The Vindication of Rotimi Amaechi
19 Jul 2015
By Kennedy Friday

Recently, Chief Barr Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, announced that Rivers State Government had secured the commitment of critical stakeholders in its bid to carry out repairs on parts of the East-West Road from Eleme Junction to the Onne Sea Ports in Rivers State. This development surprised many people and eventually led to endless questions by the citizens. Day after day, vindication comes the way of former Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. You see, it is not life that matters, but the courage you bring to it, and the ability to stay on the lane of your convictions, no matter how tough situations may be
Between June and July, 2012, there was a tanker accident along the East - West Road near Ahoada in Rivers State. It resulted in a fire, lives were lost, and Amaechi as governor of Rivers State promptly visited the scene to condole with the victims


Appalled by the deplorably denigrating condition of the East-West Road, a critical road infrastructure that passes through the Niger Delta region, and concerned about the haphazard, lacklustre and lukewarm handling of the road by the Federal Government even as lives of our people were summarily terminated in avoidable but incessant carnage on the pot-hole ridden road, Chibuike Amaechi had respectfully implored the Federal Government to allow Niger Delta Governors to pull resources together (money that the Federal Government would refund later) to complete the road in the interest of our people.


It is important to note that prior to Amaechi’s request, a practice precedent had already been set in this regard nationwide. Several states had fixed federal roads and were exhaustively refunded. Indeed, then President Jonathan himself, about the same time the Amaechi plea was made, granted another state permission to fix a federal road with every assurance that they will be refunded. At no time was this practice ever remotely viewed as an affront to the president. Under late President Yaradua, Amaechi publicly made the same offer in respect of the Bodo /Bonny Road in Rivers State.


However, it took about seven months for Elder GodsdayOrubebe, the then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to digest the public offer Amaechi made to the Federal Government  and  after curiously convincing himself that it was a show of disrespect to former President Jonathan, activated what is now known as the “first Orubebe outburst” --the second being his infamous exchange with Prof Jega at the International Conference Center in Abuja during the announcement of results of the Presidential election.


Thus, between 18th and 19th of January, 2013, seven months  after the former Governor of Rivers State made his offer,  Orubebe allegedly ignited a blistering media attack and campaign of calumny against Amaechi in almost all the national dailies, an evil venture in which he allegedly sunk hundreds of millions of naira. The aim of the smear campaign was to portray Amaechi as a disrespectful spoilt brat who was after the seat of President Jonathan, his kinsman. Egregious, bizarre and toxic political conjectures and permutations over 2015 started flying left right and center all over the print and electronic media. Lamido/Amaechi ticket. Atiku/Amaechi ticket. Kwankwaso/Amaechi. There was no story too obscene to be concocted against Amaechi. All these came allegedly from the dubious imagination of Elder Orubebe and his co-conspirators. The smear campaign which was cleverly crafted caught fire in the entire region:  Amaechi, a Niger Deltan, was entering into servitude to the Hausa/Fulani overlords to take the Presidency back to the north in exchange for a pot of porridge in form of Vice Presidential ticket. The propaganda was too powerful to ignore.


Nyesom Wike, then Minister of State for Education, a politician whose frozen ambition to succeed his Ikwere brother as governor of Rivers State was beginning to find melting outlets mischievously latched onto the imbroglio as a special passport to the first family by disguising himself as a loyal “son” who was ready to fight to the kill anybody from Rivers State disrespecting the President and his wife. It didn’t matter that the person in question was his former boss who recommended him to be a minister. Orubebe, happy to draft the rugged Wike into the fight, readily provided all the ammunition required. A special bond started developing between Nyesom Wike and Dame Patience Faka Jonathan, who earlier had a widely reported face-off with Amaechi when she, like an Amazon with so much magisterial swagger, subdued Amaechi before her kinsmen in Okrika over the former governor’s plan to dismantle a slum, compensate the land owners and in its place, build a befitting model school in which students from Okrika will be armed with modern tools to navigate the competitive storm of the 21st century.


