When the wind of change blew across the Federation thirteen year ago, those elitists in the corridors of power thought that they were very much learned as to unravel the mysteries inherent in the cold message of the wind of change. They then told us that democracy was the cold message of wind. The tenets of democracy were propagated everywhere and we all embrace it. Little did we know that as practised in Delta State in particular, is a camouflage for the perpetration of evils that held sway during the period of the military?
It is an undisputable fact that during the first term of Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan and even the tenures of his predecessor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, Deltans has witnessed difficult periods which bedeviled our dear state, with draconian decrees backing up unpopular decisions and policies of government, hardship in spite of the human and natural resources and its federal allocations.
It is worthy of note that before the military handed over to the civilian in 1999, James Ibori was arrested with wife at the United kingdom in 1990 for theft from a superstore and fined £300. The following year, he was convicted of handling a stolen credit card and also fined £100. While in Nigeria, he was sentenced and convicted on the 28th September, 1995 for theft of building materials in Abuja. To mask his previous convictions because of his contest for elective position, in the United Kingdom, he obtained a false birth certificate and passport, medically impossible as it was dated a month after the birth of his younger sister, and also succeeded in buying over/rubbishing the judiciary and the police institutions which he used to actualised his purported elections and used to thwart efforts of stopping his swearing-in, in May 29th, 2003. More so, his successor, Emmanuel Udaghan and his deputy governor, Amos Utuama whom prior were Secretary and Commissioner for Justice/Attorney General respectively to James Ibori, helped the serving convict (Ibori) in facilitating the looting of Delta State Treasury.
Paint Uduaghan (and his cohorts) white, call him an angel; it is a case of foisting a dictator on the masses and hoisting a criminal bigot on the good people of the state. The whole thing reeks on a scheme of bringing/retaining back the dictators' hegemony. How can a man like Uduaghan, who cannot render account of his stewardship of the state's resources who had connived with INEC and those judges/justices that sold their conscience for a piece of meal, imposed himself on the people of Delta which is grossly against their wishes, a man who was vehemently confessed in his involvement/assistance in Ibori's loots by the cousin's wife, Nkoye Ibori. One wonders how the Aveune Baptist Church chose him (Uduaghan) as a Sunday school teacher. What type of knowledge did the criminal impacted on the members of his class? How did the thief, an administrative robber, which he is known and celebrated for, merits the national honour bestowed on him by Mr. President? Though he is yet to tell Deltans, both home and in diaspora how much he paid for the honour. Uduaghan and his deputy governor are beneficiaries/products of corrupt institution, they are accomplices, thieves in government house, Asaba and such persons lack the capacity to govern the people of the state. Those who chose, present and rigged these thieves to govern the good people of our dear state have only shown to us (Deltans) that they are yet to realize the true sense of democratic consciousness.
Undoubtedly, our democracy does not accommodate honesty and integrity. Everything about the governorship elections in the state is unnatural, and even the courts which apt to be the last hope of the common man has sold out because most of the judges/justices greed and lust for money which Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), former President of the Nigeria Bar Association confirmed that the Nigeria judges/justices sells justice to the highest bidder. Can anybody tell me how James Ibori could have defeated Moses Kragha and Great Ogboru respectively if INEC and those old men had allowed the votes to be counted? How could Uduaghan defeat the People's General if they had not bank on rigging and the purchased of justice. It shows how much corruption has eaten deep into eventually all the institutions. Conscious of the decaying of the state polity under these criminals, Deltans of like minds formed themselves into various groups to tackle the political menace of the criminals in power, this they did with zest. With a cream of seasoned Deltans like the leader of the opposition in the state, Chief Frank Kokori, Chief (Dr.) Salubi, Chief George Timinimi, Chief Joe Omene, Chief M. Obi, Chief Akpotu, Chief Ogbovo, Chief Ejabulor, Chief Fred Oyibo, Comrade Waye Tony, Engr. Ifeanyi O. Ossai, Comr. Ode Patrick, Mr. Ufuoma Ofuafo and many more, staked their lives and resources to fight the devils in power and had worked tirelessly to enthrone true democracy. That is, their cardinal objective is to work towards the sustenance of such democracy by virtue of his watchdog function aimed at ensuring good governance, accountability and transparency.
Though, no one seems to be seeing through the thick fog of the immediate political future, even the pastors, prophets whom the state could boast of like Acrh. Bishop God-do-well Avwhomakpa, the Senior Special Adviser to James Ibori and Uduaghan on Religious Affairs, seems to have given up their guessing games. And as the lingering fog of confusions, injustices hangs high, the fear over the prospects of our democracy is growing taller by the minutes and grumbling getting louder.
