It is no secret that Prince Tonye Princewill, also known as the Prince of Niger Delta politics is no average politician. His rise has been nothing short of meteoric since he burst on to the political stage with many watchers saying his future remains even brighter. With friends and allies ranging from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar to Ozikwesilieze Nwodo and Rotimi Amaechi, spanning across north, south, east and western regions of the country it is not in doubt that this young man has learnt from the best. A nephew of Alabo T. O Graham-Douglas and the son of the HM King (Prof) T.J.T. Princewill, the Amanyanabo of Kalabari, he boasts a royal pedigree and has a warrior history to match with the likes of Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo and Prof Tam David West, who share the same bloodline.

Even though he has remained somewhat mute on his own ambitions, which for those that know him is characteristic of his “people first” philosophy, it does appear that the stage is set for him to face the mother of all battles come 2011.

Prince Tonye Princewill

The issue at hand is where the prince will pitch his tent in the upcoming presidential election and how that will factor in to the 2011 calculations. To really understand the dilemma of the prince, it might be helpful to go back to 2007 to understand his antecedents.

A contestant for the ticket of the Action Congress gubernatorial race, the Prince defeated heavyweights like Sergeant Awuse and Ben Birabi to emerge the flag bearer of the party. Prior to the party primaries, he had never participated in partisan politics even though he was a card carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party, but later announced his entry with a crushing defeat of Awuse in the AC primaries.

He then proceeded to challenge Awuse who vowed to take back the ticket through the party structures by reminding him that elephants cannot fly. True to form, when the dust settled, Princewill remained the flag bearer and proceeded to challenge Celestine Omehia, who had been illicitly given the PDP ticket won by Amaechi, in the Rivers state governorship race. Omehia as the PDP flag bearer went on to win the gubernatorial contest.

In the weeks and months that followed that contest, both Princewill and Amaechi instituted legal proceedings against the then Governor Omehia, but it was Amaechi who in a landmark Supreme court judgement who secured the keys to Government House. But what amazed neutral observers was that on Amaechi’s assumption of office in October 2007, Princewill gathered his party faithful and contrary to his party’s directives withdrew his case from the tribunal to provide Amaechi with the platform for political stability.

He then went on to gather all the opposition parties in the state and coordinated them to what he described as the “constructive” opposition. It had never been done before in Nigeria and may never be replicated again. His effort brought about peace in the state, but unfortunately has never been credited to Princewill. Rather, it has all been credited to Amaechi whom many say has never joked with the prince. Privately, nonetheless, the prince refuses to take credit. Instead, he has given the credit to Amaechi’s wisdom and foresight and another unlikely hero – Atiku.

Apparently behind the scenes, it was Atiku who gave the prince support when his party executives wanted to suspend him for supporting Amaechi in spite of pleas by the prince that his state needed this display of political maturity. Atiku’s statement that they could not sit down in Abuja and determine what should be done in Rivers State, as well as Princewill’s insistence that he liked his party but he loved his state more, that finally put the matter to rest.

It is therefore no wonder that Rivers State and Atiku have never been too far apart in the political calculations of 2011, with Princewill as an integral part of the equation. When Atiku made his declaration to contest the 2011 presidential election, the prince was seen in the front row and many observers said that the speech by Atiku was loaded with programmes very significant to the Niger Delta. It was clear therefore that in the madness of his divergent views, there is a theme that connects the dots.

Fast forward to today however with President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration for president and with the South-south coming out in full force to support their son. The general consensus is that Princewill is popular amongst the youths and is capable of mobilising thousands away from Jonathan if he is not stopped. Sources close to Jonathan and familiar with the prince say that underestimating Princewill would be a big mistake as his ammunition and gun powder are still very dry. “Goodluck’s declaration while very stylish was short on substance especially with respect to the Niger Delta.

This did not go down well with the prince. He isn’t like other politicians. Even he describes himself as “digital”, said one Tamunoemi Iyalla from the Goodluck Support Youth Group. “I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of the prince. We need him with us,” he stated.

In recent weeks since the Prince took his position, there have been many groups and individuals calling on him to reconsider his stance. Among them were some first class traditional rulers in the state alongside many elder statesmen. The prince is known to be very respectful of the traditional institutions and it was thought that he would never ignore their counsel. When contacted Princewill acknowledged that he had been visited by many groups and was sensitive to their advice, but went on to state that the era of simply voting in someone because of where they came from would not be enough.

What a person stands for, what he is prepared to commit to and what his priorities are, should not to be overlooked, he stated. “Whither our Niger Delta Technical report and what is the fate of my state? I want a president who can commit. How can you measure performance if you have no Katsina and Minna have had two heads of state promises to measure them against?  each. Neither of these places stand out in Nigeria despite that.

“Just coming from the Niger Delta is not enough. Otherwise we would have celebrated and voted for Odili back in 2007. Atiku has not hesitated to commit to the Niger Delta, what is President Goodluck waiting for? Ethnic analogue politics has not gotten us anywhere, let us try digital politics,” Princewill said.
Watchers say that President Goodluck may soon unravel his plans for the Niger Delta and give details of what he plans to do for the oil rich region. If he does address the issues Princewill is so passionate about, it will be interesting to see which way the prince will swing.