Four-time Minister, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, leader of the Ijaw, and politician has been former Commissioner and presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Now a trustee of the party, the 73 year-old tourism ambassador spoke to CHUKS AKUNNA on life as a political appointee, the crisis rocking his party, and his thoughts on the Jonathan Presidency. Excerpts:
As a former Minister of Social Development, Youths and Sports, how do you feel about Nigeria’s victory at the just concluded AFCON championships?
Naturally I feel good. I feel fulfilled. It is a good thing for Nigeria, and a sign that Nigeria is once more on the path to greatness.
As Minister of Sports, you were credited with introducing the first foreign coach- Clemence Westerhof. Looking back, would you say that was a good decision considering that a local coach finally led our boys to Sunday’s victory?
When I brought in Westerhof, several people called for my crucifixion. They called me names. The heat was so much at the time that the NFF refused to release money to pay the Dutchman. But for one good-spirited Nigerian who believed in the potentials of our players and provided the money we used to pay Westerhof, the story could have been different. Looking back, it was an investment that paid off. Through Westerhof we were able to turn Nigerian, nay African, football around. We were able to convert and sell to the world the raw talents we had. Without Westerhof we probably wouldn’t have what many now call the golden period in Nigerian football. Such players as Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Nwankwo Kanu, Rashidi Yekini of blessed memory, Daniel Amokachi and others, who all went on to successful careers with various high-profile European clubs, are testimonies that my decision to bring in Westerhof was a good one. I commend our Super Eagles for bringing the coveted trophy home 19 years after we first did it. The coach, Steven Keshi deserves accolades for making us proud.
Prior to your appointment by General Ibrahim Babangida as Minister, you had held the same portfolio at the level of a commissioner in Rivers State, and hosted the first Rivers Carnival.
As minister, you hosted the first Abuja carnival, which has now become an international event. What has been your motivation?
I have always believed in culture as a vehicle for social engineering; as a tool for mass communication. When I mooted the idea to begin the Abuja Carnival, many persons, including my peers, scoffed at the idea. They didn’t believe in it. Many thanks to people like the then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who supported with his private funds. We also had companies like Julius Berger, PW, Strabag that offered tremendous support. Like the proverbial acorn, the Abuja Carnival has grown into an international oak tree. We thank God.
What do you make of the growing army of prominent Ijaw ex- agitators openly criticizing the Jonathan administration? Does it mean that the centre can no longer hold for the Ijaw?
Ordinarily, this is one issue I would not want to comment on because we have our revered Chief Edwin Clark, the supreme leader of the Ijaw to comment on issues affecting us. However, since you couldn’t reach him, I would say that the Ijaw liberators- Ateke Tom, Boyloaf, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and a host of others are very reasonable young men. If they have grievances, it is for our leader to bring them together. Let me, however, quickly add that there is no crack in Ijaw nation. When people are angry or frustrated, such may drive them to the point of saying or doing things they never set out to say or do. The leader has waded into the matter and it is being resolved.
What about allegations of poor performance these agitators leveled against Jonathan? Are we to sweep them under the rug?
See, I am not unaware of the unfounded comments on the seeming inertia and lethargy on issues of governance. But we believe that as a technocrat, Jonathan is adopting a unique approach to governance. With the absence of the military flavour we are used to, we tend to misconcieve careful planning for lethargy. This is wrong. Some have even raised the issue of the East-West road. I tell them, Jonathan is a rational human being. He understands the importance of the road, and would not want the project to stall. He is transforming the power sector. Global financial institutions have given kudos to the administration for gains recorded in the economy. Even the so-called security challenge is being addressed. Nigerians want spontaneous metamorphosis. This is the problem.
You are both a founding member and trustee of the PDP. Given recent events, particularly the recent crisis that threatened your party, would you in all honesty say it’s the party of your dreams?
I will say this is not the PDP we envisaged. We formed the PDP as a movement with brotherly love to give Africa an example of political engineering and management. When we started in 1998, we knew ourselves and seriously guarded the party. When Dr. Alex Ekwueme expressed interest in the Presidency, the lot fell on Dr. Solomon Lar. He took over as chairman and leader of the party. He controlled the party, reminding one of the way Adisa Akinloye controlled the defunct NPN. The authority of the president and governors at the time was subservient to the national chairman’s. But, here, as time went on, Lar produced the president, governors and other top functionaries of government. Sadly, hardly had these officials done their first year than they became overwhelmed by inordinate ambition for a second term. They therefore began to stockpile money to seize the soul of the party. When in 1999 we were transiting from a military dictatorship to a democracy, something eluded us. We didn’t carry out a debriefing and de-indoctrinating of the people coming into government. We allowed a purely military man to become president. And this man knew only one way of doing things- a pseudo-dictatorial way at that. He carried on that way. In the states, governors took over from military administrators, inheriting their mentality. Consequently, you cannot in all fairness say we in Nigeria are operating a true democracy. This is partly to blame for the seeming imbroglio in the party and polity. But I believe that the Governors’ Forum, for instance, has no constitutional value. It’s just a club which over time has used the military mentality it built over time, to build up a parallel body to the presidency. Should the party be strong as it ought to be, I don’t see why the party cannot call an erring governor to order, or even suspend such governor if he fails to listen. He is there at the mercy of the party. If the party wasn’t considered supreme, people like Rotimi Amaechi won’t be governor today. The governors control everything in their states. Not satisfied, they control their zones, even determining who gets what at the federal level. They nominate ambassadors, federal board members, representatives in the National Assembly, and party national officers. This brings everybody in the states under the control and influence of these governors. With such a situation the loyalty of these nominees tend to be to their governors. This has led to a situation where the governors have hounded people they are not comfortable with out of the party. The party is supreme, and we must respect that.
Recently, your national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur visited Governor Amaechi in what many considered a fence-mending mission. Is this visit the elixir to end all the crisis plaguing PDP?
I don’t know what you mean by a visit being an elixir. In any assembly of persons disagreements are bound to arise, so there cannot be any elixir to disagreements in life. That said, I want to state that there is nothing unusual about our chairman visiting Governor Amaechi. Is he not a member of our great party? Everything would have been unusual if the national chairman of a rival party had visited one of our governors.
Let us talk about your BoT. You have been unable to elect a chairman for this body of elders. What is the problem?
There is no problem. We are the founders of the party. The owners of the party. We, the founders, know ourselves. The various associations came together and fused with the G-34 to form PDP. The Board of Trustees was appointed. Few of us who were interested in the presidential ticket offered the initial money that started PDP. Later, others came and joined us. And they now seek to drive us from the house we built. This is wrong and cannot stand. We, members of the Board of Trustees, the owners, need not belabor ourselves with elections. We will decide amongst ourselves and choose a very senior member who is not only cerebral, but commands national and international respect and add value to the Jonathan Presidency.
Does this mean you already have an anointed candidate?
Not exactly. We have appointed the Jerry Gana committee to work out modalities and know who and who is running. But, whatever he does, we the owners of the party know ourselves. Those of us who founded the party will not allow a stranger to come and displace the original members.
Meaning a founding member is sure to lead the trustees?
Exactly!
Last week, three major political parties- ACN, ANPP and CPC agreed to work together to muster enough votes to unseat PDP at the national level in 2015. In your estimation, how dangerous is the APC alliance to PDP?
This is not the first time parties would be ganging up against PDP. Remember ACN used to be AD, and ANPP used to be APP? On its part, CPC was an offshoot of ANPP. It was formed by people who felt shut out of ANPP. APGA is even not part of it- at least officially. You ask, what was the strength of AD and APP in 1999? What is the strength of CPC, ACN and ANPP put together today? In any case, APC, which is an acronym for Armoured Personnel Carrier, can only cause the contraption to implode. Ask yourself, what is it that binds them? What divides them is stronger than what binds them. You wait until the nominations begin. CPC that has only one governor is still battling in court to determine who their candidates for an election that held in 2011 are! We in PDP shall continue to toil to deliver on our campaign promises. That is the reason people voted us into power. As far as I’m concerned, this alliance is dead on arrival. I foresee PDP winning more states and National Assembly seats in 2015. Mark my words.
Mark my word, Graham-Douglas, your party, the PDP, is in coma, awaiting death. It is a party of greedy,insatiable, dishonest and totally self-seeking people, hellbent on looting Nigeria to death. Even the top leadership of your PDP lacks insight; they cannot subvert God’s laws and designs for others by dishonest leadership and succeed in their own desires. The PDP isl rotten to the core. Those in support of Jonathan’s second term should show Nigerians what he has done with his first. God is scattering the PDP because it has no honest plans to serve Nigeria. It cannot deceive Nigerians for much longer.
Yes PDP is the party not the APC which is armoured personnel carrier,PDP will win more state come 2015.
APC or PDP, they are all the same. The only difference is that APC is not in control at the centre in Abuja. Once they make it there, you won’t notice the difference between PDP and APC. Case in Point: The ACN in SW. Do you notice any difference in terms of infrastructural development and Good Goverance now and when the PDP was in power there? None. I rest my case.
@Oakmann, you r wrong man, CAN in SW had shown more purposive governance than any pdp. If u thought this go to Osun where I come from and any onther SW. Things are happening in SW not bcos the Govs are better than PDP govs but bcos of competitn. For things to happen in Nig we need a viable oppositn from other party. So let support APC for our gud
Sorry, ACN was never AD. A faction of AD led by Tinubu joined a faction of Anambra PDP led by Ngige and another faction led by Atuku Abubakar to form ACD and later,AC. it later merged with the DPP in order to spread to the North West. It is convenient for a PDP man to give the impression that ACN is AD so as to localise it to the west. But that is neither here nor there. ACN won the elections in Adamawa ,Kwara and Kogi and PDP rigged both
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@ Okelo Maddukaife, ACN won the few states they had today through Salami. A childhood friend to Tinubu. Salami’s financial snare ended through his parversive judgment to this Ajangbadi man.