For a moment, all these threats to our polity appear to be in the horizon of speculations and wishful thinking leaving the people with deep and widespread cynicism: Is this democracy? Why are our votes not counting? Why are the judges/justices selling justice? Why the special interest in Delta? Can the judiciary stop the sales of justice? The topicality of these questions were further strengthened when viewed against the fact that the state democracy is under the strange hold and firm grip of a tiny but extremely vicious and well-connected contractors. There is a pervasive cynicism about the prospects of democracy as it is being practised at the moment and this is evident in the social economic and political crisis assailing the state. Despite the looting of the state treasury and dashed expectation of Ibori's tenures and Uduaghan's first term, he (Uduaghan) was again rigged in and purportedly confirmed governor by our money justices for a second term. The people now perceived the illegal government as repressive and very corrupt as they watched helplessly their funds being disappeared into the pockets of those they never voted for and never wished could govern them; they watch the absolute lack of accountability and how suddenly the criminals' credibility evaporates like wax in the furnace.
The most potent threat to the survival of democracy in the state seems to be the agonizing level of poverty enveloping its land and also the injustice the people of the state had suffered from the judiciary against their choice of governance. It is perhaps self-evident that since the advent of democracy, nothing has been done to soothe the battered nerves of the masses. Poverty has contained to wage war against the good people as many live below poverty line. The gruelling effect of this development is largely seen as a dangerous signal and a development which if not checked and corrected has the tendency of destroying our nascent democracy that we earnestly fought for.
The attainment of democracy does not give a guarantee that all is well with the state's polity. The whole gamut of our state political system is as bad as it were under the military era. The electorates know that Uduaghan is not the rightful governor of the state and he (Uduaghan) knows this as a fact. The good people of the state have been frustrated with the injustices by the courts and there are those who are calling for fighting but the People's General have always reiterated that the people should be peaceful and law abiding. Great Ogboru have always fought against injustice legally in our courts through non-violent approaches and Deltans grieves that her states have been a victims of the nation's courts. The same ex-convict case Great Ogboru fought and petitioned the National Judicial Council headed by Justice Muhammadu, Lawal Uwais (rtd), which they (5-man panel) failed was the same the Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom used in jailing Ibori.
If Deltans can rise up and take the bull by the horn, they can change the system and install a more durable democratic system. What is needed is to create an enduring process that will shield the popular struggle from the marauding elites that has taken the state hostage, who might want to take advantages of it and reinstall themselves since 1999 when the evil cabals hijacked a genuine movement for democratic change and installed what is currently in place. To guide against that, Deltans need to rally round an organisation that will be all inclusive and ready to take the fight to the evil cabals and rescue the Delta State of our dream and this one singular man, the People's General has shown and proved to Deltans.
We, at the United Conscience for Democracy and indeed the generality of the people of the state believes that with Honourable Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar at the helms of the judiciary, she would help in the urgent need to save our nascent democracy which is seriously under severe threats and a new phase in the judicial history of the country. When she was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Federation, it was never the novelty of her Lordship being the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria that excited the public but rather the awaken hope that will usher in a period of progressive judicial activism where our courts will become courts of justice and not mere courts where justice is slaughtered on the altar of cash. With the review case in the Supreme Court Deltans still believes the court can over rule or depart from its previous decision because the justices in the purported judgment delivered on 2nd March which affirmed Deltans stolen mandate to Uduaghan, erred in its judgment when after nullifying the judgment of the Appellant Court failed to allow Ogboru's appeal thereby violating his (Ogboru) fundamental right to fair hearing and the good people of Delta State he (Ogboru) truly represents.
The good people of the state believes the Chief Justice of the Federation will help steer the ship of the judiciary from the shore of public disrepute, and seeing her as an introvert and a true picture of what a true judge should be, Justice Mariam Mukhtar exhibited part of her attributes when, alongside Justices George Oguntade and Walter Onnoghen respectively gave a dissenting judgement in the 2007 presidential election that brought Late President Musa Yar'Adua /Goodluck Jonathan in a petition filed by Gen. Buhari (rtd), and like the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, the panel she headed, recommended his (Salami) reinstatement. Just recently, the National Judicial Council which she heads told a Federal High Court in Abuja that it (NJC) has exclusive powers to recall Justice Salami and not President Jonathan.
Deltans truly believes that justice delay will not be justice deny.
MR. AMORIGOYE .E. LUCKY
Publicity Secretary, United Conscience for Democracy (UCD)
