FG Killed Alamieyeseigha – Sen. Ogola

It’s one of the longstanding controver­sies in recent time. How did the late Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha leave En­gland after he was apprehended over allegations of money laundering? Accord­ing to the late politician, he was released but tales surrounding his return to Nigeria continued over the years. Before his death on Saturday, October 10, Alamieyeseigha was again the subject of speculation that the British government had requested for his extradition. In reaction to the talk around the late ex-governor who is much loved by his Ijaw brethren, Senator Fos­ter Ogola at an event in Yenagoa said the alleged move to return Alamieyeseigha to Britain wasn’t acceptable to their people. But the former governor died suddenly even as there is still no concrete evidence of the UK government officially asking for his extradition. Nevertheless, Senator Ogola who is the chairman of the Bayelsa State caucus in the National Assembly in­sists the man fondly called the Governor General of Ijaw nation was threatened with extradition. “The truth is that he was contacted. Our late brother was contacted by security operatives and he complained. That was from the point that we took it up”, the lawmaker disclosed. The outspo­ken senator in this interview with KEMI YESUFU also shares his opinion on the recent travails of another Izon personal­ity, former minister of Petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke who he argued was be­ing targeted by those “who don’t like the face of the Izon people”. He advised Pres­ident Muhammadu Buhari not to allow some of the people around him to create a gap between him and the Ijaws. He equal­ly talked about the chances of Governor Seriake Dickson at the forthcoming elec­tions. Excerpts:

Three days after you condemned the rumored move by the British government to extradite the former governor of your state, late DSP Alamieyeseigha over allegations of money laundering, he passed on. How did you feel when you heard the news of his death, especially as it is becoming clearer that Britain didn’t make a formal request for his extradition?

Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha’s death is a great shock to me. The Ijaw nation, Amasso­ma as a town, Bayelsa State and the Nigerian state has with his death lost a political colos­sus and a voice for the minorities. Here is a man who suffered incarceration, oppression and suppression for which he has ultimately paid for with his death. The truth is that he was contacted. Our late brother was contact­ed, by security operatives and he complained. That was from the point that we took it up. He is no more. But his death is a lesson for Nigeria. We in the Ijaw nation are currently experiencing a siege caused by circumstanc­es we didn’t create ourselves. We were given the leadership position in this country through the wishes of the people. It was the wish of the people for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to be elected president of Nigeria. Jonathan was indeed a president for all of Nigeria because there is nothing extra-ordinary in Bayelsa State to indicate that he did more for his state, than other parts of the country. There is noth­ing special in the life of the late Alamieyes­eigha to show that he was once the governor of Bayelsa State and this is why we do not understand why this political orchestration is being meted out on the Ijaw nation. We do not know why we should be the target of the political persecution we are experiencing.

How exactly is the political perse­cution being carried out against the Ijaws?

We are having the issue of Mrs. Dieza­ni Alison-Madueke. She is our daughter. In Bayelsa, there is nothing special to show that she was petroleum minister. So, I don’t why we should be the target of political orchestra­tion. In fact, the Governor General of the Ijaw nation (Alamieyeseigha) is no more simply because some people wanted him dead. Talking about the former minister, what peo­ple are saying in the Nigerian media is dif­ferent from what is on ground. We read how her lawyer explained what is really on ground in England, after things had been said about her. Why is the government zeroing in on only Izon ex-government officials? Maybe the next target will be Jonathan. Is this price people have to pay for keeping this country together? Is this price people have to pay for surrendering political power peacefully?

Are you saying Alison-Madueke is without blemish and should be left alone?

What we are saying is that, she is not the only former minister in Nigeria. Yesterday, it was Alamieyeseigha, today, it is Diezani. Tomorrow it could be another person. The first incarceration (of former government officials) started with Alamieyeseigha. How many other persons were so messed up? How can someone who was tried, sentenced and then pardoned be again called up for ex­tradition to be tried once more? But now he is dead. There is no replacement for a man like him.

