By Emma Amaize

HIS Royal Majesty, HRM, Benjamin Ikenchukwu
Keagborekuze I, Dein of Agbor Kingdom in Delta
State, showed some radicalism and clairvoyance
during my recent visit to his palace when he
declared that one of the things that turns him off
was seeing Nigerians openly castigate
themselves, leaders and country.
His words: “I think here in Nigeria, we like to talk
about negative things too much and when you
talk about the negative too much, you will be
surprised that you encourage the negative to
happen. This is a great nation, and we have
many things to celebrate; let us talk about the
positive things in life and celebrate them.”
Monarch’s wise counsel
The world’s youngest crowned monarch, widely-
travelled and Officer in The Order of Belgium,
said the world was watching Nigeria and the off-
putting comments of the people about their
leaders, especially in the social media, was doing
the nation more harm than good internationally.
It was a royal admonition to Nigerians to tame
their tongues.
You would, therefore, imagine the royal father’s
consternation when the Chairman of a Special
Committee set up by the National Executive
Council, NEC, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of
Edo State, outrageously declared, some days
later, that Nigerians would pelt former President,
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his fellow looters
with stone if they found out that he spent N140
billion on consultancy alone on the 2nd Niger
Bridge project.
Scandalous: Oshiomhole’s outburst was shocking
as it was public knowledge before his bombshell
that the total cost of the bridge procured as a
Public Private Partnership Project under the
Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer,
DBFOT, model is N108 billion. The posers
are how consultancy alone on such a project
would gulp N140 billion? Where did the governor
get his information? Did he crosscheck before
going to town with it?
However, mother monkey says she can only
deny for the unborn child in her belly because
she did not know if the child on her back
stretched hands and collected somebody’s
banana while she was passing through the
market. Missiles: Before you could say Jack
Robinson, former Minister of Niger-Delta, Elder
Godsday Orubebe, last Tuesday, fired at
Oshiomhole, describing him as an ingrate and
Villa sycophant, quick to switch allegiance to
whoever is in power.
Evidently, Orubebe was miffed at Oshiomhole’s
negative comments about Jonathan and his
administration. He asserted: “It is unfortunate
that Oshiomhole, who should talk like a governor,
is today biting the fingers that fed him and
seems to have forgotten in a hurry that he once
cried around the former President for assistance
and recognition.”
Daring the lion in its den: Apparently on a
familiar terrain, Oshiomhole hit back 24 hours
later, describing Orubebe as a clown, who was
afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned
probe of several billions of naira squandered on
the East-West Road and on the amnesty
programme under Orubebe’s watch as Minister
of Niger Delta Affairs.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Peter
Okhiria, he said the “incompetence” of people
like Mr. Orubebe contributed to the dismal failure
of the administration of former President,
Goodluck Jonathan. Orubebe replied immediately,
slamming the governor as a ‘garage boy’ and
somebody suffering from chronic diarrhoea of
the mouth, which explains why he has lately
been misleading Nigerians. He said the
governor’s illiteracy was beyond human
comprehension.
As if waiting for such diversion, Oshiomhole
exploded again from Benin. This time, he said
Orubebe was an elevated thug: “Orubebe is no
more than a common tout and political thug, too
illiterate to know the difference between a
“garage” and a “motor park,” recruited by his
paymasters as Deputy Director-General of the
2015 Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organization,
and agent provocateur to truncate the last
election.
“But for the maturity and sound leadership
orientation of Professor Atahiru Jega, Nigeria
would still have been reeking in utter anarchy
and political protestations.”
Surrender: The verbal war continued at the
weekend with Orubebe saying that he would no
longer reply Oshiomhole anymore because it had
become apparent that the governor was empty.
He said: “You can see the kind of governor we
have in our country. My response is simple: I am
through with him. I will not talk about him again.
On this issue, I am through with him; I have no
business with such a governor, who has no brain.
“I thought he was more knowledgeable on the
issues of governance.”
Backlash: That Oshiomhole took Jonathan to the
cleaners is not in doubt, but it has become
obvious that the 2nd Niger Bridge project may
run into difficulty if the matter was not properly
handled. Director General, Infrastructure
Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, Aminu
Dako, in a statement, said Federal Government
was scrutinizing the contract cost and conditions
surrounding the 2nd Niger Bridge and that
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the
Ministry of Works to review the cost of the
project.
He also said the Commission had identified some
errors in the project, but the bottom line of his
statement was that Federal Government had
suspended work on the project. Dako skirted
around issues like the commission having to give
certificate of compliance; communities around
the areas clamouring that they have not been
paid compensation; Onitsha Traditional Council
complaining that it was not well-represented in
the transaction and all that. The directives and
policy frameworks came just the same time that
Oshiomhole went public with the dance.
Putting records straight
Contrary to Dako’s position, Managing Director of
the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority,
NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji, expressed shock over the
allegation by Oshiomhole that N140 billion was
spent on consultancy for the bridge. He said that
only $2.21 million dollars (about N340 million,
using the then exchange rate of N154/$1) was
spent on consultancy for the project. According
to him, the cost of consultancy for the bridge
was less than one percent of the cost of the
project, which was way below global standards.
A document made available to Niger Delta Voice
indicated that “the project was initially estimated
to cost N108 billion excluding duties and VAT. If
duties and VAT are included, the project will cost
N117.9 billion. “This was equivalent to $700
million at the then prevailing exchange rate of
N154/$. The final project cost would naturally be
affected by exchange rate fluctuations and other
variables.”
Mr. Orji said that Federal Government made a
commitment of N30 billion out of which it has
released N18.3 billion so far, of which N10.4
billion was disbursed on early construction
works. On the governor’s allegation of non-
performance, he said a lot of piling work had
been done on the project site, located some
distance from the current bridge.
Unnecessary distraction
Currently, there is outrage not just among South-
Easterners, but other Nigerians that instead of
facilitating the completion of the important
project, Nigerian leaders are playing politics with
it to score cheap political points.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/oshiomhole-orubebe-crossfire-im-sorry-did-dein-of-agbor-take-notice/

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I thought oshiomh-OLE was a responsible man until he imported Cape Verde punna..

Hmm

Oshiomole and orubebe who are seen as elders disgracing themselves publicly....smh

Check the link below for collections of footwears.

https://www.nairaland.com/2564231/check-here-collections-footwears

That's clumsy

The needful

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