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Opinion: Dakuku Peterside: The Tragedy Of A Misguided Intellectual

Published

3 years ago

June 28, 2021

Editor

By Paulinus Nsirim

Our attention has been drawn to an article titled: “Governor Wike: When facts yield to pernicious propaganda,” written by Dr. Dakuku Peterside and published widely both in mainstream and online media platforms.

Ordinarily, we would not have bothered responding to the long winding, virulent and dubiously rambling epistle for the simple reason that Dakuku Peterside’s riposte was a rejoinder to a professionally crafted features piece painstakingly written by the highly respected journalist, Chief Dele Momodu, titled: “My Close Encounters with Gov Nyesom Wike.”

Of course, the title of Chief Momodu’s piece, “My Close Encounters with Gov Nyesom Wike”, speaks loudly for itself, as a narrative predominantly inspired by his personal observations and comprehensive fact-checking tours of Rivers State and several other official and informal meetings with Governor Wike in the line of duty.

Chief Momodu has quite appropriately replied to Dakuku Peterside’s vitriolic and pugnacious bellyaching, in a succinct, widely publicized and highly recommended must-read 7-point right of response.

This response has situated his original article in its proper context and in measured tones, exposed the perfidious intellectual treachery, which defines the polemics of our newfangled public intellectuals.

However, Dr. Peterside, apparently in an effort to justify his recently arrogated, self styled title as: “a policy and leadership expert”, obviously assumed against the backdrop of some recent poorly written, ordinary and simplistic essays, lacking the intellectual rigours and analytics of an “expert”, attempted to stand truth on its head, with an overdose of misleading passages, which sadly reflected the unfortunate tragedy of his present predicament and dilemma, as a misguided intellectual.

Our response has thus become quite necessary therefore in view of the risk that, as Dr. Peterside rightly observed, the danger of allowing misinformation or blatant falsehood to stand and flourish, is the irreparable harm it does to society, as such misinformation leads to the arrest of social development and alters the popular aspiration of the people.

For example, an excerpt from his tedious rejoinder, which succinctly captures this dislocated intellectual locus, reads thus: “No amount of propaganda, not even leveraging on the reputation of Bob Dee, can garnish a bad case… it is only fair that as a significant stakeholder in the development and politics of Rivers State, I am joining the patriotic endeavours of well-meaning Rivers State people to put the record straight. In doing so, I concede that in our highly politicized environment, falsehood ignored later starts looking like the truth, and with time facts become debatable. This, unfortunately, is not time for politics.”

Against the backdrop of the above therefore, it becomes imperative to properly locate Dakuku Peterside within the ambit of his present hibernation and the torpor that ultimately invokes misguided hubris on his suffocating inertia.

Unceremoniosly relieved from his recent unimpressive misadventure with NIMASA; a job for which he had little knowledge and zilch experience, but was appointed as compensation for his failed Governorship bid, Dakuku has been compelled to recline quite disconsolately to his recognized day job of Wike-bashing.

Charged with reluctant gusto and this time masquerading with the ambivalence of an omnibus self imposed title as “leadership and policy expert”, ostensibly crafted after several pedestrian appearances as a ‘Speaker’ at some makeshift conclaves during his short- lived stint at NIMASA, Dakuku’s pathetic appendage of the Amaechi Administration and pitiful lackey of the Transportation Minister, has once again been exhumed.

We do not wish to further glorify his attention seeking, garullous verbiage, especially now that we are also aware of the devious and frenetic jostling for appointment into the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) substantive Board.

Suffice it to say that just as Chief Momodu has aptly observed in his response, Dakuku goofed in almost every paragraph of his bitter, acrimonious and conserted effort to undermine the amazing, determined and unstoppable zeal and dynamism with which Governor Wike is delivering legacy projects across the State.

