Only two weeks ago ,fifth term Senator James Ebiowou Manager was the toast of the political class in his native Delta State as he turned 61. Encomiums came like torrents.
From Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to the man on the street,Manager was praised to the high heavens.
Okowa called him a dependable political ally, a leader of great value, a patriotic Nigerian, gentleman par excellence, a team player and God-fearing leader.
He added: “As pioneer chairman of our great party in Delta, you worked very hard to ensure that PDP had a grandiose foundation, towering like a colossus, which culminated in our sustained winning streak over the years.
“In the last 18 years of representing your people as their lawmaker at the big stage, you have continued to contribute immensely to their growth and development and I urge you to remain steadfast in your quest to make life more meaningful for them.”
One Tamar Forteta branded Manager the people’s generalissimo.
Writing on the senator’s Facebook, Forteta said of him: “, there is no voice so firm and clarion to make a case for our people at all levels as yours.
“As our leader and torchbearer, you have never reneged in your willingness and ability to reciprocate the loyalty and allegiance that you enjoy from your followers.
“It is curious that in a society where politicians clamour for recognition, and advantageously position themselves in the media to gain mileages, Manager would rather restrain himself and choose, instead, to dance to the quiet rhythm of his soul. This is a disposition that has helped to define his persona as a taciturn and decorous politician, whose maturity, experience and fidelity cannot be faulted.”
But all that came crashing yesterday after a photograph of the Delta Central senator kneeling down before a former governor of the state,Chief James Ibori,went viral on social media.
Critics expressed shock at his action.
Umoru Faruk Salifu writing on Facebook said the picture reminded him of “the Okija debacle involving was it Ngige and some of the cultists then in Anambra State. But this phenomenon is more of South east, South south and South west thing. In the middle (belt) and north it is just godfathersim and their sons that don’t last before the bubble burst.
Muhammad Musa-Gombe said jocularly: “My sources say Dist. Senator James Manager was declaring his support for BLACK LIVES MATTER. My source swears that he needs to present the picture at the British Embassy as part of requirements for a multiple entry visa to the UK.”
A lawyer, Omemiroro Maxwell Ogedegbe said: “The people continue to suffer as the politicians do not hold allegiance to their sovereignty but to perceived political gods to whom they continue to pay royalties upon their emergence and the people suffers.
“Imagine my senators kneeling like school children all for the quest of power.
“James Manager is 61years like James Ibori and from their look that of James Manager might be his football age. Each time we see this level of timidity the institutions they represent suffers.”
Al Bashir Muhammed said: “Wonderful! Supposing this picture comes from the north, some unprintable words would be the order of the day,” while Precious Wanogho Erutase said: “There is nowhere in the whole of the Niger Delta that you will find a man of Senator James Manager ranking, kneeling down with both legs before a fellow man who happens not to be his biological father, but a man I can accurately guess to be of the same age bracket with him. NO, IS NOT DONE AND THIS IS DEMEANING!!!
“Politics shouldn’t take us this far that we show glaringly our inordinate ambition of getting what we want through any means.
“My advice is that the Senator representing Delta South should openly apologise to the people he is representing and be careful what his media aides sell to the public. For me, this photo has a very big K-LEG with a capital letters!”
‘Manager committed no crime kneeling for Ibori’ – Aide
But an aide to Senator Manager said yesterday that he committed no offence kneeling down for Ibori.
The Senator’s media assistant Francis Abulu confirmed to The Nation that the occasion was to solicit Ibori’s support for Manager’s governorship bid.
Before going to the Senate in 2003,Manager had served as Works Commissioner in Ibori’s first term as governor.
Abulu described Ibori as a political god-father to the senator .
He said any serious politician who seeks to govern Delta State must consult with the former governor, and that was what Sen. Manager did.
He said: “Senator James Manager is a serious politician. And no serious politician in Delta will ignore Chief Ibori. And Chief Ibori is his benefactor. He made him Commissioner in 1999 and in 2003, he went to the Senate.
“Distinguished Senator James Manager has no need for frivolities. All those people who are on the internet speaking, including Sowore, where he came from in Yorubaland, don’t they kneel before elders?
“Senator James Manager, in furtherance of his ambition to govern Delta state in 2023, went to Chief Ibori to request his support. There is no politician in Delta that wants to rule this state, and would not consult with Ibori.
“Ibori has supporters who are going to be delegates in the primaries. Or are they saying because he is an ex-convict, his delegates would not go to the primaries? So he (Manager) is asking his support to plead with other Deltans to support him.
“It is not out of place because he has an ambition and that ambition is genuine. We are asking for the support of Deltans, if we are to build with experience; if experience counts, and if political maturity counts,” Abulu stated.
A video seen, showed other persons who accompanied the gubernatorial aspirant for the consultation, including a commissioner, receive prayers from the ex-governor.
In the video, Chief Ibori said himself and Senator Manager have come a long way.
He said Manager’s visit was an indication that he knew the right thing to do.
Some Deltans are canvassing that the ticket should go to the Ijaw,and Manager in particular.
Ibori is regarded as the godfather of Delta politics,having almost single handedly installed his two successors so far Emmanuel Uduaghan and Ifeanyi Okowa.
THE NATION