A chieftain
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,
has condemned the acerbic reactions that have greeted the advice of former
minister of transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, to Nigerians over the hardship
that has encircled them since the inception of the regime of President
Bola Tinubu.
He noted that in their separate ‘unbridled’
responses to Amaechi’s candid brief, presidential candidate of the African
Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore; Minister of State for Defence, Bello
Matawalle; chief media aide to President Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga; Senator Shehu
Sani and the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Felix Morka have
hounded the former governor for “speaking truth to power.”
In a recent media interview with ABN TV,
Amaechi had decried the hardship in the country and criticised Nigerian leaders
for retarding the socio-economic and political advancement of the nation that
once prided itself as giant of Africa, through their of squander-mania while
leaving the people they claim to lead in squalor.
He said Nigerians have been battling the harsh
realities of the bad economic policies of President Tinubu and expressed
surprise at the lukewarmness of citizens over the sad reality, with cost of
living and prices of petroleum products on a steady rise.
Amaechi had said: “I expected more agitation,
especially from the youths. I thought we would see protests in the streets, but
it seems people are not expressing the kind of anger I expected.
“You cannot have a situation where a group of
people are mismanaging resources and expect citizens to remain silent. I am
truly baffled by the lack of action.
“The price of diesel is at an all-time high,
and even some of us are finding it difficult to afford it. Yet, the general
public seems unmoved.”
Eze wondered where the former transportation
minister erred to warrant “the cacophony of intemperate jeers that flowed from
the corners of Sowore, Morka, Sani, Matawalle and Onanuga, all of who took
turns in their various reactions to throw jab at the former Rivers governor for
laying bare the crucial issues that affect the Nigerian state at the moment.”
Eze said: “In particular response to Sowore’s
cascade of multisyllabic vitriol, if Amaechi was wrong in expressing his
frustration on the shambolic state of the nation, why then is Sowore and his
group rooting for a revolution? Certainly, to every right thinking Nigerian,
Amaechi has not committed any blunder in his statement.
“What is particularly difficult for Sowore,
Morka, Matawalle, Sani and Onanuga to comprehend in Amaechi’s sincere
expression? Are Nigerians not suffering the effects of the clueless policies of
the Tinubu administration?
“What signs are there that the administration
is interested in listening to the cries and tackling the frustration of
Nigerians? Was it not a few days ago that the President Bola Tinubu-led APC
government increased fuel pump price to over N1,000 while doing nothing to
combat the attendant poverty, insecurity and deaths?
“It is unpatriotic and grossly wicked that in
the face of the hydra-headed challenges overwhelming Nigeria, APC, Sowore and
the Tinubu government expect the likes of Amaechi to be stocked like pieces of
furniture and watch the country slide into the abyss.
“As a matter of fact, Nigeria will collapse
and remain irredeemably so, should patriotic Nigerians like Amaechi, keep mum
over the spate of economic crisis that has encircled the Nigerian state as a
result of the reckless indulgences of the clueless Tinubu regime.
“The barrage of baseless media invectives
hurled at Amaechi by the Tinubu regime alongside APC, over his honest concerns
on the state of the nation is condemnable and
exposes the plot by the government to
perpetuate poverty and deploy the same as a veritable tool for 2027 and this
stack reality calls for serious concern.
“One would have loved to hear the presidency
tell Nigerians the policy thrust of the administration in driving the country
out of the current hardship, rather than the frivolous reactions that were put
up as a defence to the woeful results the regime has continued to churn out
since its inception.
“Amaechi has an unmatched trajectory of
excellence in public service. From his days as Speaker of the Rivers State
House of Assembly to the time he became governor and up to the period he held
sway as Minister of Transportation, his performances have always exceeded
expectations.
“One need not remind the Tinubu administration
that it was under Amaechi as Governor that Port Harcourt beat contesting cities
of the western world to clinch the world book capital title. A global record
which demonstrated the envious achievements of the Rivers State Government
under Amaechi. It was the first time an African city would be so recognised.”
According to Eze, Amaechi has raised an army
of politicians, some of whom have grown to be leaders.
“Typical Nigerian politicians like Nyesom
Wike, Magnus Abe and Tony Okocha among others, and modern leaders like Dr.
Dakuku Peterside, Tonye Cole, Tonye Princewill, Osima Ginah, Dr Dawari George
and others were under the tutelage of Amaechi. And some of them were in their
early 20s when he adopted them into his political family. This fact debunks the
false assertion that Amaechi did not groom any youth leadership.”
Particularly responding to the reaction of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) through its spokesperson, Mr. Morka, Eze said
the sincere response of the party in the face of the galloping hardship and
directionlessness of the Tinubu administration would have been to counsel the
President to align the policies of his government to the objectives of the APC.
Eze recalled how Amaechi invested so much time
and energy traversing through the murky waters of Nigeria’s political terrain
just to see that the APC is built into the formidable political bloc it is
today and called on Morka to keep quiet if he has nothing reasonable to do with
his office.
“The concern raised by Amaechi is true and
very factual in the face of what Nigerians are passing through on a daily basis
and should not be a yardstick for the APC to haul invectives on him. Calling
Amaechi ‘irresponsible and unpatriotic’ will never make one to last forever in
power, for power is so transient.
“Those in the Tinubu government must exercise
utmost care on the way they treat people now that they have attained power
because they may be down tomorrow.
“What the APC and Tinubu government desire to
hear from citizens is a ripple of praise whereas, deep down they languish in
agony and gnashing of the teeth.
“Amaechi’s statement is not inciting as
adjudged by Matawalle, but clearly a clarion call for the President Tinubu
administration to come alive to its duties by providing basic public facilities
that make life worth living for humans.”
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