Ijaw will disown Gov Diri if he defects to APC – Beks, Ijaw Media Forum president

By Sunday Ani

Amid raging insinuations in some political circles that the Bayelsa State governor, Duoye Diri, could toe the same path of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State by abandoning his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the President of Ijaw Media Forum and Publisher of Shipping World Magazine, Elder Asu Beks, has warned that such a move would be catastrophic as it would certainly lead to the Ijaw people outrightly disowning the governor. 

He dismissed the insinuations as mere rumours, insisting that Governor Diri is very wise and a deep thinker who would never contemplate such a dangerous move.

In this interview with the Sunday Sun, he spoke on a wide range of issues, including the emergency rule in Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu’s two years in office, the possibility of forming a coalition ahead of the 2027 election and the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, among others.

What is your assessment of Governor Duoye Diri’s five years in office?

Since the creation of Bayelsa State, we have seen governors come and go, but to be honest with you, from 1999 to date, those of us from Bayelsa have not seen a governor who is so focused and humble, and whose passion for the development of the state is unparalleled like Diri. Yes, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was the pioneer civilian governor of the state. The foundations of most of the good works that Diri is today doing were laid by Alamieyeseigha. But, you see, because of the aquatic nature of the state, we have situations where before you get to the next point or the next village, you must go by boat. There was hardly any good road infrastructure, good road network linking the state. So, when Douye Diri came in about five years ago, that was his focus. His focus has been to open the hinterland. So, he focused on the three senatorial roads to link all of them to Yenagoa, the state capital, which was not there before. The major roads we had before were from Yenagoa to Sagbama, Odi and then, of course, to Amassoma. Even the Amassoma, we had a situation where when that university was built by Alamieyeseigha, people used to cross over to the other side by boat until later in the day, when the governors that were there before him, ranging from Jonathan to Timipre Sylva and Seriake Dickson, opened it. That was the only part, but since he took over, he has made it a point of duty to open up the state through rural roads. In fact, I’m sure that you are aware that one of the second phases of the roads, the Brass/Nembe Road that the president commissioned, is one of the critical infrastructure that the governor is currently doing. This is because for you to get to places like Nembe or Brass, you have to go by boat and all that. And so, he has put so much time and energy into opening the state. That aside, he’s a man who does not discriminate due to his level of humility and style; whether you are in the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is his own party, he doesn’t care so long as you have something to offer the state. In fact, in the present cabinet, we also have some APC commissioners; no governor before him has done that. That is to tell you the level of open-door policy that he operates. And then, coming to the issue of infrastructure, it will interest you to know that all things being equal, by December of this year, Bayelsa will be the first state to have a 24-hour electricity supply because of the turbine installations that are going on in the state as I speak with you. You see, if you look at Bayelsa, it’s like a one-city state – Yenagoa – and the major business is the Government House.

And so, everybody wakes up in the morning and they want to see what they can get from one local government or the other or from the Government House just because of this lack of infrastructure. The governor has taken it as a point of duty to develop the state for growth because if you have constant electricity, of course, businesses will thrive. So, that is one area that the governor has done so well. In the area of sports, you know, he was the former Commissioner for Sports before he became a senator and later governor. So, because of his love for sports, the state has been acclaimed as one of the most improved states in sports infrastructure and development. But if you are aware, just a week or two ago, the President of the Dangote Group visited Bayelsa. For me, I see that as a big fish, a big catch for Bayelsa. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Dangote Group and the Bayelsa State government in agriculture, as well as oil and gas. And, of course, they are also looking at the Agge Deep-Sea Port. Don’t forget that there is a proposal for a Deep-Sea Port in Agge, Ekeremor Local Government Area. The road construction from Ekeremor towards Agge is also moving smoothly. And so, when you look at all these things, you look at the performance of those who were there before him, you will agree with me that this governor, this miracle governor called Douye Diri, is the most outstanding of all the governors. He still has about two years or so to the end of his administration, but what he has achieved in these five years is unprecedented. And so, that’s why you see him everywhere, whether in the Vanguard or in The Sun, bagging the governor of the year award. In fact, even in my organisation, he won the most maritime-friendly governor of the year because of his passion for the maritime industry. Don’t forget that Bayelsa is the only state that has created the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

With all the things you said he has achieved, there are still rumours that Governor Diri wants to defect to the APC; can you confirm or debunk the rumour?

