[b]By Tom Chiahemen

Amid threats to his life and business investments, Chairman of Daar Communications Plc, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and Ray Power FM, Chief Raymond Dokpesi insisted on Friday that he had no regrets taking up the job of Director-General of Ibrahim Babangida’s presidential campaign organization.

Dokpesi made the declaration in Abuja while speaking exclusively to Peoples Daily Weekend against the backdrop of growing criticisms from politicians in the South-South geo-political zone for his decision to head the IBB presidential campaign team rather than support his fellow Niger Deltan, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for the 2011 presidency.

While admitting that the Federal Government owes AIT billions of naira, being the company’s earnings as host broadcaster of the last FIFA U-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria in 2009, Dokpesi denied that he dumped Jonathan for Babangida because the government failed to pay the money.
On the threats to his life, he said he had lodged formal complaints with security agencies. “I’ve been making appropriate reports to the appropriate agencies, including Mr. President himself, that my life is being threatened. Some people forget that I was the leader of the South South Peoples Assembly.

“I know the people that are behind the threats and these people are very much in this government. I want to let the whole world know that government has continued to threaten me and my investments; they have continued to directly threaten my person and if anything happens to me, the whole of Nigeria and the world must hold Chief Edwin K. Clark and the South South Leaders Forum and the Jonathan government fully responsible”.

On the view by the South-South leaders that he had teamed up with an outsider to deny the zone the opportunity of producing the next president, Dokpesi said, “General Ibrahim Babangida is a bona fide Nigerian and I am a bona fide Nigerian and I have an absolute right to associate with any person I deem fit and proper in the Federal Republic of Nigeria as provided by the constitution of this country.”

He dismissed the calls by the South-South Leaders’ Forum for his suspension and for the boycott of his business ventures, including AIT and Ray Power FM, saying, “I have never ever belonged to any of such bodies. I don’t know the South and South Elders or Leaders Forum. I have never participated in their meetings and there is no basis, since I am not a member that any person will come forward to say that he is suspending me,” he added.

Explaining his decision to support a northern candidate for the 2011 presidency, Dokpesi said, “I led the South-South Peoples Assembly between 2004 and 2009 and the body had a very well defined agenda which was adopted and kept as the Calabar Declaration, and the major kernel of that declaration was the position of the South-South on the principle of derivation, of development in the South-South, the issue of pollution control and trying to ensure that they had an equitable share of the nation’s resources.

“In that agitation, we made the case clearly, not only to the PDP but the Nigerian people at large”, Dokpesi explained, saying it was as a direct result of that effort of the South-South Peoples Assembly that the South- South was given the opportunity to produce the Vice President in 2007 for an eight- year term, “and that would have given them the opportunity to produce the President in 2015.”

While assuring that he was still solidly behind and in support of that aspiration, he noted however that “We have had the misfortune of losing the President from the northern part of the country and the PDP has in its constitution a zoning principle. I wholly identify with the zoning principle of the PDP because without that zoning principle, it would not have been possible for South-South, in the very first instance, to have produced the Vice President and the Vice President to be able to aspire to become president”.

He decried the attitude of people like Chief Edwin K. Clark whom he accused of “insulting and intimidating the rest of the country,” stressing that “some of us do not agree with that approach. We believe that it is not acceptable; it is not the right approach for the people of the South- South to demand sympathy and understanding for their cause. At the present moment, what we have is the turn of the north and the north must and should be supported to complete eight years of that term.”

On the view that he dumped Jonathan for refusing to approve the release of the FIFA U-17 World Cup money owed AIT, Dokpesi said there was a fundamental difference.

“I’ve not raised the issue because government panels had recommended that I be paid the money but still government failed to pay because right from the word go I disagreed with their position on zoning.

