SOME OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF RT. HON. CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI

The Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi I Know:- 

EDUCATION;
Employed over 13000 teachers in one day
Sponsored over 2000 Rivers people on foreign scholarship.
Built about 10 world class secondary schools with boarding facilities.
Upgraded the status of COE to I. Ajuru university of education.
Gave free school uniforms to all primary school pupils.
Made port Harcourt world book capital.
Built Modern Primary schools in almost all the communities in Rivers State.
Built Modern Secondary Schools that is adjudged a university in various parts of the state.
Gave Free Education from Primary and Secondary School.
Upgraded SBS to polytechnic.
Automatic scholarship was giving to all indigenous Lectures in UST to upgrade to Ph'd.
Upgraded COE to UOE which is the 1st in Nigeria.
Supported the federal university with infrastructural and human capital development.
Backlog of over 4years un access found of UBEC and ETF was accessed to date without his interference… that made the board won an award as the BEST UBE state in Nigeria which attracted #500,000,000.00 to the financial strength of the state. The board is still the BEST in Nigeri

ROAD;
Reconstructed the Olu Obasanjo road with underground drainage system.
For us, Mono-rail is an achievement comparing to that of The United Kingdom which was built in the 18th century. We to wonder what inspired this man at this time!
Renamed the famous stadium road to Ken Sarowiwa road.
The first & only ring road in Okrika.
Built internal roads in ikwerre lga.
Reconstructed Oroworukwo internal roads,
Reconstructed the entire network of roads in Bori.
In partnership built gulf estate.
Dualisation of Rumuola, Oginigba, Elekahia, Rumuomasi roads.
Amaechi built abuloma road.
Built Agip over head bridge.
Built Obiri ikwerre interchange.
Built Woji bridge.
Built Rundele-Agba-Ndele road,
Built Eagle high-land link road.
Built Rumuokwuta,NTA/Mgbuoba road.
Dualised the famous Ikwerre Road with Street light.
Dualisation from Lagos Bus-stop to the boundary between Rivers State and Imo state with street lights.(The longest road ever built at a time in Sub-sahara Africa).
Dualisation of Ada-George Road with Electrification.
Built the Inter-change in Airforce/GU Ake Road.
Built Unity Road (Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro/Bonny) with 26 bridges(The first of it’s kind in Africa).
Built Eleme flyover.
For us, Mono-rail is an achievement comparing to that of The United Kingdom which was built in the 18th century. At a time one beggind to wonder what inspired this man at this time!

HEALTH;Amaechi fought the dreaded Ebola virus to a standstill.
Built the prestigious K. Harrison memorial hospital.
Built & equipped 160 functional health centers.
Upgraded BHM to New BMH.
Paid antenatal mothers to reduce infant mortality.
Built Maxilofacial clinic.
Recruitment of 700 Medical doctors with state of the art Cars and Residential Quarters in the health centers. Built by Amaechi.
He did free medicals.

SPORTS;Named a 40000 capacity sports complex he built after Adokiye Amiesimaka.
Built a stadium with 2 standard football pitches.
Upgraded of Elekahia Stadium.
Built the most comprehensive & finest sport complex (Games village –Allkind of sports game is inside) in Nigeria.
Built one standard soccer pitch (grass), 2 standard training pitches (fifa compliant) and one mini stadium but nevertheless with standard football pitch.

AGRICULTURE;Built Songhai farm in Rivers State.
Built the biggest fish farm in buguma.
Banana farm etc.
Agric loan program.

 INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT;

Built the Ultra modern Obi Wali Intl. Conference center.
Built & commissioned the Rumuwoji market.
Built the most befitting secretariat for NUJ Rivers chapter.
Ameachi in partnership with first bank built Rainbow city estate
Built New Risonpalm.
Built Greater Port Harcourt City
The choice citing of SPAR (Supper-Market) is second to non and was built in partnership.
Created Silver-Bird gallery and brought back night life in Port Harcourt.

HUMAN CAPACITY;
Paid civil servants promptly.
Influenced the relocation of LNG headquarters to Port Harcourt.
Provided portable drinking water to the people of Eleme & it's environs.
All through his administration ‪#‎TheAmaechiIKnow‬ worked with elected Chaimen (6yrs) while most of his counter-part did CTC.
He gave opportunity to the youths, women to be part of his government
Funded the judiciary very well, hence made the former chief judge (Justice Iche-Ndu Rtd) one of the richest former chief judges in Nigeria.
Stood on citizenship instead of indiginalization, hence employed them, gave them Both local / int'l saholarship, appointed them PamSec/Commissioners in his administration. (The 13,200 teachers are both indigin and non-indigen...The Amaechi legacy).
De-centralisation of pension payment points hence upgraded and automated it payment system with Biometric system... every body receives their pays @ once... this is why those who worked in finance never liked Amaechi because the man was too transparent in financial matters! Even if he inherited backlog of over 20yearsincluding yhe once Dr. Peter Odili’s administration did noy pay.

THE AMAECHI WONDERS;
Demystified the office the governor
Could not be linked to any corrupt practice by his adversaries even whilst they controlled all the instruments of power
.But for Rotimi Amaechi, corruption would have killed Nigeria “The Amaechi legacy”. The first Nigerian to serve two tenure as “Chairman, Conference of Nigeria Spreakers and Chairman, Nigerian Governor’s Forum”.
The first Nigerian who led a democratic team to win a seating president with a political party in a general election that have been in charge of a countries government for sixteen years.
The 1st and only governor who saved 1 billion naira monthly, all through his tenure as governor and used it accordingly with approval from the state house of assembly… and lots more!

“If you are a PDP member, and you cheered Nyesom Wike, when he embarked on his infamous voodoo desecration of Amaechi's conspicuous developmental landmarks in Rivers State, then know that you have no moral and spiritual right to attend the Olympic qualifier match between Congo and Nigeria, that is slated to hold this Saturday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium (international standard), which was proudly built by Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. It might also interest you to know that the new Coach, Samson Siasa, has scored the Stadium very high in terms of international standard” Solomon Nmam Okocha

Credits: 

Bill Christian, Mfata T. Mfata, Godstime Orlukwu, former Chairman and Secretary,  APC Media team, and Lucky U. Worluh, Executive Chairman, Emohua local government area.

Apprehension As Buhari Meets Obama

As Nigeria’s president,  Muhammadu Buhari, departs Abuja tomorrow (Sunday) to Washington DC, the capital city of the United States of America for his historic meeting with President Barrack Obama who initiated the official visit, there are already widespread concerns and heightened expectations among Nigerians, particularly those in diplomatic and security circles as well as strategic studies experts,  as to whether or not, the trip will achieve its desired goals. This anxiety arose from the fact that similar official trips by the immediate past leadership of Nigeria to frontline American and European countries, have not yielded sufficient fruits in terms of bilateral promises, cooperations and opportunities for Nigeria to tackle her domestic problems.

