For those who are conversant with the Kwankwasiya Movement in the South-South, the name Fubara Dagogo rings a bell. This upcoming politician who hails from Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State has etched his name in the struggle for political relevance for his people and good governance in the polity.

 

Dagogo, a believer in Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiya political school of thought, contested for the Rivers State House of Assembly seat to represent Bonny constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), albeit in Magnus Abe’s faction. In this interview with Kristina Reports publisher/editor-in-chief, Godswill Jumbo, and Port Harcourt correspondent, Kingba Jacks, he bares his mind on the challenges bedevilling Bonny’s political emancipation and proffers profound solutions on how Bonny Local Government Area can exit the political backstage it has found itself. Enjoy the excerpts:  

 

Kristina Reports: The 2019 general election just got concluded and in a few days’ time, the elected people, executive, legislature would be sworn in, what’s your assessment of the outcome of this recently concluded election?

 

Fubara Dagogo: I will only speak for Bonny because I know very well that Bonny election was peaceful. It’s one of the best elections. We all know very well that Bonny is a place where INEC needs to come down and observe our election because I know Bonny election. INEC need to come down to learn from it and also improve in general elections across the federation. First, I have to still congratulate Mr President, President Muhammadu Buhari, my president. Irrespective of the fact that he is a member of my political party, I have to congratulate him but I know there are areas which he needs to touch. You know, to us, the Bonny people in particular because I believe we are not going to take chances this time around because I believe this 2019 election was for the interest of Bonny people. It’s also going to be a stepping stone, a platform for the Bonny people to take advantage of their neglect. We all know, appointment has been made, let me start from my political party, APC, we have only one slot, in the national working committee occupied by His Excellency, (Oji) Ngofa as the National Organising Secretary of the party. He’s one of the sons of Rivers State and he’s capable to handle that position but, he was also appointed as an ambassador while there was still vacancy in that position. And that slot is for the interest of Rivers people. But later on we discovered that that same slot was also given to an Ogoni and I’m surprised that members of our political party that are from Bonny or even in Rivers State did not question why will an Ogoni man still go back to that same position.

 

It was a big negligence and an oversight but we later discovered that the NDDC board, was also constituted by the governing party which you know by law, when we later discovered that an Ogoni son was also appointed as an Executive Director, undermining other tribes in Rivers State, Bonny in particular. I believe that we in Bonny, we have paid our dues. We must stop being the “Oh yes” or “Master, Master” group, we must stop it. We all know in the governing party we have the likes of Magnus Abe, Tonye Cole, and others, what stops a Bonny man to go for that position or what stops even my party considering a Bonny man to go for that position. We have other political parties that Bonny people aspired but we later discovered that other tribes were considered to go for that slot. Fine, that’s what the leadership of that group wanted but the leadership of Bonny so long as I’m concerned, Bonny is one political party and that party is the interest of Bonny people. We are insisting that the next appointment in the NDDC must be a Bonny man, whether you are from APC or PDP. You must not be a member of any of the political party to be appointed. We are insisting that a Bonny son or daughter should be appointed as a member of that board because, we all know that the highest remittance comes from Bonny.

 

We have NLNG, we have companies that pay their dues to NDDC but we are not members of the board. So, the money that comes out from Bonny is being used to develop other areas. Look at the Ring Road in Bonny, it has not been, nothing has been done. They said it is NDDC project. Why? Is it abandoned because the Bonny people are not there? The interest of Bonny is not captured but the interest of Bonny is captured when there’s money. When it is time for the militants because we have what it takes? So, I am insisting that this government must engage or appoint a Bonny man as a board member, not just as a board member but as an executive director, finance, because Ogoni has served, Ikwerre has served, other areas have served, because we know very well that in Bonny we have all it takes across party lines.

 

So, are you saying that the NDDC is making no impact in Bonny Local Government, only because a Bonny son is not at the board of the NDDC?

