That the governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike
inaugurated a probe panel to investigate the former governor Rotimi Amaechi did
not take me by surprise.
You will only be surprised if you were not around that
state before and during the last elections. I was there and I saw the ferocity
with which the battle was fought. It was like war.
I wonder if the current drama in Rivers State took the
former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum by surprise too. If you
were taken aback by the probe announcement and related actions of the state
government then you are at best ignorant of the political undercurrents in that
state. Let me come out plain.
The average politician in Rivers State and in the Niger
Delta wants Amaechi punished severely. They have many reasons, but I will talk
about two of them. The first reason is that Amaechi made them to suffer
withdrawal syndrome when the Ubima born politician blocked their access to
public treasury for almost eight years.
The second and probably more significant is that he
supported a ‘stranger’ against his brother in the last Presidential elections.
Now, let me explain myself. Those who are familiar with
politics in Rivers State know how it used to be before the Supreme Court ruling
that brought in Rotimi Amaechi to power in 2007.
The Brick House, as the seat of government in that state
is known and called, used to be a pilgrimage centre and a destination of all
manner of characters nationwide. It was a place with a reputation for sharing.
You only need to get access and you will take your own. Politicians from Rivers
state got regular patronages in cash and in kind. No one bothered about any
infrastructural projects and no one talked about those. One way or the other
the trappings of the state will reach you or your wife or your friend.
Even militants who kidnapped expatriates got huge
ransoms paid to them by government. Middlemen, security agents and negotiators
who worked to free captors also got their own share. Every one of them smiled
to the bank while the ordinary people suffered.
Traditional rulers, clergy men, youth and women groups
from all parts of the country stopped by under the pretext of presenting one
award or another to get their own share. Bazaar was made out of state funds
with superlative recklessness and everybody knew it including the President at
that time. It did not matter much as everyone got a little bite although
development was halted.
There was this case where one big politician was given
money in three different currencies- US dollars, British Pounds and Euros. He
had to go to a bureau de change to ascertain how much he was given. Citizens
were outraged but kept sealed lips. The regular joke at that time was that “it
was bad table manners to talk when you have food in your mouth”.
The system was operating almost seamlessly until one
supreme court ruling landed one ‘rebellious’ man from exile in Ghana. As soon
as Amaechi arrived the state he was determined to stop the mindless squandering
of public resources and commit a greater part of it to infrastructural
development. He had to step on many toes. Many politicians were upset by Mr.
Amaechi’s new style which had its own shortcomings and was far from
perfect.
As someone who himself was a product of the same system,
he tried to reintroduce a new channel known as ‘Rivers Money for Rivers People’
through which he encouraged indigenous companies with technical capability to
come forward to be considered for contracts from the state government. He
wanted some trickle-down effect from oil money for indigenes who could deliver
service.
Of course that effort failed as many politicians with
little or no technical competence hastily put together companies, collected fat
government contract and disappeared with the money for mobilisation to Dubai
for holidays. They never came back to do the jobs. The former governor
fumed endlessly and later cancelled the program. How dare you? Many politicians
exclaimed at that time. It meant that the major access points of these
politicians to government patronage were blocked.
For them enjoying government patronage was an entitlement
that they were used to. They starved for eight years and have not forgiven Mr.
Amaechi till date.
Secondly and probably more grievously was the decision of
the former governor to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) and later to
support President Muhammadu Buhari to defeat former President Jonathan. This
very action of the former governor made his people extremely bitter. It was not
limited to politicians only. It cut across the population.
For them, although the former President was not
performing, his brother Amaechi should not have joined others to fight him.
Even among Mr. Amaechi’s cabinet there were a few people who were very angry
that he was not supporting President Jonathan but they could not say so in
public. Some of them might have even supported the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) in the state one way or another. Many of them who reluctantly crossed
over with him to the All Progressives Congress (APC) had to adopt a siddon-look approach during the massive rigging
that was allegedly masterminded by the PDP in the state.
Others simply took advantage of the crisis to make money
while pretending to support their principal. Every one of them commended
Mr. Amaechi’s developmental efforts but always concluded by saying that the man
would have left a very impressive record if he did not decide to fight with his
brother. The public utterances of the former governor against the President was
the final nail on his public perception in the region. That was the unanimous
view not only across the state but across the Niger Delta region.
Now, when eventually the former President lost the
elections, many of the politicians swore to teach him a lesson. Somehow people
from our region caught the flu spread by former Amaechi’s supporters like his
former Deputy Tele Ikuru that the APC is a party of insurgents, anarchists with
an anti-Niger Delta agenda. The general feeling that elections in Rivers state
were neither free nor fair is something many Rivers people are familiar with.
They knew about it and they saw it. Many of them did not vote.
The alleged thumb printing happened in their
neighbourhood and they were aware. Yet they ccould not say anything because as
far as the outcome did not favour Amaechi’s candidate or his party the APC.
Many of them saw the gubernatorial election as an opportunity to repay Amaechi
in his own coins for betraying Jonathan.
And they did so by submitting willingly to be
disenfranchised and looking the other way while the rigging lasted.
Today politicians that suffered these two levels are the
ones that surround Nyesom Wike.
And so what do you expect? The Obio Okpor born politician
also understands that he benefited from their anger and so must strive to
continuously placate them. Especially with the amount of illegalities committed
in the past elections and with a possibility of a re-run, he must keep these
‘strong’ men beside him. If he must continue to enjoy their support, he must
continue to do two things.
First is that he must reintroduce the culture of
sharing of public funds and regular patronage to get them back on their feet.
The second is that he must bruise and abuse Amaechi at all costs, smear him
with corruption allegations and submerge his legacy as much as possible in
controversies.
Therefore, if anyone imagines that the harassment of
Amaechi will stop soon, that person should better have a rethink. It will not.
Nyesom Wike’s government will continue to dig up mud until President Buhari and
those in Abuja will no longer recognize Amaechi. That is the target. For them,
Mr. Amaechi has committed so many ‘sins’ and it is now time to pay him dearly.
That is their own way of seeking legitimacy from a politically wounded
population.
Uche Igwe
is a public affairs analyst based in Sussex, United Kingdom. You can contact
him on ucheigwe@gmail.com
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