Some of these challenges include the nagging issue of Boko Haram insurgency, corruption, war against poverty, hunger and rampaging tropical diseases like the malaria scourge, poor state of key infrastructure, sustenance of the nation’s emerging democracy, job creation through direct foreign investment inflow and stimulation of the real sector of the economy and revitalisation of the ailing national economy, among other internal challenges.
The visit could also foster international cooperation, help in intelligence gathering, renewed and diversified trade opportunities and aid the anti-corruption fight by blocking foreign accounts.
The issue of stolen funds from Nigeria’s treasury by Nigerian officials and their cronies which Buhari is making efforts to repatriate is also a key issue to be discussed.
The American visit, is President Buhari’s first official outing to the United States since his inauguration on May 29 as president of Nigeria. According to the official travel details and itinerary of the president released on Wednesday by his special adviser on media and publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the Nigerian leader, would, on arrival in Washington DC tomorrow, be received by the US Secretary of State at the State Department along with his entourage, which includes the governors of Imo ( Rochas Okorocha), Nasarawa (Tanko Al-Makura), Edo (Adams Oshiomole), Borno (Kashim Shettima), Oyo (Abiola Ajimobi), governor of  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele and the permanent secretaries of the federal ministries of defence, foreign affairs, industry, trade and investment, among other key officials of government.
However, there are concerns in some quarters in Nigeria, that beyond the crucial issue of insurgency ravaging the country, the controversial issue of same sex marriage or gay rights would feature prominently in the discussion between President Muhammadu  Buhari and his American counterpart, Barrack Obama. It is noteworthy that the US Supreme Court, Canada, Spain, France, UK, Ireland and the European Union, have all okayed the same sex marriage or gay rights. Though a reasonable population of the citizens of these countries are actually not in support of the obnoxious gay right laws.
It is however expected that should such a discussion come up, the Nigerian leader would be able to handle the issue diplomatically and appropriately. During the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the United States government stated that it would withhold all it’s aids to Nigeria should the nation refuse to accept gay rights.
But in an apparent response to this subtle diplomatic threat, the Nigeria’s 7th Senate through its  former Senate president, Senator David Mark, boldly told the US authorities that if accepting gay rights would be a pre-condition for extending aid incentives to Nigeria, then they should withhold such aid because Nigerians are not beggars. Many people believe that the United States in particular does not habitually offer free gifts or assistance to any nation.
According to some analysts, aids to nations by the United States was usually a grotesque Greek package. Thus, they often offer help when there are underlying benefits to derive from such aids. In this case, many are equally of the view, that US under President Barrack Obama, may be targeting some oil or other economic benefits in Nigeria, which could be the hidden motive for inviting President Buhari.
There could also be imperialistic tendencies and trade exploitations at the expense of Nigeria.
Some scholars in strategic studies have equally canvassed for a total exercise of caution, wisdom and tact by Nigeria’s president during discussion with his American host especially when the issue of possible offer for assistance by the United States in tackling the activities of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria comes up. They maintained that while it is necessary that the insurgency was urgently combated, it is advisable that every American offer is weighed against Nigeria’s national interest.
They argued that Darfur is a classic example of US military intervention in seeking ultimate solution to internal insurgency or crisis situation in a country. But the inability to achieve the desired peace and restore sanity in such countries have raised questions about America’s motive and capability. “In such situations, the US often fail in their expedition. They seem to be more interested in other hidden interests,” said Dr Ikeyinna Okpara, an Abuja-based political scientist.
However, among the ecclesial  group in Nigeria, the concern over President Buhari’s trip to the United States is more evident. They were unanimous in urging the president to hold out strongly on issues regarding Nigeria’s sundry interests during the parley with president Obama. For instance, the General Superintendent of the Holy Spirit Mission Church, Bishop Charles Ighele, specifically urged President Buhari to endeavour to seek America’s support in building the institutions of government in Nigeria.
He also urged the president to focus on projects that would address poverty in the country during the visit. On the contentious question of gay marriage, Ighele said that legalising same sex union was not,  and should not, be a priority of governance, hence he urged Buhari to predicate his discussion with President Obama on how to end poverty in the country.
Also, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria ( CBCON), called on both President Muhammadu Buhari,  the nation’s lawmakers and the judiciary officers as well as other political leaders in the country, to shun all pressures to legalise gay marriages in Nigeria. The Bishops who expressed fears over the legalisation of same sex marriage in the United States of America and elsewhere as well as the continuous push for gay rights, however enjoined the president to be wary of the trending dangerous influence of lesbianism, gay, bisexual and trans-gender campaigns.
President of the Catholic Bishops, Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama, described the gay marriage as offensive and lamentable, based largely on distorted perception of natural law, the will of God and the human nature. But considering the religious and moral inclination of Nigerians, it would be a herculean task to get the two-third majority of the Senate or House of Representatives to overturn the anti-gay law.