Wike fought that fight, the heights of which were the suspension of Amaechi from the PDP; the infamous haphazardly orchestrated impeachment move bungled by the mathematics abracadabra of 5 is greater than 27 spearheaded by Evans Bibi, the “speaker” elected by “honourable members in the gallery” of the infamous,  “Patience Jonathan my jesus christ on earth blasphemy”; the Mbu Jospeph Mbu saga that led the police force to block the then governor of Rivers State from entering into Government House in Port Harcourt, with Wike always giving  counter orders to the police as de facto governor of the state.


Before you could say Jack, a scintillating array of prominent personalities and politicians from across the South-South had been drafted into the smear plot against Amaechi. Godswill Akpabio, then Governor of oil rich Akwa Ibom State, E.K Clark, Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State - you name them. They were all united to teach Amaehi a lesson.


Disturbed by that development, one of the most sagacious contemporary politicians in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, in one rare moment of prophetic exactitude, had warned President Goodluck to be careful with the raging inferno which the Orubebes were stoking in his backyard. Writing a prescient piece in THISDAY Newspaper, Abe had relayed the admonition he said one of his pastor friends had always given him: to be careful of “unbrotherly brothers and unfriendly friends”.


If former President Jonathan read the article, he didn’t allow the wisdom contained therein to instruct him. I will now quote Magnus Abe in extenso to buttress the timeliness of that admonition. Writing about the Orubebe outburst, the former senator said: “I have served as a commissioner for information and I know for a fact, that if the information managers on the spot, (which would have been those of the governor and the minister) so desired, the president’s name could have been kept out, and Orubebe’s attack or response to Amaechi would have been no less valid.”


“By bringing in the president’s name Orubebe may have gained some power points by identifying himself as the minister who takes on the President’s perceived enemies, but it is difficult to see how the President himself benefited from the exchange. In any case, the attack on Amaechi will not fix the East - West  Road, and Niger Deltans will always credit the governor for drawing attention to the slow pace of work on the road. It is important that we remember that Amaechi’s initial comment did not get more than fleeting attention at the time.”
“Since then more of such articles and stories against Amaechi have flowed freely in the media, with all sorts of frivolous litigations, plots against anything perceived to be related or connected to  the governor. This includes a court case sponsored by a serving minister in the Jonathan administration against the Rivers state PDP exco.”


“My late father, who in his life time managed to combine two seemingly impossible professions as a priest and a politician,   advised me to inherit his friends, but make my own enemies. Mr. President should be careful lest “unfriendly friends” and “unbrotherly brothers” bequeath their personal enemies to him. He should accept their friends but be careful to make his own enemies.”


“The basis for the persecution of Amaechi as an enemy of President Jonathan is that he allegedly wants to be Vice President. I am sure that anybody who knows the history of Nigeria, understands that those who want to be Vice President do not behave like Governor Amaechi. They do not freely voice their opinion on sensitive issues because they know that potential presidential candidates are unlikely to pick a Vice President who has his own views on national issues. A governor with an eye on the vice presidency is more likely to ingratiate himself with the President, sponsor media attacks on potential opponents, declare early interest in the Senate as a red herring in a bid to remove themselves from the line of fire, while accumulating dubious awards.”


“Having invested so many resources to reveal to the world that Jonathan has a serious challenge in his home base, those “unbrotherly brothers” must of necessity settle the problem they have created. The President must now turn to the South - South to ‘stabilize’ the zone by neutralizing the Amaechi threat. This project will take precedence in time and resources and divert the President’s attention from pressing national issues.”

“Herein lies the danger of this ungodly enterprise, even if it succeeds the real benefits for Jonathan will be minimal, and his opponents will benefit more politically. No matter how it ends, the true beneficiaries will be the carpetbaggers, and buccaneers around the President, who actually have nothing at stake.”


“In presenting themselves as solving a big problem for the president they guarantee their relevance in the Jonathan presidency regardless of the outcome; if the venture succeeds they pick the booty from Rivers State as legitimate spoils of a war. If it fails they lose nothing, but they would have handed the President a real problem in his backyard that he neither needs nor deserves”.
Magnus Abe ended his article on a prophetic note when he wrote thus:  “Let us watch out, the unbrotherly brothers, and unfriendly friends in the South - South may end up being the real problem of President Jonathan.”


