The Amaechi Years as Seen by Friends
When I was told about this book presentation and the fact that I was being asked to be the Reviewer, I did not have to think twice before accepting to squeeze the event into my schedule. First, I consider Governor Amaechi as a friend, even though he would rather call himself my son. Given my position as a Bishop and the huge age difference between us, I felt that I might be guilty of child abuse if I did not act as an elder statesman. The second reason is that I automatically assumed that the event would take place in Port Harcourt. I consider Rivers State a second home and what is more, having put in some little effort in the search for peace in the area, I have been very worried about the return of violence to some parts of the state. In my role as the Convener of the National Peace Committee, I was also hopeful that this event would give me an opportunity to explore also what we could do to put the state back on a peaceful keel.
I asked Governor Amaechi why a book about his tenure in Rivers State should be launched in Lagos and not Port Harcourt, the book capital of Nigeria and he said that apparently this is one out of three outings meant to market the book and Port Harcourt will be next. Looking at the book, I realize it is not meant to address the assumptions in its rather ambitious title.
The book is meant to be a coffee table companion and not for the shelves. It is in a sense a pictorial, laying out rather beautifully, a collection of some of the important pictures of the Governor with his family, friends and key figures on the one hand and projects he executed on the other. It presents a pictorial snapshot of the achievements of the Governor in the last eight years.
The book is 251 pages, has a Foreword and a Preface. The Foreword, titled, The Tyranny of Courage is written by Professor Wole Soyinka. It is followed by a Preface written by both Editors of the book, Dr. Chidi Amuta, who taught in the University of Port Harcourt and Yemi Ogunbiyi whose son is a Special Assistant to the Governor. It then has 13 other contributors who are friends of the Governor from the Media to other professional backgrounds. It contains the both inaugural speeches by the Governor in 2007 and 2011 and the excerpts of the Supreme Court Judgment of Friday, January 18th, 2008. So, in a manner of speaking this is not a disinterested piece of work, but rather, a labour of love.
It is impossible for me to attempt to summarise the contents of the book. I will simply try to highlight three key issues raised in some parts of the book and then use the opportunity to raise other questions about our current situation.
In the Preface of the book, Professor Soyinka presents a lengthy discourse on what he calls the tyranny of courage. Professor Soyinka casts Amaechi in battle with the powers that be in a David and Goliath metaphor. It is written in Soyinkasque parlance and understandably not meant to be read in a molue. In summary, he enjoins us to: ….laud those whose governance conduct is marked by a consistency in the promotion of the seeming intangibles that manifest themselves as the pillars of productive self confidence within society, at the head of which we count Freedom (p13).
In the book, two attempts are made at the Governor’s biographical sketches. These are in the contributions of Andrew Uchendu, a Member of the House of Representatives and Magnus Abe, a former Member of the State House of Assembly, later, Secretary to the Government of Rivers State and now a Senator. The rest of the book is made up of assessments of various levels of the Governor’s tenure. These present some broad strokes covering such areas of infrastructural activities as Roads Construction, Education, Health, Agriculture, Greater Port Harcourt project, Economic Empowerment and so on. Towards the end, the last four contributions focus on Good Governance, the Governors’ Forum crises. The book closes with a futuristic title, Rivers State Ahead: Contemplating the Post Amaechi Years.
In reviewing this book, we might be tempted to ask, who is Governor Rotimi Amaechi? If you seek answers to this question from the book, you will find very little because the book says nothing about his formative years. In the interventions of Professor Soyinka, Uchendu and Abe, we are presented with an Amaechi as a stubborn contrarian, a fearless lion, given to sailing against the wind and taking on the most powerful.
The chapter, Restoring Law and Order, by Ade Adeogun, places in context the problems faced by Governor Amaechi as he confronted the dragon of militancy and violence in Rivers State. The stories of his personal confrontation with some of the key militants are well known. His position was that both he and the militants could not occupy the same space: someone had to move and it was not going to be him. His achievements here soon saw the return of order in Rivers State and many would argue that some of his achievements laid the foundation for the Amnesty programme. Sadly, these gains soon suffered a reversal as federal might began to confront state might. We read on pg. 73, the sad story of the abandoned helicopters purchased in the United States of America due to the unresolved issues between federal and state government.
