The Mystery of Buhari - Amaechi Union and the Jonathan Connection

By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

Preamble

President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, was born on December 17, 1942. He was at various times Military Administrator of the defunct North Eastern State (now Borno and Yobe states) from July 1975 to February 1976; Federal Commissioner of Petroleum and Natural Resources from March 1976 – June 1978; and Head of the Federal Military Government from 1984-85. He later became Chairman of a major interventionist initiative, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). A respected elder statesman and one of the few celebrated saints in Nigeria and the only Nigerian who have contested for president of Nigeria three consecutive times, Buhari won on the fourth attempt. His first shot at the number one position was in 2003, against President Olusegun Obasanjo during his second term; and in 2007, he ran against Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua (now late) and in 2011, he contested against Dr Goodluck Jonathan – all of the Peoples Democratic Party. He lost all the three elections. And on his fourth attempt in 2015 – on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of major opposition parties – he defeated an incumbent President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

Amaechi after defecting to APC

To emerge as the APC presidential candidate, Buhari scored 3,430 votes to beat Kwankwaso the former Kano State governor and now a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to a distant second with 974votes. Surprisingly, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar came third with 954 votes, while Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the Imo State Governor, polled 624 votes to come fourth while the publisher, Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, came fifth with 10 votes.

For the avoidance of doubt, the main attempt of this treatise is to examine the facts that led to President Buhari’s victory in the 2015 presidential election of March, 25, 2015 so convincingly; and to ascertain if the involvement of Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was all that was required in turning this giant of Nigerian politics into a winning candidate, after three failed attempts. Most interestingly, the part erstwhile President Jonathan played in midwifing the union between Buhari and Amaechi, thereby indirectly making the presidency of Gen Muhammadu Buhari a reality will also be examined and discussed.

Now that the main task of this attempt has been exposed, let us critically examine why Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, a thoroughbred PDP man should be the one to lead and spearhead, not only the loss of the presidential election of 2015 by PDP but reducing the party to a mere unprepared opposition political party after 16 years as the main ruling party in Nigeria. For a party that brags and prides itself as the largest political party not only in Africa but in the entire black nation of the world to be so decimated by the attempt of one single man is a study in political wonder. This political phenomenon and enigma, described in some quarters as the Lion of Niger Delta Politics, is a study in modern political engineering. Two-time Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly under the PDP, two-term chairman of Speakers’ Forum of Nigeria under the PDP; two-term governor of Rivers State under Peoples Democratic Party, of which he spent two years out of the eight as an APC governor and two-term chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. If you talk of a truly thoroughbred PDP personality in Nigeria, then Amaechi should be the fellow. The reason why he joined the opposition to wrestle power from his party, as I stated earlier, is one of the attempts of this study.

Amaechi And Opposition Politics: The Foundation

Understanding Amaechi’s role in opposition politics in Nigeria can only be well understood if one reflects on the university days of this radical unionist. University of Port Harcourt (Uniport) in Rivers State was where Amaechi laid the foundation of his political life: participating actively in student union politics, especially in the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS), of which he was president, and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)

He led other students to protest some of the policies of then Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari the incumbent President of Nigeria under which he is to serve as a Minister. After graduation, he cut his teeth in politics as Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, from 1992 to 1994. He was Secretary of the Caretaker Committee of the Rivers State Chapter

of the disbanded Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) in 1996 during the transition programme of the late General Sani Abacha junta.

As stated above, from 1999 to 2013, a span of 14 years, Rt Hon Amaechi has been a pivotal member of PDP, the ruling political party from 1999 to 2015. Let me, therefore, examine the factors that led Amaechi to spearheading the near collapse of the PDP during the 2015 general election.

The relationship between Amaechi and the ex-President Jonathan before he created the Amaechi of APC

Before divulging how Dr Goodluck Jonathan created the Amaechi of APC, let me point out the relationship between these two great sons of Niger Delta. Reminiscing on the orchestrated problem between former President Jonathan and former Governor Amaechi, I took out time to study the gladiators and the bond between them which, ordinarily, should have made their friendship impenetrable. The word bond means something that binds, fastens, confines, or holds together a cord, rope, band, or ligament, something like an agreement or friendship that unites individuals or people into a group. According to Catherine Beecher, “The principle of subordination is the great bond of union and harmony throughout the universe.”And, according to Rainer Maria Rike, “I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.”

Facts available to me show that these two great exponents of democracy share similar family background – raised in humble families and experienced the pains of being educated by poor parents. Former President Jonathan won the hearts of Nigerians with his expose that he was that student who trekked to school without a shoe, while Governor Amaechi also won hearts by revealing that he had a sandal and one pair of trouser, which he washed every weekend to be used the following week for the major part of his undergraduate days. The two political leaders are products of UNIPORT, and are among Port Harcourt big boys.

Although President Jonathan is the older of the two, Amaechi has greater political experience. He has been in politics right from his days in the university, eventually becoming the only Nigerian that was a speaker of a State House of Assembly for eight years and at the same time chairman, Conference of Speakers in Nigeria, while later becoming Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). President Jonathan, on the other hand, is the first PhD holder (not honorary) to preside over the affairs of the country and the only Nigerian that left the academic environment where he was a lecturer, after having a stint with the defunct OMPADEC and rose to become a deputy governor and later governor (Bayelsa State), vice-president and president – all these without contesting a single election, until 2011 when he contested a proper election and won. And in 2015, he lost woefully to President Buhari. Talking of the significance of their names, Chibuike means God is all powerful and Rotimi, an abridged version of Oluwadurotimi, meaning the Lord stands by me, while Amaechi means who knows tomorrow? On the other hand, Ebelechukwu, which is the native name of the ex-president, means God’s Mercy. Remember the popular phrase, what is in a name? One does not need to be a sage to know that all the meanings embedded in their names are playing out nicely in their lives.

While Jonathan, as the vice-president of Nigeria, was suffering every humiliation in the hands of the cabal during the Umaru Yar’Adua-led administration, Amaechi proved to be a reliable pillar of support behind him. When President Yar’Adua passed on, and Jonathan was being pushed around, Amaechi was among those in the forefront of ensuring that the vice-president assumed office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; before the National Assembly came up with the ‘Doctrine of Necessity.’

During the 2011 elections, Governor Amaechi, not minding some other options available to him, opted to rally other governors to ensure that Jonathan won the PDP ticket; and during the election proper, Amaechi delivered two million votes from the state to ensure that Dr Jonathan got elected as the 14th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Not done with all this affection to his own brother with whom he shares some invisible bond not known to many Nigerians, Amaechi went ahead – even while Jonathan was the vice-president – to ask him to nominate candidates to his cabinet in Rivers State. This resulted in the nomination of Prof Israel Owate, who was once the president’s classmate, as the Commissioner for Education. Unfortunately, Prof Owate could not drive the vision of the governor on education as fast Amaechi wanted, so he was dropped.

Amaechi still requested a replacement from Jonathan, who this time nominated Mr. Moses Ahubele, who manned the Ministry of Empowerment and Employment Generation, till he died after an illness in the later part of 2010. After the 2011 general election, Amaechi requested from Jonathan, and he graciously nominated Mr Charles Okaye, who served as Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community-related Affairs.

Amaechi’s Travails in the Hands of Jonathan

Despite his great show of love to former President Jonathan, ex-governor Amaechi was subjected to monumental humiliation by the Jonathan administration. A few examples: The private jet of the Rivers State Government was grounded for no just cause; the PDP structure in Rivers State was taken away from Amaechi and his election as the chairman of NGF duly certified and acknowledged worldwide was annulled by President Jonathan and his cohorts. As if that was not enough, Amaechi was suspended from a party he so much loved and spent so much to build. Indeed, if not for divine providence, he would have been illegally impeached by five legislators in a house of 32 members; a Police Commissioner, by name Mr Joseph Mbu, was posted to Rivers State with a mandate to haunt, insult and abuse the governor gublicly, calling him a despot. What is more, Governors that came to visit him were stoned! In the eyes of Nigerians, Amaechi stands as a great man, whereas he was regarded as persona non grata to those haunting him.

Achinike Godwin William-Wobodo, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Amaechi on Inter-Governmental Affairs, a legal practitioner, who holds LLM in Criminal Law and Practice and currently pursuing a PhD in Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption Law. In his submission on the travails of Amaechi at the time stated: “The induced situation is caused by third party elements that are either driven by the hunger for power or jealousy. The seeming situation is induced principally by two classes of persons: those driven by hunger for power which represents the group in Rivers State, and those driven by envy, which houses external factors. For instance, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, my friend and brother, is at the centre of the group opposed to Amaechi’s style of governance and bent on wresting power from the governor. My worry is not that they seek to wrestle power from him, because that basically is politics. My quarrel is the approach: the crude, undemocratic and uncivilised manner that they are going about it. In the process, they have undermined the rule of law, breached the peace of Rivers State and are threatening a breakdown of law and order. “In the second category are persons who are driven by envy and the rising profile of the governor. And the only way, to them, to break the rising profile of Governor Amaechi, is to pit him against the president and hiding under the cover of the Presidency. For these persons, I think and honestly too, that they have proven that they are not men enough to personally handle their affairs.”

