AMAECHI: A Life of Endless Controversies
Anywhere the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi goes, he postures sanctimoniously with exaggerated swagger. But beneath that posture is a man who neither believes in decorum nor in the rules of engagement in all spheres of life. The General, they say, is as strong as the troops he has. Out of a selfish desire to be the alpha and omega of Rivers politics, Amaechi like the dictator that he is, hardly builds consensus. His political associates, as well as his aides attest to the fact that Amaechi abhors dissenting opinions and rules Rivers like a personal estate. This casts a welter of doubts on
his political maturity and capacity as a leader of a cosmopolitan
state like Rivers.
His chairmanship of the Nigerian Governor's Forum gives him away as a desperate man who will stop at nothing to grab power. Before the emergence of Governor Amaechi, the NGF had never held election to elect its officials because the NGF constitution only allows for consensus. On his assumption of office as chairman, Amaechi desecrated the very essence of the NGF, which is a collaborative peer review mechanism, and turned it into a blackmailing platform for his personal political aggrandizement. Governor Amaechi also attempted to turn the NGF to a paralleled federal government through which the opposition political parties would punch the presidency.
It was against this backdrop that the PDP, the South East and South
South Caucuses which Amaechi belongs advised him against going for re- election but he called their bluff. In other climes, service delivery is article of faith and once a political party asks an individual not to contest a post, he or she withdraws but not Amaechi. He
unilaterally amended the NGF Constitution to pave way for his return
and organized a shambolic election and declared himself winner.
Interestingly today, 19 out of the 36 state governors have disowned
him and pitched tent with the Governor Jonah Jang faction, yet Amaechi is not humble and savvy enough to throw in the towel. If Amaechi were to be an honourable man as he would want unsuspecting Nigerians to believe, he should have stopped parading himself as NGF chairman since he no longer enjoy the confidence of over half of his colleagues.
This shows clearly that for Governor Amaechi, unnecessary controversy is a way of life. Curiously his political life is usually embroiled in a trail of self- induced crises that have always projected his personal interest to the detriment of the ordinary Nigerian. This
misadventure in politics has plunged Rivers State into perennial
crises with the people deeply impoverished and underdeveloped. All the sectors of the Rivers economy are in a parlous state in spite of the trillions as federal allocations accruing to the state. The
infrastructural decay in the state for example prompted a respected
international medium to describe Amaechi's home state as ''Amaechi's Rivers of potholes.''
Ordinarily, a man like Amaechi who was picked from an obscure
background by former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili should work for the good of the poor whom he was part of, some 20 years ago. Yet, Amaechi does not only strive to impoverish the very poor with his in- human policies and faux pass but works so hard to betray his benefactors.
It will be recalled that the first white collar job Amaechi ever got
was his appointment as personal assistant to Dr. Odili in his private
hospital. When Dr. Odili was elected deputy governor of Rivers State
in the 1990s, Dr. Odili retained Amaechi and moved with him to
Government House, Port-Harcourt. The General Sani Abacha Military
interregnum truncated Odili's mandate but that didn't stop him from
retaining Amaechi. With the return of democracy in 1998, Dr. Odili
became governor and sponsored Amaechi to the Rivers State House of Assembly. Dr. Odili didn't stop at that, he also rallied round the
House for Amaechi to be elected Honourable Speaker and later Chairman of Conference of Speakers in Nigeria. As Speaker, Amaechi thrived in blackmail and stewed in endless controversies but on each occasion, his godfather, Dr. Odili rose to the occasion to save him from impeachment.
Somehow, Amaechi managed to conceal his vaulting ambitions with a false veneer of loyalty to Odili. Then came the high point of
Dr. Odili's benevolence to Amaechi. The former threw up the latter to succeed him and Amaechi became the Rivers State PDP Governorship Candidate in the 2011 election. Though the party later substituted him in the polls but the Supreme Court declared him the winner of the election. No sooner had Amaechi become governor than he showed his true colour to Dr. Odili and his political associates. Governor Amaechi attempted to dismantle Dr. Odili's political structure which he had built many years ago.
Governor Amaechi's first major outing was mischievous setting up of a kangaroo reconciliation panel headed by the late eminent jurist,
Justice Kayode Eso. Events have since proved that the panel was a
smokescreen to send his godfather, Dr. Odili to political Siberia and
to settle scores with perceived political foes. Indeed, the Justice
Eso panel ended up polarizing the people of Rivers instead of
reconciling them. And contrary to Amaechi's calculation, the outcome of the panel eroded the tiny support base of the Mr. Know It All Governor. Today, Amaechi has slipped from political glory to ignominy.
