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By October, AD will become one -AmalanyoAfatei Yousou
Amalanyo
Afatei Yousou is a member of the Bayelsa StateHouse of Assembly, representing
Brass Constituency II on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He
became a member of the House after he defeated his opponent at the Election
Tribunal. Yousou, the only AD member in the Bayelsa Assembly, was sworn in
seven months ago. He spoke with Correspondent,
Emma Gbemudu, on his challenges as the only AD member of the state Assembly,
his constituency problems, the AD crisis and, of course, the House of Assembly.
Excerpts:
What objectiveshave you set to achieve at the end of
your tenure in the House?
During my campaignin my community, when we were made
to present our manifesto before thecommunity, I remembered telling them that I
hope to fight for the restorationof Iwo-Ama to its rightful place. This
community called Iwo-Ama migrated frommy community (Okpoama) to settle there,
but intra communal problems came up andthe whole place was destroyed and during
the creation of local governments,either by error or omission, Iwo-Ama, which
is a ward under my constituency,was put under Brass Constituency I in Brass
Local Government.
Now that yourconstituency, which is Brass Constituency
II, seems to have lost a ward to asister Brass Local Government, what do you
intend to do to regain it?
Well, I saidIwo-Ama is in my constituency, but in
terms of local government, they are inBrass Local Government. Many of them are
not even benefiting from the parentBrass Local Government, which they now
belong. The last time we spoke with thedeputy governor, people from the
community made mention of it to him and hesaid he would look into it and
correct the anomaly and bring them back toKaiko/Ibe Awo Local Government.
In your bid toresettle the displaced Iwo-Ama
community, will the exclusion of Iwo-Ama ward bea determining factor in the
resettlement process?
Of course, if theyare resettling, these are some of
the things that brought up these problems.These people are from Okpoama and now
you have taken them into anothercommunity, which is Twon-Brass, while where
they originally settled belongs toOkpoama and if they are coming to resettle
there, definitely you will bringthem back into Kaiko/Ibe Awo Local Government,
where they will benefit fullyand not partially.
Now, they arebenefiting partially from Brass Local
Government because many of the peoplefelt that these people are Okpoama people.
If they come back and resettle,appointment or whatsoever that is coming to that
place, they will fullybenefit.
Will you besurprised if some persons from Iwo-Ama
community claim that they are from Brassand not from Okpoama?
It would not be asurprise to me because many people
are claiming so. These days, people turnhistory upside down and say whatever
they want to say. So, it is not a surpriseto me.
Are youcategorically saying Iwo-Ama belongs to
Okpoama?
Of course,categorically, the Brass people too know
that the place belongs to Okpoama.They know that Iwo-Ama and Okpoama are one,
there is no way you can separatethem.
So, there is nodispute over ownership of the land
where Iwo-Ama was located, between Okpoamaand Brass?
Well, they are notjust claiming Iwo-Ama land but they
even claim to own where Okpoama is settledtoday; that the whole of that place
is their own. From Iwo-Ama down to Okpoamathey claim is their own, so it is not
a new thing; the matter is even in thecourt.
You said theexclusion of Iwo-Ama ward from Kaiko/Ibe
Awo Local Government was done eitherby omission or error by the last Assembly.
Now that you are a member of theHouse, what do you intend to do?
Before I was evensworn in, the resettlement process
had been on and it was the deputy governorthat spearheaded the whole thing. He
had been discussing with the Iwo-Amapeople before I came in as lawmaker to the
House. I was invited by the deputygovernor on assumption for a meeting and we
had discussion on the matter.
These are thingsyou don�t use force to achieve; you
have to dialogue with the people. Thelast time I was with the deputy governor,
I told him that on his own or thegovernment on its own is doing its own beat,
but I have to follow it up inanother way. My intention is to invite the people,
because some of them areresident in Twon Brass while some others are in
Okpoama. I will invite the TwonBrass group and discuss with them, know what is
the problem and what they want.
I will also invitethe people at Okpoama, to also know
their feelings. Then, I will invite bothgroups and discuss with them and think
of the way forward. I even told thedeputy governor this and he has given me the
go ahead.
What I am waitingfor is money so that if I am inviting
them, maybe I will accommodate and feedthem. That is the approach I want to
use.
Do you intend toraise a motion in the House concerning
this error or omission you have observedin the Bayelsa State Local Government
(Creation) Law 2000?