Of course, Amaechi, unduly persecuted and suspended from the PDP, pulled out with seven PDP Governors to form the nPDP, a move that would later dovetail into the formation of the APC, the amalgam that engineered the unprecedented democratic “coup” that sent President Jonathan and the PDP packing from Aso Rock Villa straight to Otueke and enthroned President Muhammadu Buhari, with Amaechi one of the notable commanding generals of the bloodless common sense revolution.


More than three years later, we are back to base. Nyesom Wike, the same person who, in concert with Godsday Orubebeand his cast of conspirators  lampooned Amaechi, accusing him of disrespecting President Jonathan for daring to ask the Federal Government to allow Niger Delta governors to contribute resources to complete the East-West Roada--an action which exposed the soft underbelly of the South-South to political attack--is today enlisting the commitment of critical stakeholders to partner with Rivers State Government to repair that same East-West Road from Eleme Junction leading to Onne Port. That is the crime for which Amaechi was crucified.


It is important for young Niger Deltans to take note of developing events in the region so that when the history of this era will be penned, there will not be any doubt as to who and who were the real Judases and traitors who played politics with our development. In days to come, I am sure more vindication will come the way of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/the-vindication-of-rotimi-amaechi/215006/

FTC

Whenever I see Amaechi's supporters write, I laugh so hard because all these are as a result of his hopes of clinging a ministerial position. They believe the court will council the Rivers state elections and wouldn't want what happened between him and Omehia to happen again where everyone left him and he finally won. But the truth and fact is this, Amaechi is no longer the governor of rivers state just like GEJ is no longer the president of Nigeria. All these supports will end when the tribunal as well as the court of appeal and supreme court upholds Wike's election. I am from rivers state and the same LGA as amaechi and I can say with facts that amaechi was very corrupt and ruled with impunity. Just recently, Dakuku came to PH with channels TV crew and lied about the LG chairmen issue and caused chaos and ran away. Soon Amaechi will be forgotten. How can dakuku defeat Wike when he isn't even as popular as Wike in the state. It has always been between Wike and Amaechi. But hope is a good thing, it keeps people from killing themselves. Amaechi's time has gone and to me it's good riddance.

brainpower:
Whenever I see Amaechi's supporters write, I laugh so hard because all these are as a result of his hopes of clinging a ministerial position. They believe the court will council the Rivers state elections and wouldn't want what happened between him and Omehia to happen again where everyone left him and he finally won. But the truth and fact is this, Amaechi is no longer the governor of rivers state just like GEJ is no longer the president of Nigeria. All these supports will end when the tribunal as well as the court of appeal and supreme court upholds Wike's election. I am from rivers state and the same LGA as amaechi and I can say with facts that amaechi was very corrupt and ruled with impunity. Just recently, Dakuku came to PH with channels TV crew and lied about the LG chairmen issue and caused chaos and ran away. Soon Amaechi will be forgotten. How can dakuku defeat Wike when he isn't even as popular as Wike in the state. It has always been between Wike and Amaechi. But hope is a good thing, it keeps people from killing themselves. Amaechi's time has gone and to me it's good riddance.

rubbish post! Typical clannish niger deltan who will never rise above his clannishness to See Sense in this article. SMH.
may be i should get a blackboard and draw pictures for you.
that amaechi you love to hate,where is he today? That GEJ you want to die for,where is he today?
Look at issues critically and advise yourself.

Err dear mods, This is the type of post that should be on the frontpage since you guys obviously have no idea what should be on the FP.

brainpower:
Whenever I see Amaechi's supporters write, I laugh so hard because all these are as a result of his hopes of clinging a ministerial position. They believe the court will council the Rivers state elections and wouldn't want what happened between him and Omehia to happen again where everyone left him and he finally won. But the truth and fact is this, Amaechi is no longer the governor of rivers state just like GEJ is no longer the president of Nigeria. All these supports will end when the tribunal as well as the court of appeal and supreme court upholds Wike's election. I am from rivers state and the same LGA as amaechi and I can say with facts that amaechi was very corrupt and ruled with impunity. Just recently, Dakuku came to PH with channels TV crew and lied about the LG chairmen issue and caused chaos and ran away. Soon Amaechi will be forgotten. How can dakuku defeat Wike when he isn't even as popular as Wike in the state. It has always been between Wike and Amaechi. But hope is a good thing, it keeps people from killing themselves. Amaechi's time has gone and to me it's good riddance.

though u may hold a contrary view about the political sagacity's of Ameachi.,that doesn't mean u should outrightly condemn him based on hear say or baseless allegation..the Op was trying to analysis the steps taken by Ameachi to bring succor and happiness to his people generally, which was firmly opposed by the cabals who only care about resuscitating their political misfortune..

T4taiwo:
though u may hold a contrary view about the political sagacity's of Ameachi.,that doesn't mean u should outrightly condemn him based on hear say or baseless allegation..the Op was trying to analysis the steps taken by Ameachi to bring succor and happiness to his people generally, which was firmly opposed by the cabals who only care about resuscitating their political misfortune..

please go ahead and add pictures for him to understand.

[quote author=T4taiwo post=36073531]though u may hold a contrary view about the political sagacity's of Ameachi.,that doesn't mean u should outrightly condemn him based on hear say or baseless allegation..the Op was trying to analysis the steps taken by Ameachi to bring succor and happiness to his people generally, which was firmly opposed by the cabals who only care about resuscitating their political misfortune..[/quot

My brother, they say that "he that must come to equity must come with clean hands" Amaechi has instances of stopping prjects because it is situated where he isn't loved. Example is, somewhere in his LGA, the headquarters to be precise, he stopped someone from doing some internal roads there simply because he gave the person the position in NDDC and so he decides what happens. The case of Orubebe went out of hand because amaechi decided to use it to score political points by blowing it out of proportion. I must agree that his out cry resulted in the fastening of the construction process but it was the beginning of his political blackmail of the GEJ's govt. And don't forget that he also wanted to do these projects so that he will see more avenue to loot by quoting more than he spent.

phantom:
rubbish post! Typical clannish niger deltan who will never rise above his clannishness to See Sense in this article. SMH.
may be i should get a blackboard and draw pictures for you.
that amaechi you love to hate,where is he today? That GEJ you want to die for,where is he today?
Look at issues critically and advise yourself.

Thanks for the insults. First of all, I don't want to die for GEJ because he isn't God and he's also responsible for his defeat. Secondly, I'm not a party member so I must say it the way it is in my mind. Thirdly, thank God man isn't God if not with this kind of insults coming from you, I would have been dead by now.
Talking about where both of them are, it is quite clear. GEJ is at home resting and preparing for any moves PMB will make against him while amaechi escorted Buhari to the US as an ordinary citizen. Amaechi is lobbying for a position while GEJ is making governors. In as much as they have both excelled in their various endevours, I don't think you can compare GEJ's personal achievements to amaechi's. Don't forget he was the president of Nigeria, a position that will take wiping away history for Amaechi to ever be able to achieve.

[quote author=brainpower post=36075321][/quote]I never condole any form of irrational behavior from any quarter.Ameachi maybe human after all. But taking a critical analysis of the whole scenario, u will understand that the orubebe's and all GEJ cohorts will never stop the blackmail because ameachi is in their black book.
orubebe fought a lost battle , he shouldn't have been a barrier to a project that will fasten the economic development and hasten vehicular movement of his people.

Op you are so on point. CRA's crime was his refusal to share Rivers' money with a few 'elites' while the people suffer. In the days to come, he will continue to be vindicated.

brainpower:


Thanks for the insults. First of all, I don't want to die for GEJ because he isn't God and he's also responsible for his defeat. Secondly, I'm not a party member so I must say it the way it is in my mind. Thirdly, thank God man isn't God if not with this kind of insults coming from you, I would have been dead by now.
Talking about where both of them are, it is quite clear. GEJ is at home resting and preparing for any moves PMB will make against him while amaechi escorted Buhari to the US as an ordinary citizen. Amaechi is lobbying for a position while GEJ is making governors. In as much as they have both excelled in their various endevours, I don't think you can compare GEJ's personal achievements to amaechi's. Don't forget he was the president of Nigeria, a position that will take wiping away history for Amaechi to ever be able to achieve.

