Recently, a self-styled group of Moderate Rivers Professionals cried out over the damaging effect of Rotimi Amaechi/ Nyesom Wike political divide in Rivers State.
Their grouse is that almost one year after the election, the political tension is still high in the state and if this is not checkmated, it may snowball to what nobody can determine its end.
According to them, Amaechi which is the face of APC verses Wike the face of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a fall out of a personality clash between the duo during the tenure of Amaechi as governor of River State and Wike as Minister of State for Education. It was a precursor to the 2015 elections.
Amaechi as governor was worried that most of the oil wells in his native land had been ceded to neighboring states. He cried out over the injustice meted to them and ran to his brother President Goodluck Jonathan to wipe away his tears. Rather than consoling him, he was treated with disdain.
He went to court insisting that those oil wells are within the territorial or contiguous zone of Rivers State and that the state had been short changed.
Some castigated him for his moves and regarded it as an act of insubordination. The former governor stood his ground and further professed that those who approach the court of equity must come with clean hands.
Some political jobbers in Rivers State who survive on such controversies saw the action as a cash cow and bought over the case from Mama Peace.
Amaechi was branded a Judas ready to betray his people. He explained to those who had ears to listen but his traducers, looking for the pecks that spoil the system from the ‘Empress’ challenged him for daring and insulting the homestead of the former president.
But the man Amaechi, not one to be cowed, pursued the case in court, demanding justice and like the visioner he is, Moderate Rivers Professionals have now come to see the truth. The man who was yesterday hounded, branded a traitor is now appreciated for standing on the side of truth. As is being said in hushed tones within the state, the take home pay of Rivers State Government from Abuja is now showing a bogus red and feelers have it that what the visioner saw years back is becoming a reality now.
The Moderate Rivers Professionals are now requesting the attack dogs of government to see reason. The chicken has come home to roost. The massive road projects, high rise buildings, workshops / seminars designed to appease sectorial groups that Rivers State is working are now bankrolled with overdrafts.
The Moderate Professionals are now in doubt that if what Amaechi failed to recover when he was in the same boat with the president will Wike achieve it as opposition governor?
This is why when one is in a position of power and trust, we must be very careful in what we say and what we do, because history beckons on us to account for our deeds. Amaechi, all along has been telling Rivers people that his fight is a just fight and that the broad societal values he has for the people cannot be diluted even now he is a minister.
He even demonstrated it recently by ensuring that the Rail line from Port – Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Benue, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe to Kano will definitely come on stream sooner than expected. Do we need to doubt his statesmanship and political sagacity when he included the Calabar – Lagos Rail line in the 2016 budget thereby dousing the North / South divide? He has promised that despite the tantrums of some misguided elements in Rivers State who only survive on Government House pecks he will still be fair when it comes to distributing amenities.
Probably this accounts for why we believe the assertion of the Moderate Rivers Professionals calling on the attack dogs of Wike to look beyond their nose. The attack dogs should stop behaving like the maddening crowd who killed Cinna, not minding whether he was Cinna the Poet or Cinna the Conspirator. Reality on ground now is that what Amaechi was fighting for five years ago is now taking its toll in the financial fortunes of Rivers State. And sooner or later the people will start having the pinch and it may be too hurtful.
Furthermore, we call on Governor Wike to settle down to governance. Rivers State has high political stakes and the more he feels threatened by imaginary and nonexistent issues, the more he will fail the people and their expectations. The governor should also call his attack dogs to order as distractions from the press could be dangerous. We are also witness to his dismal role as Minister of State Education.
The only political product that could be adduced as success story is the Almajiri Schools project which, in any case, is almost derailing because the initial concept was set by political motivations.
They should stop treating Rotimi Amaechi as a cartoon or a born again cow boy. He should be respect as Minister of Transportation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Finally, I commend the dexterity of Moderate Rivers Professionals for their commitment and acting as a watch dog of the Rivers society, History will be on their side for speaking out when others are renting a crowd to discredit the man Rotimi Amaechi.
And for Governor Wike, he should hit the ground running and right the wrongs of yesterday. This is a promise he made the people. The governor should appreciate that the economy is more complicated and undiversified today than yesterday hence he has to draw a committed team that will drive the system and not charlatans with false knowledge of where he is going.
Governor Wike should know that false knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance and may be the bane of his government if he chooses that lonely lane.
Leadership…..
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