When his statement with the sobriquet, ‘Mr. Worldwide’ calling out everyone in Bonny Island to come out and protest today, Monday, June 6, 2020, not a few feathers were ruffled given the already tensed atmosphere in the area owing to the lockdown imposed by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, which had done two weeks already with any palliatives or cushioning measure in place. The intelligence gathering community, the security agencies, the Media and all other stakeholders began looking for him with a view to hearing what the issues are.

Victor Jumbo, also known as Mr. Worldwide, a native of Sangamabie Community in Bonny LGA was born May 27, 1995, obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political and Administrative Studies from the University of Port Harcourt, attended Brookstone School, Port Harcourt and Bonny National Grammar School, Bonny, is a former National President of National Union of Izon-Ibe (Ijaw) Students (NUIS) Worldwide, and currently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gigo’s Entertainment.

In this telephone interview with Kristina Reports Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Godswill Jumbo, Mr. Worldwide shed light on the issues that motivated the need for the protest, which called off late last night, proffered advice on the way forward, among other things. Enjoy the read:    

Kristina Reports: We saw the statement you issued last week about the protest that was supposed to hold on Monday, July 6, 2020, and we wanted to hear from you what the motivation is, what the agitation is all about, what are the issues that the protest will draw awareness to?

Mr. Worldwide: Okay, well, we are not just matching against the political lockdown that has befallen Bonny people. We are matching against the development that the state government has not brought to us. We are matching against the fabrication contract that will be taken to Lagos, if it has not been taken to Lagos already. We are matching against the bad water we drink, the ill treatment being given to us politically, and otherwise. So, it is not just about the lockdown, we are going to match against tomorrow, though the protest has been halted due to the assurance given to us that the lockdown will be lifted immediately the palliatives are being shared. I have made a post on social media concerning that also.

Now, which group is embarking on the protest? Is it just you and your friends or IYC, because we know you are a former National President of the Izon-Ibe students? Is it the Izon-Ibe students, is it the IYC, or is it a coalition of groups?

Yes, the groups, will I say the group came up because of this whole issue. It is the Concerned Citizens of Bonny, I made it clear there.

Over the years, the issue of protest, looking at it, sometimes you see results yielding from the protest, sometimes, it goes nowhere. But if we are to ask, is it like we don’t want you taking the fabrication to Lagos, we don’t want you to be vending unclean water to the residents of Bonny, we don’t want you to continue locking down Bonny people, and all of that, or is it that in the course of raising this awareness, there are also solutions you are proffering to this issues you are raising awareness about and what are the likely, if that is the case, what are the solutions you are proffering, as an alternative?

Well, the truth of the matter is this, all these things I have mentioned all goes out to one thing, that’s finance. And you will agree with me that Bonny has enough to finance all these problems we have without even waiting for the state or federal government. So, the problem is mismanagement and this is in a state where the LGA is not independent. So, these are the challenges we face. So, if the LGA could be independent or make use of the available resources they have, I think all this issues of no water, no light, no good road, no hospitals, abandoned projects will be taken care of. At least, we should have passed that level by now. So, I think the solution there is for them to use the finance they have, which we have enough to go round.

Now, from our findings, we think, we may be wrong, that you have close relationship with both the member representing Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, and the Chairman of Bonny LGA, who are key drivers of the system. But we want to know if you have leveraged that relationship to advance these solutions and ideas to them?

Yes Sir, you see when I visited Chairman, if you can check, I made a post then. I had an encounter with him, then I was still the president of the Izon-Ibe students association. Then, I outlined the issues at least if the bursary payment could be processed before the end of his tenure. He assured me that with time he is going to pay bursary. So, the free hostel, he is going to ensure that people pay close to nothing in those hostels. Technically, it should be free but let us have some kind of entitlements. Hon. Blessing Abinye Pepple has always been a friend, a brother and a senior colleague to me, which I also inform him of things I do and things I don’t do. But currently now, I don’t think that, this is not about me and them, it’s about the people.

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Since I came to Bonny here, I have been eating Akara, not because I want to eat Akara but because I want to support the seller, the seller I pregnant. So, it is this lockdown that has made her to be hawking from one house to another. So, it is not about my relationship with them, it is about what the people really want. And believe you me, you cannot fight a father, Like, you can’t tell a father you want to fight him and he says go ahead. I don’t know if you get what I’m saying. You have to do what you think is right and then also for him to call you, then you tell him ‘daddy, if I tell you, you for no allow me make I doam’. But believe you me, these guys are very, very good to me. The chairman is good to me, Abinye is ever, ever good to me.

Talking about independence of the LGA, actually, if you look at the funding profile of the local governments, are you aware that for almost a year now the local government has been receiving direct allocation from the Federal Government since the Executive Order that was issued by the President, which gives financial autonomy to the local governments, and since then, the allocation from the federation account is being credited directly to their accounts?

Yes, I’m aware of that but you should know that it is not it, actually, because till tomorrow, the LGA chairman can be suspended by his governor. So, why not actually give them that sense of true federalism, because even if you give him one million naira and the governor says ‘my friend David, give me nine hundred thousand naira’, he is going to give him because if he fails to release the money, my dear, he is going to be suspended and you and I will not do anything about it. So, you think the local governments are independent? They are still dependent on the state government.

So, they may have financial autonomy but they do not have political autonomy, that’s what you saying?

They don’t even have financial autonomy. The governor is still controlling them because when they even give them the money, they still make calculations and remit to the state government. So, everything is just a challenge in this country.

Your last words, what do you advise your colleagues, your fellow former and present students and then generally, the people, the students, the people, the Ijaw and other ethnic nationalities within Bonny, especially, in the face of this lockdown that is reading day 16 today?

Well, the truth of the matter is, I will be very frank with you, I will say the people are the problem. Until we learn to stand by our words and give these our leaders support, they will never and ever bring development to us. For example, Ambode, imagine the deputy governor of Lagos State voting against the governor because for once he wanted to live a different path from his godfathers. The people will still be the instrument of destruction when you try to follow them. So, I think Bonny people, in general, should just learn to stand on their word and let it be that they give our leaders assurance that come rain come shine they will stand with them. I think Bonny will go a long way when we start actualizing that fact.