Yes, I have evendiscussed it with the deputy governor.
I will do it. The last time I discussedwith the deputy governor, he said he
would direct the attorney-general to senda bill to the House on the amendment
of the Local Government (Creation) Law2000, he said the AG is the person to
sponsor the bill. So, if that bill comes,we will look at it. Meanwhile, I will
be discussing with the people pendingwhen that amendment bill will come to the
floor of the House.
Is the amendmentto include Iwo-Ama, the Ward Three
wrongly put under Brass Local GovernmentArea?
Yes, that is theone I am talking about, that is
Iwo-Ama Ward Three.
Does that implythat the state government has accepted
the error or omission and has agreed tocorrect it through an amendment bill?
Like I said, wediscussed with the deputy governor and
the Iwo-Ama people mentioned that errorto him and he equally said okay, let us
see what we can do about it. Lawmakingis lobbying and all the rest of it, so, I
will have to lobby and discuss withmy colleagues in the House.
I have drafted acopy and I intend to give it to
experts to look at, to see how best it could befollowed up.
How do you feelin the midst of a Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP)-controlled House, being an ADmember?
I was a member ofPDP; we were pioneer members of PDP.
We took PDP to Brass Local Government andmany of the people in the House of
Assembly, some of them are my mates, wegraduated together.
We attended thesame school. When I came in, I didn�t
feel left out.
Are yousuggesting that you are not in anyway intimated
in the House as the onlyminority member?
I have not seen anysituation where I was intimated
when the House is in session. When we sit,everybody expresses his opinion on
issues. To be fair to every other person andMr Speaker, immediately I raise my
hand, the speaker will quickly recognise meand will ask me to speak before any
other person. So, nobody has ever intimatedme on the floor.
Have you beenplaying your role effectively as an
opposition leader in the House?
What I believe isthat if someone brings up an issue
and if I am not in support of that matter, Iwill tell you my mind and if I am
in support, I will say yes I am in support. Iwill not just go against any
person who comes up with an issue that is relevantbecause I am an opposition
leader in the Assembly. That is not what Iunderstand by the word opposition in
the House.
How do you seethe AD crisis at the national level?
It is unfortunate acrisis like that is going on, but
by October this year, we are going foranother convention and they will sort all
these things out then.
What is theposition of AD in Bayelsa State?
AD is in BayelsaState, whether you like it or not. We
have one Assembly member (my humble self)and two councillors. This is to tell
you that we are still here and the onlyproblem is that we lack finance and the
problem of two factions going on in thestate.
As the national ADhas two factions, even in the state
too, some people belong to the Akandegroup, some others belong to the Senator�s
group. It is always a problemwhen you are not many and you have factions within
yourselves.
But then, I wastelling them when I came to the AD all
of us were one and every person workedfor me and I wouldn�t say this man is for
Akande�s group while theother is for Senator�s group. If you have a problem and
you come to meand I can assist you, I will, irrespective of what faction you
may belong.Well, by the grace of God, by October we will iron out those things
if thenational convention goes smoothly.
Some personsalleged that Bayelsa State House of
Assembly is just a rubber stamp, whereanything Governor Alamieyeseigha brings
goes. Do you share this view?
I cannot acceptthat view because there were occasions we have met the
governor and disagreedon issues. And on such occasions, we have had to refer to
the constitution as away out.
I will not agreethat the House is a rubber stamp to
the executive arm of government in thestate.
What are theeconomic potential on the Okpoama Island?
Well, Nigerian AgipOil Company is there. In 1998,
Okpoama had some crises with Agip, the communityneeded certain things and they
demanded for those benefits but at the end ofthe day, there was a problem
between Twon-Brass youths and Okpoama youths andthe government took sides with
Twon Brass and sent combined military forces tokill and to demolish a lot of
houses in Okpoama.
This time around,we the Okpoama youths are very
careful. Like the Brass man will say, Agip istheir own. We have about 36 oil
wells that are locked up there in Okpoama thatbelong to a company.
According to thepeople, the company supported Biafra
during the Nigerian Civil War, so theywere asked to leave the country by the
Federal Government. Since then, thoseoil wells had been locked up there. Just
of recent, we were told that a Chinesecompany has bought them over, so any
moment from now, they may come to operatethem.
