By Simeon Nwakaudu

Two weeks ago, immediate past governor of Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, used his 52nd birthday to amuse his bosses. In order to be seen to be saying something, he said some irrelevant things, which do not require quoting. He also travelled to Kaduna to make more horrible statements.
I would not dignify Amaechi with a response to his outburst in Kaduna. Well-meaning Nigerians already know his character traits. They know that he talks a lot, and does not make much sense. They know that he is full of talks and no action. This is why this question is pertinent: What has Amaechi brought to Rivers State in terms of developmental projects, as a Minister of the Federal Republic? Who has felt the impact of his sponsorship of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections, using funds from the sold gas turbines of Rivers State.
As a representative of Rivers State at the Federal Executive Council, all Amaechi has done is to attract tears to Rivers State, as he used the Armed Forces and the police against the people during the March 19 and December 10, 2016 rerun elections in the state. Despite this maleficence, he accuses others of wrongdoing. And he does not want to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer politically relevant, as the people have rejected and forsaken him.
Currently, Governor Nyesom Wike is the man of the moment in Rivers. He won election overwhelmingly and is doing well in office. Amaechi claimed that security apparatus helped Governor Wike to a landslide victory in 2015. However, the question is: How will he explain then fact that Wike’s PDP was embraced during the rerun elections and won, despite the mass deployment Federal Government Armed Forces, violence and the printing of fake result sheets. And Amaechi and his APC were rejected. How does Amaechi explain this?
For a man who led Rivers State for eight years, it is disheartening that Amaechi is now a self-appointed de-marketing agent against the state. His camp spends billions to sponsor bad press against the economic development of the state and works as a publicist to those who plot to deny the state her entitlements.
I suggest that Amaechi should study the key achievements of Governor Wike, while he served as a minister, as they relate to Rivers State. Wike, at the time, understood that he was an ambassador of the state in Abuja, positioned to better the lives of the people. He, therefore, did the following:
Establishment of Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny; Established the Faculty of Law, University of Port Harcourt; Constructed the Faculty of Biological Science Building, University of Port Harcourt; Made special intervention for Federal College of Education, Technical, Omoku, for key projects; On-going construction of Special Vocational School for Boys at Ogu/Bolo LGA; Construction of Junior Model College in Ikwerre LGA; Complete rehabilitation and equipping of 22 existing secondary schools in all three senatorial districts of Rivers State; Distribution of over four million free textbooks and resource materials to basic education institutions in Rivers State;
Training of over 20,000 teachers and basic education administrators in Rivers State; Offering appointments to Rivers indigenes in several Federal Ministry of Education parastatals; Many Rivers State indigenes on several federal scholarship programmes; Siting of National Teachers Institute (NTI), Data Centre in Port Harcourt; Siting National Open University of Nigeria study centre in Port Harcourt; Rehabilitation of classrooms, laboratories and hostels at Federal Government College, Port Harcourt; Rehabilitation of classrooms, laboratories and hostels at Federal Government Girls College, Abuluoma; Rehabilitation of classrooms, hostels and workshops at Federal Science and Technical College, Ahaoda; Construction of Electronic Library, Federal Government, Port Harcourt;
*Construction of Electronic Library, Federal Government Girls College, Abuluoma;
Special TETFUND High Impact Development Fund of N1billion to University of Port Harcourt; Appointment of several Rivers State indigenes, as members of Federal Ministry of Education parastatals; Several duly registered Rivers-born contractors for the first time benefitted from Federal Ministry of Education Contracts for key projects; and Over N1billion grant to University of Port Harcourt from the World Bank for scientific research.
Amaechi should imbibe the culture of responsibility in leadership. He must remember that he is also accountable to the Rivers people because he is occupying Rivers slot at the federal level.
Amaechi is hugging the limelight once again because he thinks Nigerians have forgotten how he was humiliated at the polls. The rerun elections served as referendum for Amaechi’s eight years of failure and misappropriation. The people of Rivers State resolved to chart a new course, far away from Amaechi and his cronies. That Rivers State is a huge success story, while APC states are notorious misgovernance underscores the correctness of that choice.
In saner climes, Amaechi would have used the protection from prosecution he enjoys from the Federal Government to set the records straight on how he squandered N3 trillion in eight years, as governor of Rivers State. Throwing tantrums and sponsoring media propaganda won’t take Amaechi anywhere. As a Federal Minister, Amaechi watches as Governor Wike uses state resources to reconstruct federal roads, leading to federal facilities, without using his influence to promote his party in the state.
Wike is now a movement, a developmental philosophy that promotes the development of Rivers State beyond other mundane considerations. The people of Rivers State understand the drive of Governor Wike to right the wrongs of the past and they are at home with him. Therefore, Amaechi’s use of propaganda has always and will continue to fail. It failed in 2015 and it will fail in 2019. The Rivers people rose above the upland-riverine dichotomy to vote for Governor Wike in 2015.
A failed governor with a debased political base has nothing to do in the emerging political scenario. He will only watch the journey to 2023, as Governor Wike consolidates on the rapid development of the state. The trip to the creation of a new Rivers State cannot be stopped by an indicted politician, who is selfish in his thoughts and actions. His former associates in the APC understand his selfishness more than any other person.
Rivers State will have nothing to do with such a man.

Related News

• Nwakaudu wrote in from Lagos.