very humbled that l was a part of the Senate that was scandal free as a Nigeria political institution. That was a major achievement for me. I am also grateful that l worked with colleagues who gave their support to me as the majority leader of that Senate. And l feel fulfilled and contented that it was during my time that we achieved the kind of stability we recorded in the 7th Senate. For the newly inaugurated 8th Senate, they are still young in their tenure and therefore need to be given the chance and support to stabilize and work for the nation.

How would you describe your experience in the Senate in the past twelve years as a lawmaker. What are your moments of joy and regret?
I feel quite elated that l was part of the democratic institution that nurtured our democracy to maturity despite the very serious hemorrhage in our institutional memory. If you look at our historical challenges and experiences so far in our quest to build an enduring democracy after many years of military rule, you will discover that the parliament is the youngest of all the three arms of government. It presupposes that it requires some period of time to stabilize which the 7th Senate was able to do. You will also agree with me that it is this stability and probity that made it possible for the party in government to lose to the party in opposition in the just-concluded election. So in the 16 years of our present democracy, 12 of which l was a participant, we have seen a president handing over to another president and a president being handed over to. We also saw our democracy survive very stressful moments as a result of a sitting President’s ailment. In the same period, we saw an acting President become a president and so on. So really saw it all. That’s why l said l was part of history. But it is a thing of regret that the parliament is losing a large number of its experienced lawmakers after every election. It is this institutional memory that preserves, stabilizes and enhances the legislative efficiency of the parliament. Also, one dream that l had which unfortunately, l could not realize due to my exit, is to archive all our political milestones from 1960 to the present era.

Talking about stabilizing the Senate, how were you able to manage the different tendencies as Senate leader to achieve the kind of relative cohesion that existed during your period in the upper chamber of the parliament?
Well, l think first and foremost, it is the Grace of God and then through the help of the Senate leadership under the former Senate President, Senator David Mark and other members of the leadership and my colleagues as well. Again, l think it just had to do with chemistry. There are certain people you just naturally flow with and we just blended. It was as if we have known ourselves for years. Fortunately, l have known Senator David Mark since 1978, although we got closer when we came together in the Senate. For the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, we met for the first time in 2003, when we came to the Senate. We got on very well and that was the chemistry l was talking about. Another thing is that we were very open with one another. Whenever we couldn’t resolve certain issues or we could not take any decision within the Senate leadership, we will take it to the executive session. We worked as a team and we could almost vouch for one another. Not for one day did we undermine one another and there was no struggle to do so.

You have always talked about preserving the institutional memory of the parliament particularly the National Assembly. What we have had in the previous elections was a situation where a significant proportion of the experienced legislators were unable to return. When are we going to have less fresh men lawmakers populating the parliament after each general elections?
We will get to some point where we will retain as much of these experienced legislators in the parliament as possible. This will come when the political parties get their acts together. The loss is more in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that was because the party was appropriated. It was no longer what the people wanted, it was what the leaders of the party wanted. They were ready to mangle and manipulate every process to achieve what they wanted. So the state governors took total control and everybody including the President were held hostage. The party buckled under the weight of its overbearing governors and it’s contradictions. If you would remember that after the party primaries ahead of the last elections, we witnessed a one way traffic of people from PDP to other parties without a corresponding movement from other parties to the PDP. Which means that something very wrong was happening in the PDP and something better was happening in other political parties. Because of lack of internal democracy in the party, there was no way the institutional memory of the parliament could be preserved. The good news and the lesson we have to learn across board is that a second tenure can not be taken for granted. The second lesson also is that impunity is unsustainable anywhere. The greatest assurance to electoral success or victory, is the level of your internal democracy.