To an illustrious son of the state and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof Tam David-West, Amaechi is an innocent man and his travails illustrate the Nigerian paradox, where excellence is relegated to the background and mediocrity is elevated. His words: “I’m particularly worried about the trend, not only because I am a Rivers State elder, not only because I am a strong supporter of Amaechi without any regret, I am also worried as a Nigerian because what is happening to Amaechi underscores a terrible Nigerian paradox, which I call the paradox of excellence. We support him because those of us who grew up in Port Harcourt as a famous ‘Garden City’ knew how the city changed to a rotten city. And Amaechi, who is also a Port Harcourt boy, returned the city back to its glorious “Garden City” status. Any person that does not realise this is not only blind but terrible.” This great sage reminded Amaechi’s detractors that he who laughs last, laughs best, stating with emphasis that the governor would laugh last, because his first name, Chibuike, means God is strength.

Jonathan’s 25 Sins against Rivers that forced Amaechi out of PDP

1. President Jonathan failed to muster the courage and political will in a PDP-controlled National Assembly to see to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the over six years of his administration, to demonstrate his hatred for the Niger Delta Region,

knowing that communities in Rivers State will benefit from the bill

2. The East/West Road, especially Eleme-Onne axis in Rivers State, has not only been abandoned but has become a nightmare to travellers and commuters.

3. Bodo-Bonny Federal Road is completely abandoned, just because it is situated in Rivers State

4. Refusal to refund to the state government over N120 billion used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road, approved by late President Yar’Adua, and other federal roads in the state executed by the state to ease the suffering of the people of Rivers State.

5. Wickedly stopped Train 7 at NLNG Bonny with its attendant loss of jobs to our people and revenue to government.

6. Non-implementation of UNEP Report on the clean-up of Ogoni land, despite all the pleas by our people and the international community – just to punish the Ogonis and Rivers State, despite their overwhelming support for him during the 2011 elections.

7. Lack of any visible Federal Government project in Rivers State throughout his over six years as President of Nigeria. Instructively, of all the states President Jonathan visited in the course of his re-election campaign, it was only in Rivers that he could not name a

single development project he initiated, not to talk of executing.

8. Ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Abia states, to ensure that the revenue accruing to the state is reduced

9. Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it. The airport has thus become an eyesore and declared as one of the worst airport in the entire world. Pictures of the current state of the airport attached explain the level of hatred President Jonathan had for Rivers State and her people.

10. Turning the Port Harcourt axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Express Road into a death trap.

The pictures attached of the bad state of the road explain everything

11. Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu during his inglorious days in the state.

12. Supporting the impunity of daily killing, maiming of members of Rivers APC by the PDP and their agents’ killer squads.

13. Supporting every imaginable act of impunity in the state, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the speaker in a house of 31 members, with the hope of impeaching Amaechi thereafter.

14. Seizing and grounding the planes of the state for no just cause.

15. Harassing and intimidating the duly elected governor of Rivers State for no just cause, and even supporting the splitting of the Governors Forum into two, to ensure that Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, does not have an easy reign as the chairman of the forum.

16. Refusal to allow the governor to construct the federal road that leads to the Kalabari kingdom, just to ensure that during the rainy season the Kalabaris will not have a road to their place.

17. Forcefully taking over the 50,000-seater Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium. Incidentally, his party could not mobilise enough supporters to fill the stadium during his rally, even after hiring supporters from Bayelsa, Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

18. Refusal to refund the state the money used to construct the smooth, beautiful dual carriageway from Omerelu to Port Harcourt – particularly up to the Airport Junction from Owerri in Imo State, which the Federal Government abandoned just because Rivers State

people ply that road.

19. Refusal to refund the money used by Rivers State to construct the

Ahoada/Elele Alimini Federal Road and the interchange (flyover) at Obiri Ikwerre.

20. Refusal to rehabilitate the Onne – Port Harcourt component of the East/West Road, which services the Port Harcourt Refinery from where petroleum products are supplied to the South-east and parts of the South-south; the road that leads to the Onne Free Zone and to Okrika, the home Local Government of Dame Patience Jonathan, then First Lady.

21. Turning a blind eye while his party continued to kill, bomb and disrupt APC rallies.

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22. President Jonathan released all the N25 billion that accrued from the principle of derivation from the five Soku oil wells that rightly belong to Rivers State kept in reserve for Rivers State and Bayelsa State were all paid to Bayelsa State, his home state.

23. As president, Jonathan continued to under-fund the NDDC, to ensure that Rivers State and in extension the Niger Delta Region is not developed; till date, N500 billion owed by the Federal Government is yet to be paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission.

24. Refused to empower and fund the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs initiated by the Yar-Adua’s administration. The Minister of Niger Delta recently stated that the N41.7 billion due to the ministry was not paid, thereby affecting 90 percent of the projects initiated by the ministry, just to ensure that projects to be executed by the ministry in Rivers State and other Niger Delta states are not executed.

25. The unseen hand behind the travail of Amaechi during his ministerial nomination and confirmation macabre dance.

For the record, Jonathan is from Bayelsa, a sister sate to Rivers. He is married to Dame Patience, who also hails from Rivers State; and having schooled at UNIPORT and lectured in the state before joining politics, one would have expected him to be a key factor in any election in Rivers, after the State gave him the highest number of votes in the 2011 presidential election. But, shockingly, all these contributed to his abysmal performance and the greatest undoing of his party in the 2015 general election.

Prof Wole Soyinka was right when he stated: “Only four sets of people can vote for the PDP:

“*Those who are intellectually blind,

* Those that are blinded by ethnicity.

* Those who are blinded by corruption and therefore afraid of the

unknown, should power change hands,

* Those who are suffering from a combination of the above terminal sicknesses.”

Why Amaechi Joined APC

The desperation of the PDP leadership to completely destroy Amaechi led to his departure, alongside six other PDP governors, to form the New PDP, with five of them later joining the mega opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress . Explaining why he joined APC, Amaechi said: “Unfortunately, recent events within the PDP have given me reason to reconsider our collective interest as people of the South-south and, indeed, as Rivers people. At various times, as the one whom you gave your mandate, I had cause to complain about the marginalisation of our state and our people, despite our huge contribution to the national coffers and our unflinching commitment and support for the ruling PDP. While the political and economic importance of Rivers State cannot be contested, we continue to hold the shorter end of the stick. “A few instances may suffice. Our demand that the Federal Government return oil wells belonging to Rivers State to us has gone unheeded and been treated with levity under this administration. Rather, our oil wells have been ceded to Bayelsa, Abia and Akwa Ibom states. Even after we got a judgement that the oil wells were wrongly ceded to Akwa Ibom State and should be returned to us, only dry wells that were no longer producing oil were returned.

“In the specific case of the Soku oil wells, despite a decision reached that the monies should remain in an escrow account, till all matters concerning it were resolved, the Federal Government continued to pay neighbouring Bayelsa State the revenues meant for Rivers State, in a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is indeed noteworthy that we have made several representations formally and informally on this matter.

“A second instance is the total absence of federal presence in Rivers State. The ‘National Good Governance Tour’ provided a good opportunity for the Federal Government to showcase its presence in Rivers State. The tour, if nothing else, proved that there was not much to show in a state that is the cash cow of the federation. The East-West Road

remains abandoned, work has been deliberately slow on the Port Harcourt International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, while all airports started along with it have long been completed and commissioned. The Bonny-Bomu Road that leads to the only functional liquefied natural gas project remains uncompleted. In the midst of all these, our administration went ahead to fix federal roads to the tune of N103 billion. After several correspondence and representations, not one kobo was been repaid. The Federal Government was actively discouraging investments in Rivers State.”

My Encounter with Amaechi over Buhari

On August 25, 2013 by 6 am, as I was concluding my usual morning prayer session and packing my things to leave Port Harcourt to see my family that left Yola due to the menace of Boko Haram, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, my principal, called me through Mrs Ibim Sementari, then Rivers State Commissioner for Information and said: “Chief Eze, I have a serious national task for you but decided to call to find out from you first if your past political background can cause you to renege on the task.” I told him, Your Excellency, you called me because you know that I have not disappointed you in the past and I don’t intend to in the near future.” So he told me to wait for further instruction.