It is indeed a shame that a ‘significant stakeholder’ and a ‘leadership and policy expert’ as Dakuku addresses himself in his verbose essay, is still appropriating projects meant for the welfare and wellbeing of Rivers people, to specific administrations, as though they were personal property.

Perhaps, he needs to be reminded that the railways which his mentor is gloatingly delivering were conceptualized and commenced with considerable work done on most of them by the previous Federal Administration.

The same goes for the second Niger Bridge, the rehabilitation of Airports and some of the far reaching reforms in the maritime sector. We are even embarrassed that Dakuku Peterside, who could not attract a single project or influence any meaningful value adding initiatives to the lives of his people in his many years as NIMASA Boss, can shamelessly reference the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Unity Road.

To even make such a pedestrian point that the Wike administration cannot complete the remaining 20 percent of the road in six years is laughable. After 150 years of existence as a Kingdom, his hometown, Opobo has been linked by road by Governor Wike.

It is even more surprising that despite the avalanche of information and authoritative clarifications in the public space about the refunds from the Federal Government, Dakuku Peterside, like a drunken analyst who has only just woken up from a delayed stupor, is only now adding his own misleading misinformation to the discussion, when the train had long left the station.

This is utterly ridiculous coming from a supposed scholar and so called ‘significant stakeholder’.

Like Chief Momodu rightly pointed out, Dakuku’s jaundiced perception of events in Rivers State, attests to the sad fact that he is no longer familiar or conversant with the reality on ground, which even distinguished members of his own party, APC have participated vigorously in, establishing the credibility of the amazing work Governor Wike is doing across Rivers State.

One needs not remind Dakuku Peterside that political psychophancy can oftentimes transform into reputational absurdity.

Indeed, Dakuku Peterside’s tirade resonates loudly in his warped translation that the curfews in Rivers State, most of which have also been necessitated by the horrendous failure of the Federal Government to stem the rife spillover insurgency and wide spread attacks by unknown forces in the land, as well as the COVID-19 lockdowns to enforce mandated protocols, aimed at curtailing community spread of the global pandemic in Rivers state, are examples of insecurity in the land.

One would not have been surprised if this was some beer parlour analysis by an inebriated critic but the fact that it is coming from a man of Dakuku’s so called scholarly disposition beggars belief. It would be a waste of time therefore to inform him that the spate of insecurity in states surrouding Rivers State has made it imperative and inevitable for Governor Wike to show bold, determined, focused and decisive leadership in order to protect and secure the lives and properties of Rivers indigenes and residents.

But perhaps, the most malevolent manifestation of jealousy and malicious angst echoes loudly and ruefully in the petty bitterness inherent in Dakuku Peterside’s conclusion, when he says: “I am aware that Governor Wike’s main signature project is the replica of the Government House that he has built for himself in his village…”. What else could be more churlish and infantile than this kind of dangerous covetousness which speaks ill of the good fortunes of one’s neighbor.

Ironically, while Dakuku Peterside is still wrapped up in the hypnosis of a past, riven with monumental failures, which he and his atrophied co-travellers have continuously attempted to repackage with half-truths, cover-ups, outright lies and distorted facts, Rivers people whose lives and communities Governor Wike had impacted and is impacting positively, have continued to shower uncensored enthusiastic and sincere encomiums on him, from Etche to Saakpenwa, Bori, Ikwerre, Kalabari and even from Dakuku’s own backyard in Opobo, when they celebrated the 150 years anniversary of Opobo kingdom.

We are however gratified in the knowledge that Governor Wike does not even have to engage in what Dakuku Peterside has so petulantly refered to as ‘pernicious propaganda’. His works in road infrastructure, healthcare, education, agriculture, human capital development and sports, speak for themselves in the 23 Local Government Areas.

Let us also notify Dakuku Peterside, that Governor Wike still has nearly two more years of his administration left and with the promise that he will impact every Local Government with legacy projects and will complete all projects he has embarked on, he has already written his name in gold in the annals of time. There is no amount of bellyaching or convoluted analysis that can alter that.