“Even if South- South wanted to say the circumstances that led to the Jonathan Presidency were peculiar, it isn’t by doing what Chief Clark is doing that Jonathan would get the next PDP ticket. It is not by insulting northern elders and the entire northern part of the country but by persuasion; it is by engaging and appealing for understanding. That is the right approach.”
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http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14444:why-i-dumped-jonathan-for-ibb-by-dokpesi&catid=16:national-news&Itemid=33

Will we say Dokpesi is broke 2 have taken up d position?or d'we assume that he is just being rational?

Now Dokpesi has spoken, I think he sounds more rational than the senile Edwin Clark.

Look at this serial scammer, after collecting billions of naira from Nigerians in the Daar Ponzi scheme, he still want to install the evil genius on us, may you experience crises just as your mentor did to us in 93

MetalGong4:

Now Dokpesi has spoken, I think he sounds more rational than the senile Edwin Clark.

thought d same 2. . .

It doesnt make any difference whose side he is on anyways, his teevee campaign doesn't guarantee anybody's success at the upcoming elections

Ibb should give it up already. He can never win.

what is rational about denying people that produced 90% of the nations wealth to become president,we all know how arrogant the northerners have been and they cannot be trusted to give power back to who is due in 2015,the time is now,the northerners where againt derivation fomular,while other zones supported,they dont want resource control,they want to discover oil before the implemtation of resource control.They messed up Nigeria.

All institutions of nation building are controlled by this people with the wrong expertise,what are you saying

Atiku&AC used AIT in 2007 but failed to get the presidency

@ metal gong

Now Dokpesi has spoken, I think he sounds more rational than the senile Edwin Clark

How more rational can Dokpesi sound? This is a guy (just like most Nigerian entrepreneurs) who has refused to open up his business for investors for more efficiency resulting in months of unpaid workers' salaries, creditors picketing and unreasonable liabilities.

He is obviously broke and our N100 donations were not enough and has finally resorted to the d 'Giver of Money'-IBB d Devil to keep his business life going. What happens to all those documentaries ran by AIT on IBB years of misrules and oppression and suddenly IBB is now d saint dat can take Nigeria to El dorado.

What baffles me is dat he hasnt tough about d consequences; Lagosians will deal with him at appropriate time, Militants will target him and his family, He is already a person non grata, and he is not even only working against his people but working for the Evil 1.

We shall all gather here again to discuss diz guy's woes as they befall him very soon.

The guy is simply afraid of getting broke. This is his opportunity.

olas2u:

what is rational about denying people that produced 90% of the nations wealth to become president,we all know how arrogant the northerners have been and they cannot be trusted to give power back to who is due in 2015,the time is now,the northerners where againt derivation fomular,while other zones supported,they dont want resource control,they want to discover oil before the implemtation of resource control.They messed up Nigeria.

All institutions of nation building are controlled by this people with the wrong expertise,what are you saying

This is an arrant nonsense and silly statement born out of stack ignorance. The so-called south-south political zone does not produce any tangible product which supports the economy of the cesspit called Nigeria.

Crude oil is not produced by the so-called south-south but a natural endowment to a geographical expression known and referred as Nigeria. When crude oil exploration stated about 1948 in Southern Protectorate, loudmouths such Edwin Clarke could not put their money where their putrid mouths mess today.

The principle here is that of equity.
In a population as large as the whole SS, is there a law mandating every citizen to follow the same political ideology?
People like Dokpesi who are from the SS, but have the gut to support somebody else from another region should be appreciated, because that's the essence of democracy.

Even though he's a minority in the SS in terms of his support for a candidate outside his region, his wish ought to be respected by the majority.
Chief Clark should know better, because while eastern Nigerians declared Biafra to fight Hausa people, his brother Adaka Boro formed an opposition that supported the Hausas instead. Let's not cry whenever the chicken comes home to roost.

@dede1, if there is any hypocrite who is stack ignorant, its you, so niger delta contribute nothing to nigeria economy? You north folks will not stop amusing us, this is the same north where they outlawed beer drinking any yet shared part of VAT generated by LAGOS state to the extent that Kano, earns more than LAGOS even though it is not near OGUN in the vat accruing to the federation, the fact is the north is another chad republic in waiting if niger delta secedes.