On September 7, he sent for me and on arrival to the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, I had a breakfast meeting with him that lasted for about thirty minutes and Amaechi could neither allow me enjoy my meal as he continued to say: “Buhari! Buhari! Buhari!! Is the only solution to the challenges of Nigeria, which is corruption.” As if he was not done

with Buhari, Buhari, Buhari, he embarked upon another issue, President Jonathan is a history-maker: he will make history as the first sitting President to lose power. After the breakfast, he asked me to see Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola then secretary of the newly-formed New PDP that came into being when seven governors comprising G7 Governors – namely: Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) – with former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar with some senators, PDP chieftains left the Eagle Square venue of the PDP National Convention to Yar’Adua Centre to have their own convention, where they expressed their reservations about how the party was being run.

I later met with Prince Oyinlola and Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, the National Secretary and Chairman respectively. And on September 9, 2013, I was announced as the National Publicity Secretary of the New PDP. I became confused when I was told that other governors and chieftains of the new party wanted to recruit a very visible

personality to man the office of the National Publicity Secretary (NPS) and Amaechi insisted that if the new party needed a person that would create the immediate awareness the party needed at the short time available for the party, the only Nigerian that can achieve that feat is one Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze who is currently in Port Harcourt. His colleagues gave

in. When I came in, they were expecting to see a huge and domineering personality, but could not make any complain. After two weeks, they were pleading with me to slow down a bit. They went back to Amaechi to query him on where and how he fished out such a fellow.

Buhari And Amaechi

By the time I put both President Jonathan and the PDP leadership under my uncle Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as both of us came from Adamawa. As PDP was put on edge, security organs were all over the place looking for me and other key actors of this new movement. We became the new bride of political groups in Nigeria, mostly PDP and the then main opposition political party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In carrying out my task, what was always ringing in my head was: Buhari! Buhari!! Buhari!! being echoed by Amaechi. And to pave way for the smooth ascension to the presidency was to work with other leaders to point to Nigerians not only lapses but the sins of Dr Jonathan. Within three months, Jonathan knew that he has created another Amaechi, and his days as the President of Nigeria were truly numbered.

The fact remains that when it comes to believing in the abilities of President Buhari, I am yet to see anyone who can rival Amaechi. His love for Buhari and strong belief in his ability to take Nigeria out of the woods is like an obsession.

“I can still vividly remember how Amaechi predicted Buhari’s emergence as president during the early days of APC and long before the issue of who would fly the party’s flag came up. When on 9th September, 2013 my appointment as the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party was announced to Nigerians, the only brief I received was the 30-minute encounter I had with Governor Amaechi. During that encounter, he kept repeating that whenever Gen Buhari (rtd) accepted to fly the flag of the emergent mega opposition political party in the country, the unseating of President Jonathan and PDP would become a reality. I was deeply impressed by his strong belief in Gen Buhari. It was based on this that I went boldly into the field and with the cooperation of the G7 Governors and other leaders of the New PDP, we were able to dismantle what was the famous and largest political party in Africa, PDP.”

Amaechi pursued Buhari’s emergence as APC presidential candidate with evangelical zeal, after the New PDP joined APC. “This obsession explains why Amaechi did all within his power to ensure that Buhari emerged as the flag-bearer of APC during the Lagos Convention and, as the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, worked even harder to ensure the ouster of former president Goodluck Jonathan during the March 28, 2015 presidential election.”

If not for the emergence of Buhari as President, Jonathan and his cohorts would have arrested and jailed Amechi for championing the defeat of his own brother from the Niger Delta.

Conclusion

You have read what Amaechi went through in the hands of Dr Jonathan, Wike and their cohorts. Now, judge if Amaechi was right in joining APC to pilot the fall of Dr Jonathan and PDP. If not by the grace of God, President Buhari and the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, this misguided group would have still succeeded in frustrating Amaechi from becoming a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in their continued persecution of an innocent man who did everything possible to promote and reposition Jonathan, Wike and PDP to greater heights.

Let me conclude by bringing Chief Nyesom Wike to tell us their plot against Amaechi, if Jonathan had won the 2015 presidential election. The PUNCH of February 22, 2014 under the title, FG’ll arrest Amaechi after Jonathan’s victory –Wike, reported and I quote: “Once the Independent National Electoral Commission announces the victory of President Jonathan, we will immediately shut down the Port Harcourt International Airport and all land and sea borders in Rivers State to prevent Governor Amaechi from escaping.

“Does he (Amaechi) think we don’t know that he is planning to run away? But he and his cohorts will not succeed. All they can do thereafter is to lock themselves inside the Government House and at the appropriate time, we will go there and pick them up one after the other.”

The fact remains that if Jonathan had succeeded, the travails of Amaechi during his nomination and confirmation as a minister would have been a child’s play if they failed to kill him.

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt

The Mystery of Buhari - Amaechi Union and the Jonathan Connection

MINISTERIAL CONFIRMATION: Amaechi And The Mystery Of His Political Struggles

Contrary to the expectations of Chief Nyesom Wike and his gang of miserable ingrates, their ferocious campaign to blackmail, disparage and portray Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi as a very corrupt person and unfit to be appointed as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria failed to achieve the desired objective. On 30th September, 2015 President Muhammadu Buhari went ahead to list and submit the name of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi along with those of 20 other great Nigerians as ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.

Rotimi Amaechi

However, to the shock of most Nigerians, during the two sittings of the Senate to screen and confirm the 20 ministerial nominees, Amaechi’s screening was deferred based on the Senate’s on-going investigation into the fraudulent petition against Amaechi by one Livingstone Wechie working in consonance with Wike. This is despite the fact that the case is in court and is, thus, not supposed to count against Amaechi with regard to the Senate screening.

As God would have it, the Senate has resolved that Amaechi will be screened on 20th October, 2015 alongside the 16 new nominees submitted by President Buhari. This indicates the failure of the wicked plots by Wike to truncate and frustrate the ministerial position of Amaechi. Senate Spokesman, Otunba Dino Melaye confirmed on Thursday that Amaechi and eight others would be screened on Tuesday. According to him, “Amaechi has no problem; he would be screened on Tuesday. We received two petitions, one on Amina Ibrahim and one on Rotimi Amaechi. We sorted out her own; Amaechi’s is a one-line petition.” Melaye further said: “The report of the Ethics, Privileges and Petitions Committee would be ready next week; Amaechi will be screened alongside eight or nine others because our extant laws prevent us from commenting on cases undergoing judicial review.”

PUBLIC OPINION FAVOURS AMAECHI

It is the view of a Civil Society Group that “Wike-led govt’s approach/ response to the nomination of Amaechi as a minister of Federal Republic of Nigeria is brutish and petty.” To an elder statesman, Adamu Ciroma, “All these people opposing Amaechi’s ministerial nomination are ignorant of the following facts: Even if Amaechi does not become minister he will still remain with Buhari and enjoy his life. Many people enjoyed Jonathan’s government without being ministers. Virtually, they were more powerful than some of the governors. Dokubo, Edwin Clark…”

To Lauretta Odochie, a London-based civil society activist, “Call him what you like, Rt. Hon. CR Amaechi has become an Idol of some sort with a cult following especially in his immediate constituency, the South South. He is more admired for standing up to the bullying tactics of the timid ex-President Jonathan and his over-bearing wife who ran the illegal arm of his government. Gov. Amaechi is a warrior and knows how to do battle. But during the last elections in March and April 2015, he lived up to his Progressive expectations by proving that he indeed, had left PDP, body, soul and spirit and now a reformed progressive. He showed bravery in the face intimidation, thuggery and electoral malpractices across Rivers State. After all, he is now a progressive who believes that electoral success is not about thuggery and hooliganism, but the will of the people. But the forces of retrogression in the South South are not done with Hon. Amechi. In a bid to thwart his chances of being nominated as a Minister by President Buhari, an obscene amount, looted from the people, was earmarked and spent in a blitz media war aimed at tarnishing the image of Hon. Amechi in the eyes of the President. Did President Buhari take them seriously? Absolutely not! President Buhari himself has been a victim of such campaigns of calumny so can identify with those who are targets. President Buhari is sensible, reasonable and intelligent. Best of all, he has his own mind. Unlike Pres. Jonathan, he knows when someone is pulling the wool over his eyes. This must be a lesson for all those who have been using the media to lie and utter despicable things about people they are either envious of or loathe. So on 20th October, 2015, Nigerians, particularly South Southerners, expect Rt. Hon. Chibike Amechi to dazzle at the Senate. It promises to be everything you find in a James Hardly Chase novel. Watch out!”

Ex-New PDP National Publicity Secretary Assume Duties of Spokesperson

Ifeanyi Izeze, a seasoned and respected media chief in Nigeria, in a recent article titled, “Protest Against Amaechi Nomination and Inanity of Rivers Politics”, stated: “It is unbelievable how the minds of our people work. If as said by Sekibo that this same petition was forwarded to all anti-graft agencies and the Presidency some two months ago, does it not occur to him and the other protesters that if Buhari still went ahead to nominate Amaechi, it must be that the so called petition is not worth the paper it is written on?