Actually, Idon�t know the name of the new company but
one Solomon, an executivedirector, Operations, from the Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company, asubsidiary of NNPC, came and invited me, my youth leader
and my localgovernment chairman. He told us that the oil wells there have been
sold toanother company and that they would want to meet with us at Benin.
So, I can say wehave not had any oil company in our
place and this is the only one that iscoming, if really it will come at all. If
they come, we will sit down anddiscuss with them and have a memorandum of
understanding with the company onhow best to develop the place, and I will not
be the only person because I amin the House of Assembly.
There are chiefs inthe community, we have the
Amanyanabo, who is a retired judge, so all of uswill sit down and discuss with
the company.
How do you seethe coming of the Brass NLNG?
Well, the coming ofthe Brass NLNG will be a great
opportunity to that island but we only read itin the papers. Up till now, to be
frank, I have not seen anything they havedone in that place, though we heard it
on radio that the agreement has beensigned. But then, I have not seen anything.
From one document Isaw, they were supposed to commence
work by this year and they are supposed tobe exporting by 2008. I don�t have
much to say until I see them onground.
What is yourassessment of the relationship among
lawmakers in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly?
When I came in, Iwas told there was this group; there
was that group and the rest of them. Thatwas what I heard before I was even
sworn in. But when I came in, I think therelationship among the members has
been quite cordial, except some may just bepretending outwardly, but then, the
relationship is good for now.
Since you weresworn in, have you been benefiting,
entitlement wise, like every other lawmakeror has there been any way you have
been discriminated against by yourcolleagues?
Since I came in, Ihave gotten all my entitlements.
Before I came in, the House bought a car formy opponent; they have equally
bought my car for me. Even the housing allowancethey gave to every other person
has been given to me too. So, I think all thosebenefits that were due them
before I came, they have given me. I have not beenin any way discriminated
against by my colleagues in the House.
Talking aboutyour recent trip to Swaziland, where you
attended the African regionalConference of Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association (CPA), can you share yourexperience with us?
I went there as anobserver, because there was only one
delegate (the Speaker) and the otherpeople were observers. So, from my
observation, it was a very interestingconference. In fact, my experiences were
many, like Swaziland is a very smallcountry of a population of about just one
million people, but the behaviour ofthose people, I mean the level of
development of the place, was challenging.
When I came toNigeria, I shed tears because Swaziland
is a small country and the number ofdays we were at the CPA conference, there
was no power failure, no waterproblem, the streets are clean every where you
go, the people are very sincere.
How I wishNigerians are like those people. When I came
back from Swaziland, at theMurtala International Airport, Lagos, they just
opened my bag and stoleeverything that I came with from there. Seeing a lot of
parliamentarians fromother countries, the experience was a good one to
remember.
Specifically,what did you learn in lawmaking at the
conference?
Well, in terms oflawmaking, there were a lot of things
I learnt. Like in Nigeria, we havedifferent political parties and all the rest.
In Swaziland, they don�teven have political parties. They have a king, like the
British, where theyhave the Queen.
The king is thepresident of the nation, they have a
prime minister and all the people are noteven elected as we have here. They
just have a House of Assembly; they do nothave local government system. They
have regions, so, in terms of lawmaking,they are even trying to copy from us in
Nigeria. The way our legislature is setup is okay. We have House of Assembly in
the state, House of Representativesand the Senate at the nation level. The
House of Representatives� Speakerand the Deputy Senate President represented
the National Assembly from Nigeria.Ita Giwa was there and a lot others were
there. Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, Ondoand Delta States were all there. The focus
of the conference was based on peacein Africa, how to avoid all these wars on
the continent and the discussions allcentred on that. It was not the
development of individual countries in Africabut rather the theme of the
conference was on crises in African countries. Howlegislation could be used to
prevent such crises on the continent byparliaments.
What is yourimpression about the developmental efforts
of the present administration in thestate?
I
think the governor is trying, butit is just that what I see is sometimes the
contracts being awarded to somepeople, they will just collect the mobilisation
and abandon the project. ThankGod, they have inaugurated the projects�
Monitoring and ImplementationCommittee headed by Navy Capt. Walter Feghabo
(retd). Where I stay in Ekeki iscalled Wetland road. That road is very bad. If
you look at my new car, you willnotice some problems on it, which were caused
by the abandonment of that roadby the contractor.
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