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Softly, Softly Amaechi – By Okachikwu Dibia

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It was in the evening of Sunday, 15th June 2014 that I phoned one of my cousins living in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to make enquiries about what is happening in my state. He laughed and alleged that “Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State is killing the Judiciary in the state” and also “frustrating the public coronation of the newly chosen Eze Epara Rebisi XII, HRM Eze Barrister Uche Isaiah-Elikwu as the Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt”. He went further to ask me: “what exactly is Amaechi benefiting from all the huge monies we hear he spends in All Progressives Congress (APC)”? Finally he asked: “brother, since you are in Abuja, you should know better, has Amaechi won the fight against Jonathan”? At this point I remembered that he is pro-Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP); but since then I have been thinking of these issues he raised. That phone discussion lasted over two hours because I had to engage him with questions to elicit explanations and make my own positions known to him.

The four issues my cousin raised are weighty in the present calculations in Rivers State. Let me address them one after the other.

Amaechi versus NJC

The disagreement between Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and the National Judicial Commission (NJC) is a distraction and an underdevelopment of the Rivers State judiciary.

The 1999 Constitution was clear on the roles to be played by each arm of government to ensure checks and balances in the process of appointing either the Acting Chief Judge of the state or the substantive Chief Judge. My interpretation, as a non-lawyer, of the relevant sections of the Constitution is that the governor should appoint whoever NJC recommended to it and the same person should be confirmed by the state’s House of Assembly.  As a Political Scientist, I know that lobby and consultation are important strategies in Politics; Amaechi needs to deploy them in handling this issue to his advantage.

As we speak today, the judiciary in Rivers State has been shot down: no work and every staff is at home. This situation is too horrible and ugly to be allowed in Rivers State. I just wonder where Amaechi would run to in the future to seek justice if the headship of the Supreme Court that made him governor continues to feel slighted in the circumstance. That is why Amaechi needs to tread softly, softly.

Amaechi versus Rebisi Kingdom

Rebisi Kingdom in Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality is one of the most recognized and respected ancient kingdoms in Rivers State. Rebisi is the seat of Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s Garden City and Africa’s premier Oil City. Rebisi Kingdom is, in the core, made up of Elekahia, Oroabali, Orogbum, Oroworukwo, Oroada, Orochiri and Oromeruezimgbu communities ( which in turn have Diobu and Port Harcourt). The Eze Epara stool is the traditional ruler of Rebisi Kingdom and the Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt. It has been vacant since the death of the last Eze, Chief S. N. Woluchem, despite the fact that the Rebisi kingmakers have long unanimously selected Barrister Uche Isaiah-Elikwu as the next Eze Epara Rebisi and the Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt.

Chief Victor Wuluchem went against the verdict and got the support of Governor Rotimi Amaechi to the extent that the governor is now insisting that the Kingmakers must accept Chief Victor Woluchem as the new Eze Epara Rebisi. Interestingly, governor Amaechi is an Ikwerre son from Ubima.

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Rebisi people, in unison, have disagreed with the governor’s position. This was clear in their publications on page 16, Thisday April 26, 2014 and on page G of Thisday, May 14, 2014.

The duty of the state here is to appreciate such peaceful resolution, accept their verdict and recognize whoever they presented to him. Like in the NJC-Rivers State Judiciary case, the kingmakers are the professionals who know far better than the governor who should lead them.

We cannot afford the on-going ridiculing or go-slow on the recognition and coronation of the new and fresh Eze Epara Rebisi. Port Harcourt Boys and Girls are appealing to the governor to allow peace to reign and let us have our party welcoming the new brand HRM Eze Barrister Uche Isaiah-Elikwu, the popularly chosen Eze Epara Rebisi XII. Without this, and given the growing disquiet among Rebisi, Ikwerre and Rivers people, it might lead to further heating up of the polity in Rivers State. I think the state needs peace especially in the face of the coming 2015 elections. Indeed the time calls for treading carefully on the part of the governor.

