A reply debunking claims against Dr Dokpesi and the IBB Campaign.

By PHILIP EDEBE

The article by Ben Nanaghan in Sunday Vanguard of 3 October, 2010 was to say the least, an unfair charge against Dr Raymond Dokpesi, the Director General of Ibrahim Babangida Campaign Organisation. The attempt to dent his credentials tended to instigate a rebellion against the leadership of the campaign organisation. Unfortunately for Nanaghan, Dokpesi still has his honour intact.

This rejoinder is not about the person of General Ibrahim Babangida or his aspiration to contest the 2011 PDP presidential primary election. I have always believed that it is the responsibility of his party members to decide his fate at the appropriate time.

In his article, Ben Nanaghan reacted irritably to the alarm raised by Dopkesi at a press conference he called on 11 September 2010 during which he fingered the Presidency as responsible for the threat to his safety and that of his family members. As published in Sunday Vanguard of 12 September 2010, Dokpesi said: “I also wish to state that at 9.30pm yesterday, my relations and children received some telephone calls threatening to kidnap my first son, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr., by Monday 13, if I do not step down as the Director General of this campaign organisation.” The Sunday Vanguard went on to report that Dokpesi confessed that he had no direct evidence that President Jonathan was involved in the plot to intimidate him but added, “I will not rule out the possibility that he is aware.”

But in a swift reaction which was also published in the same edition of the Sunday Vanguard, Jonathan’s spokesman, Ima Niboro, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the statements by the Director General of General Ibrahim Babangida Campaign Organisation, Dr Raymond Dokpesi, to the effect that the Presidency is after his life. He was also alleged to have said that there is a plot to kidnap his son, as a means of forcing him to abandon the Babangida Campaign. Obviously these are lies.”

To me, I think that was reasonably reassuring but it is important to note that Niboro did not indicate whether Dokpesi’s allegation was investigated considering the several unresolved assassinations in the past. But while reacting to Dokpesi’s allegation, Ben Nanaghan made scathing remarks about his person and literally called him a failure even before the start of the main business. He went on to castigate him for indicting the president even though the reference was to the Presidency. Nanaghan should know that there is a world of difference between the president and the Presidency.

Dokpesi does not have to be David Axelrod of Barrack Obama Campaign Organisation. He does not have to be Jonathan Zwingina of Hope 93. Dokpesi is a Kukuruku man. He is my kinsman and not only is he a doer but also a thinker, which is a concomitant of high potential. He has exhibited his brainpower and proficiency severally and has paid his dues in more ways than one.

In conception, formulation and articulation, the contributions made by Dokpesi towards the political, social and economic development of Nigeria have been of monumental dimensions which, cumulatively, opened up profound historical process such that the country moved forward not only in direction but also in image. If Ben Nanaghan is familiar with the political history of this nation, he should understand and appreciate the point I am making.

Ben Nanaghan should know that nobody or institution will ever be that lucky enough to run across a Dokpesi who is unreasonably anxious to take for granted that there can never be man-made hurdles to the successful delivery on his mandate as DG. I think that is the crux of the matter and it is this state of affairs that Ben Nanaghan saw in Dokpesi’s statement and for which reason he tried to undermine his ability. But what point was Nanaghan trying to make when he introduced into the matter an extraneous issue like the reporting style of the former chief of the army staff during the difficult days in the Presidency? I think it is a classic example of how an opportunist who desperately seeks an unmerited recognition relates with his environment.

Nanaghan should know that both the Presidency and the Babangida Campaign Organisation are to be viewed as two groups in competition and this is the reality. The relationship between these two groups has to be viewed in perspective. Each group represents politically opposing interests and essentially they are in conflict. Once an issue is in contention like the issue of who becomes the PDP presidential candidate, and even up to the time of resolution, a political imbalance in the widest sense develops in their relationship.

This temporary political imbalance does not call for intemperate language. The exercise as to who becomes the presidential candidate of PDP is essentially an intra-party activity which demands a lot of restraint and good sense. That’s why people like Ben Nanaghan, an interloper, should not be allowed to radicalize the process.

I doubt if Dokpesi will shed tears if, in the end, his principal fails to grab the ticket. After all, it is a PDP family affair and they are capable of resolving it.

*Edebe lives in Festac Town, Lagos.