In Arc Tonye Cole, A Golden Era Awaits Rivers State By Chief Ojike John Akiri. Read Full Article
Some of my readers might no doubt be wondering why I have often resorted to the use of oxymorons in the illustration of some of my articles. Continue Reading
The reasons are not too far-fetched from the inherent nature of the brand of politics we are so often used to playing in our clime. At times we walk directly into the web-mesh of entrapping inconsistencies, or ride roughshod of our God-given consciences in a paradoxical bid to seek solutions to some intricate problems.
The boomerang effect is that the affected persons are plunged into the deeper alleys of an inextricable conundrum.
Can you reflect on the near concomitant outbursts of Professor Ayu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Governor Wike, whom they described as an autocratic Democrat? What has autocracy got do with democracy being an embracing phenomenon that reposes on true universal suffrage? And funnily enough, they were both referring to their common “friend” of PDP Nigeria, or should I rather say the Northern Nigerian PDP.
The story is refreshingly different for the APC, where for the first time in our political campaigns, Arc Tonye Cole provides us on his FACEBOOK Page, what may be termed a Governance Philosophy. Let us briefly pore on the extract highlighted hereunder:
“ I was a student at the Balvatkin School of Government, where I became a Transformational Leadership Fellow of the University of Oxford.
That experience helped me to realize two things:
That most leaders fail because they don’t carry people along. Even in public office, it is necessary that the leader does not content himself in just sharing his vision with the people, but in also carrying them along by including them in the work of transformation and by creating a system of transparency that shows the people the consistent progress being made, in order to get them buy more into the vision”.
Has this not been bane of most of our Leaders who forget that their programmes and projects should respond to the genuine desiderata of their citizens?
As rightly expected, there was a flurry of reactions to the insightful statement, but I chose to retain just one which struck me dearly, because it bore a tinge of scriptural resonance.
One young man simply exclaimed in a rather reflexive impulse
“See material! I pray you succeed, if only Rivers people realize what they have.”
The reaction of this commentator reminds me of the statement of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke Chap 19:42; Saying, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
By God’s grace we shall this time around be given Eagle eyes that will see clearly, and audibly effective ears that will hear like the horse or the elephant.
The Million-dollar question is whether the impoverished electorate will not succumb to the opportunistic excesses of the money bags who are prepared to buy one vote for #2,000 or even more in order to “win” the contest? But the pertinent question is what happens thereafter? The truth is that the repair of the much-trumpeted stomach infrastructure is perennially short lived and soon leaves the electorate high and dry
We are today celebrating a historic event in the annals of Rivers State, which compels meditative sobriety as we warm up to freely choose our new crop of political leaders. Most of us in Rivers State were singularly enthused when we read that Arc Tonye Patrick Cole, clearly emerged the Business man of the year 2022, following an online voting by disparate and apolitical ensembles of voters amongst Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora.
He relegated the other contestants who notably counted amongst them, the renowned and famous Tony Elumelu, one of Africa’s foremost champions in wide spread entrepreneurship.
We are wont to quickly observe that the polling that preceded this result was transparent, unhasty and meticulous, because it spanned for not less than 14-days, and was shielded from the partisan brouhaha of propagandists and hired goons.
The exercise in its entirety was supervised by no less an independent and reputable organization like the News Agency of Nigeria.
Our situation in today’s Rivers State calls for a down-to-earth socio-surgical operation that will give our people a new lease of life and necessary sense of belonging. In this vein, our developmental growth pattern must essentially be human-centered, and buoyed by a holistic and indiscriminate spread of critical infrastructure, spread across the nooks and crannies of our vast State, with its peculiar ecosystem.
There is this popular saying that a dancer however confident or dexterously poised cannot see the back. Rivers State has been derisively and pejoratively referred to as the Capital City of UNEMPLOYMENT in the Federation. Let us listen to an ungarnished extract in this seminal essay by THISDAY’s Yemi Adebowale at this penultimate eve of the Wike Administration: “It is so sad that this man called Wike equates development with massive construction of flyovers. So sad that he doesn’t understand the meaning of human capital development.
While he is busy constructing his extremely expensive flyovers, thousands of youths of the State are roaming the streets unemployed.
He is unperturbed about this crisis. Wike is not working to harness these human resources by motivating the creation of jobs. Instead he is talking about building more flyovers.
This Governor forgot that he promised to employ 10,000 teachers to ease unemployment during his 2019 campaigns in 2019. So, when is Wike engaging them?”
Meanwhile Arc Patrick Tonye Cole has quietly and undistractedly been busy visiting the remotest towns and villages of the State, even where this entails abandoning his car and precariously perching on the back of Keke NAPEP. He has visited nearly all the Water front shanties on the outskirts of Port Harcourt Metropolis.
At barely 55, he is Founder and former Chief Executive Director of the Sahara Energy Conglomerate with operations spanning the entire stream of Nigeria, neighbouring West African Countries and beyond.
In his God-given sense of balance and justice, the Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi the immediate past Minister of Transportation and Leader of the APC in Rivers State had strongly advocated that the next Governor of Rivers State should come from the Riverine divide of our dichotomous ecosystem, since the UPLAND would have monopolized the Governorship of the State for 24 unbroken years when Governor Wike leaves office next year.
The latter criticized Rt Hon Amaechi for that judicious stance, alleging that it was not his place to proffer such advice. A dependale oiled rumour mill had it that a former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and fellow Ikwerre kinsman, had been penciled down to receive the baton of Governorship from Wike. It would seem that the ensuing pressure from the Riverine divide compelled Wike to cave in for the age long principle of alternate power rotation. And what was his compliance modus operandi?
He went straight for his elder sister’s son married in Opobo, one Siminilayi Ichendu Fubara. He made it clear that the Governorship would go to him, and those who dared oppose him are today regrettably licking their wounds and bruises.
The same cousin has been serving as the R/S Accountant General and hence his de facto Chief Financial Adviser for these past years. You can now understand the ease with which those politically motivated donations were ferreted out of the Government Treasury with astounding ease. Let us look at some of those donations: #500 Million the Governor Tambuwal of Sokoto State; #500 Million to the Governor of Bayelsa State; 600 Million to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State; 600 Million to Governor Ortom of Benue State etc. Today the EFCC is frantically on the trail of Chief Siminilayi Fubara for an alleged misappropriation of 117 Billion Naira.
That is alas, the man to be squaring up with Arc Tonye Cole!
The choice is glaringly clear! Rivers Citizens must shine their eyes and not let go this golden opportunity.
*About the author*
Chief O.J. Akiri is Former Principal Secretary Rivers State Govt House and Former Director General Rivers State Ministry of Information.
Chief Akiri was also a Lecturer of Scientific French at then Rivers State University of Science and Technology Now Rivers State University.
He writes from Okporomini Town,
Ahoada East LGA.
Rivers State.