I do not want to believe that, but if it happens, we, the Ijaw people, will disown Douye Diri because APC is not a party to belong to. Like the former FCT minister once said, how can you leave a party where you have a fever and headache, and then go to where there is cancer? I don’t see that happening. To start with, why on earth should a party have a broom as a symbol? You see, where we come from, we are very spiritually-minded and something like a broom is not a good omen. In fact, in my house, I don’t even want to see a broom in my bedroom. I have had issues with my wife a lot of times because of the issue of brooms. And so, what does that connote? One, the name is APC. All of us know APC. When you have malaria, you have a headache, you can’t cure it, take Panadol. It’s something that is not good. I don’t see APC as a progressive party, even though they call themselves progressives. I’m sure you saw the discussion at Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi’s birthday. These are a group of conspirators who came to grab power from the PDP, and you saw all that they did to the extent of even going to the United Kingdom (UK) and America to meet Barack Obama, to blackmail Jonathan. I’m not saying that the Jonathan administration or the then PDP administration was infallible, but just look at the damage that has been done to this country in just 10 years. How much is the exchange rate now, and how much was it when Jonathan handed over? How much is Naira to Dollar now? So, when you look at every area, there is nothing to cheer about. How much was a bag of rice? How much is the bag of rice now? So, I can’t see Diri going to such a party. Diri is not Oborevwori of Delta State. He is somebody who thinks deep. For instance, what will he be looking for in the APC? The APC is not a progressive party; it is a party that has led more Nigerians into poverty, more Nigerians into depression, more Nigerians into darkness and more Nigerians into insecurity. Every bad thing that you want to talk about, APC has brought to Nigerians. So, what is there in the APC? If Diri makes that move, and I’m sure he will not try it, we the Ijaw will disown him because that is not a party for the Ijaw. It’s not progressive. We are progressive-minded people because we know that the wealth of this nation comes from us, so we want to account for what is coming from our region. And if the oil to take care of Nigeria is coming from the Niger Delta region, we want to make sure that whatever fund that is given to anybody is well accounted for. So, it’s not a party for Diri and if he tries it, I repeat, we the Ijaw will disown him.

Some people are of the view that for any party or anybody to displace or remove Tinubu in 2027, there must be a coalition of political parties. They believe that one single political party cannot remove him from office. There are ongoing talks around the possibility of coalition. Today, you will hear they want to use the SDP, tomorrow, they are talking about using ADC and not SDP again. What do you make of all these stories? Do you think there is a possibility of a coalition?

You see, what happened in 2014/2015 when APC was birthed was a mass movement of the citizens because of the campaign of calumny against Jonathan. We have not seen that kind of mass movement yet. And so, like what happened in 2015, this so-called coalition will not work because they are strange bedfellows; they are losers. Yes, we need a strong force to challenge President Bola Tinubu, but the characters I’ve seen are all coming with bitterness; they are people who were displaced. For instance, somebody like Nasir el-Rufai almost went crazy because he didn’t get a ministerial appointment. Former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi also fell out with Tinubu as a result of the APC primary elections. And honestly speaking, yes, I believe Atiku Abubakar has some level of credibility, but I don’t see Amaechi as somebody who has that character to lead. He’s so erratic and is not different from Nyesom Wike. He doesn’t have that kind of experience; he doesn’t have that kind of composure. Is it el-Rufai? So, who is there? The coalition will not give it to Peter Obi. As for Atiku, I don’t know how that will work out, because the PDP will not endorse that coalition. The PDP will still want to remain on its own. So, for me, I see that coalition as a project that is dead on arrival. I don’t see that coalition as strong enough to challenge the APC in 2027. They are already fighting. They have not decided on whether to move with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) or African Democratic Party (ADC). They want to go and register a new party and some people are crying now, oh, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is frustrating us. So, this was not how the coalition in 2014/ 2015, which produced the APC started.