Consequently, the governor has become a pariah to all well-meaning
stakeholders and elders in Rivers State. Governor Amaechi's second name is ingratitude. How did he treat former political associates who ensured his victory in his political tragedy. What happened to the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, a man who went through the thick and thin to ensure Amaechi reclaimed his party ticket through the judiciary? How did Amaechi treat Wike as his Chief of Staff?
Governor Amaechi's immediate Community, Ubima, the sleepy town in Ikwerre land is regrettably in turmoil. Whenever the community was about enjoying piece, he stirred up crises and controversies.
But more worrisome is the fact that since the kingmakers of Ubima
refused to foist Amaechi's brother on the community as its paramount ruler, sleep has eluded the town. It is either Governor Amaechi has his way or nobody would know peace.
As we speak, Ubima is one of the very few towns without a traditional
ruler in Rivers, all because of Amaechi's greed. Other Ikwerre communities have not been spared the agony of Governor
Amaechi's dictatorship. In the recent past, Amaechi has embarked on an obnoxious acquisition of land from his Ikwerre kinsmen for a
self-serving white elephant project dubbed: “Greater Port Harcourt
City.” Sadly, Amaechi is currently re-selling same massive to his
cronies for ten times what he paid his kinsmen. The acrimony
generated by this ego trip is still smouldering. The Ikwerre people
have vowed never to forgive Amaechi for this racketeering.
Aside this, the dust generated by the appointment of a Vice Chancellor (VC) for Rivers State University of Tectnology, the state owned university is avoidable. So mired in controversy was the appointment that school was closed for months, leaving thousands of students and parents in jeopardy.
If there is any man impervious to reason, that man is Amaechi. The
demolition of the waterfront settlements best demonstrates that.
Discountenancing pleas of well meaning human rights organizations,
Governor Amaechi, like an all-conquering Hannibal sent dozens of
bulldozers to demolish the place. This thoughtless move disrupted
thousands of families.
Can one forget the Soku/Oluasiri oil well dispute between the Kalabari and Nembe people? Governor Amaechi's role in the dispute left a sour taste in the mouth. It was, to say the least, unbecoming of a state governor. Governor Amaechi kept fanning the embers of distrust between the communities whilst, on the surface, appearing to desire an amicable settlement. But for providence and the maturity displayed by the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, through his several interventions, these two neighbours would have fought a needless war and lost innocent lives to the perfidious schemes of Amaechi. Demonstrating a characteristic disdain for constituted authority, Amaechi went overdrive, using the crisis to blackmail President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission exposed Amaechi's mischief and blackmail. Each time the commission made neighbouring states to make refunds to Rivers after the monthly FAAC meeting, it was okay. However, when it was the turn of Rivers State to refund excess fund to other deserving neighbouring states, Governor Amaechi would cry blue murder and blackmail President Jonathan. The climax of Amaechi's blackmail was his claim that the Supreme Court ceded oil wells in Rivers to Abia and Akwa-Ibom because of his alleged presidential ambition. The question on the lips of discerning Nigerians is: How could President Jonathan be scared of Amaechi for nursing vaulting ambition at this critical moment when Amaechi had totally lost acceptability in Rivers and beyond!
The needless but revealing controversy over the purchase of an
aircraft by Amaechi cannot be so forgotten in a hurry. The state
teaching hospital stirred sufficient controversy. Ditto for the Obi
Wali Cultural Centre. The sale of the centre was shrouded in secrecy
and failed to pass the test of due process and fiscal responsibility.
Why would a man seek to so destroy such an iconic monument?
However, the chicken has come home to roost. The Frankenstein monster he created in Rivers State has, quite expectedly, come to haunt him.
Suddenly, the hunter, as it were, is now the hunted. His hitherto peaceful legislature has become a political cauldron. Like the drowning man, Governor Amaechi is clutching to all straws.
The most casual observer needs no rigorous discernment to spot that Governor Amaechi is an unreliable man who cannot be trusted with power, no matter how small. Pride, they say, goes before a fall. And as Chinua Achebe wrote; for those the gods would destroy, he first make them made. Somebody should save Governor Amaechi.