Dede1:


This is an arrant nonsense and silly statement born out of stack ignorance. The so-called south-south political does not produce any tangible product which supports the economy of the cesspit called Nigeria.

Crude oil is not produced by the so-called south-south but a natural endowment to a geographical expression known and referred as Nigeria. When crude oil exploration stated about 1948 in Southern Protectorate, loudmouths such Edwin Clarke could not put their money where their putrid mouths mess today.

i dont get you at all,oil is real resources and the future belongs to real reasources and knowledge based,They have it .True federalism in Nigeria would have created a better Nigeria with a competitive economy.The northners are not useless but are just lazy and happy with easy money.Does cows in there place could provide fresh milk for the whole of west-Africa-Nigeria still depends on imported milk after 50 years.

seanet02:

@dede1, if there is any hypocrite who is stack ignorant, its you, so niger delta contribute nothing to nigeria economy? You north folks will not stop amusing us, this is the same north where they outlawed beer drinking any yet shared part of VAT generated by LAGOS state to the extent that Kano, earns more than LAGOS even though it is not near OGUN in the vat accruing to the federation, the fact is the north is another chad republic in waiting if niger delta secedes.

I doubt if you receive any form of education. Crude Oil may have been struck or drilled in a geographical entity known as southern Nigeria and particularly the so-called Niger Delta but Niger Delta does not produce crude oil. Crude oil is a natural endowment that could be found in certain areas of the world. The only finish product certain area of the so-called Niger Delta can supply is smoked fish. Ignorance is really a disease.

olas2u:

i dont get you at all,oil is real resources and the future belongs to real reasources and knowledge based,They have it .True federalism in Nigeria would have created a better Nigeria with a competitive economy.The northners are not useless but are just lazy and happy with easy money.Does cows in there place could provide fresh milk for the whole of west-Africa-Nigeria still depends on imported milk after 50 years.

I wish over-fed and loudmouthed southerners such as you will take a very good study of the jungle called Nigeria and draw intelligible conclusion as which part of the country cultivates, processes and provides certain goods. 

I can not recall which finished product the so-called Niger Delta cultivates. Oh!!!!!!!! I take that back, I guess the so-called Niger Delta cultivates crude oil.

@dede1, The very education that makes you think that sokoto is the highest producer of crude oil in the universe, instead of boko harams like you stack illiterate to accept that you north folks are the highest producer of groundnut, niger delta the owner of the crude oil and south west the owner of cocoa, you will start shamefull history revisioning, this is verbal raping from a northern almajiri like you

Dede1:


I wish over-fed and loudmouthed southerners such as you will take a very good study of the jungle called Nigeria and draw intelligible conclusion as which part of the country cultivates, processes and provides goods.

I can not recall which finished product the so-called Niger Delta cultivates. Oh!!!!!!!! I take that back, I guess the so-called Niger Delta cultivates crude oil.

Practice through federalism and see how regions will fight there way out of poverty-You need government support and subsidy to cultivate and produce .European union feeds an european cow with 2dollars budget a day.That is more than the money the average Nigerian earns a day.You need market for what you produce.

seanet02:

@dede1, The very education that makes you think that sokoto is the highest producer of crude oil in the universe, instead of boko harams like you stack illiterate to accept that you north folks are the highest producer of groundnut, niger delta the owner of the crude oil and south west the owner of cocoa, you will start shamefull history revisioning, this is verbal despoiling from a northern almajiri like you

This is an avoidable display of literary stupidity. I never knew cocoa and crude oil are exclusively owned by the southwest and Niger Delta of Nigeria respectively. I suggest a reasonable adult should snatch the keyboard away from you before you open another avenue of social denigration of Nigeria.  What a loudmouthed dullard. 

