The Challenge I had
OpenLife Nigeria has gathered that Asari Dokubo, a major political figure of the Ijaw ethnic group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, had challenges while in school.
The challenges were revealed by the 57 years old businessman and activist in an interview on Arise TV.
According to him, his stints with the University of Calabar as well as the Rivers State University of Science and Technology were marred by “Academic deficiency.”
Though he believes in justice, fairness and equity, the academic prowess to back up this inherent spirit has been lacking, a development that inspires him to surround himself with intelligent people as aides.
The founder, Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, one of the most prominent armed groups operating in the Niger Delta region, is a folk hero amongst certain members of the local population principally because of his populist views and anti-government stance.
Born in 1964 into a middle-class Christian family headed by a court judge and a housewife in Buguma, Rivers State, Asari received both primary and secondary education in Port Harcourt.
He got admitted into Law at the University of Calabar but dropped out after only three years in 1990, citing problems with university authorities as his reason for doing so.
He made other attempts to complete his education but his activism caused him to quit on his degree at Rivers State University of Science and Technology for reasons similar to those at Calabar, Cross Rivers State, Nigeria.
After dropping out of school, Asari, born originally Melford Dokubo Goodhead Jr, converted to Islam and changed his name to Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.
He spent much of the 1990s attempting to become involved in regional politics, running for two offices in Rivers State in 1992 and 1998 but failing to win on either.
In 1998, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) was formed and Asari, as a founding member, was appointed to the vice-presidency of the organization.
The organization issued the Kaiama Declaration in November, expressing long-held Ijaw concerns about the loss of control of their homeland and their own lives to the Nigerian state and oil companies operating in the region.
Dokubo Asari continued the struggle for a better Niger Delta till 2013 when he became a citizen of Benin and moved his wealth and assets out of the Niger Delta, Nigeria and relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic where he built several schools, colleges and a university for the school children and students in Cotonou.
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