Interview: Wike’s administration failed to define a bold vision for Rivers State – Dagogo-Jack


Gladys Nweke

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack has served as a one-time Commissioner for Works in Rivers State and Special Adviser on Energy Matters to the President.

In this interview with the engineer and politician, Beks as his close associates call him bares his mind on a number of issues. Here are some issues bothering the state and Niger Delta in general.

TPCN: The issue of restructuring appears to be uppermost in the minds of some Niger Delta leaders. This school of thought seems to think restructuring should be the major issue in this election. Do you agree?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: Yes. I’m in favour of fiscal & geopolitical restructuring of the country. This should be realized through honest national conversation not to be over politicized. The highlights of my take on my mode of restructuring are:
* 33 out of the 36 States are unviable. We should reconsolidate into clusters bigger than the current state sizes. Call them what you like but these shall become the federating units not the states.
* Federating units must have at least two major planks for driving their economy and generating a minimum threshold of IGR.
* Each unit shall have full federating powers and the federal government cannot accrue all resources to the federation account but each unit shall have its own negotiated sharing formula between the federal and the units. No uniform national salary system, etc.
* Units shall provide community security within its boundaries but federal police shall deal with cross-border and high crimes, etc
These are the most viable options for us.

TPCN: The Rivers State and its future should naturally be placed on the front burner as the political class prepares to engage the people. How would you rate Tonye Cole and his approach to issues?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: Being a stakeholder and a member of the leadership team behind his candidacy, I bear full responsibility for every measure or assessment given to his efforts and as you very well know, you and I have the instrumentality to vent views and drive suggestions where necessary. This is best done in the appropriate forum, you and I can also do a session when I’m in this week. The bottom line is that our team can’t afford to take our eyes off the real ball. The real ball is to get Wike out. Everything else pales into insignificance from where I stand.

TPCN: There has always been a desire by the Rivers people for some form of power rotation. At last, there is a Riverine candidate in the race on the platform of the APC. What is the current reaction of the Riverine people especially that of the Kalabari who have yet another candidate in the Accord Party, to the Cole ticket? If elections were to be held today in the Kalabari area, who between Cole and Dumo Lulu Briggs would have the upper hand?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: We have more than just the two gubernatorial candidates from the area albeit from lesser known /weaker parties. Aside the difficulty of making accurate crystal ball forecasts, I’m sure you know that elections are more between political parties/coalitions than about the flagbearers. The gravitas, the machinery and institutional leverage of each party are brought to bear. Using this template, I am convinced that our party candidate is the man to beat. Over diminishing the wike fight back factor and thinking it’s a fight between two riverine candidates will be a very fatal error.

TPCN: There is a raging controversy over the performance of the Wike’s administration. As the governor gets set to end his tenure, what is your impression of the Wike years?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: All the fundamentals of good governance and effective management of our state economy seriously diminished. Governance has been desecrated. Economy has been bleeding nonstop. His administration failed to define a bold vision for the State upon which his agenda is built. Accountability is a pariah word. His cabinet members are so diminished in status, authority and resources that many of them have zero visibility in their communities and the State. I’m truly afraid that another 4 years of this dispensation will push the economy of our State over the cliff.

TPCN: The presidential campaigns have picked up. The PDP and the APC have stormed the North West. Looking at the trend, has anything happened to make you think the PDP could stage a comeback?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: Politics is a game. Anything is possible in politics. Yet in the realm of analysis and projections, rational tools can be used. The truth is that the 2019 elections are APCs to lose. PDP was in office for 16 years & in fact the PDP today is a terrible caricature of the 1999 version and it’s not a vehicle for national service. It’s an amalgam of persons pulled together by the fear of Buhari’s second term. They have no binding & unifying philosophy such as anti-corruption which drives the APC brand. They’re badly wounded lions whose greed caused them to score an own goal in 2015. They’re very bitter. They are desperate to return to power. Nigerians have come to know them very well. In three years APC has proved commitment to serve the people. With less than one-third of the revenue which accrued to PDP, APC has shown promise. The fear of Buhari has reduced to some extent the looting of even serving PDP governors. Nigerians will vote to consolidate on the gains of the APC.

TPCN: As a follow-up, some Nigerians, including Governor Wike think it is time to allow the operation of State police. You seem to agree with this notion. Against this backdrop what do you think of Wike’s Neighbourhood Watch?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: Please let’s call a spade a spade. Restructuring is a wholesome reform. You cant pick and choose parts which interest you. The little I’ve heard from that Neighbourhood stuff drips all over with threats of increasing, not reducing the insecurity. Also there are clear political overtones with a proclivity to build a state-sponsored militia. Even if its object is positive, the timing stinks. For goodness sake, if this backfires guess whose children will be caught in the crossfire? The children of our poor citizens, not the children of these politicians who protect themselves with armoured personnel carriers and bulletproof cars. For a policy which will have a very wide-ranging impact on our lives as citizens, the processes followed to roll it out seem less than diligence.

TPCN: Finally, what advice do you have for Rivers people as they prepare to make valid choices through the use of their PVCs?

Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack: Rivers people are hurting. The household incomes of the working class have been declining on year to year in spite of billions collected every month from Abuja. Our civil service which used to be the mainstay of our economy is prostrate. Their workplace is smelling with no light, no working sanitary facilities. Migrated businesses have refused to return. Only mostly petty businesses remain. Tourism business which is one of the highest employers of labour is almost dead. Kidnaps and politically motivated murders continue unchecked. Are you telling me Rivers voters are not feeling the impact of the fast collapsing economy? I can tell you boldly that Rivers voters are waiting eagerly to change this hopeless direction.

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