Wike too empty to be compared to Amaechi — Rivers ex-commissioner, Bazia

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John Bazia was a lawmaker for eight years in the Rivers State House of Assembly, and he served as the Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs in the Governor Nyesom Wike’s first tenure. He shares with DENNIS NAKU his reasons for dumping the People’s Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress, just as he compares Wike’s administration with that of ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi
Why did you defect from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress?

Well, a lot of reasons made me leave the PDP for the APC. The truth is that the PDP is not what it used to be, especially in the days when Dr Peter Odili was governor and even when Rotimi Amaechi was governor. What we have today is different from what the founders of the PDP would have envisaged. I am talking in respect of Rivers State -I am being particular here. Today, the PDP in the state is no longer a party that is owned by the people. This is so because the essence of democracy is that the people must have their say and then the majority rules the day. But unfortunately, as we see today, the PDP in Rivers State is Governor Nyesom Wike, and Wike is the PDP. His dictatorial tendencies are so overwhelming and it is difficult to exist there if you see yourself as somebody who wants to stand on the side of the people. It will be difficult to exist there if you see yourself as believing in leadership that it should be seen as how to implement the collective aspirations of the people. So, that is why I had to move. In short, as we speak, he decides what happens and I am beginning to think that maybe he is scared of intellectuals; because I think that his administration has some of the best crop of intellectuals you can find anywhere. We have professors, a lot of us with PhDs and all of that. We have seasoned politicians too that have been there. We have those who have some rich experience but unfortunately, he shouts people down even during exco (State Executive Council) meetings. So, it becomes a place where you hardly can express yourself. You hardly can even fight for the collective aspirations of your people. So, for that reason, I decided to leave.

What was your attraction from the Amaechi camp of the APC that made you join it?

You can’t really compare Amaechi and Wike’s styles of leadership. I say this because I have been part of both and I can really say which one is better. Like my grandfather, who was a chief would say, sometimes it is good for a man to have one or two wives. In their days, he had many wives so he would say it is good that you have one or two wives so that you can tell who is better. Having tried both of them, I can confess to you that when it comes to visionary leadership there is just no way you can compare Amaechi with Wike. When it comes to that, Wike is empty because visionary leaders are those who can see tomorrow and they can bring tomorrow today. They are not only thinking about themselves but about the future; they are thinking about the unborn children that will be beneficiaries of their policies and programmes. So, they don’t only work for today; they leave legacies for tomorrow. And when you see those kinds of leaders, one of the key points of their agenda will be education. Once you see a leader that does not think so much about education, then you see a failure. This is because you build the men to build society. I mean even if you put infrastructure and all the people you are putting it for don’t even understand what the infrastructure is all about, you have done nothing. So, good and visionary leaders crave sustainability and that is what Amaechi did. You saw the schools he did-the unique schools. Governors and other people were coming to Rivers State to see what was happening and learn from him. They came here to see how transformation could come especially in the education sector. But it was not just only in the educational sector. There was also an agency for sustainable growth to build entrepreneurs in different sectors in order to grow the local economy. One key area was his agricultural sector policies, where you have the Songhai farm that employed the young unemployed graduates and school leavers. At the end of the day, they were going to make them entrepreneurs that could be in the agricultural sector and grow the local economy. There were a fish farm and plantain plantation. So, there was a whole lot. Jobs were created in the process, that’s a visionary leader. What we have now is just to do projects that will bring about money, instant money. What is happening now is what I called cut-and-nail kind of leadership style. What is in place as we speak is not something visionary. You cannot say this is a man that can bring about what could stand the test of time and benefit the future generation.

One of the reasons the governor gave for not reappointing you as Commissioner in his second term was that you were not reliable. He referred to you as a thief. He even said he assisted you in paying off your debt of €40,000. Is that true?

That is not true. It shows his level of thinking and reasoning. When a governor talks like that, then you can see that he is in the wrong place. You know he wasn’t prepared for this kind of office. And I think that our society should change the way we bring people to leadership positions. It should be those who are prepared for it. A governor must not insult people. He must have carriage, comportment and should be able to know how to address people-how to talk. What really happened was that I was bringing my son from America to Nigeria because all my children were going to school there. As at then, I hadn’t been paid some money that I was expecting. I don’t depend on the government. I depend on my late father’s company and my own companies. So having not been paid, I talked to a friend that I thought was my friend (name withheld). He was getting ready to travel. He said all he had was Euro. So he gave me €4,000. As at that time, the exchange rate was N420 to one euro. So, I did that exchange and had N960,000. My son’s school fees were N700, 000 at Group Stone (a private school in Rivers). The owner of Group Stone is also one of us and the records are there. So I paid N700, 000 and I had N260,000 left. My friend and me agreed I would pay him back in euro.

But what the governor said he paid off for you was €40,000?

It was €4,000, I am telling you. It was about me. He (the governor) is saying he paid; did he give me the money to go pay my friend? Was he the one owing? I told him (the governor) what I owed because this matter came up. After a while, I was paid although it took some time. I then changed the money and gave him €2,000, remaining €2,000. He collected the €2,000. Two weeks later, an announcement was made and I was made a commissioner. So, he came and I told him I have not been paid. I wasn’t paid for six months after I became commissioner. The governor could tell people. Let him say it is a lie that I was paid. I mean six months into being commissioner I wasn’t paid. But I didn’t complain. It wasn’t a witch-hunt. One thing is that I say the truth because I wasn’t the only person. There were those who were not paid for about four months or so. So, my friend came and said I should give him the money. I said well, I have not been paid. I promised to pay him whenever I was paid. The next thing that happened was that Senator Lee Maeba called me and said my friend (name withheld) said I owed him £60,000. I was shocked. Senator Lee Maeba asked my friend whether he knew how much £60,000 was. And he asked him who gave him (my friend) £60,000. I didn’t know there was a political gang up against me. They wanted to make an issue of my personal dealing and I told Senator Maeba what happened. Of course, he believed me, he knew I was saying the truth. The next thing I saw was my friend with the governor. He is not the governor’s friend. How he got to be with the governor when he is not his friend is what amazes me till date. So, the governor should also check himself whether he sets up those who are working with him. He should check himself.

Then he (the governor) called me and said this young man said I owed him €40,000. It was no longer £60,000. Then I narrated what I just told you. He said I must pay the man. I said well I would pay him the €2,000 once I am paid. After that, I decided to take him to court because I didn’t find what the young man did funny. So, I called the Attorney-General (Aguma) and I went to his chambers (May his soul rest in peace). The records are there. So they took the young man up because the good thing was that all the things we did were on phone. They asked me to make a photocopy of everything. They took them from my messages and all that. They had all the facts and they knew they were going to nail the young man. He was going to jail straight. The former Secretary to the State Government (Kenneth Kobani) can bear me witness. The next time he invited us, he invited me, my friend and Aguma.

You mean the governor?

Yes, the governor. The governor asked me to make sure I took that matter from court and that I should not go on with the matter again. At that point, the Attorney-General said you have heard what oga (the governor) said. He subsequently directed the officials in his chamber to discontinue the case. That was how that case was stopped. At no point did he give me €40,000. Did the governor give me €40,000 to give to my friend? I was the one indebted to the man, he wasn’t.

Again, he talked about my person. All the churches he went to, he sent me. Let him tell the world if one dime was lost from all that money. I represented him in many places, especially in churches. Did I pilfer the money or did I take them? So, it is demeaning and unbecoming of a governor to begin to talk trash.

How would you react to the governor’s allegation that you took ‘kolanuts’ that was meant for traditional rulers?