So, it’s dead on arrival, the coalition project is dead on arrival. I doubt if they will be able to unseat President Tinubu.

President Bola Tinubu has just spent two years in office, how do you assess his administration so far?

It is two years of hunger, two years of increased insecurity and two years of many Nigerians being moved into poverty. In fact, Nigeria is regarded as the poverty headquarters of the world. You came in and yes, we all said, oh, this issue about subsidy; remove it. So, we all knew that subsidy was a fraud. If you listened to the campaigns then in 2023, almost all the presidential aspirants were in support of removal of subsidy. So, we have two things we’re expecting, one, if we’re going to remove subsidy, the subsidy thieves must be dealt with. These monies were going into people’s pockets, they were going into people’s accounts, and those accounts were known to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). They were known to the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and even to the presidency. So, how come you did nothing to try those who were ripping this country off in the name of subsidy? That’s one. Then, number two, yes, removal of subsidy is good, but what did you do to mitigate that removal of subsidy? As you removed the subsidy, you saw how prices of goods and commodities skyrocketed; everything went up. So, for two years, it’s been hell. Nigerians have been living in hell. Now, you called the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for talks on this issue of minimum wage. You told the NLC that you won’t take the N250,000 they are talking about, but if they accept N70,000, the government will not increase the prices of fuel. But just the following week after the agreement, the petrol pump prices jumped up. So, that is to tell you how insincere and treacherous the government can be. Barely two weeks after you agreed to a N70,000 minimum wage, petrol price was increased, so whatever gains that the average Nigerian worker would have made by way of that salary increment has been eroded. How much is a bag of rice today? I understand that things have started going down because the borders have been opened. Now, that’s one of the areas that the APC government missed. How can you just wake up one morning and close borders, when you know that Nigeria signed a treaty with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)? When Britain was going to move out of the European Union (EU), Brexit; there were talks, there were negotiations, there were discussions, agreements were signed and all that. But Nigeria just woke up one morning and said, we are shutting down the borders and look at what it has cost us. One of the major problems we have faced, starting from the Muhammadu Buhari administration, was the closure of the borders. Now that the borders are open, you have seen the positive effect. I understand that the price of rice has even gone down to N60,000 or N50,000. So, what we are saying is that the government should have a human face. Now, between you and I, what is the economic effect of that coastal road that the government is constructing? If you are constructing a coastal rail line, I can even understand. Now, governance is something that should make the people smile, to say oh yes, this is my father, they have increased his salary, which means that if my father’s salary is increased, my well-being, the little allowance that my father used to give to me will also go up. But this has not been the case. We have not seen the effect of the subsidies removal on the average Nigerian.

Now, look at the issue of insecurity. My brother, tell me why on earth, with all the security agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Navy, Army, Police, this issue of insecurity should be growing every day. That alone is enough for the president to resign because what is the role of the president? What is the responsibility of the government if he cannot secure lives and property? Life in Nigeria has become very cheap. So, if you want to look at all the things Mr. President has promised us in his inauguration speech, I want to doubt, I can’t see anyone that he has been able to fulfil. Look at the naira to dollar, look at the minimum wage; the value of N30,000 in 2015, you can’t compare it with the so-called N70,000 of 2025. So, people are going through hell and then the level of impunity, oh my God, look at the National Assembly, they don’t care. The Senate President, Akpabio has said: “Mr. President, anything you want, bring it and we’ll approve.” All that this government has been doing is borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. So, people are asking, what are the gains of the removal of subsidy? If you knew that you were still going to go from door to door to begin to borrow from every country, then why did you remove the subsidy? There is nothing to write home about the president’s two years in office.

Okay, let’s come to Rivers State emergency declaration. Constitutionally, the president does not have the powers to remove the governor and stop the elected legislature in the state, but he did that in Rivers. What do you make of what happened in Rivers?

Don’t forget that we are all aware how Tinubu used the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to fight the military to a standstill and helped in ensuring that we enjoy this level of democracy we are enjoying today. And for the same Tinubu to come and do what he has done in Rivers State; he has dented his image as a democrat and the earlier he corrected it, the better. In fact, I’m expecting that on June 12, if he does not reverse that emergency rule in Rivers State, then there’s no need for even a democracy day speech, because that is a democracy day. What we have seen now is a military coup; a military government in Rivers State. How do you even go to remove a governor, remove the deputy and remove the House of Assembly? What can be more illegal than that? And our Supreme Court kept quiet. The governors have gone to the court, and because our Supreme Court has become political, such matters should be heard within two, three weeks. Some PDP governors have gone to court, so why is the Supreme Court delaying the matter? It is probably because the Supreme Court is in the pocket of the president and the pocket of Wike. Why are you delaying? That is a suit that should get expeditious attention. So, the man that is there, as far as I’m concerned, as far as Rivers State people are concerned, is not recognised. He’s an illegal caretaker because there’s nowhere in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that we have the position of a military administrator. So, that is the greatest damage that Tinubu has done to democracy. I’m surprised that he didn’t even copy from Jonathan. When Jonathan declared a state of emergency during his time in Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa states, he didn’t remove the governors. He didn’t remove the House of Assembly. He only sent military reinforcements. Why didn’t he copy from Jonathan? So, I expect him on June 12 to reverse himself on that.

As a stakeholder in the maritime sector, what is your take on the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy? Was it necessary?

