Ahead of the 2015 governorship election in River state, Prince Tonye Princewill, a prince of Kalabari Kingdom, Rivers state, visited the Benin Monarchy Empire to make his governorship intention known to the Oba and his chiefs.
Prince Tonye's visit to the ancient Benin Kingdom is in tandem with the 'PDP South-South Unity Rally' which kicked-off from Rivers state.
The election campaign was a huge success. See more pics and his full profile after the cut....
Full Profile of Prince Tonye Princewill
Tonye Princewill (born 4 January 1969), is a prince of
the Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State in
Nigeria. He is married to Mrs. Rosemary Princewill and has three children ( a girl and twin boys).
He is a Nigerian politician and businessman with interest in both
upstream and downstream oil and gas, information technology, environmental
waste management and aviation services.
Prince Tonye Princewill was born in the UK to the family of King
(Prof) T. J. T. Princewill, the Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom of the Amachree
Dynasty of Rivers-State. Tonye Princewill's father was a Professor of Medical
Microbiology before he became a monarch.
Tonye Princewill started his early education in the United
Kingdom, before returning with his parents to Nigeria. In Nigeria, he was
enrolled at Hillcrest High School in Jos from 1976–1980.
He then attended Federal Government College (Port Harcourt)
where he obtained his West African Senior Certificate/ General Certificate of
Education O'Level in 1985. He took his BSc inPetroleum engineering at the University of Port Harcourt. He did a
Master's degree in Mineral Resources Engineering at theImperial College London. Tonye Princewill
also holds a 'PRINCE 2' Project Management Practitioner Certificate from
the United Kingdom.
Tonye Princewill started off his career with Royal Dutch
Shell as a Reservoir and Well-site Petroleum Engineer. He also
worked briefly with the UK's Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency, the Department of
Trade and Industry. He was the Chief Technology Officer of Panasonic in
the United Kingdom; and served at the Global Asset Management desk of Citibank.
He later moved into private business and established the Riverdrill Group of
Companies (Nigeria) where he is chairman. His business interests include oil
and gas, information technology, aviation services and consulting.
Tonye Princewill's political career started when he was
nominated as the gubernatorial candidate of the then Action Congress for
the governorship of Rivers State in 2007. He
was supported by the then former Vice-President of Nigeria and the AC
Presidential candidate in 2007 elections, Atiku Abubakar and
former Governor of Lagos and National Leader of ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Tonye Princewill's campaign attracted significant grassroots support. He lost
the election under contested circumstances to the People's Democratic Party's
(PDP) candidate, Celestine Omehia.
Tonye Princewill launched a legal challenge against the newly
elected governor shortly after the election results were released. He offered
evidence to prove to the electoral tribunal that the election was rigged. In a
newspaper interview, he alleged that Celestine Omehia offered
him a Naira 1.5 billion (approximately USD 10 million) bribe to withdraw the
case before the tribunal, which he rejected.
Following a Supreme Court decision to replace Celestine Omehia with
another People's Democratic Party candidate Rotimi Amaechi,
he withdrew his case at the tribunal following a local party decision of the Action Congress in
Rivers State, a move which drew criticism from his supporters. Tonye
Princewill said in a report that "we took the decision at the time that
the enemy of your enemy is your friend," noting that he was in battle with CelestiOmehia and
his 'godfather', Dr. Peter Odili, the former governor of Rivers State,
when Rotimi Amaechi was installed by the
court."
Tonye Princewill later led members of the opposition parties in Rivers State under
the banner of the Forum of Organized Opposition Political Parties (FOOPP) to
form a unity government with Amechi's administration. Tonye
Princewill's support of the Amaechi's government received mixed reviews. Some
viewed it with scepticism, while others saw it as necessary for the development
and stability of Rivers State. His announcement in 2010 that he
was returning to the People's Democratic Partywas
controversial and weakened opposition in the state.
Tonye Princewill remains in the People's Democratic Party and
has focused political and humanitarian causes in the State.
In 2013, he joined the management committee of People's
Democratic Movement (PDM), the founding movement behind thePeople's Democratic Party,
where his serves as the Director of Organisation.
After several months of speculation on his political future,
Tonye Princewill indicated his interest to succeed,
the current governor of Rivers State, in 2015.
He has since engaged in several public and People's Democratic Party debates.
He stated that the crises rocking the People's Democratic Party in
2013 are normal in the context of conflicting regional agendas and tensions
between these agendas and national interest.
On 10 April 2014, he announced on Info 92.3 (Port Harcourt) the
formation of an Exploratory Committee to explore the viability of his candidacy
of running for governor of Rivers State.
Tonye Princewill writes about confronting corruption,
infrastructure development, behaviour change, security, health, academic
advancement and ethnic harmony in his weekly column in the Vanguard newspaper. As
a leading advocate of youth empowerment in Nigeria, he has expressed concern
about the use of youth in Nigeria, particularly during elections, for violence
and thuggery.
Tonye Princewill's public engagement is diverse. Following the
heavy floods that ravaged parts of Nigeria in 2012, he organised relief activities for Niger Delta communities
through the Princewill Trust.
He has launched several initiatives to support Nigerian youth,
rural women, orphans and widows. In
June 2012, Tonye Princewill sponsored Nigerian youth delegations on tours to
Dubai and Ghana to learn about entrepreneurship, governance, leadership and
self-development.In
January 2013, in celebration of his 44th birthday, Tonye Princewill released a
documentary titled "Man. Mentor. Maverick" in which he speaks about
his vision of equal opportunities for all.
Tonye Princewill is an advocate for open government and
effective public service delivery using modern technology.
This has earned him the nickname, the "Digital
Politician."
Tonye Princewill sponsored several baseline studies in 2013,
covering the state of education, environment, and health in Rivers State.
In education, research showed that a large number of Model Secondary and
Primary Schools were not finished and had been abandoned.
The
management of oil spillages in Rivers State,
a catalyst for youth restiveness, was seen as ineffective across local
governments in the State. Survey respondents reported that funds which ought to
have gone into cleaning and sanitisation of their communities were diverted by
local officials. These findings also support press reports about corruption in
government allocations to oil producing areas.
In
the area of health, there is widespread disenchantment about the lack of
improvement within the sector. Weak health service delivery in Rivers State is
forcing many patients to seek medical attention at unregulated traditional
medicine shops. Challenges associated to HIV/AIDS, the lack of qualified health
professionals, and unfinished health projects, are serious concerns among
respondents. These findings substantiate reports in the press that raise
questions about the efficacy of funds injected into the sector by the Rivers State administration.
Profile credit: Wikipedia_Prince Tonye Princewill
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