calling you clannish is Not an insult.
Let me ask you....Do you think amaechi "betrayed"his people

brainpower:
Whenever I see Amaechi's supporters write, I laugh so hard because all these are as a result of his hopes of clinging a ministerial position. They believe the court will council the Rivers state elections and wouldn't want what happened between him and Omehia to happen again where everyone left him and he finally won. But the truth and fact is this, Amaechi is no longer the governor of rivers state just like GEJ is no longer the president of Nigeria. All these supports will end when the tribunal as well as the court of appeal and supreme court upholds Wike's election. I am from rivers state and the same LGA as amaechi and I can say with facts that amaechi was very corrupt and ruled with impunity. Just recently, Dakuku came to PH with channels TV crew and lied about the LG chairmen issue and caused chaos and ran away. Soon Amaechi will be forgotten. How can dakuku defeat Wike when he isn't even as popular as Wike in the state. It has always been between Wike and Amaechi. But hope is a good thing, it keeps people from killing themselves. Amaechi's time has gone and to me it's good riddance.

you call yourself brain power but obviously you have got no single wattage of brain power. Why not respond to the substance in the article and respond appropriately to the persecutions amaechi suffered under a supposed democratic regime and the effort him made to fix the east West road rather than making yourself a nuisance all over this thread!

Clonus:
Op you are so on point. CRA's crime was his refusal to share Rivers' money with a few 'elites' while the people suffer. In the days to come, he will continue to be vindicated.

Can you and the Idi0tic Op swear by a powerful deity that Amechi did not steal, let's say 20 billion from Rivers state. Of course i know it's more than 20 billion.

Just a few of amaechi's sins against Jonathan : 1. He protested when patience Jonathan collected his mic while he was addressing a rally. 2. He protested the bad state of the East West road. 3. He protested when the soku oil wells were illegally given to bayelsa state. 4. He protested when Joseph mbu was given the mandate to take over governorship of rivers state 5. He protested when Evans bipi and 4 other law makers tried to impeach the rivers assembly speaker with 5 out of 27 law makers. 6. He protested when Jona jangs faction of 16 governors said they were more than amaechi's 19 governors. 7. He protested when the rivers pdp chairman was removed and given to someone who never contested. These were some of the sins of Rotimi amaechi.

brainpower:


Thanks for the insults. First of all, I don't want to die for GEJ because he isn't God and he's also responsible for his defeat. Secondly, I'm not a party member so I must say it the way it is in my mind. Thirdly, thank God man isn't God if not with this kind of insults coming from you, I would have been dead by now.
Talking about where both of them are, it is quite clear. GEJ is at home resting and preparing for any moves PMB will make against him while amaechi escorted Buhari to the US as an ordinary citizen. Amaechi is lobbying for a position while GEJ is making governors. In as much as they have both excelled in their various endevours, I don't think you can compare GEJ's personal achievements to amaechi's. Don't forget he was the president of Nigeria, a position that will take wiping away history for Amaechi to ever be able to achieve.

who said u are not a party man? guy u b big PDP card carrying member. only PDP hate Ameachi. Ameachi opened peoples eye to bad radiance of d FG
take it or leave it Ameachi legacy will keep vindicating him

ricsman:

who said u are not a party man? guy u b big PDP card carrying member. only PDP hate Ameachi. Ameachi opened peoples eye to bad radiance of d FG
take it or leave it Ameachi legacy will keep vindicating him

Then you must be a core APC member to support Amaechi then. And with the way you sound, I don't think you are from Rivers State. It's all about choice. To Amaechi's supporters, he's a god to them and to some APC members outside the state, he gave them the presidency. But to us here, we know what we lost and our still losing because of him. Amaechi probably the most corrupt governor in Nigeria and this doesn't mean GEJ isn't corrupt but Rivers State is my constituency and that's where I care about.

phantom:
calling you clannish is Not an insult.
Let me ask you....Do you think amaechi "betrayed"his people

Every politician is a betrayer. If Amaechi betrayed his people what about the president who didn't do anything for us. It's all about personal interest. They are all selfish because they don't let us choose who we want to represent us. Even Buhari is like that, he's there to fulfill his personal dreams. I know you asked to question to indirectly find out if I'm actually what you called me, but it doesn't matter. If GEJ had won the election, by now Amaechi would probably be in exile or jail so he did what seemed best for him. But there's this belief that if you don't support APC or Buhari, especially if you are from the south, then you are an ethnic bigot or worse still corrupt. But it doesn't change the fact that Amaechi and co are corrupt and our president dined with them, therefore there will always be bias in everything he does.

brainpower:


Then you must be a core APC member to support Amaechi then. And with the way you sound, I don't think you are from Rivers State. It's all about choice. To Amaechi's supporters, he's a god to them and to some APC members outside the state, he gave them the presidency. But to us here, we know what we lost and our still losing because of him. Amaechi probably the most corrupt governor in Nigeria and this doesn't mean GEJ isn't corrupt but Rivers State is my constituency and that's where I care about.

am still doubting u o
lololololol lose ke. pls what did u lose? if really u are from Rivers u wouldn't b talking of losing anything. excerpt u are part of d few that enjoyed d national cake.
check my post not a party man but glad APC came on board

ricsman:

am still doubting u o
lololololol lose ke. pls what did u lose? if really u are from Rivers u wouldn't b talking of losing anything. excerpt u are part of d few that enjoyed d national cake.
check my post not a party man but glad APC came on board

I didn't enjoy a dime from GEJ o. But I didn't enjoy anything too with Amaechi. I'm glad Buhari won anyway and Wike also won. Since they won't work together looting will be reduced. Imagine if Amaechi's stooge had won, by now some people would have ran away from this state. We lost in the sense that, knowing how Nigerians play politics and what's happening to Ike Ekweremadu, any state that didn't vote Buhari, shouldn't expect anything from him.

Amaechi is already in the dustbin of Nigeria's political history.

Whatever is left of him now is the goodwill of the men he spent Rivers people funds to get into power. But few months from now.... Amaechi will know his place.

With billions laundered by Amaechi's wife, the impunity perpetrated by Amaechi in office and loss of face at the home front....... Amaechi is a political orphan and at the mercy of whoever cares.

If Buhari will fight corruption fairly, Amaechi will spend some years in jail.

T4taiwo:
though u may hold a contrary view about the political sagacity's of Ameachi.,that doesn't mean u should outrightly condemn him based on hear say or baseless allegation..the Op was trying to analysis the steps taken by Ameachi to bring succor and happiness to his people generally, which was firmly opposed by the cabals who only care about resuscitating their political misfortune..

When you travel the length of Ikwere road in Port Harcourt and see the uncompleted project that cost 150 billion naira of the state's funds you will understand why even uneducated market women in the state find it hard to respect his intelligence(Amaechi).

brainpower:


I didn't enjoy a dime from GEJ o. But I didn't enjoy anything too with Amaechi. I'm glad Buhari won anyway and Wike also won. Since they won't work together looting will be reduced. Imagine if Amaechi's stooge had won, by now some people would have ran away from this state. We lost in the sense that, knowing how Nigerians play politics and what's happening to Ike Ekweremadu, any state that didn't vote Buhari, shouldn't expect anything from him.

ok now I believe u
cheer

Ameachi always on point. Ameachi the destroyer and conquer of the clueless one and SHEPOPOTEMUS. Where the wailers before they have heart attack !!

Jonathan's era is the worst in the history of Nigeria. I made this same comment on another thread.

abagoro:


That is why I was one of those that fought hard for Buhari's emergence. Nigeria has always had good policies on paper but corruption and impunity destroys implementation. Take for example the East-West road Wike has reached agreement with FG to rehabilitate. During Jonathan, Amaechi was attacked and called a traitor for doing same and denied the rights to do same.

https://www.nairaland.com/2455580/obiano-inspects-ongoing-work-2nd