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Who Is Afraid Of Atiku Abubakar?


Recently the nation’s media space has been awash with news of the threat to the business interests of former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by some operatives of the Federal Government through one its agencies. Ordinarily, one would have looked the other way considering the fact that all arms of government and its agencies are allowed to carry out their activities in as much as it is within the limits of its scope of duties and the law governing the land but when the current efforts of those intimidating the business interests of the former vice president is put in focus especially as we move into the politics of another electioneering era, one is forced to suspect the current moves of the operatives of the Nigerian Ports Authourity NPA who are attempting to  harass the business interest of one Nigerian who has invested so much time and resources in the nation’s democratic and economic growth citing a spurious reason as complying to the Treasury Single Account TSA.  The question is why has it taken the NPA almost two years to bring the attention of INTELS SERVICES to complying with the TSA?
I may not know the Lamido Adamawa personally but I have become his fan due to his political pragmatism and his zeal towards ensuring that the country is reformed for the better. His political ideologies and tenacity to ensuring that they are brought to the fore front goes a long way to giving hope for a better Nigeria. We should not also lose focus of the fact that he has suffered to some extent due to his quest to make the country’s democracy work. We should recall his opposition to the third term bid of former president Olusegun Obasanjo as well as his victory at the Supreme Court which paved the way for a Vice President or Deputy Governor to stand their grounds against dictatorial Presidents or Governors without losing their office.
His investments into the nation’s economy which has witnessed a surge in employment for teeming Nigerian youths cannot also be emphasized. I had during the course of my duty visited his home state of Adamawa and can say with full equivocation that I have never seen an individual that has invested in his state the way he has done.
Not only in his home state has the former Vice President invested, he has also invested in the country as a whole especially in Rivers state where his investment in INTELS SERVICES is seen as the second highest employer of labour after the Rivers State government. It is unfortunate then that someone who despite not been from the Niger Delta region has invested in a venture that has impacted on the people of the region can be subjected to the level of harassment the way the Nigerian Ports Authourity NPA are wont to do by trying to portray INTELS SERVICES in a light that is not desirable.
As much as Nigerians are aware of the political undertones of the actions of the agency of the Federal Government that is trying to do the bidding of a particular individual who is bent on ruling the country at all cost despite not been popular, Nigerians consider such resort to arm-twisting  as despicable and a cheap and  atavistic politicking.
The people of the Niger Delta region will not fold their arms and watch with passivity while the person of Atiku Abubakar or his business interest is harassed just because he is seen as having a political aspiration that threatens that of others. The nation’s political firmament is wide enough for anybody to express interest in any political office without being intimidated. Attempting to quench the light of others out of fear or envy will not make the light of those engaging in such acts shine brighter.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has done so much by actions and words to endear himself not only to the people of the Niger Delta region but to the country at large. His position on restructuring is commendable as his position which paved the way for the granting of amnesty to the Niger Delta militants as well as the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs among others.
As much as I would not want to be seen to be blowing a vuvuzela for anybody, I want to urge Nigerians to realise that the country has gone past a situation whereby a person’s aspiration for office can be fizzled using the apparatus of government. Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan despite his perceived faults showed that anybody can aspire to any position without been intimidated or harassed. I want to implore the present administration in the country to also key into this modern way of playing politics by avoiding a situation whereby perceived political competitors or their investments are targets of harassment or intimidation. By this, the government will be making a statement that it is in line with the tenets of modernity and not archaic tendencies.


Comrade Nwokoma Messiah is the National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation NDRO

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