Steve Azaiki was known for his habitual loyalty to constituted authority. The high cost of this was fully spelt out to him when he was denied a visa to the United Kingdom in the aftermath of Alamieyeseigha’s flight from the custody of the London Metropolitan Police, in the face of charges brought against the Bayelsa helmsman for money laundering.
Azaiki was virtually fingered as a likely accomplice in the escape adventure, and was detained by the SSS for ten days. He was too close to the boss to be far from suspicion. He had visited the UK over thirty times, and here was he being denied from entering Britain for all of ten years. It was a price he had to pay for his faithful devotion to Alamieyeseigha in the course of his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa State.
Azaiki suffered a similar fate again when his library and museum, arguably the first of its kind in the Niger Delta, if not in Nigeria, was put to the torch and vandalised. Bookshelves were broken down, books ripped apart and scattered all over, and computers were bashed, if not looted. Iconic art works of great value which he had collected over the years were damaged, defiled and tossed aside like worthless toys.
An irate crowd of incensed youths and roadside brigands had overpowered the security corps, shoved down the gate and stormed the library with a vengeance, smashing every vehicle in the outer courtyard of the property, and setting them ablaze.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria had just given a final ruling in the gubernatorial elections in favour of Senator Douye Diri, after the eight-year tenure of Hon Henry Seriake Dickson. As far as loyalty to the ruling party was concerned, Azaiki was numbered in the first rank, and his library was the ready target to vent all that pent-up tension and outrage.
The apparent reason was that the library had hosted regular political meetings that led to the emergence of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The hopes for David Lyon, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were so high that when the Supreme Court dashed that lofty hope against the rock, Humpty Dumpty could not be put together again, and Azaiki paid dearly for it.
He took it all in his everyday strides, and did well to put it all behind him. He had no reason to complain whatsoever. Time alone points to the future. But then, it was important to put the records straight, given the untoward umbrage directed at him by people who thought he had taken too much for himself. In times past, in fact, he was believed to have been so excessively active that he usurped the office of the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. He was vilified in private corners and traduced in the open by accusers who wilfully misinterpreted his zest for service, people who had no idea of the character and content of his patriotic love for the land of his birth.
Azaiki himself would go so far as to say that he was victimised by successive governments and individuals in government, including Dr Goodluck Jonathan when he served as Deputy Governor, all because of Azaiki’s unalloyed support and unflinching loyalty to Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Bear in mind that Alamieyeseigha was the first civilian Governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa State. He was a visionary leader who was familiar with the pains, aspirations and agitations of the people. He loved the land and people of Bayelsa, and had a good mind to rally those around him, most especially those who shared the same ideals with him, to work in the general interest of the state.
In particular, Alamieyeseigha appreciated Azaiki as Secretary to Government (SSG), in his first tenure. It is a mark of the high regard the Governor had for Azaiki that he appointed him for a second time to serve in that same office from 2003 to 2006, before the Governor’s tenure was truncated by a well-orchestrated impeachment process, following his dramatic arrest in London in October 2005, on charges of money laundering.
Alamieyeseigha believed in Azaiki’s capacity as Secretary to Government, and trusted his judgment on sundry matters. Both men had a cordial working relationship, not just as boss and loyal political son. As Azaiki would put it, ‘Alamieyeseigha recognised me as an active collaborator, one who shared the same vision with the boss, a vision to emancipate the people from underdevelopment and crass poverty’.
Azaiki initiated several programmes and projects aimed at alleviating the overall plight of the people. To start with, he pushed for the funding of the Niger Delta University, and for overseas scholarship programmes that would benefit as many indigent students as possible.
He equally arranged speaking engagements for the Governor at various fora in Nigeria and abroad. By getting Alamieyeseigha to enroll for courses in leadership at Oxford and Harvard Universities, and for getting him involved in other international engagements that were bound to bring the needed development and attract a decent corporate image to the newly created state, Azaiki earned the respect and admiration of the chief from Amassoma.
There were widespread assumptions that Alamieyeseigha was using Azaiki as the surrogate Deputy Governor of the state. Some random observers went so far as to say that Azaiki was more powerful than the Deputy Governor. On several occasions, in fact, the press got Azaiki to field questions about his specific range of duties and responsibilities, wondering if they didn’t overlap with the schedule of the Deputy Governor. At every instance, Azaiki’s response was frank and straight forward. He confessed repeatedly that ‘the Deputy Governor, His Excellency Dr Goodluck Jonathan, is my boss and I regard him with utmost respect’.
It so happened that the Deputy Governor’s political camp felt differently, precisely because the Governor hardly took major decisions without consulting Azaiki Even if Alamieyeseigha did not go all out to discuss openly with Jonathan, he always confided in Azaiki. The Governor would readily approve memos emanating from Azaiki’s office without making references to the Deputy Governor. Not that the Governor was willfully slighting the Deputy. On the contrary, it was just that Azaiki was more reachable, more readily available, and the Governor found it more convenient to send the SSG on errand than his Deputy.
