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| Wike |
"About Nyesom Wike
the former Minister for Education. Obviously I do not know enough of him to
form a correct opinion. However, I will ask him to advise his media people to
look at his image more seriously and carefully.The rumours being spread about him
especially his physical engagement with his opponents, etc are not palatable.
Hopefully these stories may not all be genuine or true but as a budding
politician he should look after his image so that he can prepare himself for
future political office but must forget the idea of becoming Rivers State
governor just now!"
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| Horsfall |
Chief Albert Horsfall, former
director-general, Department of State Services, DSS was the pioneer
director-general of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency renowned for his expertise
on security issues. Horsfall one of the most prominent statesmen from Rivers
State trained as a policeman and worked in the Special Branch of the police who
became part of the pioneer staff of the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation,
NSO which later translated into the DSS. Horsfall on retirement from the
security services became the pioneer chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing
Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC. As OMPADEC boss, Horsfall is remembered
for initiating the first Federal Government specialised intervention
infrastructure and other development programmes in the oil producing region and
employed the former lecturer, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as a staff of the
commission.
In this interview he canvasses for
the balancing of political offices in his native Rivers State, the security
challenges in the state and the country as a whole. Excerpts:
What are your comments on political
developments in Rivers State?
I should alert the nation and the
Rivers people in particular of the potential security dangers and the
socio-economic destabilization that may be about to happen in Rivers State in
the face of current political developments.
As has happened before, by being
docile and by trying not to engage in the realities of our situation, Rivers
people are sleep-walking into a state of disaster. We are being taken for
granted, once again.
Rivers people do not accept the
imposition of another mainland governorship candidate of the state by one of
the main political parties after sixteen years of governance by candidates from
the mainland. We therefore appeal, very strongly to all political parties to
present candidates from the riverine communities for the governorship race of
the state in 2015.
Will we forget so soon that between
year 2000 and 2002 the seeds of insecurity were deliberately and purposefully
sown and sponsored by top political players in the state? Assassins sponsored
by these groups and engineered through a serving police officer at that time
murdered a number of persons including Hon. Monday Ndor, etc. and thus drove
the state to a downward spiral of insecurity and instability. Fear descended on
the citizenry. This state of affairs caused me to issue my warning captioned
“STOP THIS MADNESS FORTHWITH in a press release to all Rivers people
sometime ago. I took various other actions to try to arrest the reckless drift
to insecurity in the state. Nevertheless and inspite of my little efforts, the
state of insecurity persisted and by 2003 assassinations and cult driven gang
warfare and gun fights were to be seen all over the state particularly in Port
Harcourt, the state capital! At the same time some top politicians had actually
sponsored and armed a number of young radicals who soon became “WAR LORDS”. We
know them.
And in fact, the weak institutions
and leadership in our polity have now promoted some of them to public
recognition and status! Meanwhile the series of unjustified killings and
destruction of properties including the destruction of oil and gas
installations, attack and kidnap of expatriates, etc. continued. All these
dangerous events continued to happen in Rivers State until 2007. In some cases
respected chiefs of communities, heads of war canoe houses, were brought to the
open, flogged and de-humanized by the so-called war lords, etc.
Thus from 2003 until about the end
of 2007 Rivers State was practically dead. My fellow Rivers men and women, boys
and girls, are we, once again, going to let ourselves to drift into this state
of anarchy and helplessness?
Chief are you speaking as a member
of the Peoples Democratic Party or of any other political party?
No. I serve only one platform, my
God, my conscience and the ordinary Rivers people.
The second thing is that I love the
youth. I have done most of my charitable activities and services in the
promotion of youth interest. I believe very strongly that the youth is the
future of any nation.
Rivers State is for all its people
and those others and there are numerous such others who have come to live and
work in it, the process that dates back to many decades. We all reside side by
side as fully integrated Rivers people. My vision and expectation is that we
keep it that way.
The various ethnic nationalities of
the Rivers State otherwise called the Rivers people have lived together in
co-operation and collaboration for centuries. They had had economic, cultural,
political and educational collaboration for that long. I am proud to say that I
am part of the expression of this socio-cultural process. I am linked by blood,
etc. with several parts of the state, mainland, riverine, including the Ikwerre
and Ogoni. My father’s first daughter is from Ogbogoro (Ikwerre), I finished
primary school in Emohua (Ikwerre), my family had linkages in Aluu and my nanny
who nursed me when I was a kid is from Ogoni, etc. So what I advocate today for
the riverine communities I will do so as a steward in the court of justice and
fairness, equally to protect the interest of any of the mainland communities.
Are you not afraid of your personal
security?
Yes there is glaring evidence that
those who are bent on using violence to serve political ends will stop at
nothing and will not hesitate to apply thuggery or violence to express
themselves. My answer to this question is very simple. ‘Those who live in glass
houses must not throw stones.’ Perhaps you have not heard the story – indeed a
fairy tale story that when my political convoy was attacked in Okrika in 2002 I
disappeared!