As far I am concerned, the so-called Niger Delta is of no use to me. At least, the northern region of Nigeria can boast of regular supply of livestock, onions, fruits, beans and, even rice.

seanet02:

@dede1, The very education that makes you think that sokoto is the highest producer of crude oil in the universe, instead of boko harams like you stack illiterate to accept that you north folks are the highest producer of groundnut, niger delta the owner of the crude oil and south west the owner of cocoa, you will start shamefull history revisioning, this is verbal despoiling from a northern almajiri like you

You don't know dede, you don't understand him, and you don't even see his points

@dede1, after a properly scrutinising of your ignorant ranting, i think you are dead broke like your brother at ray power

How more rational can Dokpesi sound? This is a guy (just like most Nigerian entrepreneurs) who has refused to open up his business for investors for more efficiency resulting in months of unpaid workers' salaries, creditors picketing and unreasonable liabilities.

Are you so ignorant?
Daar Communication is a Public Quoted Company on Nigeria Stocks Exchange.

seanet02:

@dede1, after a properly scrutinising of your ignorant ranting, i think you are dead broke like your brother at ray power

I guess fools such you who embark on ranting of ant usually go chilly penury by thinking VAT and Crude Oil are cultivatable products.  

True federlism,resource control,revenue derivation,electricty,removal of quota systems ,will the north agree to all this things,the answer is no,because they dont want us to move ahead,how could you deperive people of electricity for political and economic gains.Johnatan as promised power ,that alone is enough for me,if IBB say power supply for all nigeria ,he is lieing .he as nothing to give back.We will jail is grave when we the youths come to power

Dede1:

I guess fools such you that embark on ranting of ant usually go chilly penury by thinking VAT and Crude Oil are cultivatable products.

why dont you respect people and make contructive and educative comments,you want us to buy your arguments but you are not saying much expect the use of big english. Guess you are from northern Nigeria.The sharing formular with oil majors was done by your people in power, 60 and 40 sharing formular ,who signed all those agreements.we can refine,ship with our own ship,abacha sold all the ships.

@naijaking, i dont understand stupidity, @dede, if you think the niger delta is of no use to a parasitic desert like your ignorance ridden north, then go ahead and press for resource control, we will see how you will cope with your beans, may be you dont even know Mali produces more livestock than your Almajiri ridden and landlocked and desert enroachment threatened empty basin of illiterates

olas2u:

True federlism,resource control,revenue derivation,electricty,removal of quota systems ,will the north agree to all this things,the answer is no,because they dont want us to move ahead,how could you deperive people of electricity for political and economic gains.Johnatan as promised power ,that alone is enough for me,if IBB say power supply for all nigeria ,he is lieing .he as nothing to give back.We will jail is grave when we the youths come to power

Why is everybody sounding like Biafra of the 1960s?

seanet02:

@naijaking, i dont understand stupidity, @dede, if you think the niger delta is of no use to a parasitic desert like your ignorance ridden north, then go ahead and press for resource control, we will see how you will cope with your beans, may be you dont even know Mali produces more livestock than your Almajiri ridden and landlocked and desert enroachment threatened empty basin of illiterates

My brother, it's ok to be ignorant, but there is no reason to be so loud about it.
Dede is not from the north, and I would like to see which of his statements made you think so.

@ Dede1

This is an avoidable display of literary stupidity. I never knew cocoa and crude oil are exclusively owned by the southwest and Niger Delta of Nigeria respectively. I suggest a reasonable adult should snatch the keyboard away from you before you open another avenue of social denigration of Nigeria.  What a loudmouthed dullard.

Me think u are completely wrong not to appreciate d painful fact dat we are all living-off d Niger Delta wealth. Crude oil is a nature endowment. Fine to who and where?.

If Niger Delta doesnt control d Nigerian economy like u want to posit how come d whole country is always almost brought to her knees anytime there is a serious crisis in the SS. May be we should test your hypothesis and separate the Nation along rivers Niger and Benue just for 1 year and see how right your nature endowment hypothesis works.

