OPINION

Rivers crisis: Amaechi shows rare maturity
By Dr. L.D Lionel

One thing is certain with certain human beings: They grow in absolute hatred and have nothing to offer to mankind than their perpetual impiety.


But this is not of Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State,
who has been showing rare disposition of maturity since the monster
called greed possessed some persons and they want to make the peaceful
Rivers State enclave of riotous moments. The crusaders of violence in
our state should know that it is bad to grow in one breadth,
disproportionately. The theory that rivals of the Rivers State
Government want to sell to the public and want them to buy same is
pristine. They have been going on rampage against uprightness and want
dishonesty to reign supreme. This is childish. And Amaechi is mature
in realm. Therefore, it is very essential for the teeming masses in
our state to resist these enemies of forwardness, which habit Amaechi
frowns at. It was because of Amaechi’s uprightness that they want to
make the state ungovernable in order to institute lucre and government
of disorderliness. But like the matrix goes: “If God be for us, who
can be against us”?

To show that God is in the part of truth, justice and transparency,
all the works of the detractors against Amaechi couldn’t succeed, they
failed and would continue to fail. Governor Amaechi is for perfect
clarity, because he loathes brickbats and has been preventing the
masses of our state from being taken over by charlatans who only
understand the language of violence. In their total failure, the
traducers and traitors of our state attempted on Tuesday (July 9,
2013), to impeach the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon.
Otelemaba Amachree, in what is known as their kangaroo method, but
failed like a pack of cards. The five dissident-members of the House
opposed to Amaechi (for their selfish interest) engaged about thirteen
of their colleagues, who are not only supporting Amaechi, but truth,
in a fight.

It is obvious that it was ravenousness that has been compelling this
dissident-five to be disrupting our state and engage the rest of their
colleagues in a fight. The good thing is that they are now regretting
for that uncouth action of theirs, because the world has seen that
they are the real agents against the progress of our state, which
Amaechi has laid the foundation and is making sure that no
progressivity-stone is left unturned.

The good residents of Rivers State must in earnest resist these
anomalies from the anti-Amaechi groups, whether they are in Rivers
State or Abuja or anywhere across the country. They do not mean well
for us, our state. This fight for justice is not a fight for Amaechi
alone; it is a fight that we all must join hands and say ‘no’ to
brigandage, godfatherism, anarchy, nepotism and other norms that are
not favourable to the tenets of democracy. Nonetheless, it is palpable
to put the story making the rounds clear: the Speaker of the Rivers
State House of Assembly, Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, was never impeached
and cannot be impeached in the future by the conspirators. So, those
misleading the public that he was impeached are just irresponsible.

Gov. Amaechi, the lover and believer of democracy, understands the
concept of democracy of “the majority is the number”. So, how can
Nigerians believe in the dissident-five, whose only stock-in-trade is
to hijack our state and make it a lawless place for all? Does the
presidency want Nigerians to sit down now that these gangsters are
fomenting troubles in our state, whereas Nigerians did not sit down
when President Goodluck Jonathan once suffered a similar fate in the
hands of ‘cabals’, who did not want him to be president? Why should
anybody single out Governor Amaechi to fight? We must speak up, speak
out!

Nigerians should stop seeing this fight as a fight that Amaechi wants
to win, but as a fight for justice and transparency to prevail.  It is
not a fight that Amaechi wants to win against the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), but a fight to win against anti-Constitutionalists.
Amaechi is not fighting this battle for any future political
aspirations, but against those who do not want individuals to have
their political future in the country, unless they dictate. This
correlation is out-of-order by assessment. Why should they be fighting
Amaechi? Is President Jonathan leading the epitome of this fight? Are
the Ijaws against Amaechi? If these are true then somebody or a people
are just swimming against the tide, because in history, the Ijaws have
been contesting in elections against one another.

For those who think that Amaechi wants to contest the presidency in
2015 against Jonathan should be knowledgeable enough. It is in history
that one Enai (Bayelsa Ijaw) contested for the House of Reps and won
on the platform of the party that (the now late) Chief Melford Okilo
formed. Under this party, Okilo contested for the presidency and the
Ijaw people did not all vote for him, he failed. Even President
Jonathan who is now seeing politics as a “do or die” affair was deputy
to Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha against the party that Okilo, an Ijaw
like Jonathan, formed. The dishounorable part of the story is that
Okilo and Jonathan are from the same Ogbia District of Bayelsa State.
So, when did the Ijaw people begin to impose candidate on the Ijaw
nation? The Ijaw person is naturally an independent minded person. It
is important to state that although the Bayelsa Ijaw benefited most in
the elective positions of the old Rivers State, it was not by
intimidation, imposition or coercion. It was by mutual understanding.

How come that some Ijaw people want to make the Niger Delta region a
one party region? Chief Dr Pere Ajua (An Ijaw) contested for the
position of President of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria under the
ANPP twice and failed, the Ijaw people were not forced to vote for
him. Alabo Graham Douglas (Ijaw), and Chief A K Horsfall (ijaw),
contested to be President of Nigeria and failed, the Ijaw people were
not cajoled to vote for their own. Sir Peter Odili (Orashi Niger
Delta) aspired for the presidency,and the Niger Delta did not unite
for him,even  President Jonathan contested against Odili under
Yar’Adua. When Yar'Adua won with an Ijaw son as vice, the Ijaw people
were quick to identify with him. Supposed President Jonathan was
forced by Niger Delta People not to contest as vice President to
Yar'Adua because Odili or Pere Ajua was contesting for President,
would the Niger Delta people have had a president now?  The good
people of Ijaw nation know that Democracy is freedom of expression and
that the process should be free and fair. The statements from some
sons of Ijaw aimed at intimidating and coercing ijaw people to belong
to one party or endorse a candidate is criminal and uncalled for. This
crass and undemocratic mentality must not be allowed to find any room
in the hearts of the good people of Ijaw nation.

While that digression was to put the record straight, it behooves
sensible Nigerians to say point blank that politics of diatribes have
to stop. How come that President Jonathan is this ‘strong’ whereas he
never challenged the likes of Alamieyeseigha and the late President
Yar’Adua when he was their deputy? He was known to be a lukewarm,
disposed to immeasurable humbleness, which endeared Nigerians to vote
for him. But the story is different today. No wonder they say,
absolute power corrupts arbitrarily.

Amaechi is not arrogant, contrary to what propagandists have dished
out to the reading public; he is rather stoical. Amaechi, as a person,
did not start the fight; like some quarters would say that he did on
the proposed sharing formula for the sovereign wealth fund, which they
believed was to shame President Jonathan. If truth is still truth,
Amaechi was only playing the dictates of the Nigeria Governors Forum
(NGF), which he is the chairman. Can the collective opinion of the NGF
be attributed to mean his sole voice? This mentality is dangerous.

Using teargas and the security agents against the good people of
Rivers State in the attempt that Amaechi must be cowed is undemocratic
and condemnable. All the illegalities that the foes of our transparent
government want to instate, must be challenged by Nigerians and must
be stopped. If some folks, due to greed, do not want Rivers State to
work, then the future generation is at risk. We must know this!

It is a pity for all who were injured or sustained injuries in the
Tuesday macabre dance at the Rivers State House of Assembly. Really,
it is a pity.


Dr. L.D Lionel, on the Board of Pilot Group, wrote from Port Harcourt.