“It’s the candidate comes to see us that we will give our votes,” a woman at Ayambo waterfront told our Reporter, though she pleaded anonymity.

She said “that young man, Oko-Jumbo has come to meet with us. Since we started doing government in Bonny, I have not seen such”.

Ayambo Community is the headquarters of the Jumbo Major House of Grand Bonny Kingdom. It shares boundary with Aganya and Akiama Communities and boasts of the largest swathe of land on mainland Bonny.

Its Chairman, Godswill Jumbo, popularly called ‘Ekunyo’ and ‘Ambassador’, is a major stakeholder in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bonny LGA, with many believing he has the magic wand to make the party win again and again. It was to this community, Victor Oko-Jumbo, candidate of the PDP for House of Assembly resorted for consultations.

He has also visited Aganya, Orosikiri, Iwoama, Park, Sandfield, Akiama, Finima, and several others in the course of seeking the votes of the people. The non-indigenous communities such as Okrika, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Yoruba and Northern Communities, amongst several others, as well as the Organized Private Sector (OPS) where he has met with commercial motorcyclists and tertiary education staff, among others, were not left out in the grassroots engagement drive.

Not putting forward himself as elitist or assuming any airs, he has girded himself with the penchant for reaching out to the grassroots not consequent upon their bidding but as a function of his understanding of their importance and strategic role to the actualization of his ambition. This mental template has driven his drive to reach out. It is also trite to note that in all of these interactions, he has stayed away from the murky waters of political iconoclastism.

In reaching out, Oko-Jumbo, a former student union activist, educational rights advocate, youth role model and governance enthusiast, has made two key things his cardinal approach: beg for votes, promise nothing. He makes it clear that he is not entitled to the votes and his ambition is at the mercy of the electorates. He also opines that he cannot make promises when he does not have the wherewithal to deliver on them.

But he remains emphatic on his one essential promise that when elected into office, he will go round everywhere he has gone for vote seeking to now engage the people to agree on what expectations they have, do needs assessment, and agree on community and stakeholder-specific development template to work with.

To him, this would be definite in contemplation, actionable in implementation, measurable in delivery, and sustainable in the long run. Furthermore, he insists on a departure from the old paradigm of untenable, unrealistic and insincere promises of the political class. He is optimistic of winning the elections but he is also careful not to create wrong perceptions or balloonic hopes about himself in the minds of the people.

In building the groundworks for holding him accountable in diverse environments, Oko-Jumbo provides his audiences with his origins thus:

“My leaders, my name is Comrade Victor Oko-Jumbo, my father’s name is Owusibo Oko-Jumbo, my grandfather’s name is Kiriwari Oko-Jumbo; and I am the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, by God’s grace, in two months, I will represent us in the Rivers State House of Assembly Bonny State Constituency”.

In one statement, the PDP House of Assembly hopeful provides his hosts with an indemnity to his assurances of re-engaging after the battle is won at the ballot to chart a course of mutually agreed development template to transform their communities, living conditions and economic opportunities. To the discerning, this underscores a mindset and worldview that is intentionally accountable, deliberately responsible and forward looking in leadership aspiration.

Those who know him tell Kristina Reports that this budding politician comes with panache, purpose, personality and a performance-riddled past to distinguish himself in office if elected to represent Bonny Constituency in the hallowed blue chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly.