The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Rotimi Amaechi

  • ROTIMI AMAECHI 2015 will be referendum on Jonathan’s government

    ROTIMI AMAECHI 2015 will be referendum on Jonathan’s government

    Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, like most second term governors is on the last lap ahead handing over to a successor in 2015. That run-in promises to be turbulent and exihilirating given his political battles on several fronts. But despite the formidable nature of foes confronting him, he is confident that he can realise his policy and development targets in the time left, and, along with his colleagues, lead his party – the All Progressives Congresses (APC) to capture power at the centre and retain his power base in Rivers State. He spoke with Festus Eriye and Taiwo Ogundipe.

    YOU are virtually on your last lap now, what are your priorities now that you are winding down?

    Education, power, health and the environment.  We are reviewing our contributions in education. We are looking at the possibility of the construction of a new university which has been in the pipeline for a long time. We are furnishing about 300 primary schools out of the 500 that have been completed. When that is concluded, we can now look at how we can furnish the remaining 200.

    It is like you are trying to do a couple of new things. Coming into town, we noticed one of your major projects is the rail. Is the project likely to be completed before you leave office?

    I will ride of that train before I leave. It is almost completed.  It is not the rail neither is it the coaches that is the problem but we are expanding the terminal. The terminal was meant for just two trains, now we are expanding to five because we are buying more trains so that they can carry more passengers.

    So much fuss has been made about states not getting as much as they used to get. We know that your state has complained about that.

    We started from N20billion to N13billion; the basic reason is financial diversion from NNPC. The level of corruption there is very high and mostly, politicians are carting away the resources with impunity. The other reason is that they are selling our oil wells to Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and States. We in, Rivers State, are helpless. The authorities that are supposed to protect Rivers State are not doing so because we are perceived to be in opposition.

    They sold 43 oil wells to Abia State. So we are losing oil wells and we are also losing money because of financial diversion. Even with the oil wells they took and gave to Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, Abia States, our revenue was still very high, but unfortunately, the financial diversion which they have now nicknamed oil theft instead of financial theft is affecting how much we get in a month. We now get N13billion in a month, maximum N14billion. We were lucky to get N17billion this month because of the non-oil revenue. Next month we won’t get it because the non-oil revenue is once in a blue moon. And that is affecting our provision of services and other necessary assignments that we need to carry out. That is a huge problem for us and I guess that is also is also the case with some other governors. Some governors are not able to pay salaries. Our wage bill rose from N2.5billion to N9billion. And if we receive N13billion, you can imagine what will happen. We have so many huge projects that we are working on. There is a road called Trans-Amadi Road that is currently awarded to RCC at N49bilion, and N49billion is above S200million for a 10 kilometer road. And that is because we have three flyovers and six bridges on that road.

    But you have barely a year to be out of office, do you think you will be able to achieve all these?

    Well, don’t forget that government is a continuum. Where ever we stop, we stop, but that would not stop me from working.

    Still about the issue of oil wells, is there no way you can seek redress, for example, at the Supreme Court?

    We have done everything necessary. We have gone to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court asked them to review our position with Bayelsa State. Up till today, nobody has called us or attended to us, instead they are paying Bayelsa State. The Supreme Court judgment is there and it says they should review the boundary. Nobody has bothered to call us to do that. The money they were supposed put into our account has been paid to Bayelsa State.

    Maybe the Federal Government wants you to reach out to them in another way to get their favour.

    They can take all the oil wells (laughs).

    During your inauguration in 2011 you promised to provide power supply starting from Onne and gas free zone.

    They refused to allow us build distribution network there. We were taking power to them, but NPA refused. If you observed as you were coming in, you would have noticed there is no street light. That is because I got very angry with the Ministry of Power. You asked us to give you certain amount of money and we’ve given you and we are not seeing power supply and they said it is from the transmission. They now want N13billion for transmission. We have released N5billion out of the 13billion. And we have given not to them but to due process. And we said due process can only release the money to them according to the services they are able to provide. And now they have promised that they will start with Trans-Amadi with N400million out of the N5billion we released. If we see 24 hours power supply on Trans-Amadi after paying you 400million, they will give us for the next zone we want.

    We have divided Port Harcourt into different zones and we said they must pursue the project with speed. Even the reason why you have not seen the street lights on is because the due process is questioning the expenditures on street lights. And I am happy a debate is going on. Yes there is an embarrassment as people are asking, why can’t they put on the street lights? The due process is trying to determine the costs of diesel being used per month. I am happy about what is going now. It is not because there was corruption. It is because in the past, it was being done by the public servants, but now we are saying get a contractor whose responsibility it is to provide the light, our own is to buy it. We are asking them to supply the street light and we will pay for it. This is unlike before where we install the infrastructure and the public servants were given money to buy diesel and they cannot account of all the services they were providing and now we are becoming a bit more thorough. Once they finish with the process, then we pay for the street lights and you will see the service coming back on. I am prepared to endure the complaints and embarrassment of not having the street lights on, but to have a process you can account for.

    Now let’s talk about local politics. You have said you don’t want someone from among the Ikweres’ to succeed you, and clearly, that it is becoming an issue with the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, obviously running strongly for the PDP ticket. Would you say that given what has just happened in Ekiti State, all that you have achieved could be upturned using the same Ekiti formula?

    Do you think Rivers State is made up of one hundred percent teachers?  Even if you use that yardstick, I told you we just employed 13,200 teachers. First and foremost, Rivers State is not one hundred percent made up of civil servants. Secondly, I think that the civil servants need to be more reasonable. There is a difference between stomach infrastructure and the services we have provided. So, if I have provided power, opened more schools, and the schools are free of charge, I am putting back the money in your pocket. I have produced health infrastructure. There are health centres everywhere with doctors, and you go there and take free health services. I have just completed a new hospital and the services in the hospitals are also free. We have outsourced them to foreign companies; foreign doctors are treating patients and we pay the bills. It is not as if they are providing free medical care, we pay. At the end of the day, they will tell us they have incurred so much money on XYZ number of patients and we disburse the money. So when you say free medical care, it is free for the citizens but we pay the bills. If I have done all that, then what is the basis for stomach infrastructure?

    We think the point is, we saw a situation in Ekiti State where a man built schools and built hospitals, something you have also done in your state, but there were external issues that came in?

    What are the external issues that came in?

    Somebody said yes you built road, schools, hospitals and you didn’t build the stomach. We are saying in this state for instance you….

    Our citizens will be a bit more reasonable than that.

    We are leading somewhere with our question. For instance, you have the issue of the relationship between you and the president, you’re in a different party now and you are perceived to have been antagonistic towards him, or whether it is vice versa. Now some observers are saying that people could turn a blind eye to everything you have achieved and just focus on all those extraneous issues.

    Before you came to me you should have gone round the town to ask questions?

    The question is that does that fear ever cross your mind?

    It doesn’t. You should have asked people questions. I drove on Eleme Road now. We couldn’t drive smoothly on the road. It is a federal road. When campaign starts, I will place a billboard there, saying that this road belongs to the federal government. The road that takes you to Akwa Ibom, between Eleme and Aba Road, is impassable. The flyover that they call Eleme Junction interchange was built by me. I have things that I can identify. If you say you want to identify with the president, we would ask you, what has the president done for us? Has he given you the stomach infrastructure?  Or has he built your roads? If the president is addressing the stomach infrastructure, then we can say, what is Governor Amechi talking about? He has built roads; what about what the president has done for me, he has given me stomach infrastructure. The president has neither addressed your stomach infrastructure nor has he addressed your real infrastructure.  Why not you also ask questions about some of those people who come to Abuja and give people money? Where do they get the money from? The high rate of corruption in the government is a bit unbearable.

    Do you think it possible for anybody in government to be totally free of tendency of corruption?

