As a show of solidarity and support, Friends of Onimi Kabaka Brown, a frontline aspirant for the Bonny Constituency seat in the Rivers State House of Assembly, have raised N15 million to purchase his nomination form.

Spokesperson of the group, Dr Nimi Sunju Allison announced this in a telephone interview with Kristina Reports on Thursday, April 21, 2022, shortly after their meeting in Port Harcourt.

He said this gesture was predicated on the fact that Kabaka Brown was a saleable candidate, who possesses the right qualities and competences to responsibly and resourcefully represent the people of Bonny Local Government Area at the Rivers State House of Assembly.

He stressed that their friend’s “ambition was a worthy cause to support with all we have and we’re definite and decided on this one to see it through. We urge the delegates of the APC to make the right call on this occasion to redefine legislative representation and value addition through parliamentary performance”.

“In our estimation, our friend, Onimi Kabaka Brown fits the bill to help the APC realize its objective of winning the House of Assembly seat come 2023.

“He is young, intelligent, versatile, affable, and a people’s person, one that is well acceptable across the various political, traditional and ideological cleavages of the Bonny society.”  

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bonny LGA is already firming up plans to wrest the Bonny Constituency seat from the clutches of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had occupied since 2015.

Also speaking, Abiye Graham Douglas and Marcel Owhonda, who had been long-time friends of Onimi Kabaka Brown for over 25 years and do business in Bonny, also corroborated Dr Allison’s position, emphasizing that “our friend is well loved in Bonny and his antecedents speak volumes whenever he is called upon to serve his people”.

“It is on this premise, we decided to come together yesterday evening to raise funds and support our friend to run for the Bonny Constituency seat.”

They used the opportunity to express their appreciation to their colleagues in Nigeria and the Diaspora for their show of love and loyalty to friendship, stressing that “this is our project”.

“We’ll support him all the way through the primaries, which we know he will win and the General Elections by God’s grace. Onimi is the Bridge, he connects.”

Others who attended informed that the show of love was massive, as friends of Onimi Kabaka Brown from all over the world, United Kingdom, United States, among others, including old classmates from Bereton College and the University of Port Harcourt, were all involved. Those outside Port Harcourt and in the Diaspora joined via Zoom Conferencing.

Onimi Kabaka Brown, a scion of international music sensation and Highlife Music legend and guitar virtuoso, Easy Kabaka Brown, who put Bonny Island on the world map through his Jazz music, is an alumnus of famous educational institutions such as the Bonny Government School, Bonny; Bereton College, Port Harcourt; University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State; and Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos State.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Computer Science from the University of Port Harcourt, Choba, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Lagos State University (LASU), and was a former Chief Whip of the 7th Bonny Legislative Assembly. 

A staunch believer in the potentials of youths, having served as a Director of Socials and Community Development in the Bonny Kingdom Development Committee (BKDC) for two years representing Bonny youths, where his leadership acumen and negotiating skills saw to the initiation of the NLNG/Maritime Academy, Oron Scholarship for Bonny indigenes, which was his brainchild, after several strategic interface meetings with relevant stakeholders.