Not surprisingly, seeing how much the Governor relied on Azaiki, members of the Executive Council, the House of Assembly, the Judiciary, and the discerning public, began to patronise Azaiki much more than the Deputy Governor. The general perspective was that if you wanted anything from government, it was best to approach the SSG than the Governor himself. That was how Azaiki found himself acting as the engine room, the epicenter of government, and a dependable liaison officer between the public and the government.
In October 2005, when Alamieyeseigha was arrested in London on charges of money laundering, it became payback time for Azaiki, in the eyes of some people. For many in the Deputy Governor’s camp, in fact, it was time for Azaiki to be at the receiving end. Some could not hide their outright hatred for the man, even in public. The feeling was that Azaiki had finally fallen out of favour. He did his best to ignore this growing sentiment, and managed to stay in office till January 2006 when Jonathan, having been sworn in as substantive Governor, dissolved the cabinet and appointed Ambassador Godknows Igali to replace Azaiki as Secretary to Government.
Azaiki was systematically sidelined by the Goodluck Jonathan government which lasted from 9 December 2005 to 29 May 2007. The Commissioner for Health at the time, Mr Frank Akpoebi, was so much against anything to do with Azaiki that he refused to release funds meant for the former SSG’s medical treatment in South Africa. The money was only released when the Commissioner in question was removed from office, and the Permanent Secretary, A. J. Turner, ran the ministry.
Apparently, Akpoebi bore a king-size grudge against Alamieyeseigha, claiming that the Governor-General had promised him the position of SSG, only to appoint Senator Felix Oboro instead. Akpoebi virtually transferred that lingering animosity to Azaiki. In like manner, there were several Bayelsans who detested Alamieyeseigha for various reasons, and it was quite easy to transfer their grievances to Azaiki.
For example, when Chief Timipre Sylva emerged as Governor of Bayelsa State, several people in his camp were of the opinion that Azaiki should be appointed as his Secretary to Government. Sylva himself accepted the proposal, but Professor Kimse Okoko was on hand to dissuade the small circle of king makers.
As King Edmund Daukoru was to confess later, the pervasive viewpoint was that appointing Steve Azaiki to that office again was like bringing Alamieyeseigha back to Creek Haven. Another example may well be Chief Timi Alaibe. In spite of the cordial friendship that existed between Alaibe and Azaiki, the latter’s closeness to Alamieyeseigha had always been a restraining factor that did not quite allow their relationship to flourish as it should.
The strained relationship between Azaiki and Justice Igoniwari was also a pointer to the fact that the judge played a key role in the impeachment of Alamieyeseigha, and this could not allow both men to be as close as they ought to have been. In effect, the state was divided into two evident political camps, namely the Alamco camp and the Green Movement as epitomised by Dr Goodluck Jonathan. Notable members and prominent figures in that movement were Chief Emmanuel Paulker, King A. J. Turner, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, Hon Henry Seriake Dickson, and Chief Okulovie Obhuo, amongst others. Needless to say, the movement was formed to advance the political ambitions of Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
One incident played out, and remains memorable, when Jonathan emerged as Governor of Bayelsa State. The state had invested in Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, and government was to nominate a Director. Chief Ephraim Faloughi, founder and Chairman of the company, having worked with Azaiki at different levels, knew his extensive national reach and international network of friends. In times past, they had both travelled on a business trip to Ukraine, and Faloughi had no doubt that Azaiki would be an asset to the company. On more than two occasions, Faloughi specifically requested in writing for Azaiki to be appointed as Bayelsa representative on the board of the company, but Governor Jonathan did not respond.
Faloughi kept the pressure on, since he was constantly speaking to government officials and other influential politicians. Fortunately, the presidential election was close by, and the Federal Government realised the imperative of having a son of the Niger Delta as Vice President, in a bid to calm the volatile agitations of the highly impoverished and marginalised people of the creeks. In the course of time, Jonathan emerged as running mate to Alhaji Musa Yar’ Adua. As fate would have it, the next government in Bayelsa State honoured the request of Ephraim Faloughi, and Azaiki was duly appointed into the Board of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.
When Jonathan took office as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Deacon Bob Ozaka and Engr. Numoipre Wills met with him and decided that Azaiki should be approached to remain in the civil service, since he was one of the very few Bayelsans on the level of Director in the federal service. In fact, Ozaka and Wills were of the opinion that Azaiki be appointed a federal Permanent Secretary to fill the Bayelsa quota.
On his part, Azaiki had already applied for his voluntary retirement from the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), a parastatal under the Ministry of Labour. He had secured a lecturing job in Ukraine, but after listening to Ozaka, Azaiki went back to meet the DG of NDE at that time, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, withdrew his resignation letter, and started the process that would lead to his elevation in the federal civil service. However, when Azaiki met with Jonathan a few weeks later, Jonathan seemed to have changed his mind. More than likely, some stakeholders who were present at the meeting that day may have told Jonathan not to do it.
Again, when Jonathan was Vice President, the position of Chairman NDDC was zoned to Bayelsa State. Several people approached Azaiki, and he took interest in the possibility of occupying the office. In particular, two former military administrators of the old Rivers State, General Anthony Ukpo (rtd), and retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Fidelis Oyakhilome, had worked with Azaiki on the Board of WEMFA, and they were both of the belief that the boy from Yenagoa would fit the position perfectly.
What’s more, Alamieyeseigha spoke with the Vice President on Azaiki’s behalf. Jonathan accepted that, yes, Azaiki was qualified to hold the office, but was reluctant to name him apparently because Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke who also hails from Yenagoa, was already serving as Minister for Works and Transport. In addition, former Head of State, AbdulsalamiAbubakar, chipped in a word on the matter, but the Vice President would not budge. Azaiki even got former President Olusegun Obasanjo to intercede on his behalf with President Yar’ Adua, but clearly Yar’Adua had ceded that appointment to the Vice President. That was when Azaiki approached Senator Emmanuel Paulker to take him directly to the Vice President.
Jonathan received Azaiki in an inner room for an exclusive chit-chat. The Vice President declared that Yenagoa, a component local government area of the central senatorial district, was already having a Minister. For that reason, he would want the NDDC chairmanship to go to Bayelsa West senatorial district. Azaiki tried to justify why that should not matter, since Jonathan himself had stated categorically that Azaiki was the most qualified candidate seeking the position. Till Jonathan left office as Vice President, and later Acting President, Azaiki was unable to see him again in the company of Senator Paulker.
Clearly, concerned folk had warned the Senator to keep Azaiki at a distance in his best interest. No other reason would suffice as to why Paulker, perhaps the closest confidant to Jonathan at the time, could not make way for Azaiki to see the President from 2010 to 2015. Although Azaiki saw Jonathan on many occasions through other avenues, there was no room to revisit the subject. Eventually, Air Vice Marshall Larry Konyan was recommended by Jonathan to President Yar’Adua, and the retired AVM was duly appointed as Chairman of the Board, serving for a duration of one year.
In the days when Navy Captain Olubolade served as Military Administrator of Bayelsa State, he appointed Azaiki as the pioneer Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries. They had a very healthy and cordial working relationship. Olubolade did not hide his admiration for Azaiki, and had great confidence in him. When Azaiki became Secretary to Government, he returned the favour by patronising and inviting Olubolade, Col. Edor Obi, and DIG Fidelis Oyakhilome to public functions in Bayelsa. Azaiki kept this bond going when he was coordinator and co-Chairman of the National Think Tank Nigeria. He continued to patronize Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade and Col. Edor Obi by hosting them at several functions of the Think Tank Nigeria and giving them appropriate places of honour.
In fact, Azaiki spoke to President Goodluck Jonathan then to appoint Navy Captain Olubolade from Ekiti State as Minister. He also spoke to the then Governor of Ekiti state, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi to accept Olubolade as nominee for the position of Minister. The Governor agreed, and in due course, Navy Captain Olubolade was appointed Minister of Special Duties. Azaiki practically helped the captain set up his initial office by bringing the very cerebral Kingsley Osadolor and other high-calibre journalists and image makers to help him start up the office.
Olubolade was later deployed to the FCT and Police Affairs ministries. He confided in Azaiki that several petitioners from Bayelsa came to tell him not to keep Azaiki as his Special Adviser, unless he wanted to attract the ire of President Goodluck Jonathan. ‘But Steve’, said Olubolade, ‘you have a qualitative mind and a productive intelligence. You have not done anything wrong against the President. I know you support him with your whole heart, so I cannot let you go’.
The distrust and animosity against Azaiki was so much that even staff of the President who had worked with him closely in times past, fellow workers who were on the best of friendly terms with him in the days when Jonathan was Deputy Governor, and Azaiki was Secretary to Government, were no longer reachable.
Take, for instance, a revelation which came through Bello Tovie Idesi. He was a close friend to the former ADC to Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha, Mr Moses Jituboh, who later became ADC to Governor Jonathan, and went on to hold the same exclusive office when Jonathan became Vice President. When Jonathan became President, however, a new twist came into play. Going by the laws of Nigeria, the ADC to the President must be a military personnel from the rank of colonel upward.
So Jituboh who retired from the police as DIG was not qualified to be ADC. To keep him close by, and to appreciate him for his faithful services over the years, the President created a special office for him. Idesi, Azaiki’s maternal cousin, pointedly asked Jituboh: ‘Why are you people not involving Prof Steve Azaiki in your government? Why are you not giving him a chance?’ Jituboh’s answer was clear cut. He said it was all dictated by the relationship with the boss back home in Bayelsa State. Jituboh practically told Idesi that the chapter under reference was closed.
Even so, while Jonathan was President, Azaiki made a personal request to be given an appointment in whatever capacity, especially since he had converted his teaching job to that of an adjunct professor, and he was available on account of the National Think Tank project. After about ten such overtures, Azaiki stopped. In fact, the last time he decided not to request for appointment again was when he went with Jonathan’s mother in-law who happens to be from Atissa land. Azaiki had helped to get this very enterprising mother in-law to become a member of Yenagoa Local Government Council.
By the same token, Azaiki helped Jonathan’s father in-law to be a member of the Niger Delta University Governing Council. In short, Azaiki had enjoyed a close relationship with the wife’s family over the years. So, on her own, the mother in-law invited Azaiki to accompany her to see Mr President. She was visibly upset that, in spite of all the hundreds of appointments announced by the President, Azaiki had not been considered even as a member of a committee.