“How does Buhari nomination of Amaechi negate the president voiced anti- corruption stance? Submission of allegations two months ago to the President sounds to me that he must have done his background check to really confirm those allegations and might have established the baselessness and political mischief in all of it. And this verification of not only allegations against Amaechi but every other nominee facing accusation of corruption from their various constituencies may have been one of the reasons for the delay in announcing the ministerial list. If the Wike-led Rivers state government actually meant to probe Amaechi management of the state funds in truth and sincerity, it would not have started by dangling mind-blowing figures of stolen monies even before inaugurating the panel to look into the account books of the state. Now the problem the government and its people are having is reconciling all the alleged figures which they have publicly accused Amaechi of stealing or misappropriating. Rotimi’s name was verified by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) before taken to the Department of State Security (DSS) and now with the Senate for confirmation. Anybody who thinks Amaechi has not been cleared by EFCC, ICPC and DSS before being nominated and sent to the Senate for confirmation should actually have his head examined.”

At the end of its consultative meeting in Port Harcourt on October 14, 2015, Doing Democracy Movement (DDM), a creation of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) with membership of over 80 critical civil society and human rights organisations across the political Niger Delta region, issued the following communiqué with regard to the nomination of ex-governor Amaechi as minister by President Buhari: “Chibuike Amaechi deserves the recognition and call to further service extended to him by Mr. President, by virtue of the remarkable delivery of public goods in Rivers state, as a two-term governor. Such public goods in the area of education, health, agriculture, urban renewal, road networks, security, etc, are most evident across the communities of the 23 local government areas of the state. Former Governor Amaechi in his outing in Rivers State governed with true courage, recognised that the burden of leadership is to make hard choices, to tell the truth, stick to principle and to take responsibility when hardship follows. Governor Amaechi sticking to sound principle, made enormous sacrifices in the best interest of the country, by way of contributing immensely not only to the change that Nigeria is witnessing momentarily, but most critically the participatory politics of extended and expanded voices in Rivers state and the Niger Delta in general.

“Machiavelli was right when he wrote: ‘There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.’ Amaechi displayed true maturity which is a persistent ability to stand on principle and pursue the long-term best interest of the country.”

AMAECHI A VICTIM OF DIRTY POLITICS

With Amaechi having become the topic of discussion regarding the ministerial nomination and confirmation process, I decided to research on the mystery behind the man addressed in some quarters as the Lion of the Niger Delta Politics. In the end, I came to the conclusion that it is too early for Wike the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to start any form of celebration because their chief opponent in the person of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is someone that is gifted in turning the table when it seems highly impossible to do so. It is my findings about the past struggles and successes of this consummate politician that I intend to share with you. After the presentation, you can then understand why Amaechi is facing his current travails in the hands of those he brought from obscurity and threw into the political limelight.

In my studies, Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, came to my aid with the appropriate word to describe this man whose impact in the politics of Nigeria is infectious: ‘Audacity’, which it described as boldness, bravery, courage and daring. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, a British politician, was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British Prime Minister in history to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was also the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States. According to this great man, “There is no limit to the ingenuity of man if it is properly and vigorously applied under conditions of peace and justice.” In another breath; he stated: “Battles are won by slaughter and manoeuvre. The greater the general, the more he contributes in manoeuvre, the less he demands in slaughter.” After tasting great wars and the results of diplomacy this great statesman declared and I quote, “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.”

PROFILING RT. HON. CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI, CON

Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was born in Ubima, Ikwerre <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikwerre,_Rivers_State> Local Government Area of Rivers State, to the family of late Elder Fidelis Amaechi and Mrs Mary Amaechi. University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in Rivers State was where Amaechi laid the foundation of his political life, participating actively in student union politics, especially in the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS), of which he was President, and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). After graduation, he cut his teeth in politics as Secretary of the now defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State from 1992 to 1994. He was Special Assistant to Dr. Peter Odili, the then Deputy Governor of Rivers State, and also a member of the Board of West Africa Glass Industry as well as Risonpalm Nigeria Limited. He was Secretary of the Caretaker Committee of the Rivers State Chapter of the disbanded Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) in 1996 during the transition programme of the General Sani Abacha junta.

In 1999, Amaechi contested and won a seat to become a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly to represent his constituency. He was subsequently elected Speaker of the House of Assembly as well as Chairman of Nigeria’s Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies. He was re-elected into the State House of Assembly in May 2003 and equally re-elected Speaker. A Master’s Degree holder, Amaechi’s assumption of office as Governor based on a Supreme Court judgement after PDP dumped him despite his convincingly winning the party’s gubernatorial ticket, remains a mystery to many political watchers in the country. By May 29th, 2015 Amaechi would have spent eight years as Governor of Rivers State. He is currently Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). His unprecedented feats in the transformation of Rivers State have won him many international and local awards as well as the respect of great world and Nigerian leaders

Amaechi was the rallying force behind mobilising the governors under PDP to support the presidential aspiration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan during the PDP Presidential Primaries that produced Jonathan as the PDP flag-bearer and during the 2011 presidential election proper ensured that President Jonathan got over 2 million votes from Rivers State – the highest by any State in Nigeria. A misunderstood but an amiable personality; his forthrightness and boldness to stand by the truth attracts so much enemies to him, particularly those who cannot withstand his manner of approach to result-oriented feats. His numerous ‘sins’ will be highlighted later.

Chibuike Amaechi holds the National honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), is a Christian Catholic and a Knight of St John. Amaechi was appointed the Director-General <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director-general>  of the All Progressives Congress <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Progressives_Congress>  (APC) Presidential Campaign and led the party to win the March 28th Presidential election of Nigeria in which a sitting President was roundly defeated for the first time.

Unraveling the Mystery and Political Struggles of a Misunderstood Politician

Now that I have stated the political life of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Roimi Amaechi, let me now come to the main treatise of this study, which is to unravel the mystery and political struggles of this misunderstood politician in Nigeria and how it will affect the outcome of the October, 20th 2015 ministerial confirmation.

An outsider to the politics of Rivers State may conclude that the odds are against Governor Amaechi to survive the ongoing onslaught against him. However, after closely watching and studying Rt. Hon. Amaechi, I have come to the conclusion that this man does not achieve his political feats on a platter of gold but through the hard way and most of the time through the law courts. It was the disillusionment I noticed in some Nigerians regarding the ongoing macabre dance as regards Amaechi’s confirmation as a Minister that informed this attempt to expose or rather unravel the hard road that Gov Amaechi must to go through in his political journey and I wish to declare that the ongoing Senate screening imbroglio cannot be an exemption.

AMAECHI’S POLITICAL STRUGGLES THROUGH THE COURTS

1. 1999 State House of Assembly Election

Signs of the mission of Governor Amaechi in the politics of Nigeria started when FEDECO, the then electoral umpire, announced Barr. Uche Okwukwu of the defunct APP winner of the State House of Assembly election of the Ikwerre Constituency in place of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of PDP. Amaechi contested this at the then Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal and won and was subsequently sworn-in as the member of State House of Assembly representing Ikwerre Constituency. This began his political struggles through the courts. Reacting to this, Barr. Uche Okwukwu stated: “Yes, I contested against the present Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Like I said, the Court of Appeal said I didn’t win and I should not be in the Rivers State House of Assembly. So, as a lawyer, by my training, I have since accepted the verdict of the court, particularly, when you do not have the right to appeal beyond that point.”

2. Fight over the Control of the Local Government Affairs Between the National Assembly and State House of Assembly

In 2003, Governor Amaechi came up with another feat through the courts. When the National Assembly moved to hijack the legislative functions of the State House of Assembly as enshrined in the constitution, he led his colleagues to take the matter to Nigeria’s Supreme Court and the court gave a judgment that the control and supervision of local government is the prerogative of the State House of Assembly.

3. PDP Leadership and its Undemocratic Suspension of Gov. Amaechi from the Party

When the PDP national leadership undemocratically decided to suspend Governor Amaechi from the party without any sound reason on 27th May, 2013 and was to follow it up with expulsion, he resorted to the courts once again to stop them from taking any further step on his case until he decided to join APC. The suspension of Amaechi from the party was agreed during an unscheduled and unusually early morning meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party at the residence of the then National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. The meeting commenced at 8:00 a.m. and came two days ahead of the regular meeting of the NWC, which normally holds on Wednesdays. It was also three days after Amaechi beat the odds with his re-election as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). He had been allegedly opposed by the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) ahead of the election.

The governor’s suspension was hinged on what the party described as his refusal to order the reinstatement of members of the Obio Akpor Local Government executive who were suspended from office on the orders of the Rivers State House of Assembly upon allegations of corruption raised against the LG executive. Hours after the suspension was announced, the party at a press conference said that it had constituted a committee headed by Mr. Joe Gadzama, SAN, to probe allegations raised against Amaechi. Other members of the committee were PDP National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon; Inalegwu Onche, Friday Nwosu, Udorji Amedu, Ola Kukuyi, Wakil Mohammed, Yusuf Jangwe, Mrs. Bola Doherty, Mr. Tanimu Adamson and Anicho Okoro as Secretary.

