A New Dawn—the Way to Excellence
K-PAC Endorses Tonye Princewill for Rivers State Governor
By Kalabari Political Action Committee, USA Inc.
After EIGHT years of
the new Nigerian democratic dispensation in which
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won a landslide
victory in Rivers State, come Saturday, April 14,
2007 the people of Rivers State, among other
Nigerians, will again go to the polls to cast their
vote for a State governor and for members of the
State House of Assembly. There is obvious anxiety in
Rivers State; the people have apprehensions about
whether the election will be free and fair. They
wonder whether their votes will be counted as cast,
or whether the 2003 “Carry Go” will be repeated by
the current government in power.
We of the Kalabari Political Action Committee, USA
(K-PAC) firmly hope that the Independent National
Election Commission (INEC) plans to hold fair and
honest elections and will show respect for the
voters’ mandate. In this spirit, after careful
analysis of the issues involved in this election,
K-PAC endorses Tonye Princewill of the Action
Congress for Governor.
K-PAC arrived at its decision to endorse Candidate
Tonye Princewill by considering various measures of
suitability for the governorship. Our organization
considered and analyzed information from various
sources, including:
- Press
releases by the candidates in the national
dailies
- Candidates’
manifestoes made available to K-PAC for
review
- Personal
interviews
-
Tele-conference question-and-answer sessions
with the candidates
Specifically, the
following factors weighed heavily in our
evaluations of the candidates:
- willingness
to institute systems-based management of
resources
- contract
monitoring in community development
- commitment
to community issues and their expressed
desire to form
partnerships with local communities
- personal
qualities, including perceived personal
integrity and honesty
- development
orientation and his ability and willingness
to
formulate policies aimed at eradicating mass
poverty, deprivation and neglect among the
people of Rivers State
- candidates’
proposals for alleviating unemployment among
our youths
- candidates’
credibility in terms of plans for
instituting trust in government by
checking waste and mismanagement of public
funds
- commitment
to fighting against continued pollution and
environmental
degradation of our farmlands, fisheries
resources, rivers and waterways
- candidates’
perceived competency and capacity to perform
with distinction the
duties of the office of Governor
- candidates’
clearly expressed commitment to pursue good
governance and
transparency, and to protect democratic
liberties and human rights.
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Tonye Princewill ranked high on all these measures and this is the reason this relatively new-comer to the Rivers State political scene—this new broom—deserves K-PAC’s endorsement.
The Character of
the Man
The content of the political character of candidates for
office can be gleaned from their utterances in
interviews and press releases and from their day-to-day
activities. These form the basis for critical
evaluations of their performance potentials. From
personal interviews, tele-conference appearances and his
sincere declarations, the Action Congress gubernatorial
candidate, Tonye Princewill has shown a commitment to
selflessness and personal sacrifice in service to the
community. In this sense, he is a clear embodiment of
the idea of the young United States president, John F.
Kennedy, when he urged, “Ask not what your country can
do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” In
today’s Nigerian politics, this is the attitude we need;
continued looting of our resources will get us nowhere.
The Opposition PDP Record
The PDP record for the past eight years has been dismal.
After EIGHT years of incompetent government, with a
recorded allocation of 1.63 trillion naira from the
Federal Government, the Rivers man still has nothing to
show for it. In the past eight years, the personal
interest of the ‘reigning’ governor has superseded the
interest of the people; party loyalty, not good service
to the people and good stewardship of the peoples’
resources and the state infrastructure commands
recognition. As a result, we are faced with a citizenry
suffering from neglect, poverty, insecurity, and iron
clad fascism, and those who dare to protest are called
‘terrorists.’ Today in Rivers State, education is but a
dream, potable drinking water is a mere thought, and the
independent power generation scheme (IPP), commissioned
and re-commissioned time and time again, brings Rivers
State citizens no closer to a reliable supply of
electricity; in fact, it has turned out to be more of a
contract awards bonanza to non-indigenes than a relief
to our burdened people. Decayed infrastructure and total
disenfranchisement is the order of the day in the state.
To the ordinary Rivers man and woman, the question must
be: Are you better off today than you were eight years
ago? The answer has to be a resounding NO! Do we want a
continuation of this rotten order for another four,
eight years? The answer, again, has to be a resounding
NO! So, we must urge all Rivers State people to seek new
solutions, not the same old tired kleptocracy. The
solution is simple: VOTE for the Action Congress (AC).
The PDP record of rundown state institutions abounds in
all communities of the Rivers State. Heretofore
nationally known institutions of learning, such as
Baptist High School, KNC, ACMGS, County Grammar School,
Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Okrika
Grammar School, Nyemoni Grammar School, and all other
once proud schools all over Ogoniland, Ikwerre, Ahoada,
Bonny, etc., are but shells of their former selves,
abandoned to decay and decrepitude. All are in total
disrepair and lack the necessary tools to train the
future leaders of our State. The PDP government of the
state has treated the state treasury as their private
enterprise. This government in the last 8 years has
driven our ship of state onto the rocks.
