Tonye Harry, Living Even In Death

Cross section of members of the Rivers State House of Assembly on a condolence visit to the family of their former Speaker, Late Rt. Hon. Tonye Harry, last Wednesday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga.

Rt Hon. Tonye Harry will
be dearly missed. He was a thorough and distinguished legislator, an astute politician who believes that politics and public office should be about service to the people.
“Over the years, he worked very hard and diligently to make Rivers State a better place. His contributions to the legislative development of the state were indeed enormous.
“We worked together, very closely; he was a friend, and brother that will be dearly missed. He has left a vacuum that will be very difficult to fill.”
These were the words of the Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, when he paid a condolence visit to the wife and family of the late lawmaker last Tuesday.
On his part, the Deputy Governor of the state, Engr. Tele Ikuru, has this to say: “The death of Tonye Harry has robbed the state and nation of an erudite politician par excellence, whose contributions to the growth of democracy cannot be quantified.”
Also, Senator Magnus Abe described him as “a methodical lawmaker, reliable friend, brother, team player and an astute politician whose wealth of experience furthered the stabilisation of the fourth Assembly, and contributed immensely to the development of Rivers State.”
The Senator served as the Minority Leader of the Fourth Assembly when the late Harry was Deputy Speaker and the incumbent Governor was the Speaker.
The encomiums on the late former speaker has not ceased . In fact, from all indications,  they will not cease for a long time, even after he has been laid to rest in his final abode, such is the life of this great Harry’s Town born Rivers  lawmaker who seemed to have touched so many lives in virtually everywhere he sojourned.
Former United States of America President, Franklin D. Roosevelt once said “the test of our progress (as a nation) is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little .” These words seem to be at the back of Tonye Harry’s mind in what could be termed his political adventure.
Right from his days as an Accountant in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, from where he joined politics and was elected as member of the Assembly, representing Degema Constituency in 1999, he had showed such commitment to the welfare of others that made him the only of his peers.
It could be said that it was the same trait that endeared him to his colleagues in the Hallowed Chambers of the Fourth Assembly and made them elect him Deputy Speaker to Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi.
Even as a Deputy, he was an enigma of some sort, defining and redefining lawmaking in the state, while also effectively holding forth for his principal each time the need arose.
This seems to be the explanation to what Governor Amaechi said that “over the years, he worked very hard and diligently to make Rivers State a better place. His contribution to the legislative development of the state were indeed enormous.”
From his community, Harry’s Town, thorough his primary constituency (Degema Local Government Area), to the state, Harry touched so many lives, directly or indirectly, especially through various levels of empowerment initiatives.
It was, therefore, not surprising that when the tenure of Amaechi ended as Speaker in 2007, Harry it was who stepped into the big shoes of his predecessor.
From then on he seemed to be guided by what the philosopher, Bruce Barton, believed in, through his saying that “Nothng splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.”
He worked assiduously, not only to effectively represent his primary constituency and the Kalabaris, but also to enhance good governance in the state with Rt. Hon. Chibuike at the helm of affairs as Governor. Though continuity in governance is widely believed to be alien, in Nigeria, Rt. Hon Tonye Harry, continued from the standard set by his predecessor in the legislative arm of government, and improved on it.
Through the matured leadership of the state House of Assembly by the late Harry, the House was able to create a cordial relationship between the legislative and executive arms of government in the state to the envy of other states in the federation.
As a demonstration of his uncommon leadership traits and impliedly his acceptance as a world leader, he was made the chairman of speakers of parliaments in all the commonwealth countries during the four years he served as speaker of the Rivers Assembly.
During the same period, the state Assembly passed various landmark laws which have so far stood the test of time over two years after the expiration of his speakership.
The laws include: Rivers State Bureau of Public Preocurement law No. 4 of 2008, Rivers State Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority N0.2 of 2009; land Use prohibition of  Extortion law No.5 OF 2010; and Rivers State Micro-Finance Agency Law No.6 of 2008.
Also included are” Rivers State Traffic Law No.6 of 2009, Rivers State contributory pension law in public service No.7 of 2009, and Rivers State University Education Law No.8 of 2010, All of these Laws have proved to be cardinal to the growth and maintenance of law and order in the state.
It is obviously due to these and several other innumerable achievements that the on-going encomiums have been showered on the late legislative icon. But the praises did not just come at his death, it started long before his untimely demise on Friday, October 4, 2013.
In 2010, three years into his reign as speaker, Mrs. Manuelas. George Izunwa, then Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, described him as “an enigma, seasoned bureaucrat, level-headed fellow, unassuming but very strict to details when it comes to work.
“His commitment to the new Rivers State of which we all are trying to build under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi the Governor of our dear state, is unrivalled.”
To buttress Tonye Harry’s empowerment programmes, Chief Ngo Martyns- Yellowe, publisher of Top News, a local tabloid, said he is “a popular and compassionate leader. He has core supporters whose belief in him is unshaken and he is liked by a Large section of Degema population for his humility, generosity and generally kind disposition.
“He has empowered a lot of people across Degema LGA by providing employment for them and also has a large number of them under his payroll.”
In fact, words on the streets of Rivers State are more lamentations than cries. The rhetorical questions on the streets boils down to “who will carry us along after Tonye?.
From the foregoing it is not a surprise that the incumbent speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree, described the late iconic legislator as “a stabilising factor,” noting that he died when his presence was most needed, referring to the current crisis rocking the state Assembly.
The reasoning in several quarters currently is that if Harry could so positively affect lives, it goes to show that if his colleagues could borrow a leaf from his legacy, Rivers State will be best off and the same factor that has kept him alive, even in death, will keep all of them alive when their time comes, just as he will remain in the lives of all those he has touched directly or indirectly.