Just days after an official of the Siminalayi Fubara led administration announced his entrance into the race for the chairmanship position of Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State in the forthcoming local government elections in the State, another individual, Idaminim Hailsham has announced his aspiration with the assertion that he has what it takes to fix the LGA in 18 months.

Hailsham, a legal practitioner, activist, entrepreneur, and community development enthusiast, said this shortly after he was endorsed by a socio-political pressure group, the Bonny First Agenda, as well as other political groups to contest the upcoming Saturday, October 5, 2024 local government polls.

Announcing that “I’m fully SIMplified”, he stated that, going back memory lane, he has, in the past, championed several causes and held different positions both at the State and Local Government levels.

Some of his exploits include reviving the National Union of Bonny Students (NUBS) and subsequently becoming its National President; organizing alongside his executives the NUBS National Convention in 1990, as well as founding the Bonny Beach Club, which held sway in the early 1990s.

“I have done several notable things for Bonny Kingdom. Some of these include reviving the National Union of Bonny Students and becoming the National President of the body with distinguished personalities like Chief Benjamin Allison being part of my cabinet.”

“We also held our National Convention in 1990. One of our major achievements was the effort to build the Bonny Library.”

“I also later founded the Bonny Beach Club which held sway in the early 1990s. It brought an avenue for social interactions being first of its kind in Bonny.”

“As years rolled by, I, with the late Justice Alexander Jumbo, formed the Bonny Lawyers Forum in 1994 which I later became its Chairman.”

“Several years later, the body has achieved a lot within and outside its ranks. It had in the past issued several position papers on critical subjects affecting the Bonny Community. The last was during the body’s convention in 2015, when late Professor Howells Hart presented a paper which mirrored the decay in the Bonny educational sector.”

Checks by Kristina Reports also indicate that Mr. Hailsham had been twice Secretary to the Bonny Local Government Council, which, according those who know him, has afforded him an understanding of the intricacies of governance and the pains the people are facing.

Hailsham, who was also at a time, the Head of Legal Department in the now defunct Rivers State Road Traffic Management Authority (TIMARIV), is currently the Convener and Leader of the Bonny First Agenda.

According to the group, its focus, “as its name implies, is to drive the Bonny political, economic and social agenda to bring about the change we can see, touch and feel”.

“The Bonny Local Government Area has suffered a lot of neglect in the midst of plenty. If not for some good forces in the Kingdom, Bonny would have been on its knees.”

According to him, “Bonny can no longer wait to be given handouts, and be a copy and paste recipient community, waiting to be counted whilst we should be the ones doing the counting. This is unacceptable”.

“Bonny has what it takes to cause our own development. We are endowed with human and natural resources to make Bonny one of the most enviable, developed and peaceful places to live on earth.”

He stated that reinventing Bonny LGA and returning it to the path of progress and development, there has to be deliberate and definite plan of action and actionable decisions with a view to positively impacting the lives of the people, asserting that broadbased consensus and citizen participation was critical in this drive.

“To bring Bonny to the top, our plan to do so must be deliberate and intentional. We cannot be wasting resources in things that do not have direct positive economic impact on the people.”

“Stakeholders involvement should be priority. No one General goes to war alone and wins the war. The people must be part of their own development. We must choose a development module that is delivering on shared prosperity, not the winner takes it all syndrome.”

He announced that “a blueprint for the development of Bonny LGA is ready and is waiting for a buy-in by the people”.

“Having seen the massive support and the calls to join the race, and having fully consulted with my God, family, stakeholders and friends, I have decided to go into the race to change the narrative for our collective interest.”

“I do need the support of every well meaning Bonny people and the Bonny political family who desire genuine transformation of the Bonny Local Government Area.”

Idaminim Hailsham’s entrance into the race for the chairmanship of Bonny LGA automatically ups the ante and puts previous contenders under pressure given that permutations around the LGA suggests more entrants will emerge soon.