At what point did the PDP allow the governors to acquire or wield the kind of near absolute power and influence they had within the party?
It is a bit difficult to say at what point the governors acquired such powers…….

Then why was it difficult for the party to control them?
The governors did not only take over at the state level, they did the same thing at the national level. They simply became overbearing, such that whatever they wanted, they got. And you know, of course, that the governors, forum helped them to achieve that. My own situation in Cross River state was a typical example. We had congresses and the result was okay. I was able to secure a court order to sustain the result of that party congress . A court order was subsisting. The party also had an appeal process to take care of those who were dissatisfied with the outcome of that congress. But because the result of the congress was not favorable to the governor (Liyel Imoke), he worked for the cancellation of that result, despite the subsisting court order and the fact that the party has an internal mechanism for appeal. Also, don’t forget that it is the same governors that dictate who the Councilors, the local government chairmen, the State Assembly and the National Assembly men are. They also determine who a state commissioner is and who is appointed into every board of parastatal and corporation. Intact, they determine who would be made a minister of the federal republic. So what power is left of the President or the party itself? Therefore it got to a point that PDP became a party for the governors and it became a government for the governors.  

http://leadership.ng/news/447797/apprehension-as-buhari-meets-obama

Iloabuchi/Eagle Island Road finally opens for use

The link road connecting Eagle Island to Iloabuchi Street in Mile 2 area of Diobu in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital is now open for use by commuters.

The long stretch of road, which reduces travel time between the city centre and Eagle Island, was built by the former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration.

Several road users and pedestrians who spoke with Enigma Reports expressed gratitude to former Governor Amaechi for building the road which has now made life easy for residents of Eagle Island. 

REORGANISATION AND RESTRUCTURING OF THE BONNY YOUTH FEDERATIO

By Lancelot. C. Jamaica-Allison

The emergence of multinational corporations in Bonny gave rise to what is known as Bonny Youth Federation, a community-based organisation founded in the late 80s under the auspices of the traditional institution and the Local Government Council working with the mandate of recognition as a non-governmental umbrella youth body comprising all the existing Youth organisations in the Kingdom, yet not registered under law as a corporate organisation.

The Bonny Youth Federation serving as an instrument of advocacy for the youths, with has representatives from the major ancestral settlements that make-up the Bonny Kingdom, whom are addressed as Delegates, yet there is no recognition of the organization outside the borders of this community.

Having existed for more than two decades, with no significant difference or what I call reasonable impact and sustainable developmental milestones, Mission Statement and Vision. Incidental to what I have observed as a cause of this, is her “kindergarten” Constitution or Bye-law.

Her Executives have a two-year serving term with each administration coming and leaving without a bearing. Everyone of her previous administrations have built on a selfish strategy to sustain its activities, until the two years term is completed and a new administration commences, with no focus and yet the youths of Bonny expect so much from this Organisation.

During the organisation’s early years it had used a traditional strategy known as tying of ‘OMU’ (palm fronds) to compel the multinationals to yield to her peanut plights, which has produced results based on the naivety of the indigenes, no doubt. Time has changed, the multinationals are now familiar with this old and outdated strategies, like an HIV virus, they have developed what medical science calls resistant strain to this strategies.

Administrations come, administrations go. Yet the organisation’s strategies have remained the same yielding no results. The people’s needs and desires are no longer the same as in the 80s and early 90s, the indigenous population has tripled and the effect of massive influx of Nigerians and other nationals into the community is a discussion for another day. The youths are now frustrated, many have lost confidence in the organisation. But the irony is that no one has thought of how to change its belated and long-outdated  strategies and approaches.  

How long did it take the founders of this organisation to bring it to existence? I tell you, more than two years. Now think! If it took the founders (a particular group of associates with one vision) more than two years to build and bring this organisation into existence. Do you expect one man to develop and implement modern strategies and approaches to meet the expectations of over a hundred thousand youths with poor intellectual foundation? For you to achieve such you must be a superhuman.

Our individual problems are enormous and expectations differ. But we must begin to garner selfless intellectuals to begin thinking for us, before we can scale up and prioritise our basic needs based on their order of importance like the Economists would say.

I have my own view on this discourse, it might be different from yours, but please do not criticise me. We must cultivate the soil and plant before we can start thinking of harvesting. It will take time but we need patience and motivation to remain focused and on course to avoid distractions because it must surely come.

We must study and do an analysis to understand the key issues. Arising from our learning process we must design innovative measures to address the identified challenges. And finally we must build partnerships.

The journey begins with the reorganisation and restructuring of the Bonny Youth Federation to meet current societal needs. This is what we all must bear in mind. This implies that all good hands must be on deck. In an attempt to power the ignition, we must first be recognised by national and international laws.

This draws me to a phenomenal conclusion that the organisation must be registered to achieve its full potentials. 

The public is yet to know that the administration led by Barrister Simeon Wilcox has made it a focal point of duty to ensure that the organisation is registered. In the process of achieving this, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) rejected the name "Federation", reason being that you can’t have a name federation, inside the Nigerian Federation. Consultations  were made and the word nearest in meaning to what the organisation stands for was introduced - Assembly.

By virtue of the provisions of the Constitution the organisation operates on, a decision to change the name of the organisation cannot be undertaken by an individual alone. This issue was brought to the floor of the Congress to be decided upon. What do you expect from a gathering of untrained, traditional, conservative-based legislature?

As important as this is to the future of the Organisation, and by extension, the benefits it will yield to the youths of this community, we still have many delegates who kicked against it. That is to say, the delegates that are being sent to represent us are still naive and I see it as a very serious setback to the progress of this organisation, which needs urgent intervention.

As a ready solution to curbing this issue, Houses should send their most competent representatives to the Bonny Youth Federation. And if anyone thinks he/she is more enlightened than those representing us in the Bonny Youth Federation, then they have to stop complaining and make efforts to become a Delegate. 

How can a person say he/she have sight and yet a blind man is leading you? 

PARTNERSHIP: A nation can’t survive in isolation, which is what the Socialists say. If a nation can’t survive alone how much less a small organisation like the BYF. Bonny youths must start to build development-oriented partnerships internally and externally. 

EXPERTISE: It is only a man who knows better, that can constructively criticise. Why will you who knows the way out, sit and complain instead of proffering solutions? We need our good heads and best hands to be directly involved, it doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you are not yet a Se-alabo, we even have a Warisenibo as a delegate and we await to partner with the Amaopuseniapu and Amaopuereapu in the development of the Bonny Youth Federation.

The Local Government and Traditional Council are not left out, like I said all hands must be on deck. They must help in funding the reorganisation and restructuring process. They must as a necessity commission and finance a top management consultant to provide ideas on how best to restructure and reorganise the Bonny Youth Federation. They must commission an independent committee of experts in various developmental fields to provide a report on what the Bonny Youth Federation  has done right and wrong in the past and what TO DO NEXT.

In my own view, part of what I think should be done in this reorganisation and restructuring is:

Reducing the number of elected offices to one and the rest will be by appointment. This will keep the organisation on course and we will have one vision and one leader to follow. This has been the bane of Bonny Youth Federation with 12 elected officers. We have 12 manifestos and each officer will work assiduously to keep to their campaign promises on their manifesto thereby creating unnecessary chaos among executive members and most frequently resulting to power tussle within the organisation.

Minimise the duplication of roles and responsibilities.

Redefine more carefully, the schedules and duties of key officers, departments and units.

We must have a strategic plan, not only to do better than we did years back, but to reposition the organisation to become one of the best Youth organisations in Africa and the world.

We must introduce Leadership Management Courses and Legislative Workshop/Training and orientation.

