Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
The move by former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi to pave the way for his political godson and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, has unsettled the state.
Amaechi, who had not been visible in the state since the campaigns started, appeared in Port Harcourt last week and promised the Igbo community compensation for losing their properties in the state during the civil war.
The former governor, in a bid to solicit support for Cole, gathered the Igbo at a stakeholders’ meeting and told them that if Cole emerged as governor, he would compensate the people, who lost their properties in Port Harcourt during the war.From Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
Amaechi’s desperate campaign style was, however, viewed by most people in the state as divisive, provocative and capable of causing ethnic crisis between Rivers people and their Igbo neighbours.
They recalled that Amaechi was speaker of the House of Assembly for eight years and two-term governor of Rivers, but kept mute over the Port Harcourt abandoned properties.
Governor Nyesom Wike was particularly unhappy with the decision of Amaechi to use such divisive matter as his campaign weapon.
To defuse the tension generated by Amaechi, the Rivers governor initiated meetings with Igbo stakeholders and urged them to disregard Amaechi’s statement.
The governor met with Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide and other business associations dominated by the Igbo such as the Technical Dealers Association of Nigeria (TDAN), Computer Dealers Association (TDA), Garrison Phone Dealers Association (GPDA) and Building Materials Traders Association (BMTA).
Wike slammed Amaechi for lying to the Igbo living in the state that if they elected Cole, he would ensure compensation for their purported abandoned properties during the civil war.
He said: “When you have a child (Chibuike Amaechi), who wants to destroy a home, to open up old wounds at this time in Nigeria, in Rivers State, is a terrible thing. He is trying to put us and the Igbo at loggerheads for us to fight. God will not allow us to fight.”
The governor said because of election, Amaechi started scratching old scars and fanning the ember of violence to disrupt the prevailing cordial relationship and peace between Rivers people and the Igbo.
Wike wondered why he could not implement such compensation when he was governor for eight years if he loved the Igbo.
The governor recalled that when Amaechi was the Speaker of the House of Assembly, he opposed a plan to compensate the Igbo, who lost their property in the state during the civil war.
“It is absolutely mischievous for Amaechi, who also served as Rivers State governor from 2007 to 2015, to wake up in 2023 to resurrect the issue of abandoned property because of his inordinate political ambition.
“If Amaechi loves the Igbo, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want power to return to the South because he lost APC ticket.”
Wike said despite what Amaechi did, Igbo and Rivers people would continue to live together as one people, who had largely intermarried.
The governor wooed the Igbo community for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sim Fubara.
He announced the allocation of 150 plots of land to the Computer Dealers Association and 30 plots of land to Computer Dealers Association to develop an industrial park in Port Harcourt.
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