Cole can’t speak Kalabari; dance to Kalabari traditional tunes – Asari Dokubo
By PHC Telegraph
Tonye Cole: Can’t speak Kalabari, Asari says on Arise News.The flagbearer of the APC, Arc. Tonye Cole has been described as a Kalabari who neither speaks or understands the dance steps of his own people.
Asari Dokubo, a pan Ijaw activist and a one-time Niger Delta freedom fighter dropped the hint while speaking on Arise News on Wednesday.
He said on set that Cole could speak Yoruba and Ibo languages fluently, but noted that he could barely speak Kalabari.
It is still not clear what Asari intended to achieve when he made that comment. Could it have been a slip?
Could it have been an illustration of how exposed Cole is, given his revelation that the APC candidate is linked to the design of an iconic mall in Brazil?
No one is sure.
Asari however acknowledged that Cole is his preferred candidate, saying he believed that the APC candidate could be trusted to take the Rivers project to the next level.
His revelation that Cole is incapable of speaking any Rivers language, including his native Kalabari, is raising eyebrows among Rivers people.
Many politicians, including Senator Magnus Abe of the SDP have referred to Cole as an “outsider”. They say that he is not a home boy.
With Asari openly affirming that Cole cannot speak Kalabari fluently, the issue of his knowledge of Rivers matters might be brought once again to the fore.