In trying to present his biography, both Uchendu and Abe tell us what we already know about Governor Amaechi as a young idealist seduced by the allure of Marxism. He apparently rises to the position of an altar server in the pantheon of Marxism in the University of Port Harcourt under such high priests as the late Claude Ake and Chidi Amuta. The story of his relationship with Governor Peter Odili, its subsequent fracture is already well known. The story is well told by both Abe and Uchendu with both authors in agreement over the role of Governor Odili as a political godfather who nurtured his young son all the way through to his becoming the Speaker and finally, the Candidate for the PDP in the 2007 elections before the k-leg ambush.
As I said, if we are looking for details of Amaechi’s biography, we must look elsewhere. Somehow, I am surprised that the editors did not seem to have spotted some bit of contradictions in the presentation of a vital part of the life of the subject. And this is why, I wonder if the Governor himself had the chance to read the manuscript.
For example, on pg. 21, Uchendu says that: Young Amaechi lived with his father in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt and had his Primary school education at Sacred Heart Primary School, Diobu. His residence and primary school were all in this densely populated area of Port Harcourt. A few lines down, he tells us that: Amaechi became a student Union activist and was elected National President of the National Union of Nigerian Students (p21). This is no small achievement for the records of any one aspiring for a political life in Nigeria.
However, in his own account, Senator Abe tells a slightly different story. He stated on pg. 34-5 that: Young Amaechi attended St. Theresa’s Primary School, Ubima from 1970-76. He also attended Sacred Heart Secondary School, Port Harcourt but did not complete his Secondary education in that school because of an interesting twist (p34/5). On his politics in the Student Union Movement, Abe tells us a different story. He stated that: Amaechi embraced Marxism while in the school and cut his teeth in student union activism. He became the President of the National Association of Rivers State Students from where he got a shot at the Presidency of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS during their convention in 1986, but lost. Those who are familiar with the story of how he lost, remember how Chibuike spent all his money on the elections and had to hitch hike on a big lorry in other to return to Port Harcourt (p35). Who are we to believe? This gap in fact needs to be closed immediately.
Second is the issue of Governor Amaechi’s controversial ascendancy to the position of the Governor of Rivers State. I imagine that Law students will continue to debate this ruling for a long time. As a layman, I found some parts of the judgment rather amusing and a further confirmation of the truism that the law is an ass. Let me tease you with the paragraph that I found must hilarious in this historic judgment. In part of his judgment, Justice Oguntade, JSC, (the lawyers would say as he then was), stated that his duty in his ruling was to do justice. In doing this, he stated in par 46 of the judgment: …there is no doubt that the intention of Amaechi, to be garnered from the nature of the reliefs he sought from the court of trial, was that he be pronounced the Governorship Candidate of the PDP for the April elections in Rivers State. He could not have asked to be declared Governor. Then, way down the lines in the same paragraph, in speaking of Mr. Celestine Omehia, who was the sitting Governor then, the same Justice Oguntade stated that: Omehia never argued that he took part in the PDP primaries. He therefore did not manifest a desire for the office of Governor of Rivers State. Quite interesting: Both Omehia and Amaechi, two Ikwerre cousins had become Governors without asking for the job! Omehia was right when he titled his response to the judgment: The Right to be Wrong.
The third point is the issue of Governor Amaechi’s achievements. This is what this book apparently sets out to achieve. How well the book has done this, is left for the readers to judge especially given the distance between the publishers of the book and those who live in Rivers State. No one will take away the fact that for his tenure, Amaechi was what in Nigeria we would call, an action Governor. The people of Rivers State later voted for Governor Amaechi definitely based on his performance. They expected a consolidation of the gains made and the development of a greater vision. The question in his second term was whether he would continue with the same steam. Was there a qualitative or quantitative change in his vision? The place to look is in the contents of his two Inaugural speeches which are fully produced on pgs. 53-60.
Amaechi’s two inaugural speeches are interesting in their content and context. Aware of the wounds that had been incurred in the cause of campaigns, he told the people of Rivers State that: This administration will initiate a process of genuine reconciliation with all aggrieved parties and interest groups (pg. 53). Amaechi was soon to realize that the road to genuine reconciliation is often full of land mines. Despite securing the services of the famous Justice Kayode Eso of blessed memory, the process was weighed down by controversy and it generated so much bad blood that in the end, it was at best a distraction. He had also promised in the same speech that: The planned demolition of the waterfronts in Port Harcourt proposed by the last administration is hereby suspended (pg. 54). Strange, it was on this same waterfront that the first shots of the battle between the Governor and the First Lady were fired.
Cont’d on Pg. 91