by U.S Seth

Saturday October 25th 2014 marked the 7th year anniversary of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. In celebration mood, the governor invited all his friends and well wishers to this eventful occasion which was held at the yet to be completed stadium lavishly constructed by his administration. The high point of this occasion was when the governor took to stage amidst loud cheers from a crowd of friends and well wishers. In his usual commando style he told the cheerful crowd to keep quiet, as he knelt down to pray. He led a praise and worship chorus which he copiously used to throw tantrums and tirades at his enemies.

This is not strange to those who knew Amaechi well, as the governor is noted for usurping any opportunity he has with the microphone to rain curses on his perceived enemies. At this point, I immediately recalled a similar event that happened during the last august event hosted by the governor when he invited ex-president Obasanjo for inspection of projects carried out by his administration. A thank you dinner was organised for the ex-president at the banquet hall of Government house to officially mark the end of the ex-president visit to the state. At the start the dinner, the elderly ex-president in need of restful night made a personal appeal to the governor that all speech and protocols should be brief so that he can retire to bed since it was already late in the night. To the chagrin of most of us seated (including his guest, the ex-president himself) Governor Amechi defying that request went on stage with a long message of horrible complaints and curses against his enemies. At the end of the speech, he appealed to the ex-president (who was to speak next after the governor) to use his influence in assisting him to ask his enemies in Abuja what crime he committed against them. The high point of that night came when Obasanjo took the microphone and immediately cautioned the governor for such terrible remarks because those he called enemies are not enemies but mere political opponents.

In his usual comic manner Obasanjo continued; “Rotimi let me advice you as an elder, stop calling people calling people your enemies, stop using those words. They are not your enemies. You sent me to meet them for you, I will not go. Go to Abuja and ask them yourself”.

Then in summarising his speech that night, Obasanjo surprised the audience more when he said; “…. You invited me to River state to witness your projects and the work you are doing. I have come, we toured the state and I have seen all the things you doing for River state. Stop complaining about those who do not agree with you politically. But if all you have done is the best you can do for River state, let your conscience judge you”. Obasanjo’s speech which was fully packed with deep meanings hence could not impress the governor who most probably expected his guest to assist him in lashing strong words on his enemies. Hence the failure of that last attempt of soliciting for the help of the highest living political-god in Nigeria, Ameechi in his usual proactive manner seized this occasion of his 7th anniversary with an alleged 100,000 crowd cheering him to ask his God in heavens to help in humiliating his enemies.

Governor Amaechi’s message of insults, enmity and preaching of hate at the 7th anniversary occasion was so severe and unprecedented to the extent that it can be safely regarded as the keynote of that event. Certainly, most of those who are regular audience to governor Amaechi would start pondering on who his enemies are? For a more conclusive answer, you can rephrase this by asking the question, who really are governor Amaechi’s enemies? But before you proceed with a guess list of names pause for a moment while I refresh your memory with a similar question asked some 2000 years back during Jesus famous teaching of love. In that bible account, Jesus was asked by the man before him; “who really are my neighbours (friends)?” In solving the puzzle posed by that question Jesus went further with a story of a Jewish man who needed help after he was robbed, brutalised and abandoned half dead by bandits. This Jewish man although being in need of urgent assistance was serially seen and ignored by his supposed brothers (fellow Jews) until a good Samaritan-man (Samaritans are enemies of the Jews) came to his rescue although knowing he was a Jew. At this point the man got the moral lesson in Jesus teaching and quickly got the answer to the question, “Who really are my neighbours/friends or enemies?” Although one cannot exclusively tell what was in Obasanjo’s mind, but I am most certain that this same moral lesson was what our influential ex-president had in mind when he told Amechi to stop being quick and loud in proclaiming enmity.

While I agree that it is nobody’s business to tell the governor whether or not he should preach hate on his enemies, the intention of this piece is to question why such inglorious act should take centre stage in an all important event like the 7th year anniversary of Governor Amaechi’s unique privilege of piloting the affairs of river state. Having the rare opportunity of leading a state like River for a whole seven years is a privilege a very few can dream and achieve in their life time. It would be easy for most people to agree that the governor couldn’t have served his guests a worse program content than what he actually gave out that day. My expectations were high, as the 7th anniversary of his administration if well packaged should have presented to guests a year by year analysis of positive changes in the state, a yearly milestone of infrastructural development in the state starting year one. In a clime where politicians are saner, the eloquent governor could have seized this opportunity to educate his alleged 100,000 crowd which had notable party leaders, on how the seven years journey started, how well the journey has fared, and notable events during the seven years. I would expect a modest leader to tell his teaming supporters what inspired his ambition, how it was nurtured and planned, the obstacles encountered, and how they were bridged.

With all sense of candour I believe this would have by any standard made a better event package than what Governor Amaechi gave us that day. Then one would begin to wonder why the governor couldn’t enrich his program with such content. Given the miraculous nature of how the governor got this mandate, adopting a program package similar what was suggested above could have depicted a humble leader who is appreciative. But the governor most probably avoided this dignifying approach because the names of those he calls his enemies today could have played dominant if with positive narratives. Most importantly that could have answered the question posed by the title of this piece; Who really are Amechi’s friends? Despite how hurt the governor is, the holy book says; “Love your enemies”.

If the governor had told a stories of love and friendship, he could have gained more sincere admiration from his followers. In the words of Martin Luther King, “LOVE IS THE MOST DURABLE POWER IN THE WORLD”. That power is what Amechi has always failed to exercise.

Certainly, having succeeded in keeping his mandate to the 7th year, governor Amaechi can rightly celebrate and now boast of his friends; the alleged 100,000 crowd of supporter amongst whom are his APC chiefs. Now cruising with fame, he can also disparage his ENEMIES (capitalised for emphasis). Yes enemies who stood and spoke for him in his dark days, enemies who were not afraid or ashamed of associating with him when his prospects of rising to fame had a K-Leg. How Governor Amaechi enjoys his fame and who he decides to call his friend or enemies should ideally matter to nobody except for Martin Luther King who said; “IN THE END, WE WILL REMEMBER NOT THE WORDS OF OUR ENEMIES, BUT THE SILENCES OF OUR FRIENDS” when we had k-leg (my addition).

Finally, our leaders should remember that the ultimate measure of men is not where they stand on their days of fame, but where they stood during their K-leg days. As 2015 beckon, I want to remind all our political gladiators of my most favourable phrase; “It is safer to dwell in love than to dwell in hate”.
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SETH U.S. is an accounting graduate as well as a Chartered Accountant.

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