By Comrade Mustapha Kabir Musa
Following a series of meetings held by the All Progressive Party (APC) chieftains to nominate the party’s vice president that will run with
the legend, Rt. Major General Mohummadu Buhari who won the APC presidential ticket last week ended with with “Buhari should Choose”.
Rotimi Amaechi deserves to be General Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate being him a Christian and one of the famous APC chieftain from South South of the country. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who came from Ubima Town, Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State (South South).
He was born on 27th May, 1965. He is the 15th and current Governor of Rivers State since 2007. Amaechi cut his early teeth in politics as secretary of the now defunct National Republican Convention in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. Between 1992 and 1994, he was Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State and also a member of the Board of West Africa Glass industry as well as Risonpalm Nigeria Limited.
He was the Rivers State’s Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee after in 1996 during the transition
programme of General Sani Abacha junta. His current governorship administration invested in infrastructure development, construction of
roads and bridges sticking to the vision of connecting all parts of the state by road. Just like Governor Kwankwaso of Kano state; the
governor is also committed to urban renewal and modernization of transportation services as his administration is building a monorail
to provide mass transportation within the city of Port Harcourt.
Some power plants projects (Afam, Trans Amadi, Onne) are also ongoing or nearing completion to improve power supply in the State. Chibuike
Amaechi holds the National honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), is a Christan Catholic and a knight of St Johns.
Among his awards are; Award for parliamentary excellence (Rivers foundation, USA, 2000), International award for political leadership ( Jaycees international, 2000), Best speaker of state house of assembly (Nigerian union of journalists, federal radio corporation of Nigeria
Enugu chapter, 1999), Best state house of assembly speaker (assembly correspondents of Nigeria, 1999) and Ochi Alirii of Ikwerreland
(chieftaincy title conferred by ikwerre ethnic nationality, 2000).
I am not a card carrying member of any political party and I don’t know Governor Amaechi. Infact, I only saw him ones that was during the 31st
convocation ceremony of Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto where The Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal,
Governors Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and three others were bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees
by the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto.
The honour was in recognition of their services to the country. Speaking at the convocation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of the university then,
Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, stated that the honorary doctorate degree bestowed on Tambuwal, Wamakko, Amaechi and three other recipients was
well deserved, stating that they distinguished themselves in their various fields in one way or the other to the development of education and socio-economic advancement.
The Vice Chancellor noted that the Rivers State Governor performed well in the education sector through massive construction of secondary schools with all essential learning facilities comparable to a university which is a model in the country.
According to him, what made Amaechi outstanding in development issues was his very strong rating in the implementation of the Millennium
Development goals (MDG) through the provision of free education and conducive learning environment.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Governor Rotimi Amaechi thanked the university for the honour bestowed on them, saying it was a reminder that education is the bedrock of development of any society and as such they would redouble efforts to improve the lot of the people. So, for the little I know about Governor Amaechi, I think people like him can bring a positive change to our beloved country Nigeria.
I counsel the APC chieftains to consider Governor Romiti Chibuike Amaechi as the running mate of the Rt. Major General Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming 2015 General Election. God bless Nigeria.
By: Comrade Mustapha Kabir Musa
Former Asst. Sec. UDUS
Twitter @mustykabir
08036904625