President Jonathan received them warmly when they arrived. They had a robust discussion for the better part of two hours, Jonathan leaving briefly at intervals to attend to other matters of state, and getting back to the meeting. Before they left that evening, Mrs Veronica Lott, the President’s mother in-law, gave a short but frank speech that has continued to endear her to Azaiki.
‘Mr President’, she said, ‘though you are at the helm of affairs in Nigeria, you are still my son. We are family. Steve has been a good brother to me and my family. He has helped us in appointments and supported us financially. He has been physically and mentally available for our family. Now, it is possible that he may have done something so terrible that you hold it against him. But I beg you in the name of mother and son, please forgive him and bring him into your government. I know Steve very well. He is brilliant, and he will help you and your government to succeed. He will be very useful to our people. Please, give him a chance. Give him an appointment’.
The President stared into space for awhile and said: ‘Yes, Prof is brilliant. I will give him something very soon. Don’t worry, Prof. I have your CV, but you can send it to me again’.
‘I have it here’, said Azaiki, and promptly handed it over.
That was the last time Azaiki asked the President for an appointment, and yet nothing came of it. While Azaiki decided not to ask for anything again, he continued to plead that his wife be moved from Heritage Bank to somewhere more secure. Jonathan did not oblige him.
What’s more, Chief (Dr.) Boma Spero-Jack, retired Director of State Security Services, is very close to Azaiki. Both men have been close friends for many years. Spero-Jack had been of tremendous help to Azaiki since his younger days in the Soviet Union. One day, the security chief called Azaiki out of the blue, and was truly sad and upset.
He confided in Azaiki that someone very close to Mr. President, a good friend of theirs, told him that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for Steve Azaiki to get an appointment, or anything for that matter, in the Goodluck presidency. Azaiki should not even dream of any such thing. When Spero-Jack told him that story, Azaiki decided to do everything possible to support and help Jonathan succeed, without asking any favours, absolutely nothing, from the President. He sat his wife down and told her not to expect anymore from the presidency. It was a closed chapter.
Accordingly, he accepted a professorial placement in Ukraine, accepted international engagements locally and globally, accepted to serve in companies, boards and councils, yet he was totally committed to the progress of Jonathan’s presidency. His simple take was that, coming from the Niger Delta region as he did, his relentless efforts in advocacy, activism, scholarly writing, and public commentary would help in taking a son of the soil to the centre. Now that it had happened, the least Azaiki could do was to let go of any personal interest, and look at the bigger picture.
The search for this bigger picture guided his decisions throughout the Goodluck Jonathan presidency. He gave unacknowledged service to his brother and President with all his heart, and his goodwill towards him still knows no bounds. In fairness to President Jonathan, however, he has continued to show Azaiki love and respect whenever they see, meet or have cause to discuss. On several occasions, Jonathan and Azaiki have walked hand in hand, side by side, as they chatted freely.
To outsiders, the relationship seemed so cordial that many Governors, Ministers and would-be ministers used to lobby Azaiki in times past to put in a good word for them. They sought Azaiki out to ask for one presidential favour or the other, without really knowing that Azaiki was not in a position to meet their demands. Still, Jonathan and his wife gave Azaiki strong reasons to stay with his conviction that Azaiki should work for Jonathan’s success as President, no matter what.
In times past, Azaiki had formed the Goodluck Jonathan Committee of Friends in those critical days when he was running as Vice Presidential candidate to Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua. When Yar’Adua won the election eventually, Azaiki met with his friend, Dele Agekameh, and formed the National Think Tank. They brought Alhaji Ibrahim Shagari, a long time friend and brother, into the fold. Besides, when Azaiki was Secretary to Government, he had worked with Professor Bolaji Akinyemi on a book project, so when Agekameh, a seasoned journalist, suggested that they invite Professor Akinyemi to become co-Chairman of the body, Azaiki had no choice but to agree. It was all in the spirit of the price that goes with loyalty.
Akinyemi joined forces with the team gladly. The National Think Tank became the most visible incubator of patriotic ideas in Nigeria, relevant throughout the tenure of the Yar’Adua-Jonathan administration. They considered several topical issues of the day, from constitutional review to the Electoral Act, the national identity card project, national census, oil theft and insecurity in the Niger Delta, the menace of Boko Haram, to the rampant and pervasive threat to peace and security in the Nigerian polity as a whole. The Jonathan government demonstrated active involvement with the crusade through a prominent presidential aide, Barrister Oronto Douglas, arguably one of the closest advisers to the President in charge of research and documentation.
Azaiki propelled the entire organization with his own resources, yet neither President Jonathan nor the government officially acknowledged his contributions. Perhaps the biggest favour accorded the National Think Tank came with the appointment of Professor Bolaji Akinyemi as Vice Chairman of the political conference set up by the President on 17 March 2014. He served alongside the Chairman, retired Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, while Valerie-Janette Azinge and Akilu Ndabawa were secretary and assistant secretary respectively. Long before that, Professor Akinyemi was appointed as Vice Chairman of the 22-member Electoral Reform Committee set up on 28 August 2007, headed by Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais.