    Well, I am asking you that question.

    We are not in government.

    Well, you are Nigerians; you should be able to answer that question.

    During the recent Freedom House lecture, you were saying part of this money should be given directly to the people.

    I didn’t say they should give anybody money directly. I said Nigerians don’t abhor corruption. I made that point based on frustration I have gotten from Nigerians. And, therefore, I think what Nigerians are up to is basically that they feel that if you stay for like six months, like I have been governor for eight years, why should I be governor for eight years? If I have been governor for like six months and I take like maybe N1billion or N2billion and I go, when the next Nigerian comes in and he takes his own billion and goes and probably it will go round  all Nigerians, and I agree to that that we should domesticate and democratise corruption in such a way that everybody has an opportunity of being corrupt, so that when you do that, you have excess money chasing very little goods and then the economy will explode, then we realise that by the time you wake up everybody is poor, then we will stop corruption. Because those are going to stop corruption are not state manly enough to stop corruption.

    Going into the election, we saw what experience you passed through in Ekiti State, how much do you fear the government using security forces, the military, police to unduly direct the election?

    What the PDP has done in Ekiti is to show you what they will do in other elections. I have said it and I will continue to say it that we don’t have a democracy, we have a diarchy. I said that at the Freedom House lecture: government of the civilians and the military where military officers issue government instructions and enforce them by the force of the gun. The military has no business stopping me on my way to Ekiti. I was there, a serving minister, Minister of State, drove pass where I was. I was there, the Minister for Police Affairs drove pass where I was. So, would you say the election in Ekiti State was free and fair?  The soldiers were escorting PDP members to distribute rice, wrappers (cloth) and money on the day of election. Was that free and fair? Nigerians must rise against another state of dictatorship in the name of diarchy because there is no difference between what Abacha did and what is currently being done. Your newspapers were impounded and you people didn’t do anything.

    We shouted.

    What is shouting? You should go beyond shouting to physical demonstration on the streets. Once you start protesting, they will know you will resist the militarisation of the country.

    Your aircraft was prevented from flying in Kano and a couple of other places, and you were stopped from going into Ekiti, it looks as if you were particularly targeted, do you feel humiliated by this?

    No. I was a student leader. There is nothing President Goodluck Jonathan is doing to me now that I didn’t suffer when I was a student leader.  That is not humiliation; I see that as dictatorship, what you can call autocracy. I should be asking you, what have you done? Because it is not about Amechi, the struggle is not about me, what I am struggling for is not about me. I’ve told people, what else am I looking for from God other than long life. I was governor at age 42, I was speaker at age 34 and I was in government at age 26. What else am I looking for?

    You are likely to move higher.

    I don’t know about that. Let’s leave that in the hand of God.

    Your critics have been accusing you of non-performance because of some lapses in the provisions of certain infrastructure.

    What are the lapses?

    I read somewhere where you were reacting that some projects awarded by the government have not been completed.

    I along with some journalists and foreigners (white men) have just come back from some trips of some of the projects the state government is executing. The white men were clapping – let me speak like the president, who said when he went Kenya that the Kenyans were awed by the number of Nigerians who have aircraft. The visitors were wondering and clapping. I took them on the monorail for them to see that have completed it; it is just that we want to complete the terminal. So, where are those critics? I tell the country that when I took over that there was 1,300 primary schools in Rivers State and these primary schools were of six classroom blocks, built by the following groups: Rivers State Government, Local Government Councils, all the oil companies (Shell, Chevron, Total, Agip, etc). All of them put together including NGOs built only 1,300 primary schools of six classrooms blocks.

    During my eight years of governorship I have completed 500 primary schools. There are also about nearly 100 that are uncompleted. We are about furnishing 300 of them. And the furnishing is not cheap; to furnish one with ICT costs about N34million. When I took the white men there, they were shocked that they were schools in third world country that are like these – with computers, libraries, auditorium, music instruments in the auditorium,  sick bays, reception classes from where you go to primary one and all the classrooms have computers for the teachers to use to teach. I also took them to the secondary schools we have built. We were to build 23 but we didn’t have enough money to do that. We have been able to build only seven. I took them to one. In one of the classes we have virtual class where you study using instruments. The teacher does nothing rather than to punch those computers and you will hear somebody talking and identifying what he is teaching.

    By the time we went round – President John Kuffor was present  He asked me where did the vision come from? I told him the vision to build the secondary schools came from Achimota Secondary School. I told him I drove into Achimota one day and I saw the expanse of land and I said I will build a school that has the same kind of land. I borrowed the idea of the number of structures from my children’s school when they were in England. The people were shocked when they saw the projects.

    People are not saying I did not perform. All they are saying Amechi is all about the first term as if my father killed me in my first term. This time I decided to take them to the only projects I have completed in my second term. And I could give him example, I said I completed 75 primary schools in my first term and in my second term I have done 400 and 25 to make it 500 and I am furnishing 300 of the schools. In which term would you say I’ve performed better?

    The difference basically is because my first term, you saw me on the streets jumping, shouting and running. I was pursuing criminals to secure the city.

     

    Now the city appears to be secured and I am no longer 42. I cannot jump any longer because one day I may fall. In my second term, I’ve improved power supply. I want the federal government to let the public know that the power they are enjoying here comes from the Rivers State government and they don’t pay us any money. We buy gas every month to supply the power and the federal government reduced the revenue for the past seven years I have been governor. So, what are the critics saying?  Do you know what I call those critics? They are stomach infrastructure critics.

    When I tell people I don’t have a house, they tell me to stop saying that, that it is I who don’t want a house. That is what my critics say.  They are not afraid, they have houses everywhere; they are not scared of the consequences because there is no anti- corruption policy. Nobody is pursuing anybody. The impunity with which the stealing is going on, small ministers are living in mansions they just built. From being ordinary chairmen of councils they now live in mansions. Nobody is asking.

    Most things government need to realise is that when you deny people the necessary infrastructure that will keep them alive, when they die you should be charged for manslaughter. If you are suppose to build the hospital that will keep people alive because they have handed their resources you to build the hospital and you divert the resources into your pocket, when they die, and no one charges you of manslaughter, when God comes, He will charge you for manslaughter.

    Let’s talk about your party, APC. Are you satisfied with the outcome of the convention?

    Yes I am.

    We learnt that the governors in APC were rooting for your former colleague, an ex-governor.

    It is not true. We met, we agreed completely. That is why when I heard that somebody published that they interviewed me, I was surprised. l had left Abuja since 6am that day for UK, I didn’t even have a ticket. There was no prior ticket. I bought a ticket right there. It was an economy ticket then. They manage to take me to business class.  I got to the UK that day. The next day in UK I was reading on the internet that somebody said he interviewed me.

    Some people believe that the victory of PDP in Ekiti State will create momentum that will cut across especially the South- West axis.

    Why not we wait? It’s about performance. A change is coming. For me, the election of 2015 will be a referendum on our president’s government. It is not going to be a referendum on my own because the campaign won’t be about Amechi. Is Amechi running for presidency?

    He might be.

    Well if I’m running for presidency and I’m on a ticket as a presidential candidate,  I won’t say judge me by what I have done in the country, I will say judge me by what I have done in the state. And I will show you what I have done in virtually diverse areas, especially in the area of sports. Port Harcourt has one of the best stadia in the country. I took the visitors to the sport complex because I heard one of these critics say that my colleague and brother has built a better stadium and how cheap mine is. The entire sport complex is N33billion and it includes two Olympic size swimming pools and two diving pools, hockey pitch, basketball, handball, long tennis, squash courts, shooting range and indoor game. It is an athletic stadium. All of them put together cost us N34billion. They should compare us to the rest where we are hearing the costs of their sport infrastructures are much higher.