The next place, according to this
sweet story, that I resurfaced was in Israel. Have you not seen that I have
disappeared from the scene for about four weeks since September, 2014? Where
have I been? All over! Perhaps to consult with those – FBI, International Court
of Justice, MI6, etc. – who will deal decisively with anyone or group should
anyone be foolish enough to attempt violence against me.
In any case the law will say ‘buyers
beware’. And I will say to the fools that threaten violence, ‘beware’ – the
Horsfalls are a unique specie. Read their history and you will know that no
sane person attempts violence against them otherwise the consequences will be
too grave for such persons to bear.
Yes did they say that during a
funeral ceremony Dr. Peter Odili had said that I frustrated him from becoming
President of this country in 2007? Yes I did, and if he said so he is correct.
I did so because he was attempting to answer ‘my father’s’ name in his attempt
to become president on the platform old Eastern Nigeria. I regard Odili as my
personal friend.
I think he also regards me as his
friend in spite of our different political viewpoints in Nigerian politics. But
everybody who knows me will know that I will speak the truth as I see them. If
you ask me to comment on the performance of Dr. Odili as Governor of Rivers
State. I will not, because friends don’t run down friends. Let others do that.
But will you mind a comment on the
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan so far?
Again you asked me about President
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Jonathan is my kinsman. He came into
politics by accident. But no matter what anyone says about him and his
administration he has given democracy a new face in Nigeria especially in the
area of free speech and human rights. No past administration of this country
has given such opportunities and been tolerant of criticisms as his
administration has been. So I am sure people will vote for him not because they
like him as such but because they have found true expression of their
democratic views in his style of administration.
The former Minister of state for
Education, Mr Nyesom Wike appears to be the only mainland aspirant as you chose
to call it. Are you in anyway by all you have said, against his governorship
ambition?
Again you asked me about Nyesom Wike
the former Minister for Education. Obviously I do not know enough of him to
form a correct opinion. However, I will ask him to advise his media people to
look at his image more seriously and carefully.The rumours being spread about him
especially his physical engagement with his opponents, etc are not palatable.
Hopefully these stories may not all be genuine or true but as a budding
politician he should look after his image so that he can prepare himself for
future political office but must forget the idea of becoming Rivers State
governor just now!
Let me say in conclusion that the
Rivers people will not sacrifice their long cherished association and
collaboration and their need for peace and stability so that the selfish
interest of a few people may be satisfied. No. It shall never happen!
What is your reaction to the ongoing
challenge by Boko Haram against the nation?
In all fairness, Defence and
Security Services have not been particularly well managed. It seems at first
that the magnitude of the problem and the threat posed by Boko Haram had not
been well appreciated.
In my presentation as deputy
chairman of the security committee at the National Conference I did say we must
not go to sleep on this issue of Boko Haram, that it is a very serious threat.
Ideologically based security threats are not easily resolved, they are the most
complicated and difficult and we must look at them very critically and
carefully.
I did say that the issue of ISIS
which was not prominent then, was still building up, I had said that the
expression of extreme Islamism will have a bearing on Boko Haram activities.
What is happening now is that Boko Haram is being supplied or guided by these
extremist external elements and we have now got a real threat. How prepared we
are for the threat is the issue our defence and security forces should educate
Nigerians on.
I am afraid that some of the things
our defence chief in particular says are rather premature, he should not have
said them if they were not ready to say them.
Chibok girls
On the issue of the Chibok girls I
do not see why it is the Chief of Defence Staff, and not a politician who
should come out to say Nigeria had now agreed a cease fire with Boko Haram.
It’s a political issue, a politician
should have handled it and not the Chief of Defence Staff. It seems to us now
that at that stage they were only discussing the issue of cease fire, they had
agreed no cease fire it would appear because Boko Haram was still kidnapping,
killing and attacking. That is why I said the Defence and Security
services have got to get their acts ready.
The press in some ways too have not
helped much, they should consult with the defence and security. We are all
Nigerians, whether you are a press man or a soldier. What has confronted us
today via Boko Haram is a threat to our national integrity. Some portions
of Nigeria territory are being excised.
These people have expressed an aim
to take over, control, cease Nigerian territory, therefore undermining the
country’s territorial integrity. Something we must never, ever compromise as a
country. I am not in the position right now to really judge anybody. We now
really have a grave security threat on our hands.
Was the confab worth it in your
opinion as a conferee?
The confab was worth it. For the
first time government is acting on the confab matters.
There is also an implementation
committee (working) already on some of those issues which perhaps have to do
with executive actions. The decisions we made there were very far reaching. The
only thing we did not agree on was revenue sharing.
This is a strange federation where
we take money and spend that we did not work for. Everybody is depending on
this sharing. We discovered that there are natural resources in each of the
states capable of sustaining the economy. Because oil is freely mined.
source:Vanguard News
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