Comrade Alhaji Douye Kebbi is a Delta State-born Ijaw youth leader who is president, Niger Delta Peace Movement, NDPM.
In this interview, he spoke on the political voyage of the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, his political strides, insinuations and popular opinions over the political controversy between the Transportation Minister and former President Goodluck Jonathan among other issues. Excerpts:
Tell us, how much you know about Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as a politician?
Amaechi is progressive in the politics of the nation. As a symbol of democracy, he has always displayed total commitment to well-being of the masses. He’s a man of his words when you come to politics.
Amaechi, who has held various political offices from the grassroots to national politics, no doubts, has put an indelible footprint in the annals of politics in Rivers State, Niger Delta and the nation at large through his development-oriented policies and programmes. He is simply a politician with the vision of taking democracy dividends to doorsteps of the electorate as exemplified in his performance in various political portfolios held so far.
As a man of transparency and truth, he speaks the truth to power. He is fearless, bold and hates deception and betrayal. If you get to know who Amaechi really is, you will find out that he’s a true Niger Deltan with the vision of a better Niger Delta for her people.
As a youth leader and political analyst, can you tell us some outstanding exploits of Amaechi as governor of Rivers State?
Amaechi performed marvelously in the overall development of Rivers State, whose development efforts are impressed in the hearts of all true Rivers men and women till this day. When he was elected governor of the state in 2007, his administration invested massively in infrastructure development. This Ubima-born politician from Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state brought overnight transformation to the face of Rivers State through his urban renewal and urbanization policies.
Construction of roads, Bridges and flyovers in the state capital, Port-Harcourt, other towns and rural communities to actualize his vision of connecting all parts of the state by road. His administration also began the construction of the monorail project to provide mass transportation within the capital city.
More so, power plant projects, such as the Afam, Trans Amadi and Onne were built to improve power supply in the state. A lot of primary and secondary health facilities were built to cater for the health needs of Rivers people. On the education sector, you can recall that Amaechi employed well over thirteen thousand teachers across-the-board to ensure Rivers children were given proper and adequate education.
Again, Rivers indigenes enjoyed overwhelming and unprecedented scholarship programmes and schemes under Amaechi. I dare to say that, there is no governor in Niger Delta that can beat Amaechi’s feat in the area of infrastructure and social development as he virtually touched all sectors of Rivers economy and transformed it under his watch as governor.
I can go on and on if you permit me. He’s indeed a true and worthy son of Niger Delta who deserves accolades and more opportunities to serve the people, just as the saying goes, one good turn certainly deserves another.
But, some people alleged that Amaechi betrayed former President Goodluck Jonathan; what is your opinion on the political controversy that erupted between Amaechi and Jonathan, then?
For the records, Amaechi never betrayed Jonathan. It’s a wrong impression that is far from the truth. I believe many Nigerians saw the drama and the political interplay between the forces of the then president and Amaechi, who struggled with all efforts to salvage his political career from those forces who were bent on subverting his career by all means.
He was forced by the forces under Jonathan to defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, as it was the apparent option for the survival of his political career, then.
Look at it again, even before he defected as a governor under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, he made strained efforts to meet with President Jonathan but he was barred by the same forces. He openly requested to see with Mr President but was denied the opportunity, they made it difficult for him to gain access to Mr president and he had no other option than to defect.
Personally, I have not met with Amaechi, neither does he know me, but the truth is clear before everyone following the political trend. You know, Amaechi is somebody that can tell you to your face if you are wrong and many people do not like such fearless and transparent persons, they would rather tag you with some unpalatable names because of what you believe and stand for.
If you are the type that is sincere and ready to do what is right, then you are his friend, you are his brother and that is Amaechi for you. All what I’m saying here came into play when he was governor of Rivers State and many of those he trusted who later betrayed the trust he separated them from himself.
Again, his love for the Ijaw ethnic group in Rivers State is an undoubted and undiluted truth, who went the extra mile to ensure a son of Ijaw extraction succeeded him as governor of Rivers State, but that well-intentioned plan was also truncated by the same forces.
So, if anybody says Amaechi betrayed Jonathan or Niger Delta, I would say such a person is either saying it out of ignorance of the politics, out of hearsay or hatred. Politics is a game of strategies and interests and Amaechi has really displayed his potentials and strategies as a good and faithful politician since his arrival to the APC. In a nutshell, Amaechi did not cause Jonathan’s failure in 2015 but those who fought and forced him out of the PDP were the cause.
As Transportation Minister, can you say he has performed well to the expectations of Nigerians?
That’s self-explanatory because if you take a critical look at the transport sector of the economy, you would say Amaechi is doing marvelously well. Road construction works and railway lines connecting and linking various parts of the country are testimonies to the fact that the man is doing his job very well and I encourage him to continue his good works.
Moreover, the aviation industry as well as maritime transportation are all doing better under Amaechi, a fact you yourself can attest to. He is a minister with outstanding performance which is reminiscent of his earlier vision and performance in Rivers State when he initiated the monorail project, revolution of road projects and overall infrastructure and social development as governor of Rivers State.
Your final words
There’s no debate about the fact that Rotimi Amaechi has been the campaign director who had led the APC to its victories from 2015 to date, which is an attestation to the fact that he’s a politician per excellence with abundant grace.
So, if he is given another opportunity to serve the masses in any capacity, I will give him my support, and not only that, I will mobilize Niger Deltans, I will mobilize fellow Ijaw brothers and sisters to give him the needed support.