What worked for Okowa | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News
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In the PDP presidential primaries, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike came second. Only the former Vice President Mr Atiku Abubakar beat him.
Ifeanyi Okowa He may have thought that if he was the most popular candidate from the South, getting to pick the vice presidential ticket would be something close to a walk in the park.Osagie Ehanire The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the bi-weekly Ministerial Press briefing on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the country.Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya (left); Governor Dapo Abiodun;Construction Manager, Craneburg Construction Company, Anthony Khoury and others during the inspection of the ongoing reconstruction work on Ilishan – Ago Iwoye road.Tunisian protesters lift national flags during a demonstration in the capital Tunis on June 19, 2022, against President Kais Saied and the upcoming July 25 constitutional referendum.
But politics being a game in which horse-trading, trickery, unanticipated factors, known and unknown issues come into play, the ride to the number two position of the party's presidential ticket turned out to be a ruse for Wike.And when the Vice Presidential Screening Committee headed by the PDP Deputy Chairman, Mr Umaru Damagun, put his name on top of the list after 13 of the 17 members of the committee voted in his favour, Wike may have thought that the ticket was in the bag.Following the announcement of the disbursement of the sum to the Ministry of Health for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Joint Committee scheduled a meeting with the Ministers of Finance and Health for clarifications on the funds.But it didn't happen.The governor, who stated this when he inspected the ongoing construction of the 25 kilometres Ilishan-Ago-Iwoye Road, said his government would repair or construct any road that would bring in more investors and enhance the economy of the state.Someone else, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State got the nod of the party and the presidential candidate of the party.On April 21, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari, directed the Minister of Health, to submit a progress report by the end of May 2022 on the indigenous production of vaccines in the country.Okowa received this white garment of honour dressed in a long white gown topping his gear with a red cap, the favourite cap of the Igbos.Earlier this month he sacked 57 judges, after accusing many of corruption and other crimes.
Wike must have had a dank feeling of being an unwanted man but it is not so."The country has been making use of donated vaccines," he said, indicating that Nigeria has learnt key lessons from the pandemic, including that countries must look inward for medical supplies and other health commodities."This Ilishan-Ago-Iwoye Road is a Federal Government road but it is one of the roads we feel that we should construct.Choosing a vice presidential candidate often comes with a battery of considerations such as the potential candidate's character and electoral asset or liability, strength of the party in his state or zone, his past utterances and actions on sensitive national issues, his religion, his knowledge of the economy, his friends and enemies etc.Most of these factors may have come into play when the PDP picked Okowa as the vice presidential candidate.We have the ones that the government has procured that we are yet to use.But even Okowa went through some withering scrutiny because a vice presidential candidate has to be chosen as carefully as an engagement ring so that he can complement the qualities of the presidential candidate."This road has been abandoned for about 12 to 16 years, thereby inflicting untold hardship on the people, and a lot of inconveniences to the students as well as affecting the economy of the communities along the road.His own ambition almost got scuttled by his political mentor, Chief James Ibori, former Governor of Delta State."So we have brought together all our experts, including the producers of vaccines and manufacturers to find a way to have the technology in case of future outbreaks.Rights groups have condemned Saied's firing earlier this month of the 57 judges as a "deep blow to judicial independence".
Ibori and Okowa had fought a bitter battle for the choice of a PDP governorship candidate for Delta State.Ibori's candidate was Mr David Edevbie while Okowa's choice was Mr Sheriff Oborevwort who is the Speaker of the State House of Assembly.The minister said that the Technical Working Group (TWG) on local vaccine manufacturing would pursue that avenue for research and development." He said that the poor condition of the road had in the past affected the people who are mainly farmers as their farm produce perished before reaching the markets.Okowa's candidate won with 590 votes to Edevbie's 113 votes.Ibori who was very supportive of Okowa's election even when he was in prison in the UK felt that Okowa should have reciprocated his gesture by allowing him to pick the party's governorship candidate.There is also research going on in different countries trying to find the same vaccines and Nigeria wants to be part of that research, such as development efforts.Okowa didn't think he should allow Ibori to pick his successor for him when he, Ibori, picked his own successor without anyone else's dictation.Though this road is a dual carriageway, we have constructed one lane to ensure that at least a journey that takes about one and a half hour is now 15 minutes.Sunday's protest came just days after flights were cancelled, public transport ground to a halt and government offices were closed in a nationwide strike by the UGTT that piled more pressure on the president.
