FOR Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers
State, yesterday will remain evergreen in his
memory as eminent Nigerians took turns to
eulogise him for his tenacity of purpose and
uncommon conviction for standing on the path of
truth and justice.
Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, said he
admired the courage of conviction Amaechi
brought to bear on governance by standing for
and sacrificing for what he believes in as he
battled the powers-that-be in the country.
And former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed
Tinubu described Amaechi as a general of
commonsense revolution that is devoid of
violence.
The duo spoke yesterday in Lagos at the launch
of a book, Dynamics of Change: The Amaechi
Years.
Soyinka stated that only two people elicited such
admiration from him: Amaechi, the architect of
the process of change and Tinubu, whom he
regards as the arrowhead of hope, who said, “we
can’t always be club members, which is not a
popular, but risky position to take. When 16 is
said to be higher than 19, then something is
wrong. Amaechi stood up to challenge this
mentality.”
Soyinka also recounted how someone in Aso Rock
once asked him to tell Amaechi to slow down in
his confrontation with the Presidency and that he
was playing with fire. But he said he ignored
taking the message to Amaechi until he revealed
it at the gathering yesterday. He added that he
didn’t believe the governor was on the wrong in
his struggle to bring sanity to the political arena.
“I admire courage as an element of life, the
courage of conviction to put yourself out
whatever it takes,” Soyinka said. “What matters is
to have the courage of conviction and be ready to
make necessary sacrifices. The political
atmosphere, whether you call it hope, continuing
hope, moving forward niggardly to cautious hope,
I recognize two people in the charge towards
hope.
The first is the architect of the process and the
essence of hope; that is, Amaechi. The other, who
is always late to events and might be late for his
own funeral, is Tinubu. That’s the man I regard
as the arrowhead of hope, who said we can’t
always be club members. It’s not a popular
position, but a risky position as well to take”.
And, characteristically to Soyinka’s prediction,
Tinubu walked into banquet hall of the Civic
Centre where the event was being held and
caused uproar in the hall.
Tinubu praised Amaechi for his exemplary
exploits in the process of bringing about change
in the leadership of the country during the last
election.
According to him: “Amaechi is a good example of
commonsense revolution in Nigeria. Nigeria
needed commonsense revolution that is devoid of
violence. The result of the election demonstrated
that Nigerians craved for change.
We must retool ourselves with the leadership in
terms of the polices that must be suited to the
masses.
It was a revolution that was progressive, that will
repair, and restore the nation for collective
prosperity.
It’s a call to return to decency in the relationship
between the government and the people. One of
the generals in the commonsense revolution is
willing to show the world he’s ready to chart the
path to a better Nigeria.”

Soyinka is now corrupt

Spaxon:
Soyinka is now corrupt

Soyinka corrupt ke?