Ego, bane of APC unity in Rivers— Party chieftain
Barth Ndubuwah,Port Harcourt
As the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Rivers State continues to grapple with its protracted internal crises that have engulfed the party since 2019, a Party Chieftain,Mr Kingsley Weneda Wali has identified ego as the root cause of the crises. According to him, it is difficult to pinpoint the real issue that threw APC into crisis apart from ego among the leaders of the party.
Wali stated this when executive members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ), Rivers State Council paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt.
“On APC, ego has taken over the thoughts of its leaders. A state without opposition is a mockery of democracy. As an APC member, I may not be in the position to give a fair comment on the issues.We have been operating a near dictatorship since 1999. APC is in this condition because they are not in power.
“In Rivers State for instance, Ikwerre people are only enduring so that the process flows because the governor is an Ikwerre man, not that they are comfortable with the government’s policies,but they have no option than to shut up. For example, the shutting down of Rumuokoro’s economy cannot be explained by anybody.But as media,you should keep on talking about these issues or set the stage for people to air their views unhindered. Budget in Rivers State for instance has remained a secret document. It will only take the media to wrestle it out from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government by setting the stage for continuous criticism. No society with weak press can make progress,” Wali said.
Wali who said he is a journalist by calling and only veered into politics by chance, challenged the media to be up and doing as the watchdog of the society.
He decried a situation where the media tend to label every Fulani man as a herdsman, Niger Deltans as militants and every Igboman as Indigenous People Of Biafra(IPOB), noting that it is to say the least unprofessional.
The political stalwart was categorical that a journalist must not be afraid of being arrested or detained, otherwise he has no business of being a journalist.
“The powers that be cannot be comfortable with journalists because they are after the truth and those in authority cannot be comfortable with the truth. So I had always identified with the Press because of their calling. But it is unfortunate that the Press today has compromised,” he said.
Wali said he is looking forward to the day he will go back to journalism practice, having served as a member of Campus Magazine when he was in the university.
Earlier,the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel,Mr Amaechi Okonkwo had told the their host that they were at his place to rekindle the relationship they have with him, especially now that there is change of baton in their leadership. He thanked Wali for his supportive role to the chapel over time.
“We want to thank you for the warm reception, the aim of our visit is to rekindle our relationship as one of our friends, especially after change of leadership.You fall under that category of being one of our special friends,in view of your supportive role to the Correspondents’ Chapel,” the Chairman said.
