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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