CHIEF CHRISTOPHER 'PERE' AJUWA, THE FIRST IJAW MAN AND NIGER DELTAN TO CONTEST FOR PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA
For many Nigerians, especially those in the Niger Delta region, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ), the former president of Nigeria and also former governor of Bayelsa State, is the first Ijaw man to ascend the highest political office in the country. But while GEJ holds that record no doubt, the first Ijaw man to contest for president goes to Chief Christopher 'Pere' Ajuwa, a native of Bayelsa State.
Did you know that Pere was a founding member of the All Peoples Party (APP) which later metamorphosed into All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), and that he first contested for president in the 2003 general elections?
For many Nigerians, especially those in the Niger Delta region, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ), the former president of Nigeria and also former governor of Bayelsa State, is the first Ijaw man to ascend the highest political office in the country. But while GEJ holds that record no doubt, the first Ijaw man to contest for president goes to Chief Christopher 'Pere' Ajuwa, a native of Bayelsa State.
Chief Pere Ajuwa was a successful businessman, philanthropist, and politician. In the late 80s, Pere was the first Niger Deltan in Nigerian modern national history to dare the dangerous political waters of the country of Nigeria. He campaigned and advocated fearlessly across the length and breadth of Nigeria, advocating for the need of his people, the Ijaws. He felt the people from the Niger Delta region, which produces a sizable amount of revenue that sustains the well-being of the Nigerian state, should have a greater say and benefit fairly from the vast resources the region provides.
Here is the political journey of a man who supported every genuine effort of the Ijaw people to be properly recognized and be accorded their pride of place politically, economically, and in other areas of human endeavour, by using his personal resources to fight for the political and economic emancipation of the minorities of the South-South, especially his tribesmen and women, who had suffered years of neglect and deprivation from the activities of oil companies.
Christopher Pere Ajuwa was born on 23 November 1941 to the families of High Chief Pa Ogongolo Vurudu Ajuwa of the Egbesubiri Quarter, and Chief Ma Mrs. Rachael Diriayefa Ajuwa and Erubiri Quarter of Gbaraun kingdom, in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa. Pere's birth is considered by locals a sign of a miracle and was spoken of as though shrouded by mystery. It was reported that Pere's mother fell into maternity labour while fishing, and in the absence of a midwife she gave birth to him in her canoe. Accordingly, that fateful day Rachael Diriayefa Ajuwa caught her biggest fish ever and she called her newborn son ‘Pere’ which is literally translated to mean “Wealth” in English.
Pere attended Ade Oshodi, a primary school in Western-Nigeria, from 1954 to 1960 and earned his First School Leaving Certificate. From 1961 to 1964, he proceeded to Stella Maris College, Okitipupa, in Ondo Local Government Area of Ondo State. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, Pere was not able to complete his schooling at Stella Maris College. His quest for learning did not stop, he found means to attend Government Technical College Ijebu-Ode, Yaba Trade Centre, Lagos and he earned his City and Guide Intermediate in 1968.
In 1969, Pere was first employed as a Technician with the Western State Water Corporation Ibadan. Then he abruptly left Western State Water Corporation and joined Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) also in Ibadan as a competent Engineer in charge of the institute's Water Treatment Plant in 1970; he worked for two years. He later called it quit at CRIN for his educational advancement at University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s.
Returning to Nigeria, Pere became Principal Consulting Engineer, SP Group Engineers in 1977. He veered into private business as a Building Contractor and Petroleum Marketing in the early 1980s. He went on to become Chief Civil Engineer with Prefab Overseas Limited. In 1993, he helped found and run Pere Roberto Nigeria Limited as Company Secretary and then managing director. During this time, he executed some landmark projects which include construction of the Helipad in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island, Lagos and some structures in the Petroleum Training Institute in Warri (now Petroleum University) and many other projects in the Niger Delta.
In 1986, Pere made a triumph entry into Port Harcourt city and ran and won the President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce and Industries. He brought some laudable innovations into the association. Under his leadership, the first Port Harcourt International Trade Fair was organized. Pere's success in business did not overshadow his love for Nigeria and his burning desire to ameliorate the sufferings of the oppressed and marginalized people of the Niger Delta.
After a successful outing as President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce and Industries in the late 1980s; he launched himself into the political landscape of Nigeria when the opportunity came to fashion a new Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to herald the end of Military rule. However, in 1989 he contested and won the Yenagoa Federal Constituency seat into the then constituent assembly. Pere strongly articulated positions such as minority rights, abrogation of the land use act, and resource control.
