Rivers PDP Presidential Campaign Rally: Jonathan’s Triumphant Entry By Simeon Nwakaudu After weeks of unofficial absence from his constitutional responsibility of governing Rivers State, outgoing Governor Rotimi Amaechi rushed back to the state with the intention of scuttling the PDP Presidential Campaign Rally billed to hold at the Adokiye Amasiemeka stadium in Port Harcourt. This was after he had instructed his aides to announce that Jonathan would not be allowed to use the facility. As expected, Amaechi cornered members of the Rivers press corps and hijacked the radio airwaves as he moved from one radio station to the other, granting live studio interviews. The long and short of the unwarranted outbursts was that Jonathan would never enter the stadium. When asked in one of his live radio interviews what would justify his refusal to grant the President access to the stadium even when he and his Presidential candidate had used same, Amaechi declared that he had the personal right to stop the President from using the facility. When his interviewer pressed, Amaechi cried: “over my dead body would the President use that stadium”. He went ahead to fume on how he would mobilise thousands of Rivers youths to disrupt the Presidential Rally of the PDP. After these provocative statements, Amaechi slipped out of the state to Abuja from where he granted telephone interview to his pliant correspondents on the takeover of the stadium by the PDP for the Presidential rally. Those not conversant with the happenings in Rivers State would easily be deceived by the false propaganda being dished out by outgoing governor Rotimi Amaechi and his pliant media correspondents. Every issue is painted to suit the outgoing governor’s insatiable thirst for controversy, while the truth suffers untold hardship and rape. Is it not shocking that the media have seen nothing wrong with the fact that outgoing Governor Amaechi declared that President Jonathan would not use a stadium that was used by the APC Presidential Candidate on January 6, 2015? If the stadium is still uncompleted as Amaechi and his media friends want us to believe, logically, its percentage of completion as of January 26, 2015 would be higher than it was on January 6, 2015. Despite Amaechi’s vain boast, the security agencies have done the right thing. They have worked within the ambit of the law to create a level playing field for all candidates ahead of the 2015 General elections as suggested by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle when he visited the Rivers State PDP Governorship Candidate, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike in Port Harcourt. At the meeting with the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Barrister Wike made it abundantly clear that under no circumstance would the outgoing governor be allowed to stop President Jonathan from consolidating on his support base in Rivers State. He explained that the stadium in question is not a private property; hence it must be open to all candidates who apply to use it for campaigns. Barrister Wike raised a poser to the United States Ambassador. Would it be possible for any state governor in the United States to deny President Obama access to a state facility on the account of political differences? Now that the stadium has been secured for the triumphant entry of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, it is only necessary to highlight some of the very fundamental achievements that have been recorded by the Jonathan administration in Rivers State. These achievements form the premise upon which over 95percent of the Rivers people have pitched their tent with Jonathan. The East-West road has reached 75percent completion under the watch of President Jonathan with the stretch of the road in Rivers almost completed. The improvement of this landmark road has impacted the economy of Rivers State positively. There have also been major improvements on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and the restoration of the PH-Enugu-Makurdi Railway Transport has helped the economy of Rivers State. President Jonathan has completed the first phase of the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt International Airport with modern aviation facilities in place. The second phase is progressing steadily. The President approved the establishment of Federal Polytechnic, Oil and Gas in Bonny Island. One billion naira has already been released for the take off of this institution. President Jonathan established a Faculty of Law at the University of Port Harcourt, upgraded the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and released N2billion High Impact Development Fund for the construction of state of the art academic facilities for the institution. Through the MDG office, President Jonathan completed over 400 projects in all local government areas of Rivers State and empowered thousands of Rivers youths through the Sure P programme. The NDDC has helped in connecting several riverine communities through flagship projects approved by President Jonathan. NDDC has reclaimed land through sand-filing in many riverine communities, a project that Jonathan has committed to continue in his second term. The President has rehabilitated and reconstructed 22 secondary schools across the three senatorial district of Rivers State and has sited two girls model schools and one Special Vocational School for boys in the state. He constructed two electronic libraries in Federal Unity Colleges in Rivers State, rehabilitated three Federal Unity Colleges in Rivers State, invested over N1billion in Rivers State owned tertiary institutions and revived academic facilities at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku. President Jonathan through the Federal Ministry of Health fought Ebola to a standstill in Rivers State. As you read this piece, officials of the Federal Government are in different locations of Rivers State fighting bird flu to protect residents of the state. When you hear outgoing Governor Amaechi and his pliant media partners engage in unproductive propaganda that Jonathan has done nothing for Rivers State, bear the above achievements in mind. It is true that Amaechi has a very deep pocket for false propaganda, but he must realise that the people of Rivers State are aware that Jonathan has surpassed his predecessors in terms of achievements in Rivers State. Jonathan will secure over 2million votes in Rivers State in the forthcoming election and will go ahead to get re-elected by majority of valid votes across the country. The reason is simple. His campaign is based on visible democracy dividends that dot the landscape of the country, while his opponent rely on false-hood, photo-shopped images and needless forgeries that have been exposed by vilgilant Nigerians as the height of bare-faced corruption. Like the cliché says; empty vessels make the loudest noise. We must indulge the opposition to continue to make noise through propaganda, but we will never allow them have access to the Presidency, because they lack capacity and genuine intentions to improve the fortune of Nigerians. Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant (Media) to Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Rivers PDP Governorship Candidate.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 09:55:32 +0000
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