One thing the governor should explain to people is that how come if anybody leaves (defects), he is a thief. I am a thief, Ibinabo Michael-West (a former commissioner) is also a thief. So he was busy appointing thieves into his government? It takes a bigger thief to know smaller thieves. So, he formed a colony of thieves; he should be ashamed of himself. But what happened was that Goodluck Jonathan came. This was a pre-election matter before he (Wike) made me a commissioner. Now if he said I ‘kolanuts’ that were meant for traditional rulers, Jonathan was the one who was coming and the campaign was at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium. A press conference was held at the international airport. When Jonathan finished, I was given two bags. I knew the bags contained cash but I did not know how much was there. People were there so I couldn’t open the bags to count the money. One of the bags was meant for religious leaders while the other one was for traditional leaders. The one that was meant for religious leaders, of course, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Rivers State was there. So, I went to him but he pointed at a lady and said that was his secretary and that I should hand it over to her. I handed it over to the secretary. But we had a problem regarding the Chairman of the Traditional Council of Chiefs, King Godwin Giniwa, who is my own chief. In short, I was his secretary; I was on his electoral committee to make him the king (The Gbenemene of Tai). I am a member of the Tai Council of Chiefs and Traditional Ruler. I am from a royal family. Maybe the governor does not know me. If he knows me, he won’t think that I will ever be a thief. He does not know where I come from or who I am. Now, my King was not there. So because he was not there, we didn’t know who to hand over the money to. So, I met with Emma Okah (former Commissioner for Information and Communications). He (Okah) said John, keep the money. I called my driver who was driving the campaign bus. The governor said I was nobody but I was the chairman of his campaign organisation in my LGA (Tai) and a member of his campaign organisation in the state; a key figure for that matter. If I were not a key figure, how come they would give me money from the President to handle?

I called my driver and gave him the money. I was on the bus. The members of the campaign team had a big bus. Of course, I wouldn’t have taken the money there. So I gave it to my driver. My driver went his way and we went to the stadium. It was a long day. When we finished, I headed to the village where I held campaigns for him. I was in the village when they called.

Was this 2015?

Yes, it was in 2015 before I was made Commissioner. So, they called me and I told them I was in the village doing campaigns. I told them the money was with my driver and that I would call him. So, I called him and asked him to go to the campaign office in GRA. By the time I got there, the driver was already there. He carried the parcel and gave it to me. Foolishly thinking I had confidence in him and thought the money was intact, I carried it into the office. They later discovered that the money had been pilfered. I came down, confronted the driver and told him he was going to be arrested. He drove away and came back with the remaining money. The amount that was left was just about $500 or $300. I challenged the governor because he said I took 80 per cent of the money. I challenge the governor now to tell the world how much that was missing and what was 80 per cent of that money? He talks anyhow.

I sacked the driver. I am an honourable man, I have integrity, I am from a good home. I wrote my resignation letter on the spot and handed it to the governor. Then, he wasn’t the governor. I resigned from the campaign organisation. I challenged the governor to tell the world that I did not resign from his campaign organisation. I challenge him to tell the world that he did not tear my resignation letter and said that I must not resign. Today he is saying that I am a nobody, but even when I resigned he refused and said I must be part of that campaign because he knew my worth. That was what happened. I have never stolen in my life. I was in the House of Assembly for eight years and I have held several other positions. My records are there. I am without blemish.

Come to think of it. Who gives him the audacity to call people thieves in the first place? Now he is building houses all over, buying the whole place. Where did he get the money from? He is buying the whole town. Look at what he is doing in his community. That is a community on its own. Where did he get the money from? The question is if every governor was to be as greedy as him, would he have seen what he is covering now? This is a man who will even give you duties and responsibilities and he goes to take it right from you. He does his commissioners’ jobs and he will say because they don’t know what to do. If professors and those with PhDs don’t know what to do, is it him?. Can he tell Rivers people this is his vision? He is insulting those that were supposed to help him because he is greedy. He awards all the jobs and gives all the contracts. The commissioners don’t do anything. They are just there by mere name. Who is a thief here? That is a dignified office. A governor should not talk to people disrespectfully and expects people to respect him. First of all, if the governor wants to be respected, he must respect others. Nobody will dare call me a thief when I know I am not a thief and I will keep quiet just because I want to please him.

You resigned from his campaign organisation before he became governor. How come you were still appointed Commissioner in his administration after that incident?

Exactly! That is why I said he should tell the world if he knew that I was a thief. This thing he is talking about happened before he became governor. He is talking about Goodluck Jonathan. That was the first time he wanted to be governor. Jonathan wanted to be President. By his second tenure, Goodluck Jonathan was no longer there. So, if he is saying that I stole money, the kolanuts that were given to me, how come he made me Commissioner? He should explain that to the world. He didn’t know he was indicting himself by saying I was a thief. West was a thief just because we decided to join the APC. I think that a leader should not malign people to gain a political point. But again, if people saw the number of people who defected with us, they would see why he is rattled. He is actually rattled.

Copyright PUNCH.