Another one check out the richest Nigerians both d clean and dirty rich men: IBB has 7.5 Billion pounds in UK from oil windfall, OBJ and Atiku stole from PTDF fund, Otedola an Oil Mogul, Danjuma publicly announced he made so much money from oil block that he was confused on how to spent it, Abdussalam lives on Oil blocks, and check out the list on the Halliburton scam (its endless). Have u forgotten Kure's outburst a few years ago when he called upon his fellow northerners that d future looks bleak if they all continue living on oil as MEND distrupted oil xportation for almost 2 weeks?

Sad as it sounds, government after government have practically abandoned other form of income generation for eazy money from oil and we all are suffering from dis.

The simple truth today is that if Niger Delta escapes from Nigeria today with d supports of oil-drinking super powers:US and EU we all will be jolted and u will not see anybody putting up any poster for any election because the elective positions now means u going back to cocao, groundnut, palm oil,yam, cassava and working hard to commercialize them to feed your states as no more eazy federal allocations.

Solomon227:

@ Dede1
Me think u are completely wrong not to appreciate d painful fact dat we are all living-off d Niger Delta wealth. Crude oil is a nature endowment. Fine to who and where?.

If Niger Delta doesnt control d Nigerian economy like u want to posit how come d whole country is always almost brought to her knees anytime there is a serious crisis in the SS. May be we should test your hypothesis and separate the Nation along rivers Niger and Benue just for 1 year and see how right your nature endowment hypothesis works.

Another one check out the richest Nigerians both d clean and dirty rich men: IBB has 7.5 Billion pounds in UK from oil windfall, OBJ and Atiku stole from PTDF fund, Otedola an Oil Mogul, Danjuma publicly announced he made so much money from oil block that he was confused on how to spent it, Abdussalam lives on Oil blocks, and check out the list on the Halliburton scam (its endless). Have u forgotten Kure's outburst a few years ago when he called upon his fellow northerners that d future looks bleak if they all continue living on oil as MEND distrupted oil xportation for almost 2 weeks?

Sad as it sounds, government after government have practically abandoned other form of income generation for eazy money from oil and we all are suffering from dis.

The simple truth today is that if Niger Delta escapes from Nigeria today with d supports of oil-drinking super powers:US and EU we all will be jolted and u will not see anybody putting up any poster for any election because the elective positions now means u going back to cocao, groundnut, palm oil,yam, cassava and working hard to commercialize them to feed your states as no more eazy federal allocations.

Once again, why is everybody sounding like Biafra? Before we seperate Niger delta from Nigeria, maybe we should first revise the Justice Mamman Nasir boundary adjustment of 1967 to give Igbo people back their land as it was before the civil war.
Don't sound smart today, 40 years after you blindly fought Igbos trying to establish the same principle you're talking about now.

@ Almyx

Are you so ignorant?
Daar Communication is a Public Quoted Company on Nigeria Stocks Exchange

The last time I checked AIT workers have not been paid 4 months salaries and a NLder once claimed its more than dat in other satellite stations outside lagos. If u have been following Dokpesi's AIT u must know AIT is financially unstable and may be removed from NSE if it is not being removed already.

It is amazing most of the fools just woke up from deep political slumber, including Goodluck Jonathan, who seemed to flirt with idea of dislike for northern region of Nigeria had failed to ask why did their fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters went to bed with northern Nigerian politicians and soldiers in 1967.

True federalism, resource control, revenue derivation, electricity, removal of quota systems and meritorious services were cornerstones of eastern region agitation in 1966. I now believe pig will always beget pig. Campaign based on loud noise is bound to crash.

@dede, stop displaying your stupidity on a public forum like this, so because daar is a quoted company, we should not use our head to reason again and start shouting evil genius to every sundry, the same over quoted company that we bought at 5N that is now 50k yet no trace of dividend not to even talk of bonus, dokpesi Can only mingle with poor financial managers like you and the evil genius