    One thing that seems to be driving corruption and impunity among government officials is the provision of immunity against prosecution in the constitution.

    Do ministers have immunity? You people target governors alone. Do ministers have immunity? How many ministers have been prosecuted?

    Port Harcourt has been branded the World Book Capital. You have invested much on literature and education in the state, what do you stand to benefit from this?

    Nothing but the literariness of the reading public. We need to encourage people to read. The problem we have here in the country is the fact that most people don’t want to acquire education for the purpose of knowledge. They acquire education for the purpose of seeking employment etc. We don’t think education is just to enhance their capacity for employment. We think you should also acquire education for knowledge. So, we are trying to open the public space for people to seek education for the sake of knowledge. We are building libraries and there will be libraries all over the state. In every local government headquarters there must be a library. Then in the city we are building reading rooms where there are books as well.

    We are going to build a major library that will belong to the state. But even at that, there is an NGO that is building privately, independent of government, the Port Harcourt Book Centre. There is a library, writers’ village and an event centre that will help fund the centre when they complete it. Everything there is about books.

    It seems your apparent love of books came out of your background as an English Literature or Language graduate and we can see that you have a very striking relationship with Prof. Wole Soyinka, could you please talk a little about your relationship with him?

    The Prof. is turning 80 in the next few weeks, the Rivers State government is trying to see how they can buy into it to see how we can convince him to give us a date to host him for his 80th but we have not gotten a date yet.

    What is the nature of your relationship with Prof, how did this friendship develop?

    A: I met Prof Soyinka when I was at the University but I met him through Yemi Ogunbiyi and we established a friendship.

    Do you accept the position that some people take that the APC seems to have lost the momentum it had at the time that five governors came from the PDP? You have the direction of defection has changed. People are moving towards the PDP. APC just lost an election in Ekiti State in its own very backyard, do you accept that going forward that the APC seems to be losing momentum?

    A: How can we be losing momentum? Don’t forget that the first thing you need to deal with in APC is a combination of regional parties. The only party was national was the new PDP that came in. Now with the new PDP coming, APC has taken the position of a national party. There is no where you will go now in the country that you don’t have APC

    If PDP could defeat CPC with 10million votes and CPC was just a regional party based in the North – and the PDP defeated General Buhari with just 10million votes, he didn’t have money, don’t forget. He may have CPC chapters in the south but it was non existence ….

    Are you saying General Buhari is running for presidency?

    I’m not saying General Buhari is running presidency or not. He has never told me whether he wants to run or not, but let us just use him as an example for the purpose of exemplifying what we are talking about. If he were to be a candidate now with APC in the South West, don’t forget that the PDP won everywhere apart from Osun State. So, who is losing now, PDP or APC?

    There was no APC in Rivers State. Instead what they do is to go pay people to go and destroy our billboards. Here, PDP scored 2.1milliom vote, no opposition, there was none. Other parties looked for people to field candidates for them. Now there is a strong APC presence, there are two senators from APC, there are eight members of the House of Representatives out of 13, there are 25 or 26 APC members in the House of Assembly.

    PDP has also defined APC very well by trying to make it look like it is a religious party, that it has favoured one religion. And the PDP has virtually tried to force down this question of a Muslim-Muslim ticket that they say APC is trying to push forward ….

    Why not wait until pick our presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate. Once we do that, you will know whether are Muslim-Muslim ticket. They were using the party structure to accuse us, now the party structure has changed into the hand of a Christian; they have pulled out of that. Wait until we get there.

    When they say PDP is making waves, PDP is making no wave. They already have a presidential candidate, and they are running without APC running because APC is obeying the law and PDP is not obeying the law because the president has been campaigning. When we do start our campaign…look at the geopolitics, Lagos is not a PDP, it is heavily populated by voters, Kano is not PDP, Rivers is not PDP, and it has an APC governor. If we vote today, let us assume for the purpose of argument that everybody comes here and say no don’t vote against him, he is our brother -the president is not my brother, I am an Ikwerre man and the president is an Ijaw man. So, the Ikwerre man will vote according to his conscience.

    The last election was the ‘Breath of Fresh Air’; he is our brother from the South-South. That our brother from the South-South has gone to this war, he has returned without any booty for me. Do I still identify with him? The president is a nice man. But look at the state of the Port Harcourt International Airport. It is horrible. It has been abandoned by the PDP government. The federal roads have also been abandoned. There must be something Rivers people have done against the president that he doesn’t like. If I were to be in PDP, these are the things I’m going to look at, that the president won South-South/South East 100 percent, 13 to 14 million votes. He also won South-West. Can you say now that even if the president uses soldiers, he would win South-West?

  • Rivers Assembly approves loan

    Rivers Assembly approves loan

    Rivers State House of Assembly yesterday gave approval for Governor Rotimi Amaechi to obtain $280 million to enable him provide water for Port Harcourt residents.

    In a June 23 letter addressed to the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, the governor requested for the Assembly’s resolution to enable him obtain the loan, which are two-pronged.

    The first loan facility, which is $80 million, will be obtained from World Bank under IDA terms; the second loan $200 million is a loan facility from African Development Bank.

    The purpose of the loans, Amaechi explained “is to provide sustainable and safe access to clean drinking water in Port Harcourt.

    “The project outcome will enhance the quality of life to Port Harcourt inhabitants,” he stated.

    After debating on it, 15 of the 19 lawmakers voted that the loan be approved first while the Commissioner for Water Resources, Patricia Simeon will be invited to explain the loan.

  • ‘Militarisation of elections must stop’

    ‘Militarisation of elections must stop’

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi spoke with reporters in Port-Harcourt, the state capital, on the  Ekiti State governorship election, the controversy over the appointment of the Chief Judge of Rivers State, his succession plan and the future of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southsouth state. Excerpts:

    Could you shed light on the  position of your party on the  outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election?

    The APC didn’t say we would go to court on the election. It was Alhaji Lai Mohammed who said the election was beyond the voting; that the process of the election was part of the election. So, the military intervention, which is what the PDP intends to use for the 2015 elections – to employ military men as part of the electioneering process – so, you would be having an unfair election, where APC supporters would be chased away by the military. That is why I said what we have is a diarchy, not a democracy.

    Was there military intervention in the process?

    Look at Ekiti now. They stopped APC governors from coming in. They stopped members of the APC from Ekiti; leaders of the APC were arrested. A senator’s father was beaten up and other things. That is military intervention. People would be scared to come out because they don’t know what the military would do.

    There was an online news portal that quoted you extensively on how bitter you were after the APC national convention…

    That is total fabrication. The convention ended around 5:00am and by 6:00am, I was at the airport looking for ticket to go to the UK. So, when was the interview? I played a prominent role at the APC convention. I was part of the process by which Chief John Oyegun emerged. I was among those making peace, going to people and begging people that we should allow peace because we want to make sure that we have a platform to confront the PDP. So, how did this interview take place? I was in the UK.

    So, you are not bitter that your candidate did not emerge as the national chairman at the convention?

    No, I asked my candidate to step down. We were in a meeting from Thursday night till 5:00am on Friday and I woke up by 6:00am to continue my appeal to people not to confront the party; that we should listen to the party and get a structure.

    Does it mean you were pushing for Sam Jaja?

    I never campaigned one day for Jaja because I told him to wait for us to see what was going on. When we saw what was going on in the party and we needed to beat down the crisis, I told him to step down.

    What was going on?

    The horse-trading that went on

    There is also an insinuation that you were planning to run with Aminu Tambuwal?

    There was nothing like that. These are fabrications by people.

    In October, the number of APC governors would have decreased by one and another election will hold in Osun in a few weeks, what is your party doing to avert another disaster?

