Rivers: Amaechi, Wike in show of might

Last weekend, a po­litical scenario was played out by two prominent citizens of Rivers State.

The personali­ties are the sitting Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Nyesome Wike. While Wike, held a recep­tion rally last Friday, having resigned his portfolio in the President Goodluck Jona­than cabinet to contest next year’s governorship election in the state, Amaechi on the other hand organized a rally the second day in com­memoration of the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that brought him to power as Rivers State Governor. But Amaechi’s rally, analysts observed, was an unmistakable signal to the opposition in the countdown to next year’s elections.

As if to confirm analysts observation, Amaechi, at the well attended rally intoned: “I want to test my popularity” to a multitude of supporters and well wishers, who had gathered at the 40,000 capacity Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Ig­wuruta-Ali, Port Harcourt, as early as 7am to celebrate seven years of Amaechi’s reign in the oil rich state through an unprecedented Supreme Court ruling in October 2007.
Although Wike’s outing could be said to be less significant because he called it a reception, the import the two rallies however, no doubt afforded observers globally, the opportunity to assess the strength of the two men on the one hand and the support that Amaechi and Jonathan stand to muster in the state in the 2015 electoral battle.
The governor’s rally, last Sat­urday’s was out of this world and appeared unrivalled in the history of contemporary political mobili­zatio in the country. Although it may have been coincidental that the need for Amaechi to test his popularity and strength on a new platform came at a time his victory at the Supreme Court was seven years old, the governor and his team left nothing to chance in their resolve to make a clear political statement, a few months to the general election.
Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital was literally shut down last Saturday. A majority of the people, who had signed up for the rally resorted to trekking from a distance as far as Rupokwu area to the stadium and back. There was the possibility that a majority of air passengers missed their flight that morning as the road to and from the airport was completely shut down. Human traffic was not convenient either.
Yet the citizens appeared happy and elated to identify with their governor. A majority of them confirmed to our correspondent the fact that the crowd present at the rally was not hired contrary to insinuations.
“One need to break into Central Bank’s Vault to get enough money to put such a crowd together,” a supporter, who simply identified himself as Richard submitted, adding, “if the census of this crowd is taken, we cannot be less than 5, 5000 present here.” He was convinced that the crowd was not a rented one.
An artisan, Alvan however could not be bothere about whatever anybody could say, saying, “the election at the corner will determine who owns this state between the people behind Amaechi and those chasing political shadows.”
However, the State Commis­sioner for Information and Com­munication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, explained that “apart from the 40,000 seats that were filled to capacity, there were about 45,000 people standing in the main bowl of the stadium while 55,000 were stuck outside the venue, unable to gain access despite the fact that the entire 25 exits were opened for access.”
While one may fault her calcula­tion, other stakeholders thought that the crowd at the stadium in total was not less than 75,000, including those sitting, those standing as well as those outside.
As jubilation and celebration continued in the arena, people were called up the podium one after the other to address the crowd as well as attest to the scorecard of the Amaechi administration in the last seven years. Generally, the speeches were not different from one another – they were either of support for or affirmation of the good works of the governor.
However, the ovation that trailed Amaechi’s approach to the podium with some skelewu dance steps, for his address was deafening.
Exuding confidence, Amae­chi, amidst cheers addressed the gathering: “I am here to test my popularity. They have made too much noise. The president says we exist only on posters and billboards. So, we brought a large billboard for him. If the President is not watch­ing (the rally) they will give him security report.
“This stadium is 40,000 sitting capacity; I built it. One of them campaigning for governorship was the contractor to do the roads. He abandoned the roads, took N3bil­lion and left, and now he wants to be governor. A thief will not be our governor.
“I challenge them to an integrity test. Any of them from Abuja to Rivers State, I challenge them to an integrity test. I have worked with them; I have their records and they (the records) are in the Office of the Governor. I challenge any of them to performance.
“In 50 years, all the state govern­ments put together plus council chairmen built six classroom blocks, but in seven years, I have built 20 classroom blocks. We have developed 715 megawatts of electricity, but the problem is federal government allowing us to distribute electricity. They don’t want you to have electricity. Vote them out!
“We were to give Port Harcourt water, but as I am talking to you today, the Minister of Finance has refused to move the file again back to the Executive Council for ap­proval so that you can have water. They don’t care for you; they want you to die of water-borne diseases. Punish them with your votes; pun­ish PDP with your votes. They say he (Jonathan) is our son, then why can’t we have water? The problem we have is that the EFCC is no longer working,” he said.
Conversely, for Amaechi and his party in Rivers, there could not have been a better way to send a rather strong message of popular­ity to the PDP than the opportu­nity the Saturday rally provided even though the ruling party was believed to have responded rather cynically....post by expdonaloaded