I’m Not A Killer Politician – Sekibo

In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, Senator George Sekibo speaks
about the lessons he has learnt in politics
How do you describe your brand of politics?
I think I 'm a progressive because if you are a conservative, your
people may not understand you well. When you are a progressive
politician, they will know your agenda and the programmes you have for
them. If you are not doing well, they can approach you to seek
clarifications and you can perhaps explain why you cannot do certain
things. I'm a progressive not in the way our parties are formed: a
little to the left, a little to the right.
Have you been involved in electoralviolence either as a participant or
a promoter?
No. I don't have thugs. I have never supported thuggery or violence of
any sort. That is why if you follow me to mycommunity, you won't see
young boys following me about with clubs, sticks or any weapon for
that matter. If I havea cult group, for instance, anytime I appear,
you will see them, but you willnever see such people around me.
Who are your role models in politics?
Sometimes, a role model is someone you study from afar. When I started
politics as a council chairman, I served under Rufus Ada George, who
was the governor of Rivers State. I see him as a gentleman in politics
and a role model, who does not talk too much. I also served under Dr.
Peter Odili, who is also a former governor in Rivers. He is another
role model that I have.
You learn different things from these people. Then, in the Senate
here, I have also had the rare privilege of working with the Senate
President, David Mark. I have studied him for about six years now and
I've learnt so much from him in terms of the capacityto endure so many
things. My life has completely changed over the years. I'm not the
kind of person I used to be.
People who knew me when I was younger, when they see me now, they
confess that I'm a changed person. There are things that I see now
that will give somebody sleepless nights, I just sleep over them. I
know nothing isimpossible. Sometimes you may have turbulence, the wind
of change will come but it will pass, it will not stay forever. During
the period of crisis or when change comes, if you are not careful, you
will either over-talk or overreact; and that will become like a stamp
on your personality. That is why you don't see me attacking people, I
am always watching, I am always advising.
Have you suffered physical violence on account of politics?
Oh, yes. I have. I will give you several instances, especially the
ones that were serious. I think it was on January 2, 2011 when they
were to hold the state house of assembly primaries of our party, the
Peoples Democratic Party. I went to my hometown and the PDP caucus was
holding a meeting in acertain house. I decided to attend the meeting
as a member of the party.
Of course, I am an elder and founding father of the PDP in my
community. I went there and a young man came up and without
provocation, attacked me and tore my shirt. He was asked to attack me.
I had about four riot policemen with me at that time and my third son
was there. I had other cousins, who were also there. Of course, no one
would be happy to see his father, uncle or even relation, who is an
elderly person, being molested for no just cause and not react.
They all wanted to fight but I told them not to. I asked my people to
withdraw and they did. But members of the community, who were not
happy about what the boy did, beat him up. By this time, I had asked
my entourage to leave the place. If I had done something different on
that day, it may have been a different story. The young man came with
thugs to attack me for no reason.
I entered my car and left the place. It did not destroy anything in my
body because what am I looking for that I should go and kill a human
being or kill myself? I don't want to die; I don't want to kill
anyone. I have been attacked more than twice. Sometimes, people just
come out of nowhere to attack you and most times it will not be
immediately clear to you; it's part of the game.
Have you lost an election before?Several times, I will tell you. My
first election was on December 12, 1987 and I won overwhelmingly.
After that, Iwanted to return as council chairman. Iwanted to go back
around 1990. I went in for another election and I lost. My community
leaders rose against me and I lost in the primaries.
Thereafter, the group I was leading lost elections about three times;
this was besides the cases we had at the tribunal and the ones on
appeal. Apart from this, one of my key supporters, who contested
councillorship election and won but had yet to be declared, was shot
dead. Politics is not an easy thing. We went through some rough times
and very tempting periods.
Were there times you were caught in between different political
divides, especially when it involvedthe people you respect?
It happened even recently. Sometimessome of the young people you
trained,people that live with you, people you feed and clothe, some
that you even trained in the university from your sweat, from your
hard-earned money, when it comes to political choice, they can go
against you. Sometimes, you shed tears because you see people that you
were part of their lives, people you provided shelter for in your
house, now turning against you.
Even now, it is happening. It has been a regular thing over the years
- because I have been in politics since 1987; that means it's about 26
years. That is a long period for someone to learn and understand
things. If I were auniversity lecturer, I think by now I would be a
professor. It means that I have done enough research on what it takes
to be in politics. When they do it now, I laugh at them. I observed
something, these same people come back when they observe your success.
All those who fight you, who terrorise you, come back when success
comes. In another election, these people that come back may stay and
those people who stood with you the first time may turn against you.
It is not a permanent thing; it shifts. That is why I agree with the
saying that there are no permanent friends in politics and there are
no permanent enemies, it can change at any time because it is a matter
of belief, principles and permanent interests.
You've suffered personal tragedies over time. I remember your wife was
kidnapped sometime ago. Did that have anything to do with politics?
Most of the unfortunate incidents I have suffered are usually not
during elections. It is usually when a government is on ground. In
2001, one of my houses in my community was completely burnt down, with
everything inside. The worst aspect was that my late mother's
belongings and those of my father, who died during the civil war, were
also in that house.
These were historical things. When I say completely, including the
blocks. The kidnapping of my wife had to do with politics. She was
kept in the forest before God intervened and brought her back to us
safely. Apart from thugs chasing you or some of your supporters being
beaten during campaigns, I have not suffered serious attacks during
campaigns. This is because generally, I see that I'm loved by my
people, apart from a few elements that may have some grudgesagainst
me.
You were a co-chairman of the jointSenate committee that visited Baga
in Borno State. Some of your colleagues have issues with your
findings. What really happened?
We carried out our assignment to the best of our ability and you will
also agree with me that the Senate commended our effort and the report
was adopted. In all, we counted 115 houses that were burnt, the
National Emergency Management Agency counted 118 houses. Even one of
our colleagues, who complained, commended us for doing a good job. His
only complaint was that he did not see us counting houses. It's a
committee, he is not a member of the committee. During the trip to
Baga, he was not with us for the two weeks we spent there, working day
and night.