a leader, you must also be sensitive to what your people are sensitive to. I can tell you categorically that I am on my own because the majority of Rivers people have an ethnic sentiment and they believe in the rotation agenda. Naturally, I was going to benefit from that, but I never put it forward as my best step. There is a phrase I always use: I don’t want to be governor because of where I come from but because of where I am taking Rivers to.
On Soku oil wells
This is a very good question which I have asked myself several times. In Nigerian politics, there is federal might and there is state might. How you deploy your might is very important. If you want to win a battle, you have to use wisdom and diplomacy. For me, the issue of the oil wells is an issue that we will address through dialogue; aggression will not solve the problem. This dialogue is not just a political dialogue; there is also the traditional dialogue that needs to take place. I am happy that my father, who is the Amanayabo of Kalabari Kingdom, is there. You have not heard him shouting all over the place over the issue. He taught Jonathan at the University of Port Harcourt; thank God, the king was his lecturer. We are going to bring all the arsenals at our disposal to conclude a peaceful discussion and a peaceful resolution. That is the commitment that I can give you as governor. How it will be resolved, when it will be resolved, I wish I could tell you; but the issue will be resolved.