Reacting to his suspension during an interactive session with youths of the state, Amaechi asked: “Who has power to suspend Obio/Akpor council? Now you see political witch-hunting; it is so ridiculous, my party must rise above political witch-hunting. The Governor did not suspend Obio/Akpor council, I hope you know. My power is to dissolve and remit it to the House of Assembly, but I have not done that yet, what the Assembly has said is ‘we are investigating corruption’ then the party says we should not investigate corruption, is that fair?” He went further to state that the NWC issued a press statement to suspend him without any invitation and fair hearing. His words: “I was not invited by the National Working Committee of PDP, I was not given fair hearing. What I heard was ‘why did I refuse to reinstate the suspended Obio/Akpor Council executive? Who suspended them?’ His questions received the enthusiastic response of the youths who chorused: “The Rivers State House of Assembly.” Again the governor asked, ‘who has the power to investigate Obio/Akpor council executive?” The youths again replied: “The State Assembly.”

It was this suspension of Governor Amaechi from PDP not minding all that he did to uplift the party that started the decimation of PDP and its reduction from a ruling national political party to an opposition regional political party.

4. The Intrigues in the Appointment of Justice Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State

The indefatigable and indomitable Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi recently started another legal battle but this time with the National Judicial Council (NJC). Like other cases involving Governor Amaechi, this case is unprecedented in the annals of judicial adjudication and Nigerians are watching with keen interest to see how he may win it.

Based on the Federal High Court ruling approving Justice Peter Nwoke Chukwuma Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Amaechi supervised his formal swearing-in ceremony. However, after few days, the NJC came up with a verdict suspending the newly appointed Chief Judge, this again is unprecedented in the history of appointment of Chief Judges in any other State in Nigeria.

Before his appointment as the State’s new Chief Judge, Justice P. N. C. Agumagu was the first ever President of the Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal. He is an administrator, a former state High Court Judge and the seventh the new Chief Judge of Rivers State.

On 27th March, 2014 – to the shock of both the Governor and close watchers of events in Rivers State – the NJC suspended Justice P. N. C. Agumagu from office and directed that he should, within four days, explain in writing why he should not be sacked as a judicial officer. The Council, which took the decision at the end of an emergency meeting in Abuja, said it suspended the Rivers CJ over his failure to abide by the Oath of Office he took to uphold the Constitution and Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to Acting Director of Information at the NJC, Mr. Soji Oye, in a press statement: “At its 10th Emergency Meeting, which was held on March 26, 2014, the National Judicial Council under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar (GCON), considered the purported appointment, confirmation and swearing-in of Hon. Justice P. N. C. Agumagu as the substantive Chief Judge of Rivers State on March 18, 2014.

“In the meantime, Council in exercise of its powers under Paragraph 21 (d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution has suspended Justice Agumagu from office as a judicial officer with immediate effect.”

Reacting to all the brouhaha, a UK-based Social Commentator, Emeka Reuben Okala, stated, and I quote: “I join other Nigerians to congratulate the articulate Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on the battle well fought and job well done on this issue. In all of these, Amaechi clearly stands on the pedestal of truth and that’s the magic behind his countless victories. Keep the flag flying, Mr. Governor, you are clearly on the right side of history. Kudos! To Justice PNC Agumagu, I say congratulations! Your appointment as the Chief Judge of Rivers State is richly deserved. Knowing you as I do, the Judiciary under your leadership will have a lot to benefit. We look forward to your good services.”

On his part, Nebukadineze Adiele, a well respected online Social Commentator, stated as follows: “The idea that a customary court judge could not be appointed a Chief Judge of a state was thoughtlessness taken too far. The NJC shamed itself by practically dictating to the governor as to who to appoint CJ. Kudos to Amaechi for standing firm on his belief and for trusting the judiciary into resolving this matter. His tenacity over this matter is a public service to other governors and future governors. A timid governor would have buckled when pressured from all angles to not appoint Justice Agumagu as Chief Judge of Rivers state. I am both a fan and a critic of Chibuike Amaechi – I support him when he gets things right and I get on his case when he goofs. On the appointment of Justice Agumagu as Rivers state Chief Judge, Governor Chibuike Amaechi showed tremendous courage under fire and his action will remain as revolutionary (over judicial appointments in Nigeria) as the circumstances he overcame in becoming governor. That the most senior judge in the state should have been denied appointment into the Chief Judgeship, simply because he was a customary court judge, would have been blatantly discriminatory, stupid, and legally not justifiable. There are instances when one cannot help but admire Chibuike Amaechi’s confidence and convictions. This is one such instance.”

5. Challenge to the Transfer of Rivers State Oil Wells to Akwa Ibom State

As the serving Governor of Rivers State, Amaechi caused his Attorney-General to challenge the transfer of some oil wells from Rivers State to Akwa Ibom State. The Supreme Court eventually ruled in favour of Rivers State in that case.

6. The Most Celebrated Supreme Court ruling on Governor Amaechi

A lot of articles and statements were written following the ‘k-leg’ episode that was the outright hijack of the 2007 PDP gubernatorial ticket from Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi ahead of the 14th April, 2007 election in Rivers State. This occurred despite his landslide victory at the primaries where he clinched 6,527 of the 6,575 possible votes while seven other aspirants that included political heavyweights like Hon. Chief Austin Okpara, a former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives; late Senator Martin Yellowe; Pawariso Horsfall; and Mr. Chris Orji shared the remaining 48 votes amongst themselves. Amaechi’s name was subsequently forwarded to the INEC on December 14, 2006 in compliance with Section 32(1) & (2) of the Electoral Act 2006. INEC thereafter duly published Amaechi’s name as the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State.

The story, however, took a different turn when, speaking at the presentation of the party flag to its gubernatorial candidate at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, former President and then “Emperor” of PDP, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, declared that Amaechi’s candidacy had “k-leg”. Following this outright abuse of office, the dreaded bulldog that was the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was let loose on Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, resulting in his decision to seek legal redress for his travails. Suffice it to say, Amaechi went on self exile to Ghana and the powers that be further showed their contempt for him by selecting his cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, who neither purchased nor filled a form, as PDP flag-bearer in his stead.

Amaechi’s vindication came with the 25th October, 2007 landmark ruling by the Nigerian Supreme Court declaring him as not only the authentic flag-bearer of PDP but also ordering that he be sworn-in immediately to replace Omehia, who had previously been sworn-in on May 29, 2007 as the Governor of Rivers State. Thus, Amaechi became the first and only person to occupy the office of governor in the country without standing for election. In explaining the ruling, the Supreme Court has since stated that it is the party that contests elections and that the PDP won the gubernatorial elections, and that, consequently, Amaechi, being the rightful candidate, should assume power as governor.

This epochal feat stands as Amaechi’s greatest input towards the growth of judiciary in the political life of Nigeria as it has become a reference case in determining similar cases in Nigeria today.

Conclusion

Let me conclude this treatise with the stand of Amaechi on his current battle with his October 12 letter written by his Solicitor, Edward E. Pepple to Dr Bukola Saraki the Senate President (EW/GC/CRA/15/012) reads in part, “ I’m innocent until proven otherwise by court as the allegations against me were not only false but also made malafide with the intent to solely irritate, embarrass and tarnish his hard-earned reputation.” . He further stated that since there are pending cases at the Federal High Court, Abuja and the Court of Appeal, any action by the Senate will be subjudice. He asked the Senate to “discard” the petition against him by the Integrity Group and the report of the Justice G. G. Omereji Judicial Commission of Inquiry. Citing the case of ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Amaechi said the Supreme Court had emphasized that an indictment by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry or Administrative Panel is not an “indictment” or sufficient for the purpose of preventing a person from holding a public office.

FINALLY, permit me to bring Elders statesman ADAMU CIROMA to conclude this treatise, “All these people opposing Amaechi’s ministerial nomination are ignorant of the following facts:

1. Even if Amaechi does not become minister he…will still remain with Buhari and enjoy his life. Many people enjoyed Jonathan’s government without being ministers. Virtually, they were more powerful than some of the governors. Dokubo, Edwin Clark and Tampolo are example.

2. The chances of Rivers state people to benefit from Amaechi’s ministerial post have been wasted.

3. By the constitution nobody can appoint ministers for the president of Nigeria. It’s his prerogative to appoint his ministers. Therefore, petition and opposing a person from a state to be a minister means that state does not like the slot. However, the state will either stay without a minister or another state can provide the minister instead.

4. Nigeria can survive without a minister from Rivers state. At the same time Wike or PDP cannot appoint a minister for Buhari. But if the PDP and people of Rivers state wished to

deny their state from having a representative in the executive council simply because they are angry with Amaechi for his support of Buhari against Jonathan then other states can have the slot.

5. Fayose realises that that is why he swallowed all his opposition and asked his people to support Kayode Fayemi. Please you people should let Amaechi be. He contributed well for the emergence of PMB and there is noting wrong in making him a minister.

As the battle to stop Amaechi rages on will the former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi ride the storm over his nomination as a minister? This is the question in all the lips of every concerned Nigerian but if the above analysis of the mystery behind the political struggles of this star is anything to go by then he will not only come out top by Tuesday, 20th, October, 2015 but come out as the Star he is..

•Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt in Rivers State.

MINISTERIAL CONFIRMATION: Amaechi And The Mystery Of His Political Struggles

The Rise of Insecurity in Rivers State and the Way Forward: An Insider"s View

By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

PREAMBLE

With the rise of kidnapping, criminal activities and other insecurity challenges in Rivers State and with my many years in Rivers State, particularly during the golden era of Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, I intend in this write-up, to examine the causes of the recent rise in insecurity in the state under the watch of Chief Nyesom Wike vis-a-vis the revolutionary steps taken by Amaechi to arrest some of these challenges. I’ll then proffer suggestions on the way forward. This becomes imperative to avoid falling into the trap of late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia’s famous words: “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”

Emenike Kingsley, APC ward leader, Port Harcourt

The consequences of insecurity in any given society was duly captured two years ago by Dr Dakuku Adol Peterside, as chairman, House of Representatives Committee on (Downstream) Petroleum, without knowing that he would one day become the gubernatorial candidate of a leading political party in Nigeria and that, within this period, he would be prevented from campaigning in some parts of Rivers State due to insecurity. This great scholar and Rivers’ APC governorship candidate in an article titled ‘How to Tackle Insecurity in Nigeria,’ stated: “Security, law and order are the major preoccupation of any government. Once a government gets this priority right, it has made the very first right step. Growing insecurity, on the reverse side, is the first sign of a failing state.”  It seems this man knows his onions so well on this subject matter that the issue of providing security for the people of Rivers State, if elected governor, is one of the hallmarks of his vision

Hon Peterside’s view of security tallies with that of poet and political philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who said: “The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation are: Security to possessors, facility to acquirers, and hope to all.” And ex-governor Amaechi concurred by saying: “Government must not be for one section of the society. It must be for the rich and the poor, emphasising upliftment of the poor….” One of the major forces behind the menace of insecurity in Rivers State was class challenge. Lady Dorothy Alison captured this aptly when she stated: “The horror of class stratification, racism, and prejudice is that some people begin to believe that the security of their families… and communities depends on the oppression of others; that for some to have good lives there must be others whose lives are truncated and brutal.” Affirming the truism by Lady Alison, former Governor Amaechi said: “When we took over the reins of governance, we met a situation where people were being given cash, but we decided to take the extreme position of not giving money to people, but doing projects that would impact positively on the lives of the majority of our people.”

This stand of the governor to stop the method which was the practice hitherto, of sharing state funds to some seasoned politicians and groups who in turn use it to sponsor militia groups that constitute security challenges in the state. Apart from class challenges, as postulated above, insecurity in Rivers State was occasioned by greed for power, empowering and arming our youths with sophisticated arms in order to undo political opponents in the state. Another great influence of insecurity was the wickedness of the politicians in undermining the future of the youths and misuse of public and the common patrimony of the state. Instead of investments that will create jobs for the teeming youths, the funds are distributed amongst friends and relations.

APC supporter, Jide Owolabi,

The former governor who viewed insecurity in wider perspective stated: “Insecurity in Nigeria is caused by politicians, and poverty pervading the country.” He stressed that armed robbery, kidnapping and Boko Haram insurgency were all products of the poverty, occasioned by rapacious rulers. Accordingly, he said issues such as religion differences among the citizenry would only come to the fore when the political class had differences with one another in their sharing formula of the national cake, adding: “When you see difference in religion, there is a particular political undertone.” The governor noted that the situation in the country currently had been made worse by the mono-product status of its economy; a development he said had pitched the various regions and states against one another. He stressed that it was even worse that the Federal Government wielded enormous power and “made the centre a dispenser of patronage and rent.” He noted: “Inability of elected leaders to provide adequate security for the citizenry is an impeachable offence. The first offence governors commit is when they are unable to provide adequate security for the people. This is because the first oath taken by elected leaders is to protect life and property. It is the responsibility of the government to provide security for the people.”

With the above shedding of light, let me therefore state that the main purpose of this treatise is to present the state of insecurity in Rivers: in the past, currently, and projection into the future, with hope that we can stop the ongoing madness; as we can’t continue to destroy the state and kill the same people we are campaigning to govern. This study will also serve as a model for other states in addressing the security challenges in their domain. For clarity, Rivers State is the hub of the oil industry in Nigeria and very rich in hydrocarbons, from which the nation draws its major revenue. Sadly, the state is confronted with security challenges, especially illegal bunkering, piracy, kidnapping, armed robbery, political killings, etc. The strategic importance of Rivers State in the socio-economic and political future of Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised. One may not be surprised by the political intrigues and manoeuvres currently going on in order to capture the soul of the state. But the use of violence to achieve this and its consequences is the main purpose of this treatise.

Rivers State has over the years evolved as the oil and gas nerve-centre of Nigeria. It has a growing population of about 5.1 million (the sixth most populous state in the country) and an impressive GDP of 21.07 billion USD – which is bigger than that of most African countries, such as Botswana, Rwanda, Nambia, Lesotho, etc. The enviable economic and socio-political scorecard of Rivers State has made electable positions attractive. Elections in Nigeria determine who controls and allocates resources and because of the strategic nature of Rivers State in the socio-political and economic calculus of the country. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spearheaded by Nigeria’s former first lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan  and Nyesom Wike, have turned the contest for the control of the state resources into a fratricidal, tense and brutal war.

The Rivers State Amaechi Inherited

• Some injured All Progressives Congress members on their way to the hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State… on Tuesday.
| credits: Sahara Reporters

According to records, the Port Harcourt that Amaechi inherited upon assumption of office as governor in 2007 was more like a war zone or, aptly put, a jungle where the fittest determined the fate of the lesser animals. It sounds pretty surprising but not unexpected that the city of Port Harcourt, once very glamorous, was ranked among the three most dangerous cities in the world by then. The human resources unit of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos had ranked Port Harcourt with Baghdad, Yemen’s capital of Sana’a and Khartoum in Sudan, as the world’s most dangerous cities. Going by the ranking published by Bloomberg, Port Harcourt ranked with Baghdad as one of the world’s most dangerous cities for foreign workers, as criminal gangs and militia groups seeking greater control of energy revenue step-up attacks.

Ahamefula Ogbu of THISDAY Newspaper described one of the scenes in the state at this period in these words: “Rambo could not have done better. With automatic rifles in their hands – and hate, revenge and murder hanging around their necks – warring cultists took Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by storm yesterday for the second day running. Pandemonium broke out as residents ran for safety. It was sorrow, tears and blood. At the end of it all – or, more aptly, at the interval, for no one knows the end yet – 15 persons had been dispatched to their early graves.” True to this unsung prophet, nobody knew the end as the next few days saw about 80 innocent souls wasted by an agitation uncommon to our people in the Niger Delta.

My late friend and brother, Mr. George Onah, reporting for Vanguard, captured Port Harcourt before the assumption of office by Amaechi in these words: “For many residents, the capital of Rivers State, hitherto the Garden City where life was lived to the fullest, is no longer the place to live in, as rivers of blood flow ceaselessly, following an unending siege by militants, kidnappers, cultists, and criminals of other hue.

“Violence in Port Harcourt has gone full circle, and the guns are still booming. The casualties are pilling, even as blood of defenceless citizens flow endlessly. Neither the Police nor the government has answers to the brigandage. Security outfits do not have official figures, record or reliable estimates of casualties in the Rivers State orgy of killings. Even the number of deaths during the Nigerian Civil war had a consensus of informed opinion on the number of deaths, on both sides: which hovered around 600,000 and below. But the rapidity of casualties in the onslaught by gunmen on Rivers State cannot simply be pigeonholed. The currency of killings is alarming, and the growth of the economy of the state is heading for the deep. The pattern of the crime ranges from kidnapping of expatriates and children of wealthy parentage, to outright violent robbery. Cultism and political vices equally occupy a frightening position on the crime chart. The volatile atmosphere appears to have annulled whatever achievement of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of the government.”

As if both Ogbu and late Onah did not capture the picture correctly, Okey Ndibe, a respected opinion writer on national issues, in his article during this period published by Sahara Reporters titled ‘A Blood-Soaked City’, described it as follows: “That the once idyllic Port Harcourt was now a scarred place, a war zone, a city soaked in blood; the city under siege with thousands of citizens displaced; that its once quiescent boulevards and avenues were now ruled by marauding militiamen and by the fierce soldiers deployed to dislodge them. Sudden death by bullet was now a generalised hazard for the city’s trapped and hapless residents.”