As a second term Governor, Wike is working as if it is his first tenure and Rivers people and the entire world are seeing and applauding him everyday.

Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State

Related Topics:Governor Wike Rivers State Wike

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I Stand by What I Said, Kemi Badenoch Replies VP Shettima

Published

2 days ago

December 12, 2024

Eric

The leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has lashed back at Vice President Kashim Shettima over the latter’s reaction to her comments about Nigeria.

Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents.

Badenoch, who attained age 16 in Nigeria before departing the country for the UK where she was elected Conservative Party’s leader, described Nigeria as a nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.

However, Shettima, while speaking at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, December 9, 2024, accused Badenoch of “denigrating her country of origin” with her remarks.

The vice-president listed influential people whose families had migrated to other countries, commending former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “brilliant young man who never denigrated his nation of ancestry.”

Reacting on Wednesday, Badenoch lashed back at Shettima, saying she doesn’t do “PR for Nigeria”.

Her spokesperson, as the Tory leader, according to UK Express, said: “Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR; she is the Leader of the Opposition in the UK.

“She tells the truth; she tells it like it is; she isn’t going to couch her words. She stands by what she said.”

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2027: Nigerians Will Choose Their President, Atiku Berates SGF Akume

Published

4 days ago

December 10, 2024

Eric

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that the power to decide who will occupy the office of President of Nigeria in 2027 ultimately resides in the Nigerian people.

Atiku’s statement was in response to a comment made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who claimed that President Bola Tinubu’s second term in office for 2027 is a done deal.

Akume had argued that for equity and fairness, it is only right for Tinubu – a southerner – to complete a second term, as the North had already had its fair share of leadership.

Atiku’s Special Adviser (Media), Paul Ibe, responded to Akume’s remarks through a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, asking, “Where, then, does true equity and fairness reside?”

Ibe highlighted that by 2027, the South would have enjoyed 17 years of leadership—eight years under Olusegun Obasanjo, five years under Goodluck Jonathan, and four years under Tinubu—while the North would have experienced only 11 years, with Umaru Yar’Adua serving three years and Muhammadu Buhari serving eight years. This, Ibe argued, creates a six-year disparity between the North and South, affecting the balance of power.

He concluded by emphasizing that the power to elect or remove a government lies firmly with the Nigerian people, who will decide whether the current administration deserves another term. “But has the Tinubu government demonstrated that it deserves to be re-elected? The answer, alas, is as clear as the heavens themselves—God forbid!”

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John Dramani Mahama: The New Landlord at Jubilee House

Published

5 days ago

December 9, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The phone call from the opposition, New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, and incumbent Vice President, Muhammadu Bawumia, was not just the dose Ghanaians needed to erupt into a frenzy in celebration of the election victory of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, and former President, John Dramani Mahama, it was also the antidote to neutralize any unforeseen electoral brouhaha that might erupt in the near future.

The admission of defeat by Bawumia sent the people of Ghana into loud shouts of victory; singing and dancing to celebrate the return of a man known for his penchant to deliver good governance. To a great number of Ghanaians, even those who did not vote for him as a result of party affiliation, and other technical reasons, another ‘black jesus’, who will restore the economic efficacy of the country has returned to Jubilee House, formerly known as Flagstaff House, the official home of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

Today, Mahama is no longer former President, he is President-elect, waiting to take up the mantle of leadership for another four years. He is the new landlord of Ghana’s Jubilee House!

The President-Elect, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, is not a stranger when it comes to churning out people oriented programmes and initiatives. During his days as minister, vice president and subsequently, the president, Mahama’s landmark achievements have remained a reference to administrators and would-be administrators. His feats have not escaped the discerning minds and eyes, who have showered him with accolades from home and abroad. In Nigeria, he has been recognized on more then many occasions including his state of of ancestral connection, Kwara, where he bagged the title of Aare Atolase of Offa Kingdom, conferred on him by the Olofa of Offa Kingdom.