    You will help us to tell the President to keep the soldiers in his house. All of us are part of the problem of Nigeria. They impounded newspapers and journalists did not do anything. In other countries, they would have protested on the street. We are talking to him that there is need for him to stop using soldiers to conduct election.

    Does it mean your party is afraid it may lose Osun?

    How can we lose Osun? Say something else.

    Based on the allegation of the militarisation of the Ekiti election, what do you think is the proper security measure for the election?

    The law says the police and let us see the consequences. Are you saying there are no soldiers in Borno?

    But, there is Boko Haram in Borno…

    That is the point I am making. So, it is not necessarily the presence ofsoldiers that will stop violence. After all, if the presence of soldiers could stop violence, by now, Borno should be the citadel of joy and happiness where people would be dancing. There are so many soldiers in Borno – so many military equipment and hardware, yet we still have bombings in Maiduguri. There are many soldiers in Abuja and of all places that we have thought would be very secure is the plaza, which was bombed recently. So, police are enough.

    Are you saying police would be enough in Nigeria’s circumstance?

    Are you going to war? I think in the current security situation, police are enough for security measure during election.

    What is your position on the appointment of the Chief Judge of Rivers State?

    The quarrel we have with the NJC is that the constitution says 10 years at the bar and that is the only qualification for a Chief Judge. It didn’t say whether you should be from Rivers State judiciary or most senior Judge.

    But, there are recommendations by the NJC?

    Yes, I agree. You send your names to the NJC. You send three names; they pick up one and send it to you. In our own case, they sent a name to us and said the reason why they didn’t take the person we preferred was because he was a Judge of the Customary Court of Appeal and that was what disqualified him. Then we wrote back and said you are wrong, the law says 10 years. It doesn’t matter where he comes from. So, I didn’t see where you see the most senior Judge from. And the court said so.

    What prompted you to move away from the normal route?

    It is not true. Was Teslim Elias a judge before? He was a Professor of Law. There are so many abnormal things, if you call that one normal. The law says 10 years.

    Won’t people see that as an interference in the judiciary?

    No. It is not me. They are the people interfering.

    They are in the judiciary.

    The NJC has no such power. Like somebody told me in America, that there is nothing like true federalism. It is the abnormality here that makes Nigerians coin the word true federalism. Federalism is federalism. If we want to pursue federalism pursue federalism. Don’t come here and say today you are a federalist and tomorrow you are a republican, next day you are practicing a unitary system of government.

    In pursuing federalism, the states have the right to choose who will be their Chief Judge and recommend, and you tell them who will be their Chief Judge? That is one. The same law says the governor has the right to accept your recommendation or reject. If he rejects, he writes to you that I have rejected. I rejected in writing and re-forwarded the name of the person I felt by law qualified to be the Chief Judge. They said I have no right to reject. So, you see, I am fighting on the side of the people and I thought journalists would join me.

    You sent three names…

    Yes, including hers (Justice Okocha). But, we said in this order and to help the NJC, we attached all the report on all of them – the SSS report. They said it doesn’t matter because it is not part of the requirement. We sent report by NBA – they all rejected her nomination. All their comments on the three judges were sent to them and we didn’t favour anybody. We said these were the three judges you said we should send and all that informed our choice.

    If they are rejecting number one, for instance, can’t you take the second option?

    The second option is what I said I won’t take.

    Then, go for the third and why did you put the names there in the first instance?   

    It is not me. Don’t forget that there is State Judicial Council. I didn’t mind any of the three, the only reason why I reacted was the reasons they gave for rejecting the first person. Don’t forget that when they sent it, I was aware and I said fine, I don’t mind working with anyone of them. But when they wrote to me to say we reject the number one sent by the State Judicial Council because he is not qualified since he was the President of the Customary Court. I said Haba; that is not what the law says.

    The law simply says 10 years at the bar. He didn’t say it must be a Judge or marry from Rivers State. It didn’t say it must come from Rivers State. We once had a Chief Judge, Justice Douglas. He was already in Court of Appeal in Enugu when they brought him back to Port Harcourt to be Chief Judge.

    What plans have you after office? Is it true you have your eyes on the Senate?

    I will go and love my wife because she is harassing me every day. I have not shown her enough love and attention. So, I need to do that for six months to one year. I will spend one or two years with my children since they lost the chances of staying with their father. That is three years. Then I will be 53 years old. I will go to the university to do another first degree either in history or law. I will do a Masters and a PhD and then I will be 60-something. Then the remaining years, I will teach as I get closer to the grave.

    Are you leaving the political scene?

    It was Channels Television that asked me whether I wanted to run for Presidency and I said I couldn’t answer that question. They asked why? I said because in Nigeria nobody runs for president. You just sit and you become president; you just see yourself one day wake up and become president prepared or unprepared. There were only two persons who have emerged president by wanting to be president of Nigeria. They were Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha. So, the rest, especially the civilian presidents have always sat down in their house and they have been appointed president. So, why not allow me to sit down and see if I would be President.

    It would be unfair to ask me such question since providence has always produced the president of Nigeria. If you go to the civilian presidents alone, Alhaji Shehu Shagari went to the convention as a senatorial candidate, he ended up becoming President. Tafawa Balewa was in his house; somebody won an election and told Balewa to go and be the Prime Minister. After Tafawa Balewa, it was Shagari. Ernest Shonekan was appointed as the Head of Interim Government. He was not looking forward to be president but he became one.

    Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was in prison and they called him out of the prison to come and be president, he became president. After Obasanjo, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua had packed his luggage to go to teach in Zaria, they brought him back, he became president. Our dear president wanted to become the governor of Bayelsa; he was begging them; “Please sir, I don’t want to be vice-president, keep me as governor of Bayelsa.” They said no, come and be the vice-president. From come and be vice-president, what is he now? So, why do people ask me whether I want to be president after this kind of intervention by God? Why not ask me whether I am fasting?

    What are the chances of the APC in Rivers State in 2015?

    Wait and see. Just tell them to keep their soldiers at the barracks and allow us to go and cast our votes

    What if they bring in soldiers?

    I won’t tell them what I will do. Didn’t you hear Osun State saying carry your charms? Did you read the story of Ombatse? Did you hear that people were handing their guns on their own volition?

    But, you were said to be calling on the name of God?

    How do you know I won’t call the name of God that day and all the soldiers would be handing over their weapons?

    How will the APC presidential candidate and his running mate emerge?

    Leave that assignment for God. Why are you bothering yourself about that?

    Is it going to be by consensus?

    No. We have a process in place. We have a process whereby there would be primaries.

    What about the Muslim tag in your party?

    Am I a Muslim? Is Chief Oyegun a Muslim? Is Timipre Sylva a Muslim?

     At what point do you think there would be total ethnic and religious reconciliation in the country?

    It is not a thing that I can answer; it is the President that you should ask that question. Why is CAN moving from one place to other saying that they have been shown a document? Why do you pitch hatred against Christians or against Muslims if you are a president or a governor? Then, when it is time for fasting, you’ll say you are fasting with Muslims or fasting with Christians?

    A leader must be ready to sacrifice his life for his country. And if I were the President of Nigeria, I would not because I want to win election split this country into two religious lines because one of the consequences of that would be that one day you would wake up and there is a religious war, which is worse than a civil war. When people say Muslim/Muslim ticket, I laugh. The reason I laugh is because the best Muslim, who may love all Christians for a Christian would not be better than a worst Christian in a position to a Christian.

    If you say you are a Christian now, this Muslim likes Christians, he supplied Christians with cars; he gave them foods. Let all the Muslims go and served in that position because of the emotional nature of religion; that Christian would prefer a very bad Christian to go and occupy that position than for that good Muslim. So because religion has that capacity to avoid reasoning, a president or a public officer like me should just keep away from inciting hate and preach love. So when you seek reconciliation, the president must first take the first step to reconcile the country because the level of division now is very high.

