Prince Tonye Princewill – The Game Changer

“I picture a society that offers enormous opportunities and presents a platform for all of us to shine.” ~ PTP

I had not been to Rivers State in a long while,things seemed a little strange as I arrived that hot afternoon in december. The atmosphere was tensed,people were scared of what would happen next; Governor Odili had been arm twisted by General Obasanjo to nominate another candidate to replace Rotimi Ameachi who won the PDP primaries(leading to the infamous K leg theory). The activities of the militants was at its peak,Port Harcourt had little or no night life,no one wanted to be caught in a cross fire, save for those who knew they could take the heat.

A few things caught my attention but one of them stood out; a gaint billboard at D-line with the picture of a handsome and elegantly dressed man,the concept looked great but I was not bothered with who the man was especially when I sighted the ACN logo on the billboard. At Garrison, I saw another of such bill boards, this one had a message on it “I grew up in a state where we had dreams and believed all of them could come true. Join me let’s take Rivers State to a level our children will be proud of.”; at this point I asked my accomplice “who is this man?”, she answered “that is Tonye Princewill,if I had the power that man will be sworn in next year, he is not only calm and cool but very articulate but we know how elections are in Nigeria…”. I saw other campaign materials of the ‘Digital Politician'(as he is called),followed his campaign judiciously and was convinced he was the man Rivers State needed in 2007; but I doubted his ability to defeat the federal and state might(that would do anything to win) in that election despite his popularity – the rest is history.

It is almost 8 years (since that election took place) filled with so many political realignment that has seen the Kalabari prince join the PDP,support President Jonathan and his friend Rotimi Ameachi in the 2011 elections and also choosing to remain in the PDP even when Ameachi and his long time ally Atiku Abubakar opted for the APC. Within this period Tonye Princewill has from his character,speech and mannerism shown that he is a GOOD man, although it is often said “in Nigeria good men seldom win elections” – a notion I hope the Rivers people are now ready to change. After eight years of a seeming ‘democratic dictatorship’ and anarchy what Rivers State needs is a fine gentleman that can deliver the goods.

Prince Tonye Princewill has shown through his activities that he is not only ready to serve the people of Rivers state as their Governor but also has good reasons to aspire to that office. As a successful businessman with interests in oil and gas,information technology,aviation services and environmental waste management, who has worked in several companies both in Nigeria and the UK, thus proving to be a good manager of men and resources. In a country where people only think of how to take whatever belongs to state and are seldom interested in helping the less privileged, Tonye Princewill continues to demonstrate that a man doesn’t need to acquire all the wealth in the world to live a good life, but that what matters is how many lives one is able to impact within his/her stay here and most importantly what one will be remembered for when he leaves the world to face his maker. Through the Princewill Trust, the ‘Digital Politician’ reached out to victims of various flood ravished areas, donating relief materials worth millions of naira to the victims. As a strong advocate of youth empowerment and human capital development he has through Princewill Trust and many other mediums ensured that the lives of youths,widows and orphans are touched(within his resources), no matter how little.

In 2012 alone Prince Tonye Princewill led a 40 man delegation of Nigerian youths to both Ghana and Dubai to acquire knowledge on governance, leadership,self development and entrepreneurship under the aegis of the Change Nigeria Group. PTP is a strong advocate for open government and effective public service delivery,never shying from interactions with youths on any platform. He realizes that without the co-operation of the most active members of Nigeria population,we can’t move forward as a nation.

PTP believes the words of Bill Clinton that “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in” and to him, the major way to ensure that democracy thrives is ensuring that the interest of the people is always put ahead of the personal interest of the leaders and that citizens involvement is preached and practiced at every stage of governance. Through the PPA(Princewill Political Associates) PTP has conducted several social development surveys using mobile phone trackers and voice notes across communities,the result showed that management of oil spillage in Rivers State is a catalyst for youth restiveness. A situation he is prepared to change given the opportunity to lead his people.

Rivers State recently has been ridden with the shame of a crisis its people never asked for and the people must realize that the time has come for them to support Prince Tonye Princewill as he steps out to ensure that the future of Rivers State will be better that the past and present. His believe in the future is so strong that he launched a 20 million naira scholarship for the less privileged of Rivers State origin. PTP is prepared to salvage his people from misgovernance and next years election is the opportunity Rivers people have to take a decision that will to a large extent affect the destinies of future generations.

With PTP, Rivers people can be assured of a bravura performance in office. The time is now to correct the mistakes of the past.



Enenim Ubon is on twitter @enenimubon