We need to improve the legal framework of the organisation and introduce the Bonny Youth Legal Defence Fund. A committee that will be self-actuated and independent, capable of soliciting for funds and subsidising the cost of seeking legal redress and intervention for the common Bonny Youth.

Finally, our planning methodology must improve and must be timely to avoid procrastination. Reorganization and Restructuring alone will not give rise to a perfect organisation because there will still be challenges, but it will help us to deliver to the satisfaction of the ordinary youths' expectation. And it will be credited to our partners on account of the support given.

In the past deliberate efforts have been made to undermine the functions of the organisation, this we must bear in mind to avoid distractions. There are better models we must learn from. Reorganisation and restructuring are important, but it’s not enough for the developmental sustenance and socio-economic transformation of the Kingdom. But this is only the starting point. They are important and necessary, but they are not sufficient. I repeat! It is only the starting point. 

We must keep on lifting the bar. It must translate into good governance for it to be truly transformative in addressing the key challenges that a kingdom like ours witness. 

THE NEED FOR GOOD AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE IN BONNY ISLAND

By Samuel B. Jumbo

Bonny Island, headquarters of Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State sits comfortably on the southern shoreline of Nigeria along the Atlantic Ocean. I must say it’s a land blessed with milk and honey. The island is surrounded by rivers, rivulets and seas which are themselves laced with beautiful mangroves making it very pleasant sight to behold.

According to history, Bonny Town was founded by one of the founding fathers of the Ibani (Bonny) nation, Alagbariya, after they migrated from present day Bayelsa State and settled at Orupiri, a village about a kilometre from the mainland which also serves as the ancestral headquarters of the kingdom. Bonny was a creation of the colonial masters, who settled here in the late 1900s and found the original name, Okolo-ama (translated in the local dialect, Ibani, as “land of the curlew”, a white feathered, beautiful bird found in large numbers around the shores of the island.). It has a population of about a hundred thousand comprised mainly of the indigenes and a non-indigenous segment made up of foreigners and other tribes in Nigeria.

The Bonny River serves as the gateway into Nigeria’s South-Eastern economic hub namely, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, with its myriad business enterprises, the Federal Ocean Terminal, Oil and gas Free Zone and the National Institute of Oceanography, among others, all at Onne, the Songhai Farm at Buni-Yadi, Gokana local government area, and several others.  

Bonny Island hosts several oil and gas facilities belonging to multinational companies such as the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, the largest of its kind in Africa; the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT), the largest in West Africa; ExxonMobil Terminal, amongst others. It is estimated that economic activities in Bonny contribute a significant percentage to the nation’s economy.      

The community is home to two hybrid technical education facilities, the Bonny Vocational Centre, Akiama, and the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Abalamabie. Both functioning at optimal level are expected to provide about 10 percent of the nation’s total requisite human capacity needs for the oil and gas sector of the economy.

The community boasts of professionals in diverse fields both university graduates and craftsmen, which represents a good percentage of the required human resources that sustains Nigeria as a nation and has bequeathed itself well in different leadership positions in the country. Bonny community produced Nigeria’s first indigenous Air Force general and Chief of Air Staff. It also produced the pioneer Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). It has also produced academics, captains of industry, politicians, and technocrats in diverse fields. The community is relatively peaceful due to its unique style of traditional leadership that is mainly hereditary which has made her outstanding amongst her neighbours.

It is saddening to note that inspite of the above; the area remains seriously underdeveloped due mainly to poor leadership or the lack of it. Poorly oriented or parochial leaders who overtime have resorted to lining their pockets when availed the opportunity have contributed immensely to ensuring that the area remains backward in terms of development. Concentrating only on what they will benefit from the island with little or nothing to offer in return to the place that has fed many of them and made them what they are today. What a pathetic situation we find ourselves!

