Wike Apologises to Amaechi, Urges Him to Contest for President in 2015

By Nwaorgu Faustinus

It was a touching moment when Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, did not only have his stewardship publicly appreciated but was also begged to act fast to rescue Nigeria from the dungeon by contesting the 2015 presidential election as the only panacea to the present sad state of affairs in the country. The plea was made by the cousin of Chief Nyesom Wike and a leading light of the Rumueprikom community, Barr. Tasie Wike, during Amaechi’s resumed Meet-the-People Tour of Obio Akpor Local Government Area.

This request according to Barrister Wike is borne out of the fact that Governor Amaechi has contributed immensely to the economic development of the State and the country in general and in view of his administration’s landmark achievements which speak for themselves.

Presenting his community’s address, Barrister Wike said: “We are convinced that despite the huge effort put in place by our detractors to run you down, history and providence will speak volumes of your track records of infrastructural development which are unprecedented in the annals of Rivers State and indeed Nigeria. We must sincerely commend and congratulate you for putting Rumueprikom clan on the threshold of history of Rivers State – indeed Nigeria – in the elevation of our traditional stool and influencing the appointment of one of our sons as a Minister of State of Education in the person of Chief Nyesom Wike, as well as Chief Promise Onuoha and Chief Cyprian Chukwu as members of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission, not minding that none of these are members of APC and are now constituting themselves as nuisance and stumbling block to further developments of our community.

“Your other areas of intervention in our community include construction of the Ada-George Road, Epirikom/Rumuolumeni Road, Rumuepirikom Health Centre, Rumuepirikom Community Secondary School, Elioparanwo Primary School, among other great feats. All these notwithstanding, we wish to express our huge disappointment over our son, Chief Nyesom Wike, for failing to fix internal roads in our community while he was given hundred percent on the contracts by the Amaechi-led administration to execute these road projects. It is worthy to recall that Rumuepirikom internal road network was awarded to Chief Nyesom Wike. Your Excellency after we visited D/Line area of Port Harcourt and saw the internal road network constructed there and compared them with what was done in our community by our own son we wept. Our Governor, there is need to revisit the slipshod construction done on our internal roads by Nyesom Wike and imagine what a man has unleashed on his own community. What a dastardly act.”

Responding, Governor Amaechi thanked the people for their support and assured them of more developmental projects, including the construction of Rumuagholu Road in Ward 7 and completion of Rumuomoi Road in Ward 12 as well as construction of Eiohani/Eneka Road in Ward 1.

The Governor said: “I thank all of you for the opportunity to address you. It’s basically for the interest of Rivers State that we are here. There is no village in Rivers State you will go to that you won’t see either a primary or a model health centre that I built. It is our responsibility, not about politics. And if you like, you can vote APC or you can vote PDP or any other political party but to meet your needs is my responsibility. I am paid salary for it and it is the reason for which I drive a free car, use free fuel, eat free food and enjoy free sleep.”

The communities visited by the Governor and his team were Rumueprikom, Eliparanwo, Rukpokwu, Eneka, Rukpakwolusi, Eligbolo, Awalama, Rumuuagholu, Elieke, Ekinigbo, Orosi, Rumuadaolu, Rumuola, Rumuokwuta, Oroigwe, Rumunduru, Eliozu, and Elimgbu, among others. All these communities are in Wards 9, 1, 12, 7 and 13.

In Amaechi’s team during the tour were other great political warriors like Chief Hon. Dakuku Peterside; Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke; members of the Federal House of Reps from the State; Chief Chidi Llyod, the Majority Leader in the State House Assembly; Chief Tony Okocha, the Chief of Staff to the Governor; Dr. Davies Ikanya, the Rivers State APC Chairman; Hon. Emmanuel Chinda, the Commissioner of Agriculture; Hons. Ike Chinwo and Igo Aguma, former members of the House of Representatives; Hon. Ojukaye Flag Amachree; Barr Lawrence Chukwu; Chief Ambrose Nwuzi; Hon. Weli, the Commissioner for Environment, Evangelist Carol Nagbo, the APC State Women Leader, Princess Urey Ejims, the Commissioner for Women Affairs; Mrs. Kate Ngbor; and Elder Chidi Wihoka, among others.

Chief of Staff, Chief Tony Okocha, in a symbolic gesture led the team to walk the one kilometre route to the venue of the event from Chief Nyesom Wike’s family compound. He described the successful outing in Chief Nyesom Wike’s community as the fall of the wall of Jericho and collapse of whatever maybe the myth or political power base of the junior minister.

It would be recalled that Governor Amaechi had suspended the tour on 13th August, 2014 in honour of the erstwhile Mayor of Port Harcourt, Hon. Charles Paul Ejekwu, who died that day but whose memory was desecrated by PDP, which hired thugs to cause havoc at Rumueprikom in order to sabotage and disrupt the tour, destroying the canopies and chairs arranged at strategic locations in Obio/Akpor, shooting sporadically into the air, breaking bottles on the roads, destructing property and injuring innocent persons.