Doris MacDaniels is the Chairperson of
Ijaw Mothers Union, a group at the forefront
of the campaign for a better Niger Delta. She
is also a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, in Rivers State and the Deputy
Publicity Secretary, South South Peoples
Assembly, SSPA.
In this interview, she speaks on the just
concluded governorship elections in Rivers
and the fate of the Niger Delta following the
emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as
president-elect.
What is your assessment of the just
concluded governorship and House of
Assembly elections in Rivers State?
You will agree with me that this is the first
time we are involving social media in
monitoring and expressing our views in an
election in Nigeria. I have been a grassroots
politician for about 25years.
The elections
held in the 1990s were conducted in an
orderly manner. We never had ammunition in
my community, Okrika. In the late 90s, we
had communal clashes with a neighboring
town and some boys were frantically looking
for a gun to ward off some intruders, they
were unable to access gun easily. A boy
later brought his father’s dane gun.
Violence associated with elections in the
state started in 2003 and there after we have
been having Carry Go elections, meaning
endorsement for candidates.
The March 28 and April 11 elections are the
only ones that have been competitive and I
disagree that they were marred by killings.
The killings we had in the state were more
from cult rivalry.
Certainly there were pockets of violence
here and there but it was a similar thing
during the elections in other parts of the
country.
Governor Chibuike Amaechi described the
elections as a sham, saying it was rigged.
If the April 11 elections did not hold, how
come he voted? How would anyone doubt
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, winning
Rivers State ? If Buhari won Sokoto, Kano,
Borno, etc, then there is no way PDP will
lose its stronghold states like Rivers, Delta,
Akwa-Ibom.
I was not supporting Nyesom Wike initially. I
had wanted the power rotation arrangement
between the upland and riverine to be
effected but we did our best but our best was
not good enough.
When Wike won the primaries and I knew
anybody that got the PDP flag will win the
election, I gave him 100% winning chance.
I
never thought the governorship candidate of
the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr
Dakuku Peterside, will ever win the election
because he was Governor Amaechi’s
candidate. Besides, he was forced on his
party by the governor. So a lot of people were
not happy.
Some people also have issues with the
governor over his relationship with President
Goodluck Jonathan. Don’t forget that Mr
President is an Ijaw man and their are Ijaw in
Rivers.
Apart from the Supreme court judgement that
brought Amaechi to power in his first term,
he never won the House of Assembly
election. It was when Dr Peter Odili won his
governorship election that they went to court
to get victory for Amaechi so he could go the
House of Assembly. In essence Amaechi
does not have the strategy to win election.
Buhari’s victory cannot be attributed to
Amaechi because it was obvious the people
with Jonathan were working to fail. Even
Amaechi re-election was difficult for him.
The First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan
pleaded on his behalf and campaigned for
him.
She came to Okrika, specifically, to plead
with her people to give him a CARRY-GO.
The April 11 elections were well managed.
Elections held but there were pockets of
violence here and there. But nobody can say
elections did not hold.
Some people have called for the cancellation
of the election. What do you think?
The situation in Rivers on April 11 was like
the moment of truth. A lot of lies had been
told about Rivers being an APC state but that
is a lie .
Jonathan is an Ijaw man from
Bayelsa , the riverine people in Rivers are
Ijaw, the First Lady is from Rivers .The loss
of Jonathan at the centre was like mourning
for Rivers people. And then the guber
election came up. They were angry that
Amaechi was part of the PDP problem.
This was a governor that had neglected his
state in pursuit of national politics; so how
was he expecting to project Dakuku for
victory? As a matter of fact, Amaechi
presence in APC ruined Dakuku’s chances
and APC getting a better grip in the state.
if
Amaechi was not involved,a lot of people
may have decamped to APC but nobody
wants to be associated with a governor that
was talking the way he was doing. Riverine
people don’t act like that. We have typical
Rivers men in the calibre of Mr Odein
Ajumogobia, SAN,l, Atedo Peterside, Fafaa
Princewill and so on.
We are very respectful.
What are your expectations from the
governor elect, Wike
The much I know about Wike is that he is a
man of great courage and determination.
He
has succeeded in being Obio Akpor local
government Chairman,Chief of Staff to
Governor Amaechi and he supported
Amaechi to interpret Amaechi dreams.
The truth is if we have to have a re-run, Wike
will beat Dakuku. You are contending
against Wike who is a master of the game, he
has his strategy, his schemings, his
boldness.
Now we have Buhari as president. What is
the future for the Niger Delta?
We opposed Buhari obviously but now he is
president-elect. I believe it is an act of God
and no God-fearing person will oppose
God’s verdict. Based on this, I call on my
sisters and brothers to render their support .
I
think the Niger Deltans want to see how the
things will unfold. They want to see whether
they would be respected or disrespected.
Niger Deltans are not troublesome people but
they fight injustice. Our brother did a lot for
the North regardless, if Buhari comes with
such gestures of non-tribalistic rulership like
Jonathan, then we may witness peace .
The oil producing states must not be treated
with disdain like it happened in the past.
There is so much awareness in these
communities and it will not be business as
usual, the PIB provisions on oil producing
communities should be adhered to.and these
communities must be treated with utmost
care .
Do you see boys going back to the creeks
I don’t think it is in their program for now but
let us not rule that out. It all depends on how
tactful the president handles it. If he listens
to the likes of Amaechi on how to handle
Niger Delta, then a lot could go wrong.
Some ex militants have been voted into the
state House of Assembly
People have wrong perception about these
former militants. Niger Delta ex-militants are
not like Area Boys. Some of them are
educated, intelligent, some are engineers,
master degree holders who had no job,then
got affiliated to MEND.
These are forgiven
militants for whatever role they may have
played in the past. Some of them are people
from good homes.
Those that made it to the House of
assembly are level-headed young men I
personally respect and they are qualified. We
did not vote in miscreants, we know these
boys are responsible.
The nation watched with horror seeing some
so-called honorable members in their true
colour, fighting, breaking heads. These ex
militants will never act that way.
These are
boys I am ever proud of because they have
distinguished themselves as respected sons.
These are freedom fighters. They are very
organized.
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