Posted by By Ogbonna Nwuke on
A sizeable number of Rivers people have been following with rapt interest, developments in Bayelsa since Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha returned to his seat after being held by the British for weeks.
A sizeable number of Rivers people have been following with rapt interest, developments in Bayelsa since Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha returned to his seat after being held by the British for weeks.
A survey conducted by the Telegraph shows that seven out of every ten Rivers people want to have an update on what is happening to the Governor General of Ijaw land. And they say they have had to turn more to newspapers and magazines in a bid to get the latest gist about the unfolding story in that State which used to be part of the old Rivers State.
The Argus was the first local paper to publish an account of the celebration in Yenagoa while ThisDay was apparently the first national newspaper to get unto the story,
Both papers made the newsstands last Tuesday.
The Telegraph, the flagship of the Port Harcourt press came out last Wednesday with "Comeback of the Governor General". The edition sold out before noon in Port Harcourt, Aba, Owerri, Yenagoa, Umuahia and Uyo while avid readers in these areas resorted to photocopying in an effort to keep pace with the breaking story.
Thursday the Hard Truth followed suit. It hit the newsstands with "Alamieyeseigha speaks", and reports say the edition was well patronized by the reading public.
Similarly, NewsWatch news magazine, which carried "My Ordeal", was a hit, selling as rapidly as the Niger Delta papers.
Saturday, the Weekend Telegraph carried a lead "Bayelsa: State of emergency looms" which warned about an impending state of anarchy as a result of desperate moves to nail Alamieyeseigha
The survey conducted at the weekend revealed that most readers (85%) were of the opinion that newspapers and magazines were doing a fine job, especially with the level of coverage they are giving to the Alamieyseigha saga.
15% said they were unimpressed, alleging that a man who had defrauded the people of Bayelsa was receiving positive coverage in the press.
Alamieyeseigha had staged a miraculous re-entry into Nigeria Sunday after evading British security, which had been watching him round the clock. And on Monday, Alamieyeseigha said he had reclaimed his "Nigerianness".
In the South-South and the Niger Delta, news of his return spread like a bushfire.
In most parts of the oil-belt and the country, there was jubilation, as the feat performed by the embattled governor became common knowledge and people hailed him for his invincibility.
The Telegraph survey disclosed that a majority of Niger Deltans and their South-South counterparts sympathize with the plight of the Governor General also known as the Ijaw Messiah.
75% of a cross section of Rivers people polled said they would prefer Alamieyeseigha is left alone regardless of whatever offence he may have committed, saying only the people of Bayelsa State who elected him could remove him from office.
10% said Alamieyeseigha had no business remaining for one day at Creek Haven as governor, insisting that is freedom raised a lot of moral issues.
The remaining 5% of Rivers people surveyed stated they were undecided on the issue.
On the whole, smiles have returned to the faces of newspaper vendors and distributors worried sick by the marginal patronage of both local and national publications.
Wednesday, reports say vendors had a field day selling a copy of the Midweek Telegraph for as much as N1.50 when the rush for the publication began.
The implication is that reporting Alamieyeseigha may pay for a while. It is equally evidence, analysts say, that the embattled governor may indeed be popular among Nigerians, especially for siding with those who oppose the president's alleged third tenure bid and what many Niger |Deltans see as his hard line on resource control matters.