By this stage in life and in politics, please stick what you can prove, not hearsay and suspicion.
Everyone reserves the right to support any party of his/her choice. I must however, posit here that the so called APC is dead on arrival. Lets wait & see what happens during & after their primaries. The IMPLOSION shall be so load that everybody will then hear & understand that Nigerian politicians are same irrespective of party affiliation. Ngige & Udenwa moved from PDP to ACN (now part of APC) & over night became born-again politicians. It is good for anybody to believe anything that makes him/her happy. Man is just over grown baby but only a few use the head. APC will make a strong opposition to give PDP a run for its money. Be that as it may I plead that we be patient & see things unfold.
The problem is not PDP or ACP. The problem is the individuals in both parties. Both are the same no difference.
@Confusion, i agreed with you, it is not even the party but individual’s problem when elected, am not part of any party but i believed Mr Douglas PDP is still a party, & they are better than any other parties for now, take a look at ACN here in lagos nothing to show, always noises, demolishing & destroying the poor that voted them into power, “mark my word any day any time frm now come 2014 is d final & disintegration of the so called Nigeria & if this did not happen, ACN can never win in lagos state any more”
What i no is that the best governon now is from p.d.p governo Godswell apkabio and rotimi amachi what happen to other party governors
What i no is that the best governon now is from p.d.p governo Godswell apkabio and rotimi amachi what happen to other party governors are working
APC members are boko haram members/sponsors.they’re islamist/jihadist they’ll not succeed 4 God 4bid bad thing.
You talked about Nigeria wanting things to be fixed too fast. If I may ask you as an elder statesman with ministerial position in different regime. You ve been traveling to other countries, in your observation , how long did it take Spain , whose economy was in bad shape as of 80,s and. New areas like Dubai Slovenia , Slovakia to build infrastructure and a working country, electricity should take 200 years to be fixed. And how long did it take Ghana here to have uninterrupted. Power. BIG SHAME to people like you . And your country
Shemira , you have said it all @ 73, ministers several times and no meaningful changes in the country furtunes , yet the travell every where , shameful
APC is simply the gang murderers, ACN’s fashola demolished AJELOGO, IJORA to mention but a few; displaced the poor occupants of these areas callously. These poor souls are still being marooned as a result of voting in almighty acn’s fashion.
@Bildado. Cant believe I missed your comment. Do you know the filth in these places you mentioned, and the sort of people who live there? I bet you either live in such squalor or you are an ACN hater. When they started moving in, in their droves, didn’t they know that the land belongs to the state, and could be reclaimed anytime. Let them go back to where they came from. I do not want to sound insensitive, but i have never had sympathy for squatters, who turn around and blame govt for evicting them. All these areas should have been cleared years ago. I even blame successive govts for letting them stay this long. Condemn me if you wish, I don’t care two hoots.
Most of those people came to Lagos of their own accord and are free to leave or their own states which get higher per capita allocation than Lagos. If they ave no accommodation in Lagos I would encourage them to eave or elsewhere.
Lagos has enough people already.
Graham Douglas we all know you, plus Edwin Clark et al are singing for your supper. I suppose you cant say anything against your party, but you must be really dreaming to say PDP will win more states and seats in the National assembly come 2015. How are you going to perform that feat.? It should interest you to note that Nigerians are now the wiser. Today the people of the niger delta are curcifying the North. You, and a whole lot of others amongst whom is the father of them all – Edwin Clark are to be held responsible, for being in the corridors of power, hobnobing with the military. yet did absolutely nothing to help your people. You all have crawled out of the obscurity where you belong since Jonathan came to power. Even with your kith and kin there what have you all done for your people. To the Niger Deltans, i say the enemies are within.
SHEMRA you are right.look at this elder states man as he calls himself that nigerians want quick fix.why wont it be fixed fast.we have been in bad shape for decades and this yeye man dey talk non sense.to me,i want APC to win even though there are corrupt leaders there.a country whereby only one party rules is monopoly and that isnt good for us.when APC comes in,then it will be die hard competition and they will like to fix the country because,they will not want to lose the next election.shame on douglas.African countries,nigeria most especially is a country whereby by one can be very educated maybe got his degree from america or london yet,he is still illiterate. foolish man like u.
Since Rochas also took part in the merger deal, i believed that will be the saving grace of the party, but only if the party pick him as it flag bearer in the 2015 presidential election that the party can win an election. Bringing grand patron of boko boys to run, i mean general buhaha, it will be suicidal to the party that the ACN and others will regret going into such merger in the first place.
acn knows that d party is loosing her popularity gradually in s/w so she quickly embrace d merger to deceive ppl, we are watching.