[allAfrica.com] [Bryant_Law_Group] Warri: Crisis Has Political Undertone - Ibori's Aide This Day (Lagos) INTERVIEW May 18, 2004 Posted to the web May 18, 2004 Warri The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Governor James Ibori of Delta State, Mr. Abel Oshevire in this interview with Jaiyeola Andrews, spoke on Ibori's many travails, the recent killing of seven oil workers in the state, the controversial councillorship tenure, the role of South-South zone in 2007, among other issues. Excerpts: There is this growing disenchantment among Deltans that after Ibori secured his second term tenure the level of development in the state has dropped drastically compared to his first four years in office. It is not true, nothing has dropped. Everything is on course, work is going on all over the state, what you might observe as a drop in the state activities is the fact that all the contracts that were awarded in the first four years which run into thousands of jobs, are now being completed. What is happening is that new contracts are not being awarded, except in special cases. Unless the situation warrants a new contract being awarded, what the government is doing is to try to complete thousands of jobs that were given out in the first four years of this administration. Because the government has vowed that it will never at the end of its tenure leave any job uncompleted, so, that is what is happening. I can assure you that by the end of this year to early next year, Deltans will see the difference, because most of the on-going jobs right now would have been completed. How true is this belief that Ibori's travails, especially the ex-convict saga is due to his agitation for resource control and fiscal federalism? Well, the problems that the governor is having, we want to give Glory to God. It is said that nothing happens to a man without God's knowledge, but we want to believe that God perhaps allow these things to happen to him for a purpose. But what I can tell you is that the governor will triumph, come out stronger and better off at the end of the day. We want to give glory to God that so far he has given the Governor the strength to withstand these problems. We are very certain that he will definitely come out better off. Well, many people believe that the governor is having problems because of his advocacy for justice, fair play and equal participation by all stakeholders in the Nigerian Project. I think he is doing the right thing all elected leaders should do none of them was elected to go to Abuja and sell-off the peoples rights, there are one or two governors who have traded off the birth right of their people, that is not supposed to be the case. But there are a few of them who have said rather than take a pot of porridge so as to sell off their people, they would rather stand by their people and fight for that which they elected them. People elected them so that they can better their lots, so that their lives can improve for the better. That is exactly what some of the governors are doing, but there are some people somewhere who do not like their guts for being vocal, for being out spoken and for asking for the rights of their people. But whether anyone likes it or not, at the end of the day, I believe that these people will triumph; good will always triumph over evil. It is just a matter of time. Has Ibori's travails erode his confidence in the Nigerian Judicial system? Definitely he has not, we have been winning our cases, and we do not have any cause to lose faith in the judiciary. It is the last hope of the common man. We believe in the integrity of the judiciary and so far we have no reason to have a change of heart. We give kudos to the men of the judiciary, they have been wonderful, and they have been steadfast in the face of all harassment and intimidation. They have given landmark judgements, we believe in them and that is why I have said that at the end of the day we will be vindicated. We will come out victorious and stronger for it. Though 2007 is far away, but prominent Deltans have been at a loggerhead over the senatorial districts that the governor of the state should go. That the central where Ibori comes from have had enough and it should either go to North or South senatorial districts. What is your comment on this? I think it is a bit too early for people to start agitating for that position for now. I think what is uppermost in the mind of the government and everybody now is how to ensure that the present government is assisted to deliver on its promise, to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Delta State. Right now that is what is uppermost in the minds of everybody, why are we talking about 2007 when we are just in 2004, we have a whole three years away from now. Who tells you that the man who is clamouring for whatever will live till then even? Let us get to the bridge and we will cross it, right now I think everybody's concern is how we can maximize the gains of the day for the benefit of our people. Deltans are hungry like all Nigerians and together if all put hands on deck, definitely I am sure we will help to improve the lots of the people. Ibori's administration is determined to bring about good projects that will improve the lots of the people, and I would enjoin all Deltans, be they politicians or whoever, to team up with the state government in whatever way and assist in achieving these objectives. Deltans cannot behave like the rest of Nigeria where we sacrifice merit for mediocrity. I want to believe that the best candidate at the end of the day should emerge from any part of the state. It is not the matter of who emerges, but it is the caliber of the person and the ability to deliver, that is where the emphasis should be placed. The recent killing of seven Oil workers including two Americans has raised a lot of dust. What is the state government doing about this? I am sure you are aware that the state government has been very concerned about the incident, it is quite a regrettable one and the government has so expressed its regret over it. We are doing everything possible, we are cooperating with the security agents, we are giving them all the assistance required to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act. The state government has been giving the security agents all the support so that they can better police, the state with the riverine areas inclusive. You will appreciate the fact that the terrain is quite difficult and we appreciate all that too, which is why the state government is committing so much money into security, infact, I will tell you that much of the state money go into security, this is what many people do not appreciate when they keep saying Delta State receives so much money and wonder where the money goes. They forget that the Warri crisis which is being handled solely by the state government, is costing us so much money, people keep saying that the Warri crisis is the responsibility of the Delta state government and they forget that when there is stoppage in oil production and the money is not coming in, it affects the country as a whole and not just Delta State alone. Ibori temporarily relocated to Warri in an attempt to bring lasting peace to the area, rather than the crisis to subside, it continues to escalate. What do you think is the way out of Warri crisis? Many people do not even understand what is going on in Warri; the Warri crisis is an occasional one. It is seasonal, let me put it that way and it is tied to politics. It is when we are having elections or political activities that the crises do erupt. I will not say that the governor has failed in his efforts at bringing peace to Warri; instead he has achieved a great measure of success. You will find that before we went to Warri, Warri was virtually burning and since we went, apart from this last-election where the crisis erupted again, Warri was very peaceful for about six months. That was due to the efforts of the Governor. You will find like I am saying that when it comes to election, an issue that affect the lives of the people, nobody wants to sit idle and watch his own rights being taken by somebody else. That is why people fight tooth and nail to be involved in the political decisions of their areas and this is what it is in Warri area. In Warri, we have a situation whereby a group wants to exclude others from the political affairs of the place, while other larger groups are saying no they must all be equal participants in the affairs of this area. That is what leads to the crisis in Warri and the government is rectifying it and that is why we did not have elections in the three local governments in Warri during the last local government election. The Government is waiting for such a time that there would be peace, that the atmosphere would be conducive for us to hold the election, when there will be no violence, there will not be killings, torching of houses. Government is waiting for such a time when we can have very peaceful conduct of the election in Warri. Whether anybody likes it or not, we have come to realize this and everybody must come to terms with this. So, it is not correct to say that the Governor's peace efforts in Warri have not achieved the desired results.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2004 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================