Governorship: Why They Tried To Stop Me –Amaechi

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi says the fear of wealth sustenance was one of the reasons people tried to stop him from becoming governor.

He stated that it is also for the same reason that Nigeria operates a system in which the ingredients of true federalism are mortgaged for ethnic sentiments, wealth protection and individual quest for power.

Governor Amaechi, who said this, Thursday, in reaction to a lecture delieved by Dr. Don Kroah of Salem Communications, USA, at the 54th birthday lecture of Governor Gbenga Daniels of Ogun State in Abeokuta, noted that the difficulty in implementing true federalism in Nigeria was because the political space was not open for the people.

He noted that if the nation was serious about achieving the full benefits of federalism, then, Nigerians irrespective of race, ethnicity or political interest, ought to have supported the implementation of the full benefits of fiscal federalism, where component states contribute to the centre.

“The situation we have at hand now is like strange bed fellows where a man and his wife would sleep on the same bed, facing different directions, and the next morning they will hold their hands as if nothing was wrong”, he said, insisting that such development was not good for the country.

Governor Amaechi, who faulted Dr Kroah’s submissions on the way forward for Nigeria’s democracy; said corruption in the system cannot experience a flight until government at all levels are able to run an economy that is accountable.       

The governor called for the re-prioritisation of the focus of Nigeria’s federalism, saying that until the political space is open and the people allowed to choose their leaders based on what they can offer, the power of the voting public will not carry its deserved weight.

In his speech at the event, former Nigerian President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) described the views and positions of the Guest Lecturer as a true reflection of what Nigeria was and is at the moment. 

Gen. Babangida who eulogised the Rivers State Government’s example in promoting human capital development, said he is a beneficiary of the Rivers State outside training programme for secondary school students as some of the students are being trained at the EI-Amin International Security School, Minna, Niger State, owned by him.

The former President, who harped on the need to change the mindset of Nigerians about the need to promote true federalism, said he will only vote for somebody who believes in human capital development, true federalism and the need to run a cohesive national government in the 2011 elections.

In his view, an elder statesman, Chief Yemi Farounbi identified conflict between the running of a parliamentary and presidential system of government in Nigeria, a weaker society and stronger nation, as well as a drought of visionary leaders as the problems with the Nigerian democracy and called for vision, character and competence as the virtues that should be encouraged in selecting leaders in Nigeria.

Earlier, the guest speaker, Dr Don Kroah, had traced Nigeria’s history and equally made a comparative analysis of the political atmosphere and recommended free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria, effective participation in the political process at all levels and commitment to the process by all Nigerians, as the way forward for the nation.