GOVERNOR AMAECHI AND THE NEW NOLLYWOOD By Hon. Azibola Omekwe (Hon. Azibola Omekwe is a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly) Nollywood hit Nigeria in the early 90s. Those were days Nigeria was blunted by military arbitrariness, scarcity, and nadir international repute. There was practically nothing about Nigeria. And so, graciously out of nowhere, we watched glamour girls, true confession--have you forgotten? I can hardly get the third nominal file we were entertained with, distracted from boredom, and reminded of who we are. It tended to tell the world that Nigerians were like this: glorify money, believe in rituals, hard work pays, evil can never thrive and good living must end in tying the nuptial cord. Little did we know that one day politicians would eventually hijack that mandate to craft their own ‘poli-wood’ as long as it supplants a saint for them to be transplanted. Rivers State’s leadership has taken leave of the sacred covenant it had with the masses to nosedive into drama, written by APC chieftains, edited by chieftains of Nigeria’s biggest economy Lagos (they have a lot of studios there) and produced by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. When politicians decide to play politics inside politics, they are likely to hoodwink the masses to forgive them their sins. Today we have been so persuaded by Governor Rotimi Amaechi to act a film produced by Asiwaju who calls him a ‘wonder boy’. But verily verily I say unto you, the actors and the producers are all wanderers. Recall the producer wanted to replace Fashola but was vetoed by Lagosians. That is big wandering. Amaechi as a student union leader veered off, no wandered away, from its ideals for lucre. The duo has again severally wandered to Ota farm where they once declared a persona non grata. Fellow Nigerians, never may you confuse wonder for wander. Since the trademark of this theatrical wonder boy is to wander about, he has successfully wandered away from his covenant with the Rivers people to set up an NGO, Save Rivers Movement that recruited someone from Nigeria’s revered Red Chamber to abdicate from Abuja to play Falstaff so that the people of Rivers State may laugh off Ν25 billion monthly allocation. Consequently, there aren’t facilities in the health sector to treat a paltry shock. For Senator Magnus Abe to be flown abroad for a mere shock is a huge admittance that Rivers State has become a Nollywood destination. That is to say when you visit Rivers State you must carry an extra luggage, a First Aid kit since we have all been forewarned. Truth is, many cannot fly abroad in the event of being diagnosed with malaria, TB, dysentery, etc. And while those diseases take their toll on the people of Rivers State, the governor and his henchmen are busy acting an infamous script from the APC headquarters. To start with, what is a governor doing with an NGO, a mighty distraction from governance? The legal statue of being the manager of Rivers State’s human and material resources is bigger than any diversion any NGO can offer. The real work an NGO can ever offer to any government particularly this one under mention is at best a subterfuge. For a governor to set out to belittle the sacred mandate given to him for an NGO whose main menu is to dissuade people from empirical project deliverables is a kamikaze sludge. This rising Nollywood star has succeeded in deceiving many. ‘Many would come in the name of democracy to lead many astray.’ What is required of Amaechi is for him to move at jet speed in delivering democracy dividends. Such unique opportunity would then suffice for all he wants to achieve after his tenure in office. The excess energy he has should be expended in achieving his primary assignment. Recall Obama who did what was required of him as a senator. He courted an expansive ambition of leading the most powerful nation on earth. Nigerians must insist on performance from the gubernatorial club. The centre, agreed has a lot of debt to pay us. Needless to say there are a lot to distract it. Let Nigerians be up and doing enough to insist on the basic scorecard of every governor. The federal government is an unfortunate father that caters for its grown up children. President Goodluck Jonathan was forced to permit 75% of Nigeria’s annual budget to fund frivolous ministries and parastatals she can never wean and so it behoves a lucky state like Rivers to move at a kamikaze speed to usurp the federal mandate to provide employment, security through neighbourhood watch, roads, and many of such saddled with the federal government. Truth is, if we are going to continue to remain gullible, then no president can ever be good in Nigeria. The present president has grown the economy for a record three years and can achieve more if he gives capital expenditure a boost and attempts to beat down the recurrent figure. The mouth fest APC would never sit down and watch the president achieve higher targets in its service delivery. The opposition is acting out an imaginary hardship in Nigeria. Fellow Nigerians, we must not forget history in a hurry. Russia, or rather the erstwhile Soviet Union, in attempting to keep pace with world economies and in preparation with the whirlwind in Europe melted her railway lines, agricultural machinery and just any metal that was meant for comfort and sent them to factories to keep with global trend. Soviets where marshaled to align with government thinking. Today Russia, which led that pack, is a testimony. The Cultural Revolution in China decimated the Chinese in no small measure. The Red Army superintended this blueprint to make sure Chinese saint Mao Tse-tung was satisfied with economic targets. It was all about economy war. Remember, the West thought China was an aberration and she was afraid if it worked, then the whole human civilisation must be re-written. China was running a communist state. She was a whopping poor state, but very coherent. She had an internal market that hardly required export. And lastly, she was the greatest economic threat the trio of USA, Great Britain and France had. What was the way out for this ancient kingdom? Muzzling of internal opposition and at the same time growing the economy. Recall the Tiananmen massacre, where trucks were deployed to ram on student leaders and activists who insisted China must discard who they are for the West’s ideals. After that extreme posture by the state, the oldest country in the planet procured an express space to move in its own orbit. Five decades later, especially last year, China argued off that massacre and many others with the biggest and enviable trade surplus--$4trillion. Nigerians, that is nation building. I am not advocating that, anyway. But that lesson should give a less extreme but significant mileage in taking decisions that would grow Nigeria. Fellow Nigerians, many of our ‘mate’ countries have left us behind. Let us not allow mild hardship to derail our focus. We should not be deceived by some veteran politicians now that collectively we are getting it right. We are, particularly, grateful now that Jonathan has decided to do that which our sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, advised Alhaij Shehu Shagari about the economy. Jonathan has not muzzled anybody. In fact, he dare not. He has only succeeded in groping marvelously to grow the economy. He cannot even do it boldly. Instead of him muzzling others, he is the one being muzzled. He would rather soft pedal on some of his policies (due to the foregoing recurrent estimate following mild hardship). Some sections of the print media have been procured into this newest ‘Riverwood’. They reported that Senator Magnus Abe sustained internal bleeding immediately the claimed bullets were fired. It has ignited the ire of Nigerians. But before this film, there was a script that failed woefully penultimate week. Amaechi exhumed the stale oil bloc saga that had been exhaustively discussed. A competent court of law and many commissions declared that those oil resources belong to Bayelsa State. Then Jonathan and, of course, nobody, knew that he would one day become the president of Nigeria. Never mind that the police have sworn that none of their operatives fired anything. Not even throwing sachet water. Amaechi has a natural flair for acting. Rivers State is above an NGO. Such label should be a metaphor of projects. The monorail trumpeted about must work. Hospitals must attend to people instead of pointing at the president. The government is so idle that they could rummage for a concluded matter to induce a razzmatazz about governance. Time is of the essence. Teachers that were flaunted in the market place and not in government offices must conclude their employment procedures and start teaching our children things that would be beneficial to the country. In conclusion, I am using this opportunity to commend the Senate in setting up a committee to find out what transpired on the day of the rally. They must find out why a police permit was not concluded before the rally was held. They should also prove that somebody was shot and by whom since the police have denied ever shooting at anybody. There is a trite law in law. Nobody is guilty unless proven guilty by a competent court. It is sweeter expressed in Latin which l have forgotten. I just do hope it would not be dramatised due to too much money that would escape accountability because of 2015. –– Omekwe is a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:27:08 +0000
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