Also among the avalanche of recognitions the President-Elect has garnered in Nigeria, is the award of honours on his person by the premier private university in Nigeria, the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.

On November 24, 2018, he was conferred with an honourary doctorate degree for his foresightedness, infrastructural development and general achievements which have affected humanity positively.

Mahama, a politician of great repute, was born on November 29 1958, and has been privileged to serve in various civil and political capacities, culminating in holding the highest office in the land from July 24, 2012 to January 7, 2017.

Mahama started his primary education at the Accra Newtown Experimental School (ANT1) and completed his O’levels education at Achimota School and his A’levels education at Ghana Secondary School (Tamale, Northern region). He proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in History in 1981 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies in 1986. As a student, he was a member of Commonwealth Hall (Legon). He also studied at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow in the Soviet Union, specializing in Social Psychology; he obtained a postgraduate degree in 1988.

His catalogue of enviable services include serving as Vice President of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, and took office as President on July 24, 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. He was also a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and Minister of Communications from 1998 to 2001. A communication expert, historian, and writer, Mahama is a member of the National Democratic Congress.

Though he was born in Damongo in the Damango-Daboya constituency of Northern region, he is a member of the Gonja ethnic group, and hails from Bole in the Northern region. His father, Emmanuel Adama Mahama, a wealthy rice farmer and teacher, was the first Member of Parliament for the West Gonja constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Region during the First Republic under Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.

After completing his undergraduate education, Mahama taught History at the secondary school level for a few years. Upon his return to Ghana after studying in Moscow, he worked as the Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra between 1991 and 1995.

From there he moved to the anti-poverty non-governmental organisation (NGO) Plan International’s Ghana Country Office, where he worked as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager between 1995 and 1996.

In 1993, he participated in a professional training course for Overseas Public Relations Staff, organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. He also participated in a management development course organized by Plan International (RESA) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mahama’s first triumph in politics came in 1996 when he was elected to the Parliament of Ghana to represent the Bole/Bamboi Constituency for a four-year term. In April 1997, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications, and barely a year later, was promoted to the post of Minister of Communications, and served until January 2001. During the period under review, he also served as the Chairman of the National Communications Authority, in which capacity he played a key role in stabilising Ghana’s telecommunications sector after it was deregulated in 1997.

As a minister, he was a founding member of the Ghana AIDS Commission, a member of the implementation committee of the 2000 National Population Census and a deputy chairman of the Publicity Committee for the re-introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

In 2000, Mahama was re-elected for another four-year term as the Member of Parliament for the Bole/Bamboi Constituency. He was again re-elected in 2004 for a third term. From 2001 to 2004, Mahama served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications.

In 2002, he was appointed the Director of Communications for the NDC. That same year, he served as a member of the team of International Observers selected to monitor Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Elections.

As an MP, he was a member of Standing Orders Committee as well as the Transport, Industry, Energy, Communications, Science and Technology Committee of Parliament.

In his continued efforts to expand his interest and involvement in international affairs, in 2003 Mahama became a member of the Pan-African Parliament, serving as the Chairperson of the West African Caucus until 2011. He was also a member of European and Pan African Parliaments’ Ad-hoc Committee on Cooperation.

In 2005, he was, additionally, appointed the Minority Spokesman for Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the UNDP Advisory Committee on Conflict Resolution in Ghana.

As Vice-President, he served as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team, the Armed Forces Council of Ghana, the Decentralisation and Implementation Committee and the Police Council of Ghana in this capacity.

Mahama is full of experience, having served at all levels of poltical office, and he brought them all to bear as President, giving out a sterling performance that could only compare with the very best. He was the first, and remains the only Ghana president to have been born after independence.

On March 30, 2014, he was elected to preside over ECOWAS. On June 26, 2014, he was elected Chairperson of the African Union’s (AU’s) High-Level African Trade Committee (HATC).