Renaissance of Insecurity, Foundation and Forces

The foundation of the current insecurity in Rivers State was laid in 2013 and captured aptly in a letter by the former Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly to the former President of Nigeria. I start to wonder if we are about to go back to the era of 2007. Hon Otelemaba Dan Amachree, in an open letter titled ‘Disruption of Democracy and Rule of Law: Anarchy Looms in River State,’ dated May 11, 2013 and addressed to former President Goodluck Jonathan reads: “The situation in Rivers State has reached a fever-pitch, as there are strong indications that the governor, Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the legislators, and prominent government officials have been marked for assassination. To this end, 18 prominent robbers and kidnap kingpins presently in custody are to be released from detention to launch the planned mayhem at the government officials and innocent citizens and residents of the state.”

The Speaker added: “Since 15th of April 2013 when an Abuja High Court upturned the election of a legitimate and duly-elected state executive committee of the Peoples Democratic Party led by Chief G.U. Ake, all has not been well in Rivers State. It is important to note that since this development, Rivers State is witnessing – with unending shock and awe – the creeping fashion of daylight illegality and disorder. As stakeholders in the Nigeria democratic project and legitimate representatives of our people, as well as strong collaborators in Your Excellency’s emergence as President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, we seek to use this medium to intimate you with the developments, their implications for Rivers State and Nigeria as a whole, and pray your presidential intervention.”

Six days after the letter to the president, the ex-speaker reported: “Recall that I have earlier expressed my fears about plans to withdraw security operatives from the governor and top officials of the Rivers State Government, including me, making us vulnerable to attack by hoodlums. Now my fears are made worse by the recent murder of an aide to Chief G. U. Ake, Mr. Eric Ezenekwe, in his home town, Erema in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.” 

A report by the online news site, Sahara Reporters, quoted a source in Abuja as saying that the police and State Security Services “have been told to withdraw the security of the governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi anytime from next week.”

THISDAY, in its edition of May 15, 2013, reported that dynamite was thrown into a building housing the generating set that supplied electricity to the secretariat of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council in Rivers State, a development that ignited the fire which razed the building; sending jitters across the state, as the crisis rocking the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party deepens. I got more frightened when I read the international dimension to this new effort to reincarnate the evil past. According to the petition by the Centre for Advancement of Justice and Peace in Emerging Democracies (ICJAPED) to the UN, through the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), to investigate alleged Rivers State security siege. According to their petition signed by its Co-ordinator for the African Region, Dr. Stephen Briggs, and Secretary-General, Chike Nwokobia, the group urged the UN:

“For emphasis, the past three weeks has portrayed Rivers State as being in a season of societal lunacy and political deadlock with very embarrassing actions meted on the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, political office holders and other officials of government. These actions are considered highly repressive and against the tenets of a true democracy. As a major civil society group, we resolutely and explicitly condemn the repressive actions and characters behind the Rivers State situation, as we believe that the present political deadlock in the state is already having devastating effect on many things, including business and social order.

“Also, we strongly believe that unless this deadlock is broken, Rivers State may witness serious breakdown of law and order, with a high probability of being another centre for violent crimes, which may be worse than the present Boko Haram terrorist activities in some Northern states of Nigeria. The alleged altercation between President Goodluck Jonathan, the Commander-in-Chief and elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Governor Chibuike Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State, began late last year, following rumours that Governor Amaechi would be seeking a higher political position. This, even though regarded as mere speculation, did not go down well with (the) presidency. Because, ever since, the Rivers State governor has, no doubt, witnessed a series of embarrassing castigations from mostly those loyal or sycophantic to the presidency. Consequently, to the above stated, we also seek the immediate intervention of the international community to investigate the above stated issues and call to order all erring persons for the preservation of Nigerian people, sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy and restoration of order.” Former president, Dr Jonathan, ignored all these warnings and outcries.

Second Stage of Insecurity Was Laid During the 2015 Electoral Process

Insecurity in Rivers State since the electoral campaigns became very worrisome, disturbing and challenging that a study of this monster becomes imperative. To demonstrate the high level of insecurity in the state, both the USA envoy and the European Community have paid a visit to leading candidates of the political parties involved in this year’s elections; and at a time brokered peace and caused the major candidates of PDP, APC and Labour to sign a peace accord, in order for them to have a peaceful and credible election. But, sadly, this intervention did not yield any positive result as tension, occasioned by the election, persisted in the state; because of the untoward politics of leadership of one of the political parties.

To the Rivers State All Progressives Congress, “The greatest obstacle to democratic consolidation in Nigeria is electoral violence. Pre-election violence particularly, is as a result of the rascally disposition of some desperate and greedy politicians who want to secure electoral victory by subverting the process and undermining the rule of law. Whilst the tendency for violence by the Peoples Democratic Party is commonplace, the progressive degeneracy of the situation in Rivers State has assumed an intolerable and, indeed, dangerous dimension. Apart from the fact that this phenomenon affects the credibility of the electoral process, the legitimacy of the election results and the rule of law; the nature, extent and magnitude of violence indicate unequivocally that it is a deliberate tool for intimidation and terror adopted as a policy, and backed by security institutions who are paid from our commonwealth to protect our citizens.

“Whilst election is an irreducible feature of democratic governance, democracy is a social system of administering a nation-state where political parties’ candidates compete for elective positions in a free and fair election atmosphere. And in which the citizens are legally empowered to choose those who will run the affairs of the state in a given period. Elections are supposed to be competitive, free and fair; both substantively and procedurally. Despite the legal framework that guides the electoral process, the PDP has opted to thread the path of terror, as an instrument of divesting the people of their constitutionally guaranteed power to freely cast their votes for their preferred leaders.

“Electoral violence is any random or organised act that seeks to determine, delay or otherwise influence an electoral process through threat, verbal intimidation, hate speech, disinformation, physical assault, forced protection, destruction of property or assassination. The aim of electoral violence is either to influence the outcome of the process or to disrupt the entire electoral process.”

Rivers APC on Current State of Insecurity 

The party, in a petition sent to President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies captured the threat and present insecurity in Rivers and the lukewarm attitude of Chief Nyesom Wike over this sad situation. The petition titled, ‘The Case of 97 Murdered Citizens in Rivers State:  A Call for Justice and Protection of the Lives of our Tribunal Witnesses’, said as follows:

“The Greater Together (new media) Organisation hereby draws the attention of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, the international community and security agencies, as well as the general public, to our observations:

“We are deeply worried that despite  the series of local and international condemnations that followed the violent-ridden elections in Rivers State held on 28th March and 11th April respectively, the security agencies, to the best of our knowledge, are yet to investigate, arrest or prosecute  anyone in respect to the atrocities of murder and arson unleashed on innocent Nigerians, whose only offence was to belong to and support a political party of their choice, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

“Prominently, you may recall that an APC chieftain from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, Chief Christopher Adube, whose entire household, including himself, wife and four children were gruesomely murdered on same day, leaving no soul behind in the entire family. This incident occurred in Obirikom community on 3rd April 2015. Furthermore, on 17th of February, during the APC campaign rally at Okrika, cultists and armed gangs, acting on ‘orders from above’ attacked the large congregation of APC supporters, using dangerous weapons like dynamites, machine guns and machetes.  In the ensuing attack, a police officer, Cpl. Ifeanyi Okorie, was killed. Also, Mr. Charles Eruka, a senior Channels’ news correspondent was badly stabbed, and scores of APC supporters sustained various degrees of injuries while fleeing from the attackers.  Moreso, several individually-owned cars, party campaign vehicles and the entire gadgets used to decorate the venue were set ablaze at Okrika same day.

“Mr President himself was a witness to the horrible attacks unleashed on Rivers APC supporters, who were on their way to his presidential campaign flag-off on 7th of January 2015, in which six APC members from ward 6, Kaani community in Khana LGA were ambushed and brutalised by gunmen said to be loyal to the PDP.  Moved by the gruesomeness of the incidence, President Buhari was compelled to cut short his campaign itinerary to visit the victims in the hospital.

“Find below list of some victims that were murdered and maimed during the elections, serial number, name, LGA, date,  description:

1. Mr Donatus Ikechi Dimkpa Ipo (Ward10)

Omuanwa Ward 7,

Ozuoha Ward 11,

Ikwerre

murdered.

2. Mr Chimene Chima Wagu,  murdered

3. Mr Sampson Chinnah, murdered

4. Precious Dimiari Pepple, Opobo/Nkoro, murdered

5. Chief Reuben Adube, Ogba/Egbema

Idu Community, Ogba/Egbema

Krigene in Usomini South, murdered in cold blood with his two sons and his daughter.

6. Mr Clever Orukwuowu, murdered

7. Chief Hon Godspower Ihiaidu, murdered along with several of his friends.

8. Mr Miebaka Opuogulaya, Okrika, murdered  in his rented house, body not found till date

9. Mr Saturday Wakama, murdered in his car, body and car also not found till date.

10. Mr Nweke Anthony, Ward 3 Omuma, they were both shot.

11. Mr Cosmos Ukulor


12. Mr Saturday Kirine Tai, 28th March 2015


13. Mr Chigba Appolos Abarikpo, Ward 13,
    
    Ward 11,
    
    Ahoada


14. Mr Rogers Konye, shot dead.


15. Mr Kara Sideh


16. Mr Kara Sideh, Gwara community Ward 15, was  shot  though he didn’t die, he is now  an amputee
    
    17. Mr Lekae Adoo Adoo was shot on the leg by suspected gun men from Bien Gwara community.  The gang invaded the venue of APC ward 15 congress meeting in Gwara.
    
    18. Mr Christopher Eneji, March 28, 2015, was shot by thugs allegedly sent by Sen. Olaka Nwogu on the day of the Presidential /National Assembly elections.

“After so much public uproar and condemnation, including an online petition signed by several members of the public the state, of the crimes highlighted above, the immediate past governor, Hon Amaechi, graciously yielded to the people’s cry for justice by constituting the Professor Chidi Odinkalu Commission of Inquiry into the heinous crimes committed before, during and after the elections.

“However, on assumption of office, Wike procured a court judgment barring the constituted Chidi Odinkalu Commission of Inquiry. This desperate bid by Chief Wike and the PDP denied the people justice. Nevertheless, the Odinkalu commission had earlier in its findings unraveled 97 cases of murder, 278 incidents of persons with bodily harms, 83 cases of total destruction of properties, etc.  This was gathered from the recorded testimonies of about 43 witnesses with written petitions, indicting Wike and his associates. Months after his inauguration, Governor Wike has carried on as if nothing happened. His government has not made any effort at bringing the perpetrators of these horrid crimes to book, perhaps because of the alleged involvement of his core supporters. For instance, Hon. Martins Mana, who is now representing Ahoada East Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly, was arrested by security agents with AK 47 rifle on 11th of April, as confirmed by the subpoenaed police officer who testified at the ongoing election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja.

“In the light of the above, we are very disturbed over the persistent threats to the lives of our witnesses.  Photos of the APC witnesses were posted on Facebook by a group known as The Youth Coalition for Good Governance. They held a demonstration and tagged our witnesses with all sorts of unprintable names and accused them of being saboteurs. Today, these men live in hiding and can no longer do their businesses freely to maintain their families.”

Our Demands:

“1. We call on Mr President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to make good the promise which he made to Rivers people.  On May 13th, President Buhari vowed to revisit this issue when he said: ‘We will confront them with facts and figures. We will not forgive and we will not forget those who perpetrated killings and arson in Rivers State during the elections’

2. We demand that the Prof Chidi Odinkalu Commission of Inquiry report be revisited urgently.


3. We call on the Inspector-General of Police and all security agencies to take up necessary preventive measures so as to guarantee the safety of the witnesses testifying at the various election petition tribunals.

“Finally, we urge Rivers people to remain strong and steadfast as efforts are being made to guarantee a safe and secured future for our people and generations unborn as was the case in the recent past.”

Strategies to Curb Insecurity before Recurrence of Violence  

According to Noam Chomsky, “The US International and Security Policy  has as its primary goal the preservation of what we might call ‘the Fifth Freedom’ understood crudely but with a fair degree of accuracy as: the freedom to rob, to exploit and to dominate; to undertake any course of action to ensure that existing privilege is protected and advanced.” It seems that Amaechi, on assumption of office, adopted this US security policy in tackling the menace of insecurity in the state, as he went out exploiting every means humanly possible to arrest this ugly trend. Apart from declaring war on all the militia groups in the state and refusing any form of dialogue or negotiations with them, he ensured that the security organs in the state were well-motivated and trained to tackle the menace of insecurity.

Expatiating on how Amaechi handled the security challenges of the state at this period, Rivers APC governorship flag-bearer, Peterside, a former commissioner of Works and then a member of the House of Representatives, stated in an article on insecurity in Nigeria: “When I had the privilege of serving in the government of Rivers State under the leadership of Governor Amaechi, I observed that he placed high premium on security, because he believed that security was the foundation upon which progress in every other facet of development depends. This is aside from government’s proactive disposition which drew substantially from intelligence gathering, surveillance and the fact that law enforcement agents could reasonably predict potential crime with near perfect accuracy.

 “Another interesting aspect of the Rivers’ model is the deployment of technology. Without sounding immodest, I can confidently say that the state’s security network is driven by excellent modern technology. Rivers was the first state to acquire a mobile scanning van known as Back Scatter. Around Port Harcourt metropolis, there are Gantry scanners at strategic entry locations in Onne – Eleme Road, East-West Road, Choba Road, Oyigbo Road, Ikwerre Road, Aba Road and Mbiama Road, among others.” 

Throwing more light on Peterside’s postulation, a security expert and CEO of MPD Security Systems, Engr David Meyer, noted: “The first step we took in Rivers State was to raise capacity among selected police personnel; over 200, through local and overseas training in Israel and other parts of the world on modern crime fighting techniques and intelligence gathering.” Working with modern gadgets and substantial logistics, including an Israeli-trained, concealed weapon-detecting dog. This crossbred police team had since been strategically placed at main outskirt check-posts witnessing mass movement in and out of Port Harcourt city. Others lead a number of metro patrol teams, responding to security emergencies around the town and environs. These are as far as the public can see.”

Beyond public view, as part of Rivers current long-term vision of security, Meyer pointed to underground application of ICT-aided security hardware and software, helping the police to sense and react to security situations with despatch. This network of technology, managed by experts from a hub which Meyer would not disclose its location for security reasons, employed the C4I urban surveillance cameras watching over the city, and active 24 hours of the day in Port Harcourt and environs.

The interactions between seen and unseen infrastructures, according to Meyer, accounted for the recent security operatives’ swift bursting of some of the failed organised crime operations, including an attempted raid of a bank in the Mile 4 area of the city last year. “These measures have been working well and, while the public may not know, it has led to several arrests; and we have gained convictions against suspects on account of the improved network,” he said.

Supporting the foregoing, Amaechi recalled: “We have done a lot about security. We are doing more. Before we came to office, kidnapping was a serious challenge. We have dealt with it substantially. We are finishing December 2012 without a single report of kidnapping or armed robbery. We have specially trained policemen handling security. Barring any unforeseen circumstance, any moment from now, the Rivers State Government’s security web would be two surveillance helicopters stronger, laying foundation for a standing air wing to give the state 24-hour security coverage.” He said the helicopters – costing $30 million (N4.5 billion) with surveillance cameras to fly all over the city of Port Harcourt and other parts of the state – would arrive at the end of December and commence operations in January 2013. He added that Rivers now has in place a technology reliable for tracking criminals and their hideouts. Sadly both former President Jonathan and Wike ensured that these helicopters never got to Port Harcourt but thanks to President Buhari who have authorized that these helicopters be released to the Rivers State Government few weeks on assumption of office.

The governor, who is a major proponent of state police, postulated: “If we have State Police, Rivers would be able to train its police the way it wants. It would not have suffered the loss of those 500 policemen it trained. Most states are spending a lot of money improving the police which are not under their control. States can use the same resources to fund their own police. Only those with something to hide are afraid of state police.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me quote the recent statement credited to Dr Peterside, while rejoicing over the release of the famous Vanguard Columnist Donu Kogbara, who recently spent about two weeks in the hands of kidnappers: “I strongly denounce the rising rate of insecurity and constant threat to life in our beloved state in recent times. Security is critical to development, therefore, kidnapping and all forms of threat to society’s peaceful existence must be tackled head-on. For me, the starting point is the economy. We must rebuild our economy so as to pave way for employment opportunities for every idle hand, not just in the Niger Delta but in every part of the country. As a people and government, the security and well-being of our people should be the barometer for measuring our success. It is only when we have sufficiently addressed the issue of safety that we can confidently say that we are truly on course. For that reason, those in authority, particularly security agencies, must redouble their efforts towards tackling crime and its perpetrators. This prevailing climate of fear in some parts of our country must cease.”

With the present administration of President Buhari authorising the release of the Rivers State two armoured surveillance helicopters purchased by the administration of Amaechi, which was frustrated by the former president, Dr. Jonathan, Wike and enemies of Rivers State, I am convinced that if put into proper use, the fight against illegal oil-bunkering, pipeline vandalisation, terrorism, kidnapping, and piracy in Rivers State will be enhanced. Finally, seeing that Wike’s administration lacks what it takes to tackle this menace, the need of easing his administration, seeing his input in the rise of insecurity in Rivers State, need not be over-emphasised.

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt

The Rise of Insecurity in Rivers State and the Way Forward: An Insider"s View