Pere's escapades in the constituent assembly of 1989 endeared him to the hearts of political bigwigs in the country and when political parties were formed, he became a founding member of Nigeria National Convention (NNC). At the time, one of the notable personality that sharpened young Pere's political reflexes in the murky political terrain was Chief Gina Yeseibo.
In 1992, there was restructuring of the political formations in Nigeria that eventually gave birth to the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Pere eventually became a founding member of the NRC and supported Chief Rufus Ada George to emerge as the Governor (January 1992 to November 1993) of old Rivers State.
Chief Pere Ajuwa was an epitome of doggedness and resilience in fighting for justice. Pere became the very first Niger Delta minority leader that dared the political intrigues of the majority ethnic group in the country. His aspiration to run as a candidate for the presidential seat came to light in 1992 when NRC held their Presidential Primary election in the National Convention at Port Harcourt. Pere was a presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct NRC, in the botched former President Ibrahim Babangida transition programme. Pere had also contested the position of Rivers state governor before the creation of Bayelsa state. He was forced to step down for Alhaji Bashiru Torfa who later became the flag Bearer of NRC to run against the SDP presidential candidate, Alhaji MKO Abiola, in the June 12, 1993 Presidential election that was cancelled.
On March 27, 1993, was the national convention date for the presidential race. The NRC announced Port Harcourt, Pere's home city, as the venue of the convention with over five thousand delegates for each of the Conventions. Pere took on a significant role in the convention, and paid the greater part of the bill for the Port Harcourt Convention which was attended by prominent leaders of the party including Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu and Alhaji Ibrahim Shinkafi. At the convention, Alhaji Ahmed Kusamotu defeated Senator Lawrence Adekunle Agunbiade alias LAKO to emerge as the chairman of the party. Senator Agunbiade was from Ise in the present Ekiti state while Dr. Kusamotu was from the royal family in Ikirun in the present Osun state.
In 1994 Pere began a new crusade to arouse the consciousness of the Izon nation to embrace the unity of purpose in the pursuit of their common goals and aspirations. Today, the Izon nation in particular and the entire Niger Delta region are better for it. Under the auspices of Ijaw National Congress (INC) and Ijaw Youth Council (IYC Worldwide), he became unstoppable as his political appetite grew daily.
The political call came again in 1998 and Pere became a founding member of the All Peoples Party (APP) which later metamorphosed into All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). Years later, his presidential ambition rekindled and he ran in the primaries against president Muhammadu Buhari and lost in 2003 and 2007, on the party platform of Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN) and Alliance for Democracy (AD), respectively. Before the 2003 contest, he was forced to step down in the ANPP when General Muhammadu Buhari was picked as the presidential candidate. This caused Pere to leave the party, switched sides to the LDPN and emerged as its presidential candidate.
In the buildup to the 2007 election, he went back to the ANPP and was again forced to step down for General Muhammadu Buhari. He was later adopted by the AD as its presidential candidate after the sudden death of the then Presidential candidate, Chief Adebayo Adefarati. In 2011, he contested to fill the Bayelsa Central Senatorial seat on the platform of ANPP and lost to the ruling PDP candidate.
Though Pere did not win either of the elections, his zeal and dogmatic spirit did pave way for many young politicians from the Niger Delta to aspire for the office the President of Nigeria. He was a man of affluence, and a benefactor to many souls from the Niger Delta and beyond. Throughout his life, Pere stuck to the tradition and culture of his Izon kinsmen. Chief Dr. Christopher Pere Ajuwa died in 2017 in Port Harcourt at the age of 76.
In April 1995, in recognition of his untiring efforts in educational development, the University of Calabar awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) Degree (Honoris causa) in Business Management. His philanthropic wavelength cut across ethnic boundaries. The people of Enugu Uku rolled out their festive drums in celebration and conferred on him the Ikemba of Enugu Uku.
Pere brought tremendous educational and community development to Gbanraun hence the paramount ruler in council, King E. G. Ojogbo and all relevant stakeholders conferred on him one of the highest chieftaincy titles in the kingdom; Egbesu XVI of Egbesubiri in 1986. Posthumous honours include Governor Seriake Henry Dickson of Bayelsa State honouring Pere by renaming a major road after him.
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