Some observers are not given to the seeming politicisation of the late Alamieyeseigha’s death with the Bayelsa All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accusing each other of creating the circumstances that led to his death. The Bayelsa APC even said the major actors in the im­peachment and subsequent trial of the former governor are in the PDP, so should carry the blame in the real sense?

How can the PDP be involved in the move to extradite Chief Alamieyeseigha? What does the party stand to gain? What I am seeing from the actions and inactions of some peo­ple around President Muhammadu Buhari is that they want to push him into a political storm. You can see what is happening to Dei­zani is like a replay of what happened to our late brother. During the trial of Alamieyesei­gha, the same gang went around saying he disguised as a woman and all other things. But what happened in London was totally different to the things they said. This same gang is now the one repeating these injustice to the Izon nation and the president might not even know the things they get up to. But the president has to speak up because there are people around him who don’t love the face of the Izon nation.

Why do these people dislike the face of Izon people like you say?

Well, how else would you explain all the things that are happening? Is she (Diezani) the only former minister of petroleum in the history of Nigeria? In fact, the first petroleum minister to be hounded is Dan Etete. He had to be away from us for 17 years. We are tak­ing note of all these things. We’ve had others who personify the petroleum ministry but who has touched them? The corruption word wasn’t introduced under the Jonathan. It has been used since 1960. Corruption and nepo­tism were the reasons for the first coup.

Do you see the PDP re-strategis­ing for the December 5 governorship election in your state with the death of Chief Alamieyeseigha? This is be­cause he was a staunch supporter of your candidate?

Governor Dickson has postponed the kick-off of his campaigns in show of respect to the late Governor-General of the Izon nation. His death is a great minus. Nevertheless, the PDP will still emerge victorious. But again, I want to say that great injustice has been done to the Izon nation with the death of Alamieye­seigha and the federal government should investigate the origin of that new call for the extradition of our late brother.

You returned to what you think led to Chief Alamieyeseigha’s death and what you described as a gang up against your people. You may not also agree with varying com­mentaries that followed your former governor’s death. So how do you want him to be remembered?

We as Ijaws will always remember him fondly. He was the first great voice we had and we believe he was put through all he went through because he was Ijaw. He is defi­nitely going to be immortalised by Governor Dickson who prioritises the promotion of the Izon nation.

Talking about Dickson, who you unabashedly support, how would you rate his chances? Typical of governors seeking a second term, some have said they will vote for him, while others say they won’t, based on how his first term played out. With Dickson’s first term practi­cally completed, do you see the peo­ple handing him a second term?

Most sincerely, I see the people doing just that. I believe the people will analyse the Dickson administration fairly. Based on what the governor and we as the political party in power met on ground, which includes a huge debt profile coupled with dilapidated infra­structure and a state that was burdened with a high crime rate, he has done well. Dickson has turned the fortunes of Bayelsa around. This is in terms of basic infrastructure, insti­tutionalising governance through transparen­cy and accountability. Our state is the first by the instrument of legislation to have the gov­ernor come in front of the people to render account. We have institutionalised peace in Bayelsa though enacting laws one of which has made kidnapping carry a death sentence. Of course we have reformed our criminal justice in a way that it wouldn’t be the police that will condemn a kidnaper but the court. This is beside different youth empowerment schemes targeted at making crime unfash­ionable to the youth. We have also invest­ed in equipment, logistics and ICT on land and sea operations to be able to protect our people effectively. Again I would like to talk about how we have changed the face of Bayelsa by building roads upon roads, from the inter to intra-city road networks to the three senatorial roads in the state. I was one of those who as project manager and Director-General Works Directorate of the old Rivers State worked with the late Chief Melford Okilo to plan these three senatorial roads. I can tell you the different consultants that were engaged to design the roads and the bridges that were to be part of it. But the roads were on the drawing board from the 80s until Dickson came. It’s only the Sag­bama-Ekeremo Road that was started from the Sagbama end and it didn’t go beyond Sagbama before former Governor Okilo was removed by the Buhari coup. But today, we drive to Ofoni and by the end of the next dry season, we will be driving to Ekeremo. For the Yenagoa-Oporoma Road, we have also gone far with work to the point where the bridge will cross at Oporoma. Today the Nembe man can drive to his place. This same Yenagoa -Nembe Road was on the drawing board for years. The road was a jigsaw puz­zle but today people are driving to Nembe, people have stopped facing the problem of sea piracy. Former governor (Timipre) Sylva was on the saddle for five years and he even took a loan for building a road from Nembe to Brass Island. But he didn’t do it. Where is the money he borrowed? Dickson has con­nected more communities to the national grid even after taking roads to these communities. So, if the same person has built primary and secondary schools with modern amenities and teaching aids, as well make these school free even paying for WAEC and JAMB, I believe the people will reward him with their votes. Are we talking about the health centers the nooks and crannies of the state with re­ferral hospitals at the LGA level and the ter­tiary hospitals completed by the same man? Bayelsans will definitely come out to re-elect him. We have awarded scholarships to futur­istically develop the manpower of that state, those that will protect these investments we have made. I have confidence the people will return Gov. Dickson and the PDP. They are the ones who want him back. We want him to come back to complete many people ori­ented projects which he initiated and is daily working on to complete. Do you know that we have completed the runway of our car­go airport and in line with the people being the center of our projects have trained pilots, who will work in our airline? We are build­ing infrastructure and raising the people who will manage them.

So you don’t see Sylva posing a threat? Some say he is popular among those who attest to his gen­erosity and his empowerment of youths?

Sylva is no threat. People need to come to Bayelsa to see these things I have told you about and even many more. Do not be de­ceived, Sylva didn’t empower the youths in the real sense. He didn’t have empowerment programs that were beneficial to the people. He was generous as you say, yet the people rejected him. Dickson is frugal but there are many projects to show for his time in office. It is Dickson who has empowered youths in a sustainable and tangible manner that anyone can measure now and the future. How many scholarships did Sylva award and how many did Dickson award? The records are there, the people know it. So who do you think Bayelsans will pick among the two? It’s Dickson of course.

But the issue of scholarship is one that Dickson has been criticised for as much as has been commend­ed. There is talk that students are owed?

Yes some students are being owed but we also have those who have graduated and re­turned home. As the chairman of the Bayelsa Scholarship Board, I can tell you that stu­dents were awarded scholarships in an un­precedented manner and we didn’t have such complaints until allocations to states shrank and Bayelsa was greatly affected. Even the federal government was affected by the drop in revenue. So, what I am trying to tell you is how committed the Dickson administration is committed to empowering our youths. It’s our hope that things get better as we try our best to meet our obligations to our students. Like I told you many have since returned home after completing their courses. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the re­cords of what is owed, neither is government unwilling to pay them. We hope to do so as things improve.

Talking about the Senate, some have criticised PDP senators for how they supported the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki when he had to appear at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Not a few people wondered why senators like you from the opposition party followed Saraki to the tribunal, they even speculated the alliance is not for the benefit of the people and that it will be tested when it’s time to share committees.

The alliance as you have put it, wasn’t for personal benefits. It is actually about protecting the decision of members of the 8th senate to choose their leaders by them­selves. If you ask me, the fact that the senate leadership consists of the ruling party and the opposition meant that we would have peace in the senate. We chose these leaders by ourselves, it is our duty to do so and it is external interference that makes it look as if we have divisions. Again remember that the senate leadership is made of individuals who are first among equals. So what affects one affects all. When something happens to the Senate President and we choose to stand by him, people shouldn’t criticise us, like we don’t criticise those who choose not to sup­port him. We didn’t support the Senate Presi­dent simply because we are PDP or APC but because ours was the meeting of like minds who felt that this is the man we should back to become Senate President and we are him protecting afterwards. It is not about position­ing ourselves for committees. Mind you, it is the committee of selection that decides and not the Senate President alone who decides who goes to what committee.