Bayelsa's unending war of attrition

By Akanimo Sampson,
Daily Independent, PH

The political future of Bayelsa State vis-a-vis the April elections is still uncertain. There is also a seeming uncertainty over the political fate of Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, as far as his re-election project is concerned. His media handlers have tried to put up a well-polished image despite the political disagreements surrounding the governor's re-election bid. There are still some unrepentant social forces, which want Alamieyeseigha dumped. The perceived deepening political antagonism in the state notwithstanding, the pro-establishment forces are battling to make the electorate believe that all is well with Alamieyeseigha's candidature.

For students of political science, politics is the act of the possible. For the well-informed, the essence of politics is to resolve issues that give rise to conflicts. But this seems lacking regarding the handling of the disturbing problems of the Niger Delta region. For instance, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the entire leadership of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) appear not to be applying this essence in dealing with the oil revenue problem of the region.

And so, in Bayelsa State, the uncertain political future of the PDP governor and the confusing political direction of the state, dim hopes on the prospects for a negotiated settlement of the alleged worsening political antagonism in that axis of the volatile Niger Delta. For instance, while the Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities of the Niger Delta (CEND) appears to be assiduously pushing for a negotiated non-violent transition in Bayelsa, the pro-second term bid insist on the governor or nobody else.

Freston Akpor, the governor's chief press secretary has denied the charge, it is being alleged that Alamieyeseigha, is quietly shopping for his replacement should opponents succeed in getting him disqualified. Akpor sees the allegation as a cheap blackmail.

The opposition within the PDP believes the music would soon be over for governor. They claimed that there were allegations of fraud against the re-election seeking governor. Alamieyeseigha has always emerged undented each time his opponents level allegation of corruption against him. But the Government House, Yenagoa, strategists see in the unending political war of attrition in Bayelsa, a well-oiled game plan by outside influences to whittle down the struggle of the Niger Delta People for justice. Alamieyeseigha, Chief James Ibori of Delta State, Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State, are generally seen as the arrow heads of the Niger Delta struggle. It seems the political strategy of the perceived enemies of the Niger Delta, is to organise crises for them to lose focus.

Alamieyeseigha is being fought on many fronts. While the governor engaged his attackers on the corruption front, the rebels' opened another front. This time, it is on Mr. Abel Ebifemowei, the transport officer in-charge of Government House and the governor's cousin. In Bayelsa, Ebifemowei is to Alamieyeseigha what Dr. Umaru Dikko was to President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic. The opposition sees the transport officer as the defacto governor of Bayelsa. It is being alleged that all political aides and staffers in Government House, pay homage to him in order to be in the good books of the embattled governor.

Mr. Famous Dakolo, an activist said that his organization was mediating in the crisis in order to ensure that it did not degenerate. Traitors of the Niger Delta cause are generally labelled as "vultures." The syndrome began in Ogoni with the murder of the Ogoni four. The murder culminated in the infamous military occupation of Ogoni and the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his Ogoni kinsmen.

Dakolo says the way the political heat is generated in Bayelsa, the coalition fears that it could degenerate to the "vulture syndrome." Hear him, "we have sufficient cause to fear that the deepening political acrimony in Bayelsa State could lead to the emergence of the vulture syndrome in the state with dire consequences as the mass of Ijaw youths are highly vexed."

The alleged moral decadence inside the Creek Haven, that is the Government House, Yenagoa, seems to be fuelling the anger of the youths. The Ijaw youths are alleging that it is common these days to find ladies of easy virtue in the seat of power during elaborate all-night parties. They are claiming that the trend is negatively affecting the youths especially the young ladies.

Another attacking line for Alamieyeseigha is his alleged visits to Egbesu shrine in Ajakurama, at Egbema in Edo State. It is being alleged that the re-election seeking governor went to the shrine of the Ijaw deity to acquire powers with which to perpetuate himself in office for the next four years. The response of Alamieyeseigha's media men is: "My brother, I think we have better things to respond to than waste our time on laughable matters. It may be that the intention of those who invented this story is to cause comic relief in the polity."

But the Pacifist Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities of the Niger Delta is not seeing the Egbesu affair as a comic relief matter. They claimed that the deity belongs to all Ijaw and stands for justice. The social forces in Bayelsa who are opposed to Alamieyeseigha's re-election politics are presently arguing that since the Egbesu culture was founded on the sacred principle of justice, all Egbesu priests in the Niger Delta should distance themselves from power seekers, who according to them are the "epitome of injustice."

It is however, sad that the unfolding politics of Bayelsa is not issue-oriented. What the watchers of the Niger Delta affairs expect from the governor's political adversaries is that they engage him on concrete issues and not on frivolous matters like the issue of religious faith.

On what agenda is Alamieyeseigha seeking re-election? What are his major verifiable achievements? Is the electorate satisfied with his stewardship? Who is Alamieyeseigha, a welfarist, conservative or moderate politician? Issues like these would more engaging than the trivial of wanting to stop him for stopping sake.

Bayelsa State is very strategic not only for the Ijaw ethnic nationality but for the entire Niger Delta struggle. The state is expected to provide leadership for the region. The state is expected to be the beacon of hope for the Niger Delta unity. All the evidences of decades of neglect, marginalisation, oppression, exploitation and repression in the Niger Delta abound in Bayelsa State. It follows therefore, that in some degree, Bayelsa should be the barometer for measuring the success of the PDP administration in redressing the injustice of the past.

Why has the Obasanjo administration found it so difficult to re-build Odi? Why has the PDP-controlled Federal Government not been able to pursue the development of the Niger Delta on the same pace the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, was pursued?

Rather than dissipate energy on unnecessary war of attrition in Bayelsa, the combatants should return to the drawing board and set a holistic agenda for the entire Niger Delta. The question that is presently begging for an answer is, what type of governors do the people of the Niger Delta need. Given the seeming exclusion of the region in the mainstream, what is expected of the political elite, is carving a new political direction for the religion.

On what conditions must the Niger Delta vote Obasanjo again? On what terms must Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), Ike Nwachukwu of National Democratic Party (NDP), Gani Fawehinmi of National Conscience Party (NCP) and the multitude of other presidential candidates be considered as the alternative to Obasanjo?

The larger Niger Delta community and watchers of Bayelsa politics, want to know from the opposition whether Alamieyeseigha is not a good ambassador of the PDP. They want to be reminded of the major source of attraction to the party in 1998/99. Why did Alamieyeseigha promise the state? Has he failed to deliver? In what areas?

So far, none of the political parties that are battling for power is offering a credible view point on the Niger Delta question. The Niger Delta is the Bayelsa question. It is the Akwa Ibom question, the Cross River question, the Delta question, the Edo question, the Rivers question. How has the region fared with the PDP these four years?

For now, both the opposition and the status quo in Bayelsa have so far shown profound intellectual laziness as far as the April elections are concerned. But the political war of attrition in Bayelsa, appears to be a war without cause. That war seems to be providing the enemy with the ammunition to infiltrate the Niger Delta the more.