Since some patriotic
Rivers people engaged in a peace walk in support of the presence of the Special
Armed Robbery Squad in the state, there have been a barrage of tirades against
the action of those that staged the walk. The walk which witnessd thelikes of
Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs, Tonye Princewill, Asita Asita amongst others ruffled a
lot of feathers within the Peoples democratic Party in the state.
I may understand the
divergent views which both the pro SARS and anti SARS components may have
regarding the presence of the security outfit in the state and the country at large but what has continued to beat my
imagination as a Rivers son who has the state at heart is the resort to
attacking the personality of some of those involved in the walk. These attacks
especially on the person of Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs has become so fiendish as it
has become stupid and somewhat threatening.
One of the ways in
which the anti SARS components led by the Peoples Democratic Party e rats has
employed in their bid to evoke negative propaganda against Chief Dumo Lilu
Briggs is to paint him as a man of double standards who donated ten thousand
dollars to His Royal Majesty Ateke Tom prior to his coronation only to shun the
coronation and turn around to sponsor protesters to cast aspersion on the paramount ruler of Okochiri Kingdom. As much
as I may not want to be seen to be political in the whole issue surrounding the
rally, I want to state unequivocally that the Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs I know
will never support any person of group of persons to criminalise the person of
Ateke Tom or any Rivers man who has worked hard to achieve in his or her
endeavour on banners or the pages of newspapers.
I have repeatedly
watched the picture that purportedly implied that a section of the protesters vilified
the person of Ateke Tom by displaying that the Rivers State Governor was
promoting criminals to royal stools and have discovered that there was no where
Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs was seen holding any banner or was in the midst of those
holding banners to demean the person of King Ateke Tom. I am forced to wonder
then who are really those behind the ostensibly provocative banner and those
who seem to be happy to see Dumo been linked to the banner at all cost.
I have read the
reactions to the pro SARS protest and one which was allegedly made by King
Ateke Tom himself and must stress that the attack on Dumo Lulu Briggs is
misplaced and should be directed at those who should be held culpable of trying
to twist the intelligence of Rivers people for their selfish gain. I was part
of the Pro SARS walk and as we engaged on the walk that day, there was no point in time Chief Dumo Lulu
Briggs asked us or anybody present to castigate King Ateke Tom or anybody or
ethnic group for that matter. He was only against the resort to violence by
those calling for the scrapping of the Special Anti Robbery Squad also known as
SARS.
Chief Dumo's clarion
call for the restoration of adequate security in the state did not start
overnight. He raised his voice even when he was a leading member of the Peoples
Democratic Party PDP especially when the Wike faction of the party was clearly
using violence against Rivers people in order to ensure that they win the
primaries and the subsequent general election through intimidation. So to
insinuate today that all the patriotic actions of the Abonnema born Chief is
aimed at doing the bidding of Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi is to state the least
most childish and ingenious.
Chief Dumo is only
doing what he has done over the years which is to condemn evil something that
the present administration in the state has failed to tackle and seem to be
comfortable with. I don't think this
resort to propaganda against him will make him soft pedal in his quest to free
our dear state from the crutches of evil which it is wallowing today. It will
rather increase his resolve to promote good governance and security in the
state.
To King Ateke Tom the
Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom my advice is that he remain apolitical as he has
been over the years. Many people will come to him with various stories against
illustrious Rivers sons with aspirations to revive the state. He should learn
to be a true traditional leader by deciphering lies from truths. Chief Dumo
Lulu Briggs is a true Ijaw son who will never disparage any Ijaw leader no matter how small the
person may be. He has utmost respect for constituted authourity and as a lawyer
will never criminalise anybody who has never been convicted by any court of
law. He also will not say he will abandon the party which he has urged Rivers
people to join nor will he abandon the principles of the party to pacify evildoers.
His resolve is to liberate the state and no resort to cheap propaganda from the
PDP media will deter him.
The truth is that
Rivers state must be liberated no matter what evil doers in the state think do
or plan. There is no going back on the project and it behoves all Rivers sons
irrespective of the dichotomy that is created to join hands in the project of
making Rivers state better.
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