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Subscribed from Federal Information Resource Centre, Port Harcourt.
The political climate in Rivers State has been rather tense and unpredictable for some time now. The State has always seen turbulent times from the start of the present administration. Before Rt. Hon. Amaechi became Governor of the State, that is, during the Peter Odili administration, there was a near breakdown of law and order.
Thugs, politically groomed gangs, held sway. Much energy and funding were put in to sustain them and this hurt the physical development of the State. Kidnapping and robbery were the order of the day. People found it difficult to carry on with their legitimate businesses. The populace slept with one or both eyes open. It did not come as a surprise that there was a change in government from Odili to Amaechi.
The change in government did not take place without its own drama. Mr. Omehia was elected as Governor and was in power for six months, while Hon. Amaechi went to court to contest the Governorship position. After a protracted hearing, the court stopped Mr. Omehia from continuing as Governor, and proclaimed Hon. Amaechi the duly elected Governor. Amaechi was thereafter, sworn in as Executive Governor of Rivers State.
Hon. Amaechi, before becoming Governor, had served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for two terms of four years each, which is a total of eight years. That means, he had a good knowledge of the situation in the State, both politically, security wise and even the stagnation of the State infrastructural development. He knew firsthand, the problems and challenges of the State. What he needed therefore, was the political will to tackle these challenges. Hon Amaechi also had the fortune of administering a State with high revenue generating power and a high percentage of allocation from the Federal Government. What Amaechi did at the inception of his government, was to raise a team of technocrats who pulled all available resources in the State, to implement policies that have been dormant on the drawing board for a long time.
Governor Amaechi's administration, confronted the challenges of the State headlong and from multiple fronts. The road network looked like a priority. This could be due to the fact that the traffic situation was unbearable and hurt the business and economic activities of the people. A lot of time was spent on the roads, trying to move from one area of Port Harcourt to the other. The narrow roads were expanded, while the major roads were dualized to accommodate more vehicles and haulage business.
The other project observed was the revamping of the power projects which could not take off after most operational materials had been imported. The challenges of energy and power have been taken care of. Electricity is available for some sixteen hours of the day in Port Harcourt City.
Another visible change in the State is in education. Many Primary Schools have been rebuilt and modernized, and have state of the art facilities. Teachers have been recruited from within the State and beyond.
Worth mentioning is the health sector. State hospitals have been refurbished and some upgraded. Hospitals have been cited in the remote areas of the State. Health care cost has been subsidized and the very young and elderly are given free medical attention. All these can be classified as dividends of democracy.
Recently however, the political climate in Rivers State took a nose dive due to the friction and crisis within the ruling party in the State, the PDP. The crisis is centered on personalities in the leadership of the party. There are serious disagreements between party members at the center; at the Federal level and those at the State level. It boils down to juggling for positions for 2015 general elections. The leadership of the party is trying to nominate candidates to carry the party ticket while some members think they should have the party ticket on their merit.
This has led to the disruption of activities in the Local Government Area of Obio/Akpor, which is within Port Harcourt City. This is so because a senior member of the Party at the Federal level who was a grassroots politician in Obio/Akpor, and the immediate past Chairman of the LGA, in the person of Mr. Nyesom Wike and Governor Amechi are the dramatis personae in the crisis facing the State.
It is believed, that the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Amaechi has his eyes on the Vice Presidential ticket, while the incumbent President intends to run for a second term of four years. The political structure may not allow both of them to run because they come from the same political zone, the South-South zone.
The crisis has led to court injunctions. The Federal High Court sitting at Abuja has ruled on the recently conducted elections for party positions, at the State level, deposing the executive members including the State chairman of the party, claiming irregularities at the polls.
The party in her in-house decision suspended the Obio/Akpor Local Government chairman with his secretary and 17 councilors. The tussle has blown to open as between the State Governor, Hon. Amaechi and the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike. The power play now appears to be between the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, with the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike fronting for the President.
People's reaction has been confusing. Hired and paid protesters from both sides of the conflict have gone into action and have done a good job at it. This has led to the intervention by the Police. The offshoot of Police intervention was the occupation of the Headquarters of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area by the Police. It was the intervention of the Inspector General of Police that led to the withdrawal of the Police from the Local Government Area Headquarters.
Reactions on the power tussle have come from several stakeholders. The Association of Local Government Chairmen, Rivers State chapter is divided on the issue of whom to pay allegiance – the President or the Governor. Women groups have also taken sides and are suspected to be hired agents. The women at a time trouped out and requested for the removal of the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command. The Police are perceived to be on the side of the President, being a Federal Police. Anti Amaechi protesters have gone out with placards, carrying Amaechi-must- go inscriptions.
Evidently, the crisis has created safety concerns for the generality of the public. The fear that hoodlums may capitalize on the chaotic situation and hijack it to perpetuate and unleash terror on the State is there and glaring.
There is need to proffer solutions to the crisis which is heating up the polity.
There should be respect for constituted authority. The President and Governor were duly elected by the people of Nigeria. Politics of bitterness must be removed from our political system. The elders of Rivers and Bayelsa States may have to step in and douse the crisis which if not tamed in time, will affect the political gains the zone has made in this dispensation. A house divided cannot stand; it will fall.
Within Rivers State, care must be taken to stop the crisis which is already threatening investments. A tense and un-conducive atmosphere will stall the economic growth of the State. Politics must not be seen as a do-or-die affair. There are no permanent friends but permanent interests. Differences must be buried and all hands should be on deck to grow our fledgling democracy.
This write-up was subscribed from the Federal Information Resource Centre, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria