PAINFUL BUT TRUE; WHY SENATOR OKOWA MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO GOVERN DELTA STATE

Fejiro Oliver

This is definitely going to come as a rude shock to Deltans knowing that the same man penning this has been at the forefront of the media campaign to see Senator Ifeanyi Okowa become the next governor of Delta State. But before you crucify me on why I have decided to let him go; do read further so that you will share my pains.

That I love Senator Okowa is not in doubt but I love Deltans and Delta state more and will protect them than a single individual. Deltans have rallied round me, believing almost all the reports and articles I have pen down since the election heat began on February 2014 and as much as my detractors tried to water down all I have written; they have all turned out to be true.

If anyone can write about Okowa and tell world why he should and should not be governor; I will be privileged to be among the few haven known him from the closet and not a distance. If I advocated that he is the best man to lead the State then, it doesn’t mean that I cannot change my stand when I see things go wrong. Now again, let this not be taken as a revenge for my name not appearing on that campaign list, for I will be at all the campaign rallies to bring live reports especially the ones that will not be reported to Deltans and Nigerians.

When Delta was christened ‘The Big Heart’, they certainly do not have a man called Okowa in heart. There is nothing big about Okowa’s heart apart from the fact that he has a heart big enough to accommodate everybody. Deltans cannot afford to have a leader who relates with everybody like we are all equal; neither can we risk having a governor that does not have the authority near that of a military man. If Delta must have a governor; having a man who has sponsored a coup before and led to the death of many people whose names shall be mentioned in subsequent write up will be apt. Okowa to me is too weak to govern Delta. Let me give you a scenario that happened during his formal declaration at Oshimili Arcade. I was among the very few allowed to go close to him and when I went there in the course of my duty and wanted to use a phone to snap him, his face was turned away. I tapped him and said, “Sir, I did like to snap you for uploading, please face me”. Pronto, he faced me and I snapped him with his wife. No, Deltans, what was expected of him was to have looked me angrily and barked at me for daring to ‘order’ him to face me for a common photo shot, but he didn’t which is definitely a sign of weakness to me and a big heart State cannot cope with such a man who is easy to talk to. Can we?

I’m not done yet Nigerians. A governor that promises prosperity is NOT the best bet for a State. How could Okowa promise to bring prosperity to everybody and therefore make all of us equal. Okowa fails to realize that all animals are born equal but some are more equal than the others prosperity is the surest way to differentiate such. His strong will to make all Deltans rich simply means that no big man can intimidate any person again since such a person will be minimally comfortable to secure a lawyer who will make the super rich man pay through his nose for unnecessary assault. Who wants that? Delta State will be better left in the hands of a shrewd businessman who will keep the wealth of the State safe and probably use it to run his insurance company while the citizens wallow in poverty. Yes, that is the kind of governor we need; a businessman that will not allow the wealth to flow around except to take it to his godfather in Bourdillion, Lagos State. Accept it or I force it down your throats, Okowa should not be allowed to govern with such prosperity mindset of his.

Is that all? No! They rumor that he has used me and dumped just as he has used others and dumped. Today I will open up on the truth that the Okowa I know truly use and abandon people to suffer. All his aides that I know I suffering. As a matter of fact, one of his most trusted aide, Hillary who is a brother and friend lives in a face me I face you house, with one jalopy he drives around Asaba. I pity him whenever I visit him in Asaba and have cause to give money to him to buy fuel in his push me I push you canoe he calls a car. That is a man who works with the Senator, used and dump. How about another friend and brother, Raymond who works for him? That one is a goner, a shadow of himself living in a mud house in Agbor and has no car to move around. Okowa has truly used and dumped them like he has always done and using me and dumping me should be no surprise to anybody; that is his lifestyle. Please do make serious inquiries about these two names I just mentioned and see how they are suffering working for Ekwueme. Hmm, there is one outsider called Eugene Uzum who is not a close aide but works in the campaign office; his suffering is worse that the two earlier mentioned. He comes to the office with slippers and each time the Senator sees him; he laughs. Funny right? But you can ask around. 

Have you seen Okowa at a close range before just once and the first time you see and tells him on how you were kidnap, he begins to say. “Really? Oh sorry I was not aware. But hope everything was done for you and the case over now?”. Weak and too sympathetic again. Can Deltans afford to have a man who feels the pain of every man like he has no pain of his own? We need a governor who is into Oil and Gas as well as insurance companies, wake up one day and sacks workers not Okowa. Call him (Okowa) and if he is with his phone he will pick or reply you via text message, but do so to the one who changes party every election year or the business tycoon and they will ignore you. We need men like that who ignores to become a governor, after all they are not born to solve human problem but business issues. More annoying is that fact that just once that he sees you; he  calls your name the next time he meet and even apologizes for not having time to spend with you. Apologise? Yes, Okowa does so; and this is not hearsay, he did it to me. What a governor to be who cannot just mind his business than look at peoples face and their names stick in his head. We do not want such a governor but men who will carry our wealth to Lagos and only remember dollar notes as well as how much they will remit to their godfathers monthly. We need a governor who will remember that his fish business is dead and needs to revive it with our collective wealth not the names of those he lead. Okowa is weak in this and should not be allowed near Unity House.

A State like ours does not need experience but neophytes who will learn the ropes from their masters in Ikoyi or Harvard Business School. Okowa defaults in this as he is too experienced to lead Delta and will be a man of his own, while also be loyal to his predecessor. Certainly, Deltans do not need Okowa, but a man who will take instructions from the Asiwaju himself or a man who will stay in office plotting revenge on how to prosecute past leaders while the four years passes away. Experience is not all needed to govern a State and this is what Okowa has but not right in a State like Delta. Experience in fish business, sponsoring coup and boardroom politics will be better or what do you think?

Deltans and Nigerians; I hope I have been able to convince you with these few points of man that Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa is not the best man to enter Dennis Osadebey House after all “ I grew up in an environment of jokes and sarcasm and puns. I talk that way, so I write that way”.(Allan Sloan)
These little things matter…

Fejiro Oliver, Editorial Board Chairman of Secrets Reporters, PR/Media Consultant and Human Rights Activist is also the Co-Convener of Coalition of Human Rights Defender (CHORD) and can be reached on +2348022050733, +2348160067613 (SMS ONLY) or secretsreporters@gmail.com. Engage him on twitter on @fejirooliver86