    What is the assurance that you would complete your projects before leaving office, especially the mono-rail?

    Mono-rail would be completed. The reason the monorail must be completed at all costs is political. I want to ride in the monorail and call the Amaechi haters to come and see that I am riding on the monorail. Even if it is May 29, 2015, people will ride on the monorail. We would hang rail. What is delaying the monorail is just the terminal where they would maintain it. That is what they are fixing now, once they fix that, it will be ready.

    What about the secondary schools?

    It is huge and that is the problem we had with that. We have completed at least seven out of the 23 that we want to build. The cost is N4.5billion per school. It is huge and basically the financial diversion at the national level – the oil sector has crippled the states. All the states are being denied money. The stealing in the oil industry is so bad.

    I used to get between N20 billion and N25 billion but now I get N13 billion to N14 billion. Surprisingly, I got N17 billion this month and I was celebrating and my commissioners told me that the extra we got came from the non-oil sector and it is not a thing we get regularly; we usually get it once a year. If you are doing N13billion and your wage bill has risen from N2.5billion to N9billion.

    Why?

    There were no teachers. There were primary and secondary schools with two teachers; one teaching English Language and all Arts subjects and another teacher teaching Mathematics and all Science subjects. Tell me what he knows about physics or chemistry? Now, we have employed about 13,900 teachers and that increased our wage bill to extra N1billion. We took over all primary education from local government council, and that cost N2billion. So, if you add that to N2.5billion, that is N5.5billion. Then increase in the minimum wage shot up our minimum wage to about N18.7 million and that increased our wage bill. If you add that to our pension, which is about N1.9billion every month, we are now doing about N9 billion.

    Can you compare your first and second terms?

    First term we had money and the problem we had in the second term is the fact that the wife of the President is here. Anytime she is town, you will see the heavy presence of the police and army and she used to block many roads and the governor won’t even be able to pass until The News magazine wrote a story titled, “Her Imperial Majesty.” They now opened the roads but, with little presence of soldiers. We have a situation whereby she is in direct control of the police, SSS, Air force. I didn’t say she controlled it through her husband; she is in direct control. Kidnapping is back into Port Harcourt and how do I stop it when the forces I used to stop them with have been removed and they put their own person?

    Now, people cannot move freely in the state because of kidnappers. A friend of mine, Sam Onyema, was buried last week Saturday. What happened to him was that he was going to a burial in Imo State with his friend and they wanted to kidnap his friend and shot him dead. So, how do you account for that in a situation where the wife of the president takes over the security? This is not the first time I am saying it; I have said it severally and they have never denied it. The army has not denied it, the president has not denied it, the wife has not denied it, and the police also have not denied it.

    Since the exit of Mbu as Rivers State Commissioner of Police, have there been any changes?

    No. The only different is that one police commissioner is more civilised than other but it is still the same. Whether he is working for PDP, ask anybody on the street. You run a government whereby the police are not working with you at all, so you can’t even say you want to go on demolition and the police will follow you.

    What if the helicopters come in now?

    Before, we had a wonderful security system. So, it was the security system that gave us the control of the state that made us to introduce helicopters where we would have camera in the helicopters and they can fly round the state and whatever we see we act on it. Now, how do you manage it? You have a system where if you go to arrest anybody; if the person says he is PDP or working for the president with AK 47 in his hand, they would let him go. The army arrested seven people with AK 47 and people are not asking, where are they? When they were arrested, I called the brigade commander that I heard that seven people had been arrested. He told me that he has handed them over to police.

    With the experience you have had in your state, would you advocate for state police?

    It can’t be worse. They will checkmate each other. If you are not in the party of the president, he will stop using the police or army against you because there would be balance of forces in the country. Nobody wants a state police if the national police would be fair to everybody.  There are two reasons for state police. First is that the national police is not properly equipped to check crime. So, if you equipped them properly and made them independent, then you don’t need the state police. The reason for the state police is the failure of the national police. And with the personalisation of national police, it becomes the private army of the President.

    It is worse in this period where it is not only the private army of the President; it is the private army of the Peoples Democratic Party. So, when people criticise others, they should institutionalise the police and the military. If they are not answerable and they would not obey illegal orders, then, we would support everybody. If we have a statesman president, who will not use the police, they would be in support of everybody.

    Are you impressed by yourself this second term because you seem to have been distracted by politics?

    A lot of people need to wait. What you bought into is the PDP propaganda machine and if you know me very well, I hate propaganda. I could actually put about N100 million to N300million to the press to start propaganda and meanwhile I am doing nothing on the ground. There was a time we were responding but it got to a point that we stopped. The reason I stopped was because we started commissioning primary schools. In my first tenure, we had only 75 primary schools. We are trying to get children into 300 but it is expensive to furnish. ICT alone is N34million per school, so 100 schools is N3.4billion. So, we say let us raise about N10billion plus to fund 300 and it is not easy.

    Some states have huge debt profile. What about Rivers State?

    You should ask bankers why they still pursuing us to give us money. It is because we are paying every day. We have borrowed close to N300billion and not owing up to N80billion. That is why I said you should ask banks why they are pursuing us. It is because at the end of the month, once they get our money, they quickly take over their money. We are paying N7billion every month to service the debt. You can ask any of the banks. We would not leave debt behind. We are different from others; you can go and ask thand leave some.” I think we still left about N17billion or N18billion out of N53billion. But it is growing again, maybe before we left; it will grow to over N20billion. Not from our savings alone but interest accruing on it.

    Do you think the NGF is still as effective?

    What are we doing before that we are not doing again? The only thing we were doing before that we were not doing again is controlling the stealing of oil money. Now, it has gone bad that nobody can control it. Before when we see the stealing, we come together and tell the President that we don’t like the stealing. They were more careful then. So, if you say, it is politics, it is more to stop us from shouting against the stealing because that was what was annoying the president that every day we were shouting about the stealing in the oil industry. The stealing was controlled by then, but now the stealing has no control at all. Beyond that, has president stopped me from what I want to say? The answer is no because I can still say what I want to say.

     

  • Why an Ikwere should not succeed me, by Amaechi

    Why an Ikwere should not succeed me, by Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has maintained that a governorship candidate from Ikwere ethnic group should not succeed him next year.

    He said: “I have said that severally because as an Ikwere man, I have served for eight years and there is no law that states that Ikwere has the best to become governor.”

    The governor, who spoke to reporters in Port-Harcourt, said there is no logic in throwing up any sentiment on the ‘riverine/upland dichotomy, adding that it is counterproductive.

    He explained that equity demands that the slot should be zoned to another area because it is not the exclusive preserve of the Ikwere.

    Amaechi said: “You can’t do upland and riverine politics in Rivers State. If you do that, it would be unfair to the riverine people. And I have been telling my friends who are in the riverine area not to pursue that politics. Fifteen local government areas are upland, eight are riverine. Who will win?

    “Politics is a game of numbers. So, it is not in anybody’s interest to do riverine/upland politics. All you can say for now is that it would be unfair for an Ikwere man to come back as governor, no matter the number.

    “Yes, Ikwere people can claim that we have 1.1million votes out of the 2.3million votes. What it means is that, if you are a patriot, allow others, give the 1.1million votes to anybody of your choice.”

    He said the numerical strength of Ikwere should not be the basis for its continued domination of Rivers politics, stressing that other ethnic groups also have qualified candidates to govern the state.

    The governor added: “When Ikwere people visited me in my first two months as governor, I asked them to go to Dr. Peter Odili with gifts to thank him because he was an instrument to the realisation of an Ikwere man as governor.