Sometimes in my solitude, I keep imagining if we had a leader like Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, what would have become of us in terms of development and even distribution of resources? Though Gaddafi had his foibles as a leader, when it came to issues affecting his people, he always distinguished himself as a true leader. History must surely bear him out on that.

It is common knowledge that whenever somebody from Rivers State introduces himself anywhere outside his State, he is accorded due respect by those around, and if he goes further to say he is from Bonny Island, people tend to give him or her a second look thinking in their hearts that “this man or woman must be comfortable”. In fact, our youths in various schools upon mentioning they are from Bonny, are given special preferences and command a high level of influence amongst their peers.

Despite all these, our homeland, Bonny, remains very much unpopular and impoverished. Sometimes i think that instead of the title of Walter Rodney’s book, “How Europe underdeveloped Africa”, the title should have succinctly read “How Leaders underdeveloped Bonny Island”. It is indeed very disheartening that basic amenities are still lacking on the island. Water is yet to run in homes. We still depend on rickety tankers to supply us water. Most roads in Bonny are either too narrow r riddled with potholes making them dangerous death traps. The villages that constitute over 80 percent of the Bonny community are without electricity and yet to be connected by road and these include the waterwell residential areas. The environment is continuously being polluted as a result of gas flaring posing a serious threat to the health of residents and indigenes of the island. Tourists sites though abundant in the area remain unharnessed for the economic benefit of the community. 

It is against this background that we see a ray of hope with the coming on board of Hon. Omuso Abbey as the 6^th elected Executive Chairman of Bonny local government area with the sincere hope that his administration will usher in a new phase of leadership that will be characterised by pragmatism, forthrightness and people-centred policies. Sometimes, change requires some tinges of radicalism.

It is not surprising that Hon. Omuso Abbey has hit the ground running even in the face of contending issues with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government at the State level which ahs made it its one point agenda to find loopholes in the law to dissolve democratically elected local government councils in the State. So far they have been rendered helpless by extant laws and legal antecedents.    

We would expect him to shore up his team with the services of good men and women who are competent, passionate and dedicated to the vision of seeing to the transformation of the area. His predecessor, Hon. Edward Pepple, did his best by carrying out sustainable and human capital development projects. We pray that trend continues. The Hon. Abbey administration should take it a notch higher by reaching out to the people and bringing them up the speed on the policies, programmes, and projects of the government.

The Bonny of my dream can only be realised when the average man and woman can provide for themselves three square meals daily without the stress of thinking how the next meal will come. And businesses can thrive in a very conducive environment. The Bonny of my dream is when strangers from every part of the world can come around for sightseeing. Whe they can visit our heritage sites, stroll along our shores, explore our environment and revel in our local delicacies and take the message home of how beautiful Bonny is.  

The Bonny of my dream is when the town will assume a cosmopolitan hue with development spreading across the Bonny River thus depopulating the already congested space in the mainland. And the various villages around Bonny Kingdom are linked by roads and bridges while the landscape is dotted with high-rise buildings just like we have them in Dubai.

Therefore, we call on all well meaning indigenes and leaders of this prestigious and blessed island to put all hands on deck in ensuring that Bonny gets better. The afore-stated objectives are not hard to achieve. It begins with the dedication and commitment of our leaders and we, the followers in turn, eschewing sentiments, be they political or otherwise, cooperating the present government and pledging our unreserved support to whoever God has chosen to lead because God alone gives power, not man. With God by our side, we shall all live to see these dreams come true.  

Samuel Benedicy Jumbo, a graduate of International Relations from the Osun State University, Osogbo, is the Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Executive Chairman, Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State

Buhari appoints Abdullahi Muhammadu as new NSCDC boss

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr. Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu as the new Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Mr. Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu succeeds Dr Ade Abolurin, who has retired from service.

Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, who was an Assistant Commandant-General of the NSCDC before his new appointment, hails from Muye in Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State.

He holds a B.Sc in Sociology from the University of Sokoto, and a Masters in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.