In private discussions, Barrister Oronto who was privy to the formation of these committees, would assure Azaiki of the possibility of being recruited to head one or two committees, on account of the dependable platform provided by the National Think Tank to seek solutions to the myriad problems facing the nation. But that never happened. Azaiki was never called upon at any time to serve in any capacity. Yes, by virtue of his long-standing reputation as a former Minister and a resourceful diplomat of distinction, Akinyemi was overly qualified to function in any capacity. Even so, the team at the National Think Tank believed that Azaiki should have been brought in to play one significant role or the other since he was directly running the National Think Tank Nigeria with his personal resources.
The only time Azaiki came close to being recognised for his efforts was at a book presentation event when the Minister of Information, former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Labaran Maku, recounted his experiences at the Think Tank when he worked directly under Azaiki. Maku was brought in by Mallam Abubakar Mohammed who was later appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan into the Board of the National Communications Commission (NCC). Azaiki’s bosom friend, Ibrahim Shagari, recommended Alhaji Isa Danburam who came along with Maku to meet him in Lagos, with a plea that Maku be included in one of the many standing committees of the National Think Tank. Azaiki gladly obliged him.
Shagari also sent Azaiki several other people who were subsequently engaged by the Jonathan government. In fact, Shagari insisted that Azaiki find space in one of the committees for a lady from Imo State who is today the Chairman, House Committee on the Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Hon Miriam Odinaka. So, on the occasion of that book launch, Labaran Maku, now representing the President, spent five minutes talking about Azaiki’s humble efforts in nation building. He eulogised the National Think Tank and spoke frankly about how it had played significant roles in resolving some of the problems in the Niger Delta, and making fruitful attempts to pacify disgruntled agitators in a bid to increase oil production in the beleaguered region.
On another occasion, Azaiki visited Chief E.K. Clark, elder statesman and leader of the South-South delegation to the political conference. Chief Clark had attended some of the National Think Tank meetings in the company of Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, and was evidently impressed with the array of personalities in attendance, and the quality of deliberations at large. Clark took Azaiki aside afterwards and said: ‘Steve, for the sake of Nigeria and our brother, President Goodluck Jonathan, do not stop what you are doing with the National Think Tank. The country needs this intervention, even if the President does not appreciate it. Do not stop. Keep up the good work’.
Needless to say, Chief Edwin Clark was familiar with Azaiki’s track record and had no doubts about his capabilities. He certainly knew the key role he played in lobbying Governor Alamieyeseigha to present Clark as the leader of the South-South delegation to the national conference under the presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. To say the least, these remarks and commendations from respectable stakeholders kept Azaiki going.
On his part, Oronto repeatedly heaped accolades on Azaiki, Dele and Akinyemi, but it didn’t go beyond that. President Jonathan was not likely to get a positive briefing that would yield salutary results. It would be interesting to read Jonathan’s popular memoir to ascertain whether or not he ever gave a thought to Professor Steve Azaiki as a deserving loyalist, or reckoned with the National Think Tank for that matter.
Azaiki’s personal resolve to support President Goodluck Jonathan whole-heartedly and selflessly took him out of Nigeria. In the course of his travels around the world, Azaiki has had the benefit of meeting with some high-calibre citizens in every one of the eighty-two countries he had so far visited. When he thought of the peculiar position of Jonathan as the first son of the Niger Delta to hold the office of President in the centennial history of Nigeria, Azaiki found even greater reason to do so.
In the United States of America, in particular, Azaiki reached out to some reputable lobbyists and consultants to key government officials and senators. He met with serving and retired senators alike. He also met with some members of Congress. The arrowhead of all these meetings was Gregory R. Copley, President of the International Strategic Studies Association. In 2007, Copley had written the foreword to Azaiki’s book, Oil, Gas & Life In Nigeria.
The other vehicle of action was Sanitas International Incorporated, a full service strategic communication, public affairs, digital media, and political advisory firm based in Washington DC. The firm develops innovative strategies and solutions for a broad range of clients in some of the most challenging countries in the world.
So, from 2014 to early 2015, Azaiki began to encourage his professional colleagues and friends around the world to support Dr Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the up-coming 2015 presidential election.
After meeting with several prominent figures in Europe, he flew into Washington DC in November 2014, and held meetings with some players in the American political arena, including policy makers, members of Congress, and heads of corporate institutions.
In the course of his five-year long service as the founding President of the International Society of Comparative Education, Science and Technology, Nigeria, Azaiki met with several prominent and influential citizens of the world, and built enduring relationships at regular conferences with affiliates in America, and the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES). He also reached out to several policy makers he had met in Oxford, Harvard, and Warton, among others.
The points-man for Azaiki’s US campaign strategy, without doubt, was Gregory Copley. Besides being President of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), based in Washington DC, he also served as the editor-in-chief of a Defense and Foreign Affairs Publication, and administrator of the Global Information System (GIS), an online encrypted-access, a global service which provides current intelligence reports to governments around the world. For more than four decades, this Washington-based institute had worked on grand political projects, and was known to have advised Presidents and Prime Ministers.
Azaiki wrote to Copley, and they met at the Hilton Hotel, Capitol Hill, precisely on 525 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington DC 20001, where the man from Bayelsa was staying. He spelt out the outline of his interest in Goodluck Jonathan and gave cogent reasons as to why he was rooting for the Nigerian President. He underscored the fact that Jonathan had enjoyed the benefit of a suitable Western education.
Jonathan had a clean and tidy reputation. He was not corrupt, by any chance, and was known for his nobility of character. He was a good and practicing Christian who saw human relations with a wider, all-encompassing worldview. He was far from being a tribalist nor an ethnic jingoist, which was why he thought it fit to bring in experts like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance, Akinwumi Adesina as Minister of Agriculture, and a number of other brilliant Nigerians to salvage the economy. Clearly, Jonathan meant well for Nigeria, and he could do with more time in the presidency. Needless to say, he was a patient leader with a great deal of goodwill, one who was willing to work with the West.
Copley listened keenly to Azaiki’s argument, and commended his passion. But the response of the American showed him to be a man in possession of a deep and impressive knowledge about Nigeria. Apparently, he had visited Nigeria a number of times, and he knew many key players in Nigerian politics. When he gave his own frank and candid assessment of President Jonathan, it was unflattering.
Copley expressed his reservations about Jonathan, and he felt entitled to them. He then promised to arrange for Azaiki to meet some state department officials and key politicians, including senators and members of the US Congress. To cut a long story short, in 2014, Azaiki visited the US on three more occasions to drum support for Jonathan, shuttling between the new power brokers he had met in America, and holding crucial meetings.
In September 2014, a friend of Azaiki in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Mr Princewill Odidi, a business development consultant, international investment facilitator, and grants development expert, connected Azaiki to Sanitas International Incorporated, to discuss the possibility of propelling the Jonathan campaign before the presidential election of February 2015. Azaiki’s singular purpose was to promote the good image of a government that had been unfairly battered by the opposition overseas, to see how policy makers in Europe and America could be persuaded to support the candidacy of President Jonathan, and to uphold his noble aspirations for Nigeria.
Sanitas International is known to create transformative, strategic and tactical approaches to challenges that enable global leaders, business and political entities re-write their own rules, tipping the odds, shifting beliefs, altering stereotypes, and reshaping perceptions to achieve sustained impact with speed and accuracy. Azaiki was impressed with the credentials of members of the management team, including Christopher Harvin, senior advisor and founding partner at Sanitas.
Harvin had served the White House and held a senior advisory position with the Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, members of Congress, as well as the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had represented multiple heads of states and governments in emerging markets and developing countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Harvin had equally provided sterling political strategies, and championed advocacy campaigns around the world. He had a hand in US presidential campaigns, to say nothing of numerous senate and congressional campaigns over time.
Azaiki also met with Scott Feldmayer, another senior advisor and Sanitas partner. Like Harvin, Feldmayer had led multiple political and communication strategies across the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and the USA, managing all aspects of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Also in the formidable line-up was Andrew Zausner, government advisor extraordinaire. The prime focus of his work on legislative matters, including energy and natural resource optimisation, had served to regulate consumer products in the open market, and dictate the tempo of international affairs. Andrew has been at the heart of numerous complex and innovative legislative efforts, serving as the chief legislative strategist to a major cyber security company, and a variety of federal government contracts.
Azaiki was equally glad to meet with Pete Hoekstra, government affairs advisor, and a former member of Congress. During his nine historic terms representing Michigan’s congressional district in the House of Representatives, Hoekstra was the Republican points-man on national security issues, serving both as chairman and ranking member of the House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence.
Albert Wynn, Government Affairs Advisor, could not be missed. He was a former member of the US House of Representatives, representing Maryland’s 4th Congressional District. While in Congress, Albert served as a senior Democratic Whip, Regional Whip, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, better known as the Political Action Committee (PAC). He was a member of the Democrats Message Team, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus task force on small businesses, as well as co-chair of the Hydrogen and Wireless Caucuses.
The profile of Tim Hutchinson, senior Government Affairs Advisor, was no less impressive. He was a former US senator from Arkansas, having served two terms in the US House of Representatives and one term in the Senate. In December 2011, Tim was named one of the Top-30 federal lobbyists in Washington DC by National Journal and First Street. He was listed among the foremost ten top former Congress lobbyists today on record. Tim serves on the advisory board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.
Again, consider Bruce Fryer, media director, an ace communications and outreach consultant with global experience. He had managed and provided counsel on critical matters of state throughout the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. For corporate clients, Fryer has provided crisis communication strategies for Fortune 100 companies positioned at the centre of the 2009 Wall Street crisis. He was a principal consultant on the team retained to manage the public relations fall-out from the largest data breach in US history.
There was also Thomas Basile, senior advisor. Through his work with US Presidents, two Popes, political campaigns stretching across challenging environments, from Iraq to South Asia, Tom’s journey has given him a front row seat in history. Mark Hamilton, senior advisor, could be named beside him. Before consulting for Sanitas International, Hamilton worked for both President Bush and President Obama at the White House, and was a senior communications advisor to the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. Hamilton had also worked on numerous presidential and congressional campaigns, and spent significant time in Asia.
By no means the least was Manuel Baselga, senior advisor. With vast operational experience in developing nations, branding campaigns, strategic communications, grassroots political campaigns and a range of public affairs projects in over thirty of the world’s most dynamic energy markets, Baselga remains an invaluable asset to the Sanitas team. Having held advisory roles at industry-leading firms in Europe and the United States, Manuel Baselga had worked with heads of governments and Fortune 500 executives to improve brand value and stakeholder engagements around the world.
This impressive group of professionals from Gregory Copley told Azaiki point blank that it was too late to save President Jonathan. They maintained that Jonathan should have shown interest a year earlier when they met. They also told Azaiki categorically what Jonathan should do, namely that he should remove some of his ministers, including Diezani Allison-Madueke, Petroleum Minister, some military chiefs, and replace all the aides who came with him from Bayelsa State, all those who had worked with him from the days when he was Deputy Governor.
Azaiki told them that he couldn’t possibly tell Mr President these things by word of mouth, and requested that they put their suggestions in writing. They readily did so, and Azaiki forwarded the document to the email of a reliable principal staff with confidential access to the President. He did not want to be the one to deliver that kind of message, and they saw reason with him.
Before long, Azaiki was able to convince Sanitas International to come over to Nigeria, and give a helping hand. They came up with a proposal on how to clean up the images of corruption surrounding the government. They were convinced that, as an individual, Jonathan himself was not corrupt. Invariably, the ingrained corruption of his followers and aides had smeared him to the point of reproach.
The proposal spoke of mobilising support for Jonathan in Europe and America. It involved conversations with politicians and key government functionaries, promoting the image of the Nigerian government to the international community, and providing speaking engagements for the President.
When Azaiki got back to Nigeria, he began to make arrangements for Sanitas to come over and meet with President Jonathan. The challenge of getting a six-man delegation from Sanitas to Nigeria was enormous. The team included Chris Harvin, Scott Feldmayer, Bruce Fryer, Pete Hoekstra, Thomas Basil, and their Nigerian colleague, Odidi Ojong. The five Americans stood in need of visas, but were having difficulties with the Nigerian portal in America. As fate would have it, Azaiki had a friend at the immigration section of the Nigerian embassy in Spain. Okotowei Jacob had been a long-standing friend. He had visited Madrid the previous year, and both friends had several confidential talks on how to help President Jonathan.
At the time in question, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu was the Nigerian Ambassador to Spain. Azaiki discussed with Jacob to help the five Americans obtain Nigerian visas. Accordingly, the Sanitas delegation traveled to Spain, collected their visas, and arrived Nigeria in early March. They checked into the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, and eventually met with President Jonathan. Discussions were cordial and promising, but both parties could not reach an agreement on the cost implications. In short, Sanitas did not work for Jonathan because the President declared that the asking price was too steep.
In September 2015, in a letter signed by Christopher Harvin, Sanitas International wrote to President Jonathan, this time proposing to manage post-election issues and promote his image to boot, but again Jonathan declined the offer. Till date, Azaiki still feels that if only the President had agreed to the deal, the public image of the Goodluck government would been all the better for it. Sanitas would have created more access to leadership engagements, and provided choice platforms for articulating fresh perspectives on topical issues of the day, while committing itself to raising funds for the establishment of the Jonathan presidential library.
In a covering letter underscoring the second attempt to reach the heart of Jonathan with a worthwhile proposal, Christopher Harvin wrote on behalf of Sanitas International as follows: ‘We welcome the opportunity to speak with you again about supporting your Foundation and future as a leader championing democracy and stability in Africa and abroad. Nigeria needs another authoritarian voice, as it continues struggling to fight Boko Haram while experiencing what some have referred to as an unprecedented economic crisis’.
Sanitas highlighted several areas that they would concentrate upon to enable the President achieve his vision for democracy in Nigeria. To start with, they would help with raising funds toward the presidential campaigns, or else consolidate the post-election stability of the President in and out of office, fortify the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, and build a befitting presidential library in Aso Villa, first of its kind, to outlast every government in the country. By the time the team came to Nigeria, however, the election had come and gone, and Jonathan had only three months to stay in office.
When the team arrived Nigeria a second time in February, Azaiki took them to Jonathan at the presidential villa. They met late evening and, but for a few interruptions, discussed late into the night without reaching a conclusive decision. Jonathan simply did not reckon with the magnitude of vilification and insults he would face from the opposition and angry Nigerians when he left office.
For a start, immediately Jonathan left office, his Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, was on the radar of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Ten years after the Jonathan government, Diezani still had questions to answer before the EFCC and in court. In like manner, Hon Waripamo Dudafa, Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs, was arrested and investigated by the EFCC over money laundering charges.
The story might have been different if Jonathan had not seen the amount proposed as excessive, and looked beyond that day into a future outside presidential office, with so much yet to be undertaken on a deserving grand scale, especially for the land and people of his home base in the Niger Delta. As far as Azaiki could tell, it was a big minus for Jonathan, if not for Nigeria and Africa at large.
Azaiki was even more at home with the situation in Russia and Belarus, having schooled there in his younger days. The embassy in Moscow was familiar with his face. Ambassador Abdul Tanko, a northern Nigerian, took interest in the scholarship programme spear-headed by Azaiki, so much so that you would think the mallam was an Ijaw man. He had proven repeatedly to be good to Azaiki, and their friendship has lasted all these years. In the opinion of Azaiki, the Ijaw nation owes a debt of gratitude to Ambassador Tanko and Ambassador Ajayi, his counterpart in Ukraine.