As a way of pacifying Ibori, Okowa ensured that his daughter Erhiateke Ibori Suenu emerged as the party's candidate for Ethiope Federal Constituency for the House of Representatives." Speaking on Mr President's directive, Ehanire said the directive was given when the leadership of the Nigerian Integrated Biopharmaceuticals Industries Consortium, visited him to discuss vaccine manufacturing in the country.Ibori is a close friend of Mr Atiku Abubakar and if friends and well wishers had not intervened perhaps Okowa might not have succeeded.Some elders of the party such as Mr Babangida Aliyu, former Governor of Niger State, Mr Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State and Mr Uche Secondus, former National Chairman of the PDP who fell out recently with Wike also spoke to Ibori in favour of Okowa.NAN recalls that the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) had said "boosting local vaccine production will save lives, boost public health and strengthen the region's economy." Besides, the governor said that his administration had constructed Ijebu-Ode-Epe, Sagamu-Abeokuta and the ongoing construction of Atan-Lusada-Agbara roads, all of which belong to the Federal Government, saying that the roads are in line with the deliberate plan to ensure that development is equitably distributed to all parts of the state.Ibori's anger melted and that paved the way for Okowa's choice.Some of the governors who wanted someone with a long electoral antennae were unhappy with the snub of Wike by the decision makers.It added that the key to a successful local vaccine manufacturing was the market, which the region already has.Legislative elections are planned for December.
Some of them refused to attend the unveiling of Okowa.But it wasn't Okowa's fault that he got chosen."The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Preventive (Africa CDC and African Vaccines Manufacturing (PAVM)-Framework for Action meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda, from Dec.In every political contest there must be a winner and a loser(s).Wike's strength is that he is a radical to his fingertips." The member states have also aligned their national and regional policies and strategies around local production, noting that this would help economies of all sizes build synergies, share the workload and avoid costly duplication.His strength is that he believes belligerently what he believes.
That strength is also his weakness.In this article.He is a warrior, a no-mean warrior.When he fights, he does not pull punches.He fights to destroy the enemy and to win.Different groups in Rivers State have tasted a bit of his warrior's temper.
And when the IPOB fellows thought they could annex Rivers State as part of their territory Wike told them, "don't dare." Igbo leaders apparently thought that it was an exhibition of his hatred for the Igbos.They went to Port Harcourt to see the gadfly who told them that he has no problem with Igbo but the territory he governs is not part of Biafra.That brought the matter to a close.Mr Wike is not much loved by some Muslims who thought that by demolishing a mosque in Rivers State he did not want Muslims in his state.
But the reason for doing so seemed genuine apart from the fact that he also offered them an alternative site for the building of another mosque.Such gutsy demonstrations of principle are often likely to be misinterpreted by victims of such actions.The wounds may get healed eventually but the scars remain unerased for long.It was the belief by some northern leaders that if Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State did not step down for Atiku Abubakar during the presidential primaries, Wike was likely to defeat Atiku.That was why the northern leaders persuaded Tambuwal to drop his ambition and team up with Atiku so as to defeat Wike.
The perception of Wike by many politicians is that he wants to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral, that he is a domineering figure who wants to be the only cock that crows.That generates feelings of hatred towards him.And the situation is not helped by the sharpness of his tongue.It cuts people, friends and foes into pieces like a razor blade.That leads to some people perceiving him as being abrasive while others think he is someone who simply says what needs to be said at any given time.
Some of his opponents accuse him of being the one sponsoring crises in some states, a part of his empire-building strategy, crises in some states such as Edo, Cross River, Ebonyi, Delta and Anambra.This may or may not be true but those who wanted his head on a plate during the fight for the vice presidential slot used that piece of information to work against him.He was roundly perceived as arrogant.For such analysts the voting strength of Rivers State did not matter much.By the 2019 voter registration figures, Rivers State has 3,215,273 voters while Delta has 2,845,274, a difference of more than 300,000 voters.
Both men are from the South South, which is the backbone of the PDP in the South.They are both from significant oil producing communities, which constitute the country's cash cow.Picking a vice presidential candidate from there may likely ensure that there is little restiveness in the oil producing communities.That, in turn, will contribute to the stabilisation of the economy.Okowa brings to the ticket the image of a quiet achiever who is known as The Roadmaster in Delta because of his strides in infrastructure development.
He has built a harmonious relationship with the ethnic and religious groups, Christian and Muslim, which has guaranteed relative stability in the state.He is the chairman of the South South Governors Forum who has handled the affairs of the Forum with sagacity, even handedness and humility.Even though he is a respected medical doctor, a senator and a two-term Governor of a state he carries himself without airs but with unvarnished dignity and simplicity.Perhaps one of the reasons that worked in his favour was the fact that he straddles two zones of the country.While Delta State is one of the six South South States, he as an Igbo also enjoys the benefit of being from a place that speaks the same language as all the five states in the South East zone.
Igbos then have to make the decision to vote for either an Igbo man who is vice president of one of the two major parties or for an Igbo presidential candidate in one of the minor parties, that may not make any significant impact in the polls.That will be the choice to make: Okowa or Peter Obi.By the figures of registered voters (2019) South East has only 10,052,236 while the South South has 12,844,279.This low voting strength is perhaps one reason why the big parties have not given the South East a premium consideration in their calculations.Of the six geopolitical zones South East has the lowest voter registration figure.
So while fair-minded people ask for fairness and equity for the South East on the issue of presidency to the zone the politicians are largely interested in the voting numbers because it is numbers that win elections.Despite the choice of Okowa the PDP officials have some fence mending to do if they want to go into the elections next year like a united team.They need to pacify those who feel hurt by their choices of the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party.In this article.
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