 

No, that’s not it, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that, I’m insisting that a Bonny son or daughter should be appointed into the board of NDDC, not just as a member but an executive director so that those abandoned projects that have are sited in Bonny by NDDC would be accomplished. You and I know very well that the Bonny/Bomu road is coming and you know very well that in a few years to come, Bonny would be clustered and the only way to decongest Bonny is to make the villages accessible and the road that links them are done. We heard that this project, the Bonny Ring Road, have been awarded by NDDC for the past number of years, that road have been abandoned. So, we are insisting that we appreciate the effort of NDDC to award and abandon projects here in Bonny but we are insisting that the NDDC must, the federal government must, my party, the governing party must engage a Bonny son or daughter in that board as an  executive director, not just as a member.

 

You are also talking of the governorship. You talked about Magnus and Tonye Cole. Now considering when your party was deciding to field Tonye Cole as candidate, do you think Bonny sons were part of the decision making process that threw up Tonye Cole on the one side, and on this other side, the faction that threw up Magnus Abe? Do you think Bonny sons and daughters were also involved?

 

So, long as I’m concerned, what happened in the last election is still a slap to the Bonny people. The candidates that were brought out by both factions, because I knew very well the origin of the problem and I know very well the factions that brought these candidates. The candidates are okay but it was still that neglect of Bonny not being considered.

 

But can you say Bonny was neglected when there were leaders of the party from Bonny who were part of the decision making process?

 

It is the leaders of those groups that would be blamed because the position I am taking now is a wake-up call whether you are PDP or APC or DPP or any political party, irrespective of your political inclination, the Bonny cause should be our number one cause. I am happy that what happened in the last election has kept us this way and had it been it didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have known, we wouldn’t have woken up. That is why we are insisting that what happened in the last election is a wake-up call for the interest of Bonny because whether I’m in the governing party or not, whether you are in the PDP or not, whether you are in the governing party or not, the interest of Bonny should be paramount.

 

Do you think the people of Bonny on their own are ready to go for the governorship of Rivers State?

 

Like I said, 2023 is gonna be a test case for Rivers State, except they don’t want any vote to come out from Bonny. And we will make sure that one vote, INEC will take their paper the way it came and that’s it. They will return it back because any son or daughter or any person that comes out and votes in Bonny, in fact, there will be no election in Bonny if a Bonny person was not considered to be a governor. There will be no election in Bonny because Bonny was not considered to fill up that number one seat in the state.

 

Now when you say Bonny was not considered…on the 23rd of February when the presidential election held there was no election in Bonny but…

 

No, I’m talking about the election in 2023. There will be no election in Bonny.

 

So, you think if there is no election in Bonny, the impact will be significant enough to affect the governorship election in Rivers State?

 

Whoever that wants our support should, first of all, engage us. You must engage us else there will be no election in Bonny, no campaigns in Bonny because whoever that will come to Bonny to campaign is coming to campaign for the Bonny candidate. Whoever that will come to Bonny to campaign will come and campaign for the Bonny candidate. If you are not coming to campaign for the Bonny candidate, irrespective of the candidate’s political party, because in 2023 we are going to move out with one voice. In Bonny, we are going to move out with one voice whether you are PDP or not, I’m happy Governor Wike is not coming back for 3rd tenure. I’m happy the whole drama that happened in Port Harcourt will not happen again. I’m happy that 2023 election is going to be fresh and it is on that ground I’m insisting that the PDP must field a Bonny candidate, my party, APC, must field a Bonny candidate or Bonny will field their candidate by themselves and it must be a Bonny candidate.

 

Now, have you considered that a community or any part of Nigeria producing a governor is not just about making threats, it is not just about boycotting elections but about creating linkages with other communities to be able to build a broad-based collaboration, partnership and understanding to be able to deliver the supposed candidate you want to field. Have you considered that?

 

It is very simple, the riverine Bonny candidate will pick an upland candidate as a running mate. So, the Bonny people will canvass for their interest.

 

Have they started doing that?

 

We have started, and that is why this press interview is being granted. We have started. There are meetings going round as I speak to you and that’s why I’m in Bonny. It’s gonna be a wake-up call because we have enormous potentials here. Going back in Edward’s leadership, we have them a lot. Abacha, Cyril Hart, Charles Jumbo, Kalada Elliot, Larry Pepple, Amaopusenibo Randolph (Brown), we have them in bulk, if they don’t come out to indicate their interest, we will make sure there is no election in Bonny. And whatever they come out to contest for that is not the governorship interest, they should forget about it in Bonny because it’s gonna be a wake-up call in 2023. If Awarra can be a candidate of a major political party, what stops Bonny not to present a candidate on the platform of a major and other political parties? Look, it’s gonna be a revolution.

 

People who will read about this interview will be worried viz-a-viz the recurrent challenges facing the Bonny people. Some people might be wondering that Bonny is host to economic behemoths such as Shell, NLNG, Chevron, Mobil, and all of that and yet, they are being short-changed internally and otherwise. You just mentioned the NDDC and the NDDC draws three per cent of the revenue accruals of the multinationals in Bonny and yet the NDDC is not doing anything about Bonny. Then, the Bonny River, which is the major economic in-road into the southern economic hub of Nigeria, is being challenged by sea pirates and nothing has been done to effectively checkmate it. It is happening like almost every time. These are challenges. Then, Bonny Kingdom, as a whole, you can see the development challenges, Bonny does not have any standard road anywhere and other development indices are not there. Won’t people be wondering if Bonny has not been able to manage its own situations by itself, how is Bonny going to be able to stand its ground when it comes to 2023?

 

It was a deliberate attempt to dislodge Bonny not to stand its ground. That is why we are insisting that 2023 is gonna be a wake-up call. If you are the only man that is not blind in the midst of blind people and you are the one leading the road, won’t the blind people drag you down to hold you to show them the way? It will slow you, abi? So, we are insisting that since we are the only ones among the multitude that has all it takes in Bonny, we have to go for it. I know very well that if Bonny is given the opportunity, not even the opportunity, if we take part, to take charge in the number one seat of the state, the security menace that is happening here will reduce. If the Bonny have members in the National Assembly, in the Senate, it will be reduced. The local government cannot tackle it alone. It requires the State’s presence. So, we are insisting that since we have understood their tactics to dislodge Bonny, to make Bonny irrelevant in anything that is going on in the State, undermining even what we have to make sure that we suffer that’s why in 2023, we are insisting that we must produce a governorship candidate. Anything out of that, there will be no election in Bonny and anybody that comes out to vote…in fact, there will be no election in Bonny. We, the Bonny people, we have decided to come up with one voice. We are tired, we have understood their tactics how to dislodge us. That is why people like me and others, even the chairman, we must come out and we must speak with one voice, irrespective of our political party or whatever we call ourselves, we must come out and anybody in Bonny that opposes it, that person will fail.

 

But don’t you think that sounding combative on this issue would hav security implications on the polity?

 

I’m very sorry, I’m very very sorry if you sound that way because the reason why this town is this way is because our brothers and sisters are being used to upturn the progress of this island, to upturn the interest of Bonny globally. So, it is high time for the Bonny people to wake up and stand firmly. It’s gonna be a battle for the interest of Bonny people. They named the NDDC after (Chief Harold) Dappa Biriye but no Bonny person is there. Dapabiriye is dead. No Bonny person is there. Tomorrow when you are no longer there, your media station will die. So, we need continuity. We don’t have any other person that speaks for the interest of Bonny. Yes, the Chief Council are trying but it is not enough. The political class must wake up. The leaders of respective support groups in the political class must wake up. They must wake up and insist on the interest of Bonny. I have to commend His Royal Majesty for calling the political class on what happened in the last election. But I know it won’t happen again. But if that will happen, it is when we don’t produce a candidate as Bonny people. So, I’m insisting that PDP must produce a candidate, APC must produce a candidate, or we come together and produce one candidate and let them join us. They say we are minority but the Opobo, are we more minority than them? But they produced a candidate in the APC, Dakuku Peterside. So, what are we saying? But I know in 2023 it is going to be a battle to the finish because that battle will be the battle for the interest of Bonny people. The Minister should also understand that the ministerial appointment should also go round. If Bonny people are not considered for governorship candidate to fly the ticket, they should also be considered to be a minister. We are equal to the task. Ministerial appointment is not a household or traditional kingship. It must circulate. Yes, he has tried but I’m using this medium to insist that it must go round so that every local government in the state must feel the impact. That is why we are also insisting that the PDP should allow Bonny people to produce a candidate. The APC, already we are there, we will insist or there will be no APC.