By Uche Igwe
Just as soon as our academic session came to a close last Friday, I headed to the airport to begin my journey back to Nigeria. It was a hurried one as I only realized at the Heathrow airport that I might have carried a few more books than I should on getting to the airport. It was very depressing to discover, that my three bags were all heavier than required. As I joined other Nigerians to do some repacking at the favourite weighing corner at terminal five, I decided to try my luck by insisting to take along a few extras – not minding that I was ill prepared in case any payment was demanded of me. I was unusually nice and courteous to the attendant who luckily did not utter a word as she checked in all my bags without any extra charges. My heart was filled with delight as I hastily passed through the security checks and headed to the aeroplane. I assumed it was a smooth journey back to Abuja, as I slept all through and only woke up as we began to descend into Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.
On Sunday the 27th of May, I decided to travel to Port Harcourt to visit the Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum and the Executive Governor who turned forty seven. It was a sort of gamble as the Governor himself had declared to all his friends that he desires a quiet event devoid of any form of pomp or pageantry. The local flight to Port Harcourt left on time and I got into government house in the early afternoon. The event was an interdenominational prayer session for the governor and his family in the company of friends.
It was a little strange to observe that the event deviated completely from what one would expect in the birthday of a front line politician of the stature of Amaechi. The exhortation of the officiating pastor (who was introduced as one of Amaechi’s best friends) turned out to be the high point of the event. He (the pastor) spoke forthrightly about the need for leaders to fear God and be upright. That speech offered me additional insight about the kind of company Amaechi keeps and the sort of leader he is.
There are many reasons why Amaechi‘s style of governance stand out. He is full of wit, experience, energy and courage. He understands the problem of the people of Rivers state, and has confronted these problems with very systematic solutions. The results are abound for anyone to see. Rivers State today is a model state in the Niger Delta region and indeed the whole country. Many people know Amaechi’s administration for the roads he has constructed, the power plants he has built, the world class schools he has built and new functional health centres and the greater Port Harcourt city. Little is known about the cassava projects, the Songhai Integrated farms in Ogoni land and brand new university that is under construction. More than one thousand students (both indigenes and non indigenes) are currently studying in seventy universities in United Kingdom alone and in many other universities all over the world. This man’s vision is so broad that many of us believe that he is doing too many projects at the same time. This indicates that the man is in a hurry to develop the state but many observers shudder at the huge capital involvement in a project like the brand new Port Harcourt city that is currently being built. With only three years to go, it has become necessary for Mr. Amaechi to pause and limit the coming of stream of new projects and concentrate on completing the ones already on stream. The government of Rivers State has constructed many feeder roads within the city of Port Harcourt but free traffic movement remains a huge challenge. One project, whose completion is critical in the city, is the mono rail which I am told has a potential of reducing the current traffic burden.
Against the popular wish of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, may I single him out for commendation for delivering transformational leadership to the people of Rivers State. His addiction to performance, transparency, integrity and sound ethics has midwifed a new political culture in the Niger Delta and has left his name boldly written in the sands of time. The late Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu once said that ‘politics is the act of leaving a place better than how you found it’. One will therefore say without any doubt that Mr. Amaechi has excelled as a politician. The Governor of Rivers State has hinted that he will be returning to the classroom to teach at the end of his tenure but those of us who understand the magnitude of political challenges that Nigeria is facing at the moment, insist that we need more doers like him at other levels of government. Nigerians want performance and not empty promises.
I congratulate Rotimi Amaechi, his wife Judith, his sons and the entire Rivers people. I am delighted that his peers in other states of the Niger Delta are rising up to the challenge to use the oil money positively to reverse the development deficits of the past. I wish this distinctive political ‘cheetah’ renewed energy to continue making a difference.