Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State of Nigeria, who prefers to be addressed with the pre-fix of "RIGHT HONOURABLE"(whatever that means), made popular by the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, can be considered an achiever by any standard.We salute and congratulate him.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi comes from Ubima, a rural farming community in the Ikwerre axis of Rivers State, where opportunities for educational and other forms of personal advancements were and still limited,like in other communities in Nigeria.The community's only claim to fame is being host to the now moribound RISONPALM OILPALM PLANTATION.
The "RIGHT HONOURABLE" fom Ubima nonetheless, surmounted these initial seemingly insurmountable obstacles to emerge a graduate of the university of Portharcourt.
Coming in contact and maintaining friendship with Dr. Peter Odili, a former governor of Rivers state from 1999 to 2007 in the 1980s,when Odili was already a well known local politician,having served as a member of the constituent assembly,albeit on a master-servant basis can be considered a feat for a rural young man fresh from school.
In 1999, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi contested for a seat in the Rivers state house of assembly under the Peoples' Democratic Party(PDP)and lost to the then more famous Uche Okwukwu of the then All Peoples'Party(APP)(now ANPP).Uche Okwukwu however lost the seat to Amaechi in a judgement of the Rivers state house of assembly election petition tribunal.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi's doggedness culminated into his being installed as governor in October 2007 by the Supreme court of Nigeria, after a protracted legal battle that ran through the whole gamut of judiciary hierachies.
Surmounting these seemingly insurmountable obstacles may have informed the Ubima born politician's arrogant attitudes.
What we see and hear these days is a civillian governor and political leader in the most volatile region in Nigeria,talking down on his people like a victorious war commander addressing his prisoners of war.
Governor Amaechi recently,gathered chiefs and elders of Kalabari Kingdom,a major political bloc in Rivers state, and in the full glare of the press and public berated them for aiding and abetting cultism and ofcourse ended up handing them an ultimatum to turn in cultists and arms in their domains or be arrested, same scenerio played out at Okirika kingdom, another major political bloc in Rivers state.
The point here is not whether what was said was right or wrong, since we cannot claim to be privy to the information the governor had, the point here is that there should be better ways and fora where these issues can be addressed.The governor and the council of chiefs and elders in a close door meeting for instance,can deliberate and find solutions to these issues.
The governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi braggadocio in our opinion is not the best way to address the problems of Rivers state and by extension that of the Niger Delta.