Amaechi in APC

Politics is a game of interest. Interest could be personal, group or national. In Political Science, group or sub-national interest is critical in the resolution of conflicts in society and the achievement of national interest.

Therefore good politics most times is about fighting for popular or group interest. Group interest starts from micro/sub-group interest level where the politician belongs and that is why in all countries today, sectional interests are the key interests that articulate national interest. That was why late Chief Obafemi Awolowo argued that Yoruba must develop herself according to her culture and values and coalesce at the centre with other groups for national development. Hence, there ought not to be national politics without sub-national politics. The reconciliation and consensus of sub-national and national politics are critical in a Federation like Nigeria.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi as a politician and a citizen of Nigeria has every right to belong to any political party or group he deems okay for him. Whether that consideration would be solely based on group’s interest or Amaechi’s interest depends on how he sees politics. So, is Amaechi in APC for Ikwerre’s or Rivers’ or Niger Delta’s or indeed Nigeria’s interest? Why did Amaechi leave the ruling PDP for APC? According to him, it was because the PDP under Alh. Bamanga Tukur had become too undemocratic. But Tukur is no longer there; so Amaechi could as well go back to PDP. Then the question would be: in whose interest would Amaechi pursue in PDP? Would that interest be different from that which took him to APC? If Amaechi’s interest is sub-national or group, it could be achieved in either PDP or APC. Otherwise, we may agree that Amaechi is in APC for personal reasons.

Because the goal in APC was to pursue personal interest, then he could leave PDP to APC once PDP refuses to allow him achieve his personal interests. So to such a politician who wants to pursue personal interest in a party where he feels his interest is protected, how much he spends (whether sourced from the state coffers or not) in the party is immaterial to him/her. Nigeria has been a fertile ground for such unprofessional political conducts.

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Amaechi versus Jonathan

At first when this rofo-rofo (Fela) fight started, I wrote a personal letter to Amaechi not to pursue the matter the way it was going then. I also advised President Goodluck Jonathan to see Amaechi as his fellow Port Harcourt boy and call him in as a political father. All that failed and today, I dare say that both of them are not finding it funny. Who will win the fight is not the issue because we must first define the deliverables.

Come 2015, Mr. President may win his re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without Rivers State vote and the governor’s candidate in Rivers State may also win as governor under any political party because only Rivers’ people’s vote will count. So both of them had lost nothing and gained nothing. But the truth remains that those who are losing in this fight are the peoples of Rivers State ( the state that nurtured the President in his adulthood) who appear to have lost Mr. President’s attention to develop the state during the fight and who may continue to lose his attention after the elections because they may not have voted for him like they did in 2011. This is the critical mass or the koko of the issue and that is why the elders and peoples of Rivers State must as a matter of utmost urgency summon a Political Summit now to put this house in order before the 2015 election.

A very good political behavior should be borrowed from Ekiti State where Fayose, despite winning the election recognized that Fayemi is still his governor and paid respect to him. This is the respect I need Amaechi to pay to Mr. President and all other things would be added unto Amaechi. I am sure, knowing the kind of person our President is, he will wholeheartedly receive Amaechi and peace will reign in Rivers State and all the other parasitic issues and their champions will fall and fail like pack of cards. Mr. President and the Governor need each other in other to succeed as politicians in Nigeria. So at the end, politics is not much about “gra-gra” or excessive aggression to force the achievement of group or national interest. It is more about carefully thinking-through relevant strategies and subtly deploying them to achieve a big picture for the group interest. A peaceful environment promotes true development.

Rivers State needs peace in 2015 and beyond. Everybody must not agree with Amaechi in all he does; this does not make them the governor’s enemies and vice versa. My governor needs more friends than enemies especially now that he has political differences with the Presidency, judicial differences with the Supreme Court and traditional differences with Rebisi, his seat of government. Indeed it could be a precarious time that should be handled carefully softly, softly.

 

Okachikwu Dibia

Abuja, Nigeria

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