Azaiki would categorically say that, while serving as SSG in my home state, Bayelsa, he had nothing to his name. He had no property anywhere to speak of, and he could not even improve facilities at the hotel he had built before becoming SSG. When the State Security Service (SSS), picked him up, therefore, it was not because they found some fabulous wealth in his account. The only money he could call his own was the left-over funds he realised from the formal launch of his first book, Inequities In Nigerian Politics, which enjoyed a grand reception in Abuja. The occasion had drawn the high and mighty in Nigerian politics, and President Obasanjo himself had given open-handed support.
Azaiki had pledged that he would use the proceeds from the book launch to build a public library, and he did exactly that. Director-General of the Nigeria Library Board, Professor Aina, had good reason to state emphatically that the Azaiki Public Library was the best privately owned library in Nigeria. The fact of the matter is that Azaiki was arrested only because of his loyalty to Alamieyeseigha and on account of the cardinal place he held in the government. He spent ten days in detention alongside his friend, Engr. Emmanuel Okocha. The idea was to keep him out of the way till the impeachment process was over, and a new Governor had been sworn in.
As soon as the Deputy Governor, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn into office as substantive Governor, the SSS boss in charge of the Ikoyi office sent for Azaiki and began to chat in a casual and friendly tone: ‘You can speak to me in the Russian language’. Apparently, she had also graduated from a university in the Soviet Union. Azaiki promptly left for Yenagoa, paid homage to the new Governor, and resumed work the same day he arrived, being 10 December 2005. He occupied his office until January 2006 when Governor Jonathan dissolved the cabinet.
It bears repeating that Azaiki has paid dearly for his devotion to constituted authority. The destruction of the Azaiki Public Library, and the fact that three cars including the library bus packed on the premises were mindlessly burnt, was the result of his unapologetic loyalty to Henry Seriake Dickson, who governed Bayelsa State from 14 February 2011, to 14 February 2020.
Professor Azaiki extended the same commitment to his successor, Senator Douye Diri. In times past, Governor Dickson had brought Azaiki into the Restoration Government, and entrusted him with several responsibilities, in particular as Honorary Special Adviser on Agriculture, Honorary Special Adviser on Education, as well as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of the Niger Delta University (NDU).
Dickson made Azaiki his representative at the negotiation table for admission of Bayelsa students into Lincoln University, USA. The Governor also appointed him into several government agencies and committees. No doubt, Dickson showed great love for Azaiki and extended so much respect to him that the relationship blossomed without bounds. Till date, Dickson’s adulation of Azaiki is reflected in the inclusion of the professor as one of the proprietors of Hensard University, Toru-Orua, Bayelsa State. In fact, the names of the registered trustees are Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, his daughter, and Professor Steve Azaiki.
Another reason behind the anger of the protesters who destroyed the Azaiki Public Library was his evident loyalty to the newly announced Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri. During the campaigns for the National Assembly elections, Azaiki ran for the position of Member, House of Representatives, representing Yenagoa, Kolokuma-Opokuma Federal Constituency, while Diri ran for Senator representing Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, comprising three local government areas, namely Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Kolokuma-Opokuma.
This arrangement was entirely the decision of Governor Dickson and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In point of fact, therefore, they were on the same slate – namely, the Dickson slate – including candidates running for the Bayelsa State House of Assembly elections in the said three local government areas.
Diri had just been sworn in as Senator, and was understandably busy in Abuja. For that reason, Azaiki spoke on behalf of Senator Douye Diri, and all the candidates of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly when the Azaiki campaign train visited the first class traditional rulers in Yenagoa and Kolokuma-Opokuma local government areas, and in virtually all the villages covered by the two local government areas.
The campaign team set out on a vigorous mission, standing on the platform of the Professor Steve Azaiki Campaign Organisation, alongside the Steve Azaiki Support Group. The organisation was headed by Mr. Fafi Prezigha as Chairman, and Elder Imiegiyefa Israel Igbori as Deputy Chairman. Elder Igbori later became Chairman, Yenagoa Local Government Caucus, after deputising for Chief Godwin Moses Odumgba, a retired NNPC executive member, an indigene of Amarata-Epie. In fact, Azaiki nominated Odumgba as Chairman of Yelga Caucus.
Governor Dickson had specifically requested that Azaiki should lead the Yelga Caucus. Azaiki explained to him that, since he stayed in Abuja, it would be ineffective for him to operate as chairman of caucus from that distance. That was why he suggested Chief Odumgba with the proviso that Azaiki would readily support him, financially and morally, to succeed as the more visible co-chairman.
The Governor accepted the arrangement and promptly appointed Odumgba as Chairman.
A well educated and experienced technocrat, Odumgba was known to have enjoyed considerable exposure to the wider world, having lived and worked in the United States and Europe. Yet he had the benefit of a deep, abiding involvement with the culture and tradition of his people, and understood the politics of Bayelsa to the last letter. His tenure, not surprisingly, was very successful.
