Odimegwu Onwumere focuses on the sterling qualities of a two-time gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State and chieftain of the All ProgressivesCongress, Prince Tonye Princewill
January 4 each year is the elocutionist called Princewill’s
birth. He is a leader with the capacity to decipher vision into reality. He is
a leader who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. A thorough London
bred of Kalabari parents with humility and humane features like one under the
tutelage of one boss somewhere in either Ochanja Market in Onitsha or Alaba
Int’l Market in Lagos dominated by Ndigbo.
I had the privilege of being close to the amiable Princewill
sometime in 2008. Having contested the election of 2007 that the outcome is
history today, the fearless Princewill was later in the creeks, not for the
leisure to be with nature, but for the love of his home state – Rivers state,
pleading to the Niger Delta agitators of then to drop their guns.
He was respected and still is, by that singular act of going
out of the way of the palace as a prince, to negotiate for peace in his state
in a most dangerous creek. Nevertheless, why Princewill has not climbed
politically in elective or appointive positions in recent times does not meet
the eyes, having been a two-time gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State under
Action Congress (2007) and the Labour Party (2015).
He’s a good friend of Mr. Chibuike Amaechi who previously
served in oil-rich Rivers State as Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015
and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, and now
serving as the Minister of Transportation in the cabinet of President Muhammadu
Buhari. It was on this friendship that Princewill lapsed his case in court in
2007, after the Supreme Court ruled on October 27, 2007 that Amaechi was the
duly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the
election.
The Supreme Court’s award to Amaechi was against one
gentleman known as Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia, who barely ruled the state
for six months, and was Amaechi’s cousin. While the followership of Princewill
are looking up to the day he would succeed politically, they are however not
disappointed that the dude has succeeded in his private businesses and life. I
could remember he once said that he would retire at 50, but seeing that there
are so much to do in Rivers and across Nigeria as a country; he would not leave
politics for politicians alone. This, being the reason a minute number in their
80s is still calling the shots in the political sphere in the country.
Princewill is a man who respects people to a fault. His love
for hard work, patience and building the right foundation can never be
overemphasized. This is the reason he is regarded in his circle of admirers as
a phenomenon. Not because he is an engineer by training, or because he holds a
post-graduate degree from the Imperial College, London, or because he practices
ITIL and Change Management, or because he is skilled in the Oil and Gas
industry, or because he is an ICT expert. He is good in both corporate and
community relations.
Being vast in knowledge, the Rivers state government in 2007
saw the rare qualities of the son of the king who rules 33 communities and
appointed him as its Investment Consultant. Within a short period, he attracted
over Fifty Billion Naira (N50B) value of investments through the Public Private
Partnership Initiative of the State Government. The Federal government of then
also recognised him with an appointment into the Presidential Technical
Committee on the Niger Delta, with a vision to carve a niche that would serve the
future of the Niger Delta region.
Princewill is a peacemaker who believes that people should
survive on welfare if given the opportunity to thrive. He believes that
successful countries have no excuse to building successful citizens. Nigeria
invariably needs Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill closer in government either in
state or federal level for positive contributions in governance. His knowledge
encompasses politics but on how to move the society forward.
Princewill is a leader whose actions inspire people to dream
more, build on their careers and development. He is a tested and trusted
innovator who leaves a trail wherever he went. He has a bold course of action,
with unconventional political sagacity and strategy. Standing with Princewill
is standing with something special in a time of hyper-competition and non-stop
commotion. He can blow an uncertain trumpet.
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Onwumere writes from Rivers State
QUOTE
Princewill is a man who respects people to a fault. His love
for hard work, patience and building the right foundation can never be
overemphasized. This is the reason he is regarded in his circle of admirers as
a phenomenon. Not because he is an engineer by training, or because he holds a
post-graduate degree from the Imperial College, London, or because he practices
ITIL and Change Management, or because he is skilled in the Oil and Gas
industry, or because he is an ICT expert. He is good in both corporate and
community relations