On January 21, 2016 on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mahama became co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group which consists of 17 eminent persons assisting the UN Secretary-General in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that world leaders unanimously adopted in September 2015.

In December 2016, he was part of the ECOWAS mediation team to resolve the post-election political impasse in The Gambia between the defeated incumbent, Yahya Jammeh and declared winner, Adam Barrow.

Mahama, now a member of the Assemblies of God, is married to Lordina Mahama, and they are blessed with five children named Shafik, Shahid, Sharaf, Jesse and Farida.

Over the course of his career, Mahama has written for several newspapers and other publications both locally and internationally. Additionally, he is also a devotee of Afrobeat music, especially that of Fela Kuti.

The stadium project

Mahama is not new to awards and honours as his good works have paved a broad way for recognitions. He received an honorary doctorate in the field of Public Administration, from the Ekiti State University of Nigeria, formerly affiliated to the Obafemi Awolowo University in “recognition of his politico-socio economic development of Ghana and Africa at various stages of his political career. Later the same university passed a resolution to name its Faculty of Management Science after him.

He was also honoured by the Cuban government with the Friendship Medal for his relentless advocacy for the Cuban cause.

Also, The General Council of Assemblies of God, Ghana has honoured him with its Daniel Award.

The Graduate School of Governance and Leadership also awarded him the African Servant Leadership Award while the Institute of Public Relations recognized Mahama with a prize for his leadership acumen and technocratic flair.

In 2013, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) conferred on Mahama the Africa Award for Excellence in Food Security and Poverty Reduction.

In March 2016, University of Aberdeen held a special convocation to confer him an honorary degree of Doctors of Laws (LLD).

In December 2016, he was honoured with a Life time award by Ovation Media Group during its yearly Ovation Carol.

A Bill Gates Fellow, Mahama was awarded the Great Cross of the National Order of Benin, the highest award in Benin, by President Yayi Boni.

In February 2017, Mahama received the 2016 African Political Leader of the Year Award from the African Leadership Magazine in South Africa.

He honourably left office on January 7, 2018 after losing to main opposition candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, in the general election held a month earlier.

“I will allow history to be the judge of my time,” Mahama said as he address his crowd of supporters as he concede defeat.

He repeated the same lines as he variously defended his administration in a bid to make a comeback during his campaigns.

Mahama has touted the achievements of his government in the areas of power, roads, the economy, water and sanitation. While delivering his final State of the Nation Address to Parliament, he said the government had extended electricity coverage, increased water supply and improved roads.

As president, he deployed emergency plants and sped up the completion of ongoing plants resulting in the addition of more than 800 megawatts (MW) of power over an 18-month period. That, and many more had helped to stabilise the power situation in Ghana.

Working on the standard mantra of achieving “water for all by the year 2025”, Mahama put in extra effort to achieve the target well in advance of the set date by increasing investment in the provision of clean drinking water, citing of boreholes, small town water systems and major urban water treatment. Consequently, by the end of 2015, excess of 76 per cent of both rural and urban residents have access to potable water.

Mahama contended that his tenure of office had seen some of the most massive investments in the road sector in the history of the country.

While he completed road projects he inherited, such as the Achimota-Ofankor, Awoshie-Pokuase, Sofoline and Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta, he also commenced and completed the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, fast-tracked the construction and opening of the Kasoa overhead bridge, completed the Airport Hills/Burma Camp network of roads, as well as the 37-El Wak-Trade Fair road and a host of others.

His trail of achievements are endless. Mahama is just another name for administrative excellence, and Ghanaians are blessed to have him return to complete his secure tenure as the landlord of Jubilee House.

Mahama will be sworn in to run another four-year course of administration on January 7, 2025, having defeated the incumbent Vice President, Bawumia, in a keenly contested election on December 7, 2024.

Congratulations sir!