The same people who looted our treasury with abandon
have now handpicked their kind successor (birds of
identical plumage flock together!) to continue the
deprivation of the Rivers people. He will surely
continue the past pattern of abuse of office because he
has not distanced himself from the woes that have been
visited on the citizenry for the past eight years. He is
a product of that “Carry-Go” system. He had an
opportunity to debate Tonye Princewill to articulate his
views, if different from the prevailing disastrous
scheme of things; he passed it up. K-PAC gave the PDP
flag-bearer an opportunity (as it did the other
candidates) to sell his ideas and to explain what he
proposed to do to improve the condition of the people,
if elected. He declined. What is he afraid of?
In contrast, the AC candidate has shown a commitment to
stand up to save Rivers State and to show respect for
law and order. There will be absolutely NO LOOTING under
his administration. The contrast could not be more
stark.
The so-called PDP candidate did not purchase a form or
in any shape express his intent to run for the
governorship of Rivers State. Yet, he is the flag bearer
for PDP in the state. The PDP candidate has ignored the
ruling of the Courts that his name be removed from the
ballot. PDP’s response to the court order is expulsion
of the proper candidate for their party. Why – how dare
he agree with the Rivers people that they have suffered
too long under PDP. He continues in the tradition of the
PDP governor and his party in showing total disregard
for the law of the land. PDP governments--at both the
state and at the federal levels--have disobeyed numerous
court orders as though they are above the law. The
people of Rivers State are people with a sense of
history and understand that we cannot as a society
continue in this manner whereby the leadership places
itself above the law. When we allow the law to be
supreme, we become a society of civil temperament. When
the people of Rivers State vote for those who respect
and obey our laws, our history and our collective will
shall be preserved. When you go to vote, remember what
the past eight years of PDP leadership has meant for you
personally, immeasurable hardship and suffering.
Does the last eight years of PDP rule provide any
measure of what the next four years of a PDP leadership
might bring? The answer is YES, of course. But do we
want to say ‘Yes’ to a continuation of decaying social
infrastructure; unacceptable high unemployment among our
youths; unpaid or irregularly paid civil servants,
teachers and professors; failing school and their
dilapidated structures; power and water supply promises
that were not delivered; and insecurity and social
malaise? Of course, NO!
The Other Parties
At the national level, the Accord Party has formed
an alliance with the PDP. That Party is also running in
Rivers State. Can they be taken seriously?
Neither can the DPP be taken seriously. In light of a
defeat the party’s governorship candidate suffered at
the primaries, you would think that, like every
sportsman, he would accept defeat and join with the
others to work for the progress of the state. But, NO!
He bolted his old party to form a new one.
Why the Action Congress Party?
K-PAC is convinced that AC is the party that will clean
up the mess that the PDP has dumped on the people. The
AC leadership in Atiku and others believes in the
judicial system and this has in turn empowered the other
candidates to seek redress at the courts when they have
been deprived of their fundamental rights. This
aggressive resistance to authoritarian government is the
same spirit of aggressive opposition to corruption that
Tonye brings with him to this job. With his rock-steady
opposition to corruption, he will clean up and redeem
Rivers State and to restore it to its glorious state of
yesteryear--a State where people can go about their
business without fear of intimidation, a state where our
youths can be gainfully employed and not resort to
robbing their own people—their own kith and kin-- just
to survive. Tonye will accept criticism as a sign of
mature leadership and as respect for the rights of the
people to participate in government. The people’s right
so to do shall not be abridged.
The AC’s flag-bearer, Tonye Princewill, was educated in
Rivers State at a time when education was education. He
is the product of the quality education in Rivers
State—difficult to imagine these days. After a long
sojourn in Europe, he returned and saw the emptiness
that is the legacy of the PDP, and a burning desire to
sweep out the rottenness all around us. His accumulated
experience in management, people skills, human
resources, and work in complex organizations has
equipped him with a proven track record. We have
confidence that this man is fully qualified to execute
the AC vision in Rivers State.
We have reviewed the AC manifesto and are satisfied with
its commitment to transform Rivers State into its
promised potential. It is on the promise of such
programs as outlined in the AC manifesto, critically
reviewed, that we entrust the future of our state to the
AC leadership The Rivers State people’s acceptance of,
and commitment to, the AC manifesto will transform Port
Harcourt from “Garbage City” to the hoped for Garden
City.
Vote Tonye Princewill for Governor!
Vote Williams Igweh for Deputy Governor!
Embrace the new dawn!
It is our tomorrow!