    “They did it and I know he was shocked because he didn’t know I sent them. He was shocked to receive them and they thanked him. They thanked him because he pursued it and that was why

  • Amaechi, Wike in fresh war of words

    Amaechi, Wike in fresh war of words

    •Minister: Gov has committed  impeachable offences

    • ‘Wike is desperate; a failure’

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, yesterday launched into a fresh war of words after the minister called for the governor’s sack for alleged serial violation of the law.

    The Governor’s office dismissed Wike’s claim, saying he was merely seeking relevance.

    The minister who spoke on a radio interview in Port Harcourt said the governor’s opponents would not fold their arms and watch him continue to engage in ‘impunity’.

    “Amaechi is always talking of plans to impeach him. If he has not committed impeachable offences, who will impeach him? He claims to have majority of members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and he is violating the law. Does Amaechi expect us to fold our arms?”  he asked.

    “An end must come to impunity in Rivers State. The two other arms of government must be independent, but all the three arms must work cooperatively.”

    On his alleged ambition contest in next year’s governorship election in the state, Wike said his main interest is that “PDP must reclaim the Government House in 2015.”

    He added: “If I want to run for governorship of Rivers State, I am not running because I am an Ikwerre man. I will be running because the constitution allows me to run; because I am a Rivers person.

    “I am qualified as a Rivers man. There is no election in Rivers State, since 1979, where only one ethnic group has ever run. PDP wants a candidate that can win governorship election in Rivers State in 2015. It has not come to party’s primaries. You cannot run election without party’s primaries. The candidate must be acceptable. Everybody can run election, but not everybody can win election. If I want to run election, the first person I will tell is my boss, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He said he has no hand in the crisis over who heads the state judiciary.

    “The most senior judge of Rivers State High Court is Justice Daisy Okocha, who should be the Chief Judge. I am not interested in who becomes that Acting or Substantive Chief Judge. My interest is to uphold rule of law and due process,” he said.

    “The amended Rivers State Judiciary Law, which they claimed to have empowered the Chief Registrar to be assigning cases and performing other administrative duties will be resisted. Some people cannot abide by the rules. Amaechi is the father of impunity. The Chief Registrar is a magistrate and not a judicial officer. How can Chief Registrar be assigning cases to his superiors (judges)? PDP  as an opposition party in Rivers State, will not allow that to happen. They are inviting anarchy.”

    He accused the governor’s aides of misleading him.

    But contacted, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, who doubles as his Political Adviser, said: “Governor Amaechi has not committed any impeachable offence. He does not award contracts. Contracts are awarded through the Due Process Office. Monorail and Karibi-Whyte Hospital projects passed through due process and are ongoing.

    ” Justice Daisy Okocha is not the most senior judge in the Rivers State Judiciary. Justice Peter Agumagu is the most senior judge in the Rivers State Judiciary and he has been inaugurated by Governor Amaechi as the substantive Chief Judge.

    “Governor Amaechi is a sound mind and a celebrated progressive in all ramifications. His towering personality cannot be dwarfed by  those  who, at best represent failure,  extreme corruption and ignorance.

    “Wike is a survivalist, thriving only on mischief.  Having failed as a minister, the only other way of protecting his meal ticket is by instigating confusion, leveraging on his perceived not-too-good relationship between Rivers State and the Federal Government. Wike has shown that he has nothing to offer. As the prodigal, which typifies his lifestyle, he offers himself as a tool to pull down his political mentor (Amaechi), but alas, there is  God o. Shame!”

  • Rivers condemns grounding of Amaechi’s aircraft in Kano

    Rivers condemns grounding of Amaechi’s aircraft in Kano

    Nigeria has become tyrannical, the Rivers State Government declared yesterday.

    It condemned Sunday’s grounding of the aircraft chartered by Governor Rotimi Amaechi at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano by the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

    It also alleged that the governor was imprisoned.

    Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, told reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that the refusal of NAMA authorities to allow Amaechi’s charttered aircraft to leave the Kano airport, was sign of tyranny.

    Amaechi, a former National Chairman of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and a fromer Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, were in Kano to condole with Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on the death of Emir Ado Bayero.

    Semenitari said: “I got to my counterpart in Kano State. I could not get the Commissioner for Information, but I got the Commissioner for Home Affairs, who briefed me and told me that the charttered aircraft that conveyed the Rivers State Governor to Kano was denied take-off from the Aminu Kano International Airport, by a fellow, who identified himself as the Commandant, acting on orders from above.

    “That was the only information he was willing to share, when the governor inquired about what offence he or the aircraft operators committed.

    “Yesterday (on Sunday), my counterpart in Kano State told me that the people at the airport said they were directed not to allow all non-scheduled aircraft to take off or land. So, while the governor was there, I was also told they began to lock all the gates to the exit of the airport and they locked the gates with the governor inside the aircraft. For the governor to exit the airport, somebody had to break the padlock of the gate. So, the governor and his team could leave. That amounts to imprisonment without charge.

    “More seriously is the fact that this does not portend well for our democracy. It does not portend well for us as we enter into the next elections. A situation where newspapers are seized, consignments of newspapers are seized, it is the beginning of stifling Nigerians.”

    Semenitari wondered why an aircraft that was cleared before the time of arrival, would not be allowed to take-off with the same passengers it landed with. The development, she said, indicated that some people wanted to intimidate Nigerians ahead of the 2015 general elections, which she said must not be allowed.

    Already, Rivers State aircraft remains grounded at the Port Harcourt airport on the orders of the aviation authorities.

    An official in the aviation agency yesterday said for security reasons, aircraft were prevented from entering and leaving the Kano Airport for sometime.

    The official, who said he was not authorised to speak, added that the restriction was lifted yesterday afternoon.

     

  • Rescuing Nigeria from PDP’s misfortune & misguided vision in 2015: Open letter to apc leadership

    Rescuing Nigeria from PDP’s misfortune & misguided vision in 2015: Open letter to apc leadership

    After 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, it is important on this august occasion of May 29, 2014, to write this special letter on how to rescue our dear nation from the hands of unprepared and clueless leadership piloting the affairs of our nation at the moment which, if not checked, may collapse this country in line with earlier predictions by United States of America, and other prophets of doom.

    In this regard, I write this open letter to the leaders of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), through the following indefatigable leaders of our party: Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Bukola Saraki, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu and Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

    This letter is addressed to you G7 based on your individual merits and most outstanding leadership roles each of you played in what APC is today. Of the major characters within our party, you G7 were selected for this letter. But for avoidance of doubt, His Excellency Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, apart from leading the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the amalgamation, is the national leader of the party and cannot be ignored in this type of letter because the part he played in what APC is today can’t be over-emphasised. Same goes for His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, who led the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to the party, while Ogbonnaya Onu led the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). The importance of Atiku Abubakar in the party, being one of the leading lights, is very obvious. Bukola Saraki leads the National Assembly caucus; Amaechi is the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum while Owelle Rochas Okorocha leads the APC Governors’ Forum.

    The fact remains that Nigeria is currently at the cross road, confused and not knowing what tomorrow portends, occasioned by the visionless and misguided leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre. Today, we have a government that cannot protect or guarantee our security as contained in our constitution. According to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, “This is a government which is not only in denial mentality, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take… It’s one of those rather child-like situations that if you shut your eyes, if you don’t exhibit the tactile evidence of the missing humanity here, that somehow the problem will go away” – A Government that have succeeded in making us a mockery before the international community and African leaders, which major achievements are traumatising, transforming Nigeria into darkness and digitalising corruption to such a level where a whopping sum of $10 million can be said to have developed wings and unaccounted for. A government where a minister spends a whopping sum of $10 million on hiring of planes for movements, both private and official, while Nigerians are wallowing in poverty.  It is based on this unacceptable state and the fear of the future of our country that makes this letter imperative.

    Apart from the above, I was motivated to alert the leadership of APC through this medium as I may not be privileged to attend the caucus or NEC meeting, where crucial issues affecting the future of the party shall be tabled and discussed. Besides, as a stakeholder in the project Nigeria and having played a great role as National Publicity Secretary of the nPDP, a major component of the present APC, I am stimulated not only by my patriotic consideration but encouraged by John F. Kennedy, one of the greatest presidents of America, who said: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” No doubt in this crucial time of our history, PDP has messed up our country. The party has deviated from the democratic path it was founded on and has become a mockery of democratic principles. If some patriotic Nigerians do not rally around each other to ease out this party come 2015, then it will be an understatement to say that Nigeria is doomed and has no future under PDP after 2015. But God forbid!

    I am also aware that it was because of the visionless leadership of PDP that brought up the amalgamation of other opposition political parties to form what is today known as the All Progressives Congress. As I commend and congratulate all the people and forces behind the formation of this great party, let me state that if Nigeria is not rescued from the maladministration of PDP come 2015, to some of us, all the efforts in forming APC would have become an exercise in futility.

    For leading Nigeria to its present comatose state, one cannot be far from the truth if one says that President Goodluck Jonathan is a colossal failure in terms of his leadership of our nation. This view is shared by many Nigerians and some key actors of world politics.

    For example, Dr Peregrino Brimah, after the Jos bombings of Tuesday, May 20, 2014 which claimed more than 200 lives, according to latest counts, have pushed Nigeria to formally occupy the first position in the ranking of nations with the worst governments in history. He went further to present other criteria which recently moved Nigeria up the list as follows:

    Arecent World Bank report listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world. A report from the World Bank in April listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world, with the largest number of people said to live on less than $1.25 a day. The others are India, China, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Jonathan instead of addressing the issue on poverty as raised casually dismissed the report by saying: Nigeria is not a poor country.

    The rebasing of Nigeria’s economy, setting Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, while revealing the true economic position of Africa’s largest nation, simultaneously re-certified Nigeria as the nation in the top position for worst leadership in social welfare and opportunities for the people. With 70 per cent of the nation living under a-dollar-a-day, economically factored, Nigeria has the poorest people of any nation in the world today.  With the rebased economy rating, Nigeria has the most unparalleled HDI (Human Development Index) to revenue and economy ratio of all nations. Poorest people in the Nigeria case, is derived from or correlates with poorest leadership.

    Is it not surprising that Nigeria, at the end of 2013, surpassed Mexico in kidnapping, recording the cruelest and second highest single abduction events in recent history. By the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, Nigeria surpassed Syria, Libya, Iraq and Central African Republic (CAR) in deadly acts of terrorism and sectarian violence. The Nyanya bombing was ranked the fifth worst bombing of its kind in world history, post 1970, by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). The Jos bombing, with over 200 reported dead in one attack, is second only to 9/11 and the disputed Syria chemical weapons attack.

    In combined values, with about 80,000 people killed in four years of largely unchecked Boko Haram violence, and with over 4,000 killed in the first quarter of 2014 alone, Nigeria has fast outpaced other nations of the world in deadly terror. Nigeria’s leadership in December of 2013 secured the world’s top position in insecurity and failure to protect life and discourage terror. Current rankings put Nigeria’s leadership second only to Hitler, after surpassing Saddam Hussein, in the current century, in terms of deliberate internal wastage of life.”

    With Nigeria’s leadership admitting that they could not account for up to or more than $20 billion oil revenue earnings discovered missing in a single 18-month period examined; the nation’s finance minister admitting this to BBC and the official government engagement of Price Waterhouse, an international accounting firm, which further confirmed this financial mishap, Nigeria secured its position as the most haplessly and a ver unserious nation.

    According to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, in separate events in New York City, said the Nigerian government under President Goodluck Jonathan squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the troubled country. Her words: “They have squandered their oil wealth; they have allowed corruption to fester, and now they are losing control of parts of their (own) territory because they would not make hard choices.” The former U.S. Secretary of State at the function organised by the International Crisis Group also emphasized that: “The Nigerian government has failed to confront the threat, or to address the underlying challenges. Most of all, the government of Nigeria needs to get serious about protecting all of its citizens, and ensuring that every child has the right and opportunity to go to school.”

    While to Sarah Saawall, US
    Under Secretary of State,
    “Corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram”.

    A new report on global life expectancy by the World Health Organisation has rated Nigeria low in its report titled “World Health Statistics 2014” and published few days ago, life expectancy for both men and women is less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan African countries namely: Nigeria, Angola, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Sierra Leone. The yearly report is the definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people. It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators, including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from key diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviours that affect health.

    General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria former President in his assessment of Jonathan’s performance in office posited: “I don’t believe he has performed to the expectations of many Nigerians, not just me.” While US Senator John McCain in his view feels that we don’t even have a government in the right sense, “We shouldn’t have waited for a practically non-existent government to give us the go ahead before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls”

    “Mr. Jonathan, who leads a corrupt government that has little credibility, initially played down the group’s threat and claimed security forces were in control. It wasn’t until Sunday, more than two weeks after the kidnappings, that he called a meeting of government officials – New York Times.

    The Economist, writing under the Editorial ‘A Clueless Government described the PDP Government in Nigeria, ‘perhaps the worst aspect of the Nigerian Government’s handling of the abduction is its seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than two weeks before Mr. Jonathan addressed the matter in public. His government’s sluggish response and its failure even to clarify how many girls had been abducted provoked protests in several cities across Nigeria – itself an usual event

    We should be asking ourselves: Is this the type of PDP that Nigerians voted for during the general elections of 2011?  Of course, not! Nigeria is certainly more divided under this administration than ever and only divine intervention can enable us survive the visionless and clueless leadership that now pervades our nation. These are some of the reasons why the leadership of APC should move fast to rescue our nation from the sordid state it is at the moment.

    I am so saddened over the mess President Jonathan has made of our country, because I could recall warning Nigerians that Jonathan was not prepared for the office he was being pushed to occupy, after messing up the zoning formula of PDP entrenched for the sanctity and peace of the nation. But nobody took me serious. I am warning again, that if PDP under President Jonathan is not stopped by 2015, Chief Uzor Kalu would have become a true prophet. After all, he once said: “Jonathan might be the last Nigerian President. Jonathan might be the Gorbachev of Nigeria. And that is the truth, so we better wake up. Political class, business class, military, civilians must now stand up to work for our internal security. We are suffering from pains of our people; we are suffering from pains of the Nigerian system. This is not about which part of the country you come from, it is about Nigeria.”

    Chief Tom Ikimi, one of the major pillars of the party, in his open letter to the national chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande titled, “My fears for APC, by Ikimi” of May 9, 2014 expresses the fears of some key actors of the party. He wrote: “I have taken a few days rest, but my intention of proceeding to an extended holiday seem to be disturbed by the overwhelming unfavourable reports I have received from across the country on the present status of our party. I have spoken to party members and leaders across the country and the feeling is unanimous regarding the downward trend of things. The latest problems arise from the congresses where in the South-South region; there are fundamental problems in Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Edo. I have been informed of similar problems in most other states across the country. Parallel excos have emerged in Ogun State!

    “I am compelled to express strong reservations on the present state of affairs in our party, and my heart bleeds when I look back at the efforts and personal sacrifice many of us made to bring this national platform to fruition.”

    I believe some of the issues raised by Chief Ikimi in his letter should be addressed as we should not be seen repeating some of the evils that scared us away from PDP.

    If we still have audacious strategists in the party, I will suggest that we in APC should heed to the wise counsel of elder statesman Alh. Balarabe Musa,  who had earlier advised that “the North should forget the ambition of insisting on the presidency in 2015, rather a credible President for the country should be allowed to emerge from the South-South in 2015 to replace Jonathan.”.