Yes, because those of us in this industry have for years been speaking on the need for the creation of a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. This is because they say the sea never dries. And so, as a maritime nation, we needed somebody, a platform and a special ministry to drive the aspirations and programmes of the sector. So, when this ministry was created about two years ago by President Tinubu, all of us were dancing as well. But, when he announced Adegboyega Oyetola as the minister, we said Mr. President, you did well by creating the ministry, but why are you going to bring somebody who knows next to nothing about the industry? In fact, the background of the minister is insurance not maritime; so, we were shocked. So, I was among those who were very vocal. But, you see, the thing is that I was very vocal to say, look, this man will not take us anywhere. He started very slowly. But, to my surprise, I didn’t know that he was working behind the scenes; he was consulting. Like his former Chief of Staff, Charles Akinola would say, this man that you are talking about is a strategic thinker and a good listener, even though he may be slow. So, what he did was to first assemble critical stakeholders to draw up a policy and a legal framework for the ministry. That, he has done and it has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), waiting for the launch. So, gradually, there was this very critical thing about Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). About 20 years ago, there was a fund called Cabotage Vessel Financing Funds that was established for which shipowners have been contributing money to, but which the Federal Government refused to disburse. So, some of us challenged him by saying, Mr Oyetola, “If you can make sure that this fund is disbursed, if that is the only thing that you can achieve during your tenure, I’m sure we will forgive you all the other sins.” So, as we speak, the agency that will facilitate the disbursement of that fund, which is NIMASA, has already come out with the list of 12 Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs). So, the idea is that the monies, the funds, will come in the form of a loan. The Federal Government through NIMASA will bring 50 per cent, the banks will bring 35 per cent, and then those who are the borrowers, the ship owners, will bring 15 per cent. The idea is to make sure that by August, this loan disbursement will commence. And the minister through NIMASA was also able to negotiate with the banks for a single digit. Of course, if you go to any bank now and you want to collect a loan, you’re talking about 30, 35 per cent. But they are giving them just a single digit interest. But then, there are also some ship owners who are saying that, look, this one that you are bringing banks to put in money, if these monies are there for us… because that money, for me, is just like an ‘isusu;’ they are monies from fines and taxes from ship owners for every ship that comes in, not money not from the Federal Government. And so, if it’s an isusu, you know how isusu is disbursed. It’s a revolving loan. You give A today, and maybe in the next four, five or 10 years’ time, the thing will go to B after A has made the disbursement. So, people are also looking at that and saying that once you get the banks involved, there will be a lot of problems. But if that disbursement takes off, then Oyetola would have proved some of us, the doubting Thomases, wrong. Secondly, there is also this issue of the sector lacking an economic regulator. This sector is one of the areas where we don’t have an economic regulator. In the oil and gas sector, in the communications sector, in the energy sector, they all have economic regulators. So, Oyetola was able to mobilise members, stakeholders and the National Assembly members to come up with a bill for the establishment of the Shipping and Ports Economic Regulator. So, if that bill which has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly is sent to Mr. President and he assents to it, then the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will now be the port’s economic regulator. In the maritime sector, we have never had an economic regulator; that’s one achievement that he has recorded in the sector. And then the other one, which is very key, is the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Nigeria has, for over 10 years, failed to get a seat in Category C. Category C because there are several categories, we have A,B,C. So, Nigeria under Oyetola, from what I’m seeing and from the moves he is making, even though some of us are still asking if it is right to make that move again. Many are asking why not put your house in order first because there are some queries that the IMO has issued Nigeria in their maritime administration; have we answered those queries so that we don’t go and fail again? We have been failing in the past 10 years. So, but the signs are there that we may get it right this year. And then there’s also the National Single Window. Now, it’s a platform that will bring all port users  including Customs, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), NIMASA, shipping companies, and agents, on the same platform so that this issue of multiple taxation will not be there. If a cargo is leaving from China to Nigeria, we will be able to track it. This ensures transparency in the ports. That is another novel idea, and all these are some of the things that the new Minister of Marine and Blue Economy is doing. So far, so good, he started very poorly, but I think that he’s been able to catch up. And that is why Mr. President is not allowing him to go back. I am sure Mr. President wants to use him because that is one sector that will pull us out from this over-dependence on oil and gas, if we’re able to get this maritime sector right. So, that’s why Mr. President, from my own thinking, doesn’t want him to go because he still has four years to do in Osun as governor. But, from the signals we are getting, I think Mr. President wants him to remain.

What do you have to say about the controversy surrounding the Customs CG’s tenure?

You see, I’ve covered the maritime sector from my days in Concord, as a pioneer shipping editor in the Concord Newspapers. So, I’ve been in this sector for a very long time, and I can tell you that I am yet to see a Comptroller-General of Customs that will match the commitment of Adewale Adeniyi. Yes, we had a Dikko who died a couple of years ago. Dikko was from Katsina State. He did wonderfully well, but what Adeniyi has done in terms of reforms, in terms of capacity building, in terms of stakeholders’ engagement, in terms of anti-smuggling, in terms of trade facilitation, in terms of revenue generation, whatever bad perception people had about Nigeria Customs Service before now, has changed because of his style of leadership. And so, now we have a new Customs Act, which he inherited, and under the Act, we are made to understand that the CG has just one-tenure. The Tinubu that I know is not somebody who will want to change a winning team and if he can do that for the Inspector General of Police, there’s no reason he can’t do the same thing for the Customs CG. In the case of the Inspector General of Police, he went to the National Assembly and got that extension. It was not a presidential fiat, was it? So, there’s no reason he won’t do the same thing for the Customs CG because he has done so well. This is because if you remove Adeniyi today, we don’t know who is going to come. The person will rubbish all the good works that he has done. In fact, that is why if you look at the average APC man today, he wants Tinubu to continue beyond 2027 because as far as he is concerned, Tinubu is doing very well and if you now go and bring another person, he may destroy what he thinks are the good works of Mr. President. And that is why the party endorsed him, saying there is no vacancy. So, as far as I, Asu Beks, the convener of Maritime Elders’ Forum, is concerned, there is no vacancy in the Customs House.