CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE: DR. CAIRO OJOUGBOH’S RECENT SPONSORED VITUPERATIONS A CALL FOR EXTRANEOUS MERCENARY FORCES TO LEAVE DELTA STATE ALONE
We are constrained to issue this statement in the light of recent developments that threaten to derail the peace and political stability we have enjoyed in Delta State for quite some time now. While we do not hold brief for the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration as there are more competent people paid to do that, we do believe that as important stakeholders in the State, we cannot stand by and watch political hustlers and mercenaries undermine the modest progress the State has made despite the very trying circumstances the administration found itself. A disturbing trend is emerging where disgruntled and unscrupulous persons have developed the bad habit of making inflammatory statements designed to cause confusion and destabilize the State.
One of such persons who would not give peace a chance is Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, a former Deputy National Chairman of the now rested Ali Modu Sheriff faction of PDP. Ordinarily, the vituperation of Ojougboh would have been disregarded but we have no choice but to intervene in the ensuing controversy because some gullible Nigerians may be deceived by his recent posturing given his stature as a former member of the House of Representatives and a former PDP South-South Vice-Chairman. A drowning man, it is said, will clutch at any available straw for survival. Here is a man who once carried the handbag of Ali Modu Sheriff wherever he went and was given an oversized position of the Deputy National Chairman of the Sheriff faction with the utopian belief that they would eventually win the PDP Chairmanship case and become the legal occupants of WADATA HOUSE. With the loss of the legal battle, Dr. Ojougboh is now a jobless man just as he has reached a cul-de-sac in his political career. In his desperation to curry the favour of his new political party, he has resorted to making wild and unsubstantiated allegations against the Government of his fellow kinsman, Dr. Ifeany iOkowa.
In his futile bid to become the infamous critic-general in the Delta APC, he has apparently picked on an area where he knows next to nothing about. First, he made the dubious claim that the 2017 Budget of the State was “blank.” We would not waste our precious time and space on that infantile talk. As Governor Okowa asked reporters, “what is a budget if it is blank?” Next, he alleged that the Paris Club Refund was wasted by the Okowa administration. But at different times, the administration has disclosed how the Paris Club Refund and Bail-out fund were utilised. The Okowa administration deserves commendation for its transparency in this regard because,to the best our knowledge, Delta State is the only State in the country to have done this.It is regrettable that Cairo Ojougboh, a Deltan together with his master held PDP prostrate for nearly two years. There was suspicion then that they were hired APC moles whose assignment was to destroy PDP. They denied it even in the name of God. Today, the PDP has been vindicated and is waxing stronger by the day while men like Cairo has openly gone to the party they have always been working for secretly. A mole is a mole anywhere and one day the likes of Ojougboh will betray his own party. But in all these, CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE is advising Dr. Ojougboh to concentrate on his party and leave PDP alone. The Delta State government has gone past the 2017 budget and has presented the 2018 budget to the State House of Assembly for deliberation.
The S.M.A.R.T Agenda of the Delta State government will never bend to inferior argument. The Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa will never be distracted by unfounded allegations aimed at breaking his resolve to reposition Delta State and to create wealth for our generation and those yet unborn. CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE calls on well meaning Deltans to disregard the work of impostors, armchair critics and rumour practitioners who have nothing to give but are ready to destroy all that we already have. As the magical 2019 electorate year draws near, this is the time for Deltans to begin to reflect on what is best for our future. It is better to stay with a man we can trust than to look for a man we want to learn to trust. The Delta State patrimony is far too important to be left for gamble or conjecture. And that is why we advise Deltans to critically examine the current political environment and look before we leap. If we allow men like Cairo Ojougboh to control our thoughts and behaviour, then we may become victims of dangerous gamble and coming from APC, a party that is still studying how PDP organizes its political structure, it is too risky to put our entire trust into its regimen. CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE urges Dr. Cairo to concentrate on issues rather than personalities in his search for greener pastures.
So what is Dr. Ojougboh’s problem? If he has reached the nadir of his political life, must he exhibit such stark ignorance of the workings of government just to get noticed? Indeed, this wild allegation only exposes Dr. Cairo as a pitiable spectacle. Picking on his kinsman, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa in a manner that is both indecent and indecorous reveals the underbelly of a village tyrant without principles and scruples. CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE advises Dr. Cairo to concentrate on issues rather than personalities in his search for greener pastures.
Dr. Ojougboh’s academic qualification belies his mien and public conduct. For us in the political world, his name has always been associated with thuggery. His brand of politics is do-or-die, often misconstruing his physical height for political prowess. Even in the APC where Dr. Ojougboh now finds himself, he has started to denigrate his political superiors such as Emerhor O’tega, Victor Ochei, Hyacinth Enuha, Great Ogboru and others whose support he should seek. Dr. Ojougboh has come out to label his political superiors in APC as “political neophytes” and that he has come to stabilize the party and give it direction. Perhaps Dr. Ojougboh needs to be reminded that his name hardly rings a bell in Delta South, Delta Central and even in most parts of Delta North where he comes from.
If Dr. Ojougboh wants to test his popularity, let him pick an election form and run for Governor of Delta State. It is only then he will realise that his electoral worth is below acceptable level even for the office of a Local Government Councilor. He has shown with the loss of their PDP factional leadership and his hurried decamping to APC that he is a shameless political hustler motivated by greed and selfish ambition. Where are his former followers in PDP? What suddenly happened to his romance with Modu Sheriff? Did Sheriff notice his antecedents and decided to sack him? These are questions that Deltans should find answers to. Deltans should be very wary of politicians like Dr. Ojougboh who would go to any length, including inciting hatred and stoking the fires of ethnic division, to satisfy their selfish political interests.
For: CAMPAIGN FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE