Criss Jami, an author, mu
sician, poet, essayist, existentialist philosopher, and founder of Killosopher, must have had the Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in mind when he said; “It’s not about going around trying to stir up trouble. As long as you’re honest and you articulate what you believe to be true, somebody somewhere will become your enemy whether you like it or not.”
This is because Amaechi is one of the most misunderstood, most criticised and most controversial governors in Nigeria.
His critics have accused him  of not only playing God but of also attempting to impose his will on those who cross his path. To these people, Governor Amaechi is arrogant, power drunk, evil, possessive and a stumbling block to their political agenda.
Dr. Lewis Akpogena, a Christian devotional writer and Port Harcourt based  media consultant is one of those critics who accused Amaechi of playing God. He therefore enjoined the Christian community to vote PDP candidates and not Nyesom Wike or Governor Amaechi’s APC’:
But when you critically read through Dr. Akpogena’s thesis and his recommendation of which party to vote for or not, you will start wondering if he is not the one actually playing God. Assuming, as he recommended, that Rivers State should neither vote for PDP if Chief Wike clinches the party’s ticket nor for APC under the watch of Governor Amaechi, then which party is Dr. Akpogena recommending for Rivers State people to vote for? This alone shows how far some so-called men of God and politicians can go to vent their anger on a man who has been doing his best to better Rivers State than he met it.
Dr. Criss Jami, after studying the likes of Dr. Lewis Akpogena, admonished Governor Amaechi thus: “At first, they’ll only dislike what you say, but the more correct you start sounding, the more they’ll dislike you.”
Having watched this misunderstood politician for about seven years and read a lot about him, one is compelled to unearth the true nature of this vilified man and some of the things that make his critics brand him arrogant.
Who Really Is Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi?
The boy Amaechi was named CHIBUIKE (“God is all Powerful”) and “ROTIMI”, an abridged version of “Oluwadurotimi” meaning “the Lord stands by me”, while AMAECHI means “who knows tomorrow?” What a combination of names in one person all stating the greatness and omniscience state of God! Today, all these meanings in these names ‘Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi’ have come to play in the acts and arts of politics associated with this man who drinks controversy as any normal man drinks tea. An alumnus of the University of Port Harcourt, Amaechi’s vision and commitment towards the emancipation and development of Rivers State is unparallel and not in doubt.
Amaechi,  an indigene of Ubima in Ikwerre, Rivers State,  was the first Nigerian to be the Speaker of a State House of Assembly for a whopping eight years and later became Chairman of Conference of Speakers Forum, an umbrella body of all Speakers of State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria.
His assumption of office as the Governor of Rivers State was mysterious and defies every political understanding as PDP, the political party to which he belonged at that time, dumped him after convincingly winning the governorship ticket during the party’s primaries .It took  the Supreme Court to restore him as the Governor of Rivers State. By May 2015 he would have spent eight years as Governor. He is currently Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum. His unprecedented feats in the transformation of Rivers State have won him many international and local awards, as well as the respect of great leaders both locally and internationally.
He was the rallying force behind mobilising the governors under PDP to support the presidential aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan during the PDP Presidential Primaries that produced Jonathan as the PDP flagbearer. During the 2011 presidential election proper, Governor Amaechi ensured that President Jonathan got over 2million votes from Rivers State – the highest by any State in the country. Regretably, Amaechi’s forthrightness and boldness to stand by the truth attracts so much enmity, particularly from those who can’t withstand his manner of approach.
Examples of what his critics call abrasiveness
On why he shunned Nigeria’s centenary celebration: According to the governor, he stayed away from Nigeria’s centenary’s celebration in Abuja in order to get even with President Goodluck Jonathan whom he said, failed to honour the invitation to 100 years anniversary of Port Harcourt last year.
His words: “When they asked me why I did not attend the celebration, I said five prominent Rivers men left here to go and invite the President. When they approached me that they wanted to go and invite the President, I said, ‘don’t bother your head, the President won’t come’. They said ‘no, not after he has seen us. They (Rivers indigenes) are seated here: Justice Karibi Whyte, Prof. Tekena Tamuno, Prof. E.J. Alagoa, Chief Agbaru and Prof. Nimi Briggs; and they went. They were very well received by our President and they were very impressed. They came back to my house that day in Abuja and they told me that they met with the President and I was excited. Everybody in the Federal Government told me the President would come (for the Port Harcourt centenary). The President did not come. So, I told them that I would not go to (Nigeria’s) centenary because Port Harcourt turned 100 and the President refused to come even though he grew up here. I said I would not go to Nigeria’s centenary in response to his (Jonathan’s) refusal to come for Port Harcourt centenary. I did that not because I wanted to disrespect the President. I respect him for his age and his achievement in the society. I thought that the Federal Government should have respected and honoured that invitation.”
