It is on record that on the 30th of March 2011, I, Mr. Okechukwu Duncan
Mighty single handedly organized a Celebrity Youth Endorsement Concert in
Port Harcourt where I successfully endorsed over 18,000 youths who are
eligible voters for the Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
During the organization of the event under the express approval of the
Governor of Rivers State and his cabinet, he gave me the sum of Ten
Million Naira through the then Secretary to the state Govt. Senator Magnus
Abe which totally went into the project. The Governor also gave me his
word that the balance of Fifty Million Naira will be paid to me as soon as
possible. In pursuit of the said project, I thereafter raised funds
through different sources including personal savings, loans and credit
facilities, acquired operational vehicles and branded them for the
project, procured several souvenirs, printed many publicity materials,
paid for venues, engaged musicians from different parts of the country,
undertook logistics such as flight/Accommodation/Transportation and
welfare.
The event featured the following A List artistes, comedians and many
collection of Port Harcourt Artistes: Wande Coal and the Mo. Hits Records
crew Flavour Banky W M.I Ice Prince Timaya Stereo Man Terry G Jesse Jags
Dj Jimmyjatt I go die I go save And lots more. The project was concluded
as scheduled and the results were achieved, but since then it has become
almost impossible to have an audience with the Governor so as to get my
balance. I also visited the Govt House on several occasions, and all
efforts to get my money proved abortive. However, the last straw that
broke the camel’s back was when the governor systematically started
avoiding my calls and personal visits in a bid to deprive me of the
balance of the money for a job which I successfully executed.
It is also on record that I have not charged the Rivers State Government a
single dime of my professional appearance fee, due to my personal
reason/resolve to give back to the society which made me, starting from
the government of Rivers State as a mark of honor and respect. The rumor
mills have it that the Governor of Rivers state has given me juicy
contracts including all manner of flashy cars, but I stand here today to
debunk such tales, because I have not received as much as a bicycle spoke
from Governor Amaechi.
My love for the Ikwerre ethnic nationality,the Niger Delta project and the
Nigerian dream has seen me working for virtually everything I own today
because there is dignity in labour, hence I can never resort to cheap
blackmail or character assassination of any person, group or association,
therefore I stand to make this declaration that all I am asking for is the
payment of my money, thus, this should not be seen as a political campaign
of any sort. Permit me to bring to your notice, the fact that many of his
personal aids and security details have come to me severally, soliciting
for financial assistance which I usually offered them without any
hesitation, not knowing that they all have the notion that their boss,
Governor Amaechi has been favoring me through contracts, meanwhile this is
not also true.
I have tried frantically on several occasions to meet with the Governor
one on one so as to resolve this issue but all to no avail. Most recently
I was invited to a dinner between the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and
the Governor of Rivers State, immediately after my performance at the said
event inside government house I ran after the Governor to demand for my
money in my usual way, but to my utmost bewilderment the Governor
unequivocally told me point blank that I should remember that when we did
that transaction he was still working with his former chief of staff, Hon.
Nyesom Wike who is now the current minister of state for education.
This is exactly what prompted me to take this decision of writing this
article in other to recover the money which I worked to earn. This issue
also led to the problem that transpired on Friday the 23rd of may 2014
when I got to the government house gate at 8am, one of the security
details named Mr. Jude rudely ordered me to park my car outside the gate,
a situation which led to a scuffle and heated argument between me and the
said security officer, as a result of this I subsequently held a meeting
with my staff on the way forward concerning this same issue after which we
agreed that we should channel the ongoing matter through the office of the
chief press secretary to the governor Mr. David Iyofor, this we did and
the cps after hearing the story promised to help contact the governor who
happens to be his boss, but to my chagrin the chief press secretary rather
stopped taking my calls up till this moment.
Prior to this time I have not played any event for the commissioners and
other cabinet members due to the fact that the they thought they couldn’t
afford to pay my appearance fee because I was the governors favorite hence
will be unaffordable to them, a predicament that I have also managed to
live with, while my friends, family members, staff and fans have all
concluded that I have betrayed them by going behind to collect huge sums
of money for events at the government house without giving them their own
right, whereas I have also not charged the Rivers State government my
usual professional appearance fee on events, the present chief of staff to
river state government Mr Tony Okocha and Senator Magnus Abe are my
witness on this. Meanwhile due to the multi-lingual nature of Rivers State
as a result of different ethnic nationalities, I decided to record a song
which I titled PORT HARCOURT BOY where I mentioned the names of various
prominent men who have made their mark at one point or the other, even
people from other states who lived and did their business in Port harcourt
as a way of promoting and uniting the state. Shortly afterwards the
general public started saying that governor Amaechi has been the one
behind my career success claiming that he bought me all manner of flashy
cars and pays me huge amount of money regularly, meanwhile since I
finished the project for the governor he virtually declined paying me the
outstanding balance as agreed upon our transaction.
It is also a known fact that before amnesty was given DUNCAN MIGHTY was
the first artiste in the entire Niger Delta to embrace the creeks all over
the country, using my music to promote peace in the region, encouraging
the youths to shun cultism, youth restiveness and other social vices. The
entire entertainment industry within the Niger Delta region actually
believed that I was constantly favored by the governor hence they all came
to me in 2011 pleading with me to become the chapter president of
performing musicians association of Nigeria (PMAN) a move which I
constantly rejected so that I can concentrate on my career.
All this while God has been my source of inspiration and survival my
pillar of strength and protection. It was also rumored that I was
appointed a member of Rivers State carnival committee, and due to their
secret nature of meeting and deliberating on carnival issues, my fellow
artistes constantly accused me of not caring them along, an accusation
which I’ve always struggled to debunk till date. Moreover, my passion for
going all the way to contribute my quota to the development of the
entertainment industry in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole was born
out of genuine interest, love and previous roles as a professional audio
engineer who has worked for many international brands at different
capacities.
More also, I need to clear the air on this issue which made a lot of
artiste who I was owing some outstanding balance to call me a traitor,
saboteur, saying that I have betrayed them by refusing to pay them when in
the actual sense I have not received further payment from the Governor,
because I didn’t want any further trouble arising from this issue, I had
to pay them out of my pocket from my own funds.
Once more, I will like to state that this has nothing to do with party
politics, I am seriously appealing to everyone who know Gov Amaechi to
tell him to pay me my money in the name of GOD.
SOURCE:
Pls pay my N50m: Duncan Mighty takes Amaechi to the cleaners over debt mess