    I fully persuade our leaders to carefully study this proposal from Musa and make the contest for the APC Presidential ticket an open one that anybody from any section of the country can bid to take. If we make the presidential primary free, fair and transparent, whoever emerges no matter where he or she is from should be allowed to go with the full support of the entire party. This is the only way I believe we can achieve the APC’s aim of rescuing Nigeria from the evil grip of the PDP before this great nation is ran aground.

    The most important thing that
    should be at the back of ev
    ery progressive Nigerian’s mind is how to free Nigerians from the shame that PDP has brought to us all. And, if we miss this opportunity, only God will determine the fate of our nation.

    In this regards, let us be guided by the foremost African, Nelson Mandela’s words: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it”. And the counsel of management philosopher, Peter Drucker: “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” This is if truly we want to bail this country from the mess of PDP.

    Knowing that some people will start to ask questions on my pedigree in penning down this letter, let me state that apart from the facts enumerated above of the need of this letter, my past acts in the struggle for a better and greater Nigeria position me for this letter. I was the national director of the dreaded Turaki Vanguard that fought to stand still the infamous third term agenda and some anti-democratic elements during the second term tenure of President Obasanjo. I was in charge of the public relations unit of the outfit. Apart from being the immediate past national publicity secretary of “new Peoples Democratic Party” (nPDP), I initiated and headed the Igbo Crusaders Political Outfit and South-East-South-South Amalgamated Political Movement (SESSAM), which I used to promote and propagate the ideals and visions of the founding fathers of PDP in the North-East of Nigeria, though sadly the party has been hijacked by elements that never knew the ideals and principles why PDP was formed in the first place.

    With this clarification, the point that I have been in the centre of the struggle for a better Nigeria is not in doubt, prompting the penning down of this letter. So it will be sad should anybody dare suggest that I was either influenced or motivated in writing this letter for any other consideration, if not for patriotic reasons.

    The fact remains that should APC loose out in the 2015 general election, but God forbid, the true colour of President Goodluck Jonathan will be revealed to Nigerians and none of us may survive the heat. The ball is now in your court to do that which is necessary to rescue Nigeria from the imminent doom that awaits her, should we fail in this mission.

    Let me, therefore, conclude this letter by asking you all to listen to what the most outstanding African, both dead and living, Nelson Mandela, said about our present predicament: “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”

    Regards and remain blessed.

     

    •Chief Eze was the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New PDP

  • Why we need state police

    SIR:  The state of insecurity facing Nigeria calls for a round-table discussion on the essence of providing adequate proper and efficient security for all. The major priority for any government is to secure the lives and property of the populace which they govern. Unfortunately, the federal government is finding it difficult to do so. Over 2000 lives have been lost since the continuous attack by the Boko Haram sect on the Nigerian people. I shed tears continuously due to the inhuman activities of Boko Haram sect.

    The political class continues to point accusing fingers rather than working together for a common cause. They say state governors are the Chief Security Officers of their states, but in reality, governors are not in control of any security outfit. The federal government recruits, dispatch and command the entire security outfit we have in Nigeria. How then can one say governors are the chief security officers? A governor does not in any way have a say in the deployment or removal of commissioners of police or any head of a security outfit in the nation. We have had examples when a governor would give a direct order on a commissioner of police and the commissioner would disobey the order and carry out a different agenda as we saw of Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu.

    There have been a lot of anxieties that the creation of state police would give governors the power to use them as a tool to fight opponents and could also be used in the manipulation of election processes. The truth of the matter is that theory is baseless. The federal government has been controlling the police and various security outfits for decades; can we say they have used that machinery to witch-hunt their opponents? I don’t think so. How can you deploy an Edo man to let’s say Oyo State, where he has little or no knowledge of the terrain? How can he effectively fight crime? How would he know the fastest route or potential hide out of criminals?

    The best option to police ourselves is ourselves! An Osun man should be in Osun; ditto an Edo man should serve in Edo. The benefit of this outweighs the demerits; the police officers would be familiar with that terrain, speak the language, understand the culture or religious values and can easily identify potential individuals that are security threat due to their familiarisation within that community.

     

    • Folawiyo Kareem Olajoku

    Osogbo, Osun State

     

  • Court strikes out Amaechi’s case against lawmakers

    Court strikes out Amaechi’s case against lawmakers

    A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt struck out yesterday the suit by Governor Rotimi Amaechi seeking to stop members of the House of Assembly from impeaching him.

    The court said the suit was baseless and incompetent.

    A crisis in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in April last year, led to Amaechi’s suspension from the party the following month.

    Following his suspension, five lawmakers began moves to impeach him, by first attempting to remove the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.

    They are Evans Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Kelechi Nwogu (Omuma), Martin Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor 1),  Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt 3) and Michael Chinda  (Obio/Akpor 2).

    Amaechi approached the court to restrain all the 32 lawmakers from impeaching him.

    The five lawmakers filed an application expressing their interest to join in the suit in separate capacities. They said their opinions differ from that of their colleagues.

    Justice George Omereji pointed out that the claimant mentioned the Chairman and Secretary of the State PDP, Felix Obuah and Walter Ibibia Opuene, in the case for “criminal wrongdoings” without substantiating his claims against them.

    Justice Omereji said there was no way anyone, who was mentioned for criminal wrongdoings, would not be given an opportunity for fair hearing.

    “If the court goes ahead with its ruling on the persons mentioned in the suit without giving them opportunity to defend themselves, it would amount to unfair hearing,” he said.

    According to the judge, the claimant did not give reasonable cause to show that there was a plot to impeach him at the Hotel Presidential, adding that it was in the mind of the claimant that such a plot was conceived.

    The court also pointed out that the “allegation of harassing, intimidating, abusing and threatening” the first set of defendants by Obuah and Opuene, was not on the claimant, and, therefore, was incompetent.

    The governor through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Tony Okocha, said he would look at the ruling before taking a decision . To him, the case has become a mere academic exercise.

  • Taraba: Motion without movement

    SIR: Some people find themselves in leadership position well prepared and ready for the task ahead with a well defined and articulated blueprint which would serve as a guide in actualizing their pre-conceived objective. These group of leaders always succeed; for instance Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers.

    Others find themselves unprepared, without any defined idea of what they intend to achieve; in fact, some come into office as a result of a misfortune of others; this group rarely triumph. The acting Governor of Taraba State Alhaji Garba Umar alias UTC fell within the later group.

    I am not trying to validate the nonsensical position of those agitating for his vacation from office so as to pave way for them to run the affairs of government on behalf of ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai, but to highlight silent issues which those sycophants around him would not be able to tell him for the fear of the unknown.

    I have been away from my state, Taraba, for almost four months. As I approached the city gate coming back home, I was expecting to see changes in the landscape of Jalingo. Alas, there were no changes. Even the street lights that I left working are no longer functioning, No single road project is going on, nothing!

    When I enquired from the locals, I was told that it has been like that since I left. One of his defenders told me he is constructing Bali-Gembu Road and that he is also working on the completion of College of Nursing Jalingo. Coincidentally, while watching the local news that same evening, I saw workers of the Taraba State Road Construction and Maintenance Agency (TARCMA) demonstrating over non-payment of their salaries.  What a shame!

    His recent appointment of about 24 Special advisers and 24 Special Assistants is nothing short of embarrassment. What do you need them for when you have commissioners manning all the portfolios? Is that not duplication of work? Or is it an avenue of empowering the foot soldiers that would prosecute the 2015 election? No wonder, I was told that they don’t even have offices.

    The truth of the matter is that, the acting governor’s performance in the last two years by all standards is below average. How did I arrive at that conclusion? It is simple arithmetic; calculate the total amount received by the state government from the various