To his critics and to PDP in Rivers State, Amaechi should have stomached the ungentlemanly conduct of Mr. President and attended the centenary event of Nigeria but that is not Amaechi; he is not a pretender and will prefer to voice out his problem than keeping quiet in the face of obvious wickedness.
To most of his critics, Amaechi is the cause of the rift between him and Mr. President, but the fact remains that Amaechi is totally innocent of what he is accused of as it is only a governor who hates his state so much that will keep quiet while the oil wells of the State are ceded to other States and the Federal Government insists that no Federal project would be sited in the State.
Not minding all these and contrary to all the threats and molestation of his person by the agents of the Federal Government,  Amaechi is the only governor in Nigeria that gives a slot in his State Cabinet to President Jonathan till date. Mr. Charles Okaya, a nominee of Mr. President, is still the Hon. Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs till date. No other person been so vilified will be in position to do that if he is not a godly man, contrary to wrong assumption by his critics.
On the possibility of resolving his challenges with Mr. President, Governor Amaechi stated: “To resolve whatever may be our differences, I will put a caveat; I said there are some old men in Rivers State who can make me move from APC to PDP because they will never tell me to move to PDP if they are not convinced that it is the right thing to do. This means you can’t influence them with anything rather than what is right for Rivers State and Nigeria. They are here; they know themselves and they have been part of the struggle in a very quiet manner and they support me. My prayer is that God will continue to bless all of you.”
Amaechi’s True Nature
No matter the assumptions of those who feel that Amaechi is the devil incarnate, the truth remains that Amaechi’s greatest albatross is his boldness in the face of impunity and orchestrated unconstitutional manoeuvres currently going on in Nigeria and the unfortunate stand by most of his critics that he should keep quiet in the face of impunity and support a myopic political clique that has held the nation hostage and is about liquidating our common patrimony. But Amaechi is not the type that keeps quiet in the face of injustice, intimidation or threat, no matter the odds.
The mistake by most of his opponents is by underrating him when it comes to political engineering or strategy. He has to the chagrin of these people proved to be not only a sagacious political strategist but also a person ahead of his political peers.
Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate and world renowned author in his famous book, ‘The Man Died’, exposed  Amaechi in his famous quote when he stated: “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” Prof. Soyinka is so admired by  Amaechi and is one of the few Nigerians that  Amaechi listens to on crucial issues of national importance because of his well respected disposition.
Amaechi recently confounded both his opponents and friends when he invited  the former President of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo,  to Port Harcourt to commission some of the projects that have been completed by his administration. When they learnt of the invitation, the response of residents of the oil-rich state was that he (Obasanjo) would not honour the invitation. They reasoned that the former President would not be Amaechi’s guest considering the  K-leg role he played in the PDP’s substitution of Amaechi with Celestine Omehia as the party’s flagbearer for the 2011 governorship election. But to the shock of everybody, Amaechi was at Port Harcourt International Airport on Monday, February 17, to welcome Obasanjo. An arrogant and unforgiving person could not have invited a fellow who ensured that he lost his ticket and was forced into exile, but Amaechi did that by this act of forgiveness.
According to Obasanjo during his trip to the state, “I have come with my delegates, I have heard, I have seen and I have come to declare. Seeing is believing and what I see, I believe and what I believe, I will talk about. What we have seen in the rural areas of the state, the infrastructure is worth believing and is worth declaring.”
During the two-day visit, Obasanjo  commissioned the following projects: G. U. Ake Road, Okporo Road (East-West Road), Elekahia Rumumasi Road, 3.6km; Ken Saro-Wiwa Road, 2.4km; Model Primary Health Centres at Akpajo and Eleme; Ambassador Nne Kurubo Model Secondary School, Ebubu Eleme; Songhai Farm, Bunu Tai off Bunu Afam Road; Model Primary School, Ban-Ogoi; Banana Plantation Farm, Tai; and Afam Power Station.
Others were one mini football stadium, two basketball indoor halls and athletes hostel, five tennis courts/volley ball court and spectators’ stands; St. Andrew’s Model Primary School, Mile One, Diobu; Kelsey Harrison Hospital and Buguma Fish Farm Asari/Toru Local Government Area. Interestingly, all the projects were started and finished by Amaechi.
With these few examples, who really is arrogant and unforgiven? Is it Amaechi or his political adversaries?
Eze is a Port Harcourt based Media Consultant .

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi