Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has once again urged Elder Godsday Orubebe,Minister of Niger Delta affairs to “face his work”.The governor who spoke on the on-going war of words between himself and the Niger Delta minister responded to Orubebe’s tirade directly at a town- hall meeting with indigenes of the state living in the United States,US.
Said Amaechi , “My advice to him is that he should face his work, I think my spokesman has replied him appropriately , if you ask me as a minister for Niger Delta, am sure they should have asked Late President Musa Yar’dua before he died what was his mission for the establishment of the ministry of Niger Delta. I want to assume that I know Yar’ dua .. sufficiently enough to know the reason why he established the ministry. He believes that that place has not properly developed.
On the tirade against him ,the governor said… “ as far as I am concerned it is a strategy to distract Nigerians and the Niger Delta people.Because basically everybody in the future will answer the question to his people –What I have done the number of months or years that i have held a particular public office entrusted to me. And Orubebe has been entrusted with that position to superintend over my state and eight other states in terms of development and I ve not seen one in my state, I doubt if any of my colleague has told me that he has seen one. And I have told him to tell us how far he had gone and who are the contractors, what is the process by which the contractors were chosen? I am open to a debate and I am ready to tell Orubebe that for every project that he shows me that he had been completed, I will show him 10 projects in Rivers State that Rivers State Government has constructed. So if Orubebe wants us to go public anyday, I usually tell them that the problem with me is that I am not an old man, I am equal to the task of confronting any of his subordinate who confront me on issues that are mundane.”
“For the President I owe him a lot of respect and regard, he is a very good person. I have told him personally that for him, I see him as a very good person, the problem I have is that some of his lieutenants need to able to account for what they are doing in different ministries.
He also spoke on his alleged plot to contest or join the presidential race :“And those who talk about the presidency, this will be the last time I will talk about it, I said it earlier — let’s assume I want to be president, why wouldn’t I look at the history of presidents in Nigeria, Shehu Shagari wanted to be senator, Obasanjo was in prison he never dreamt to become president, Yar’adua never dreamt of becoming president, Goodluck Jonathan never wanted to be vice president, he then became vice and later president. Nigeria has never produced a president that has fought and prepared to be president, there has always been accidental presidency. The only two persons that had held that position that were prepared are Babanginda and Abacha. Every other persons in the history of Nigeria has always been accidental.
“The assignment I have for now is to govern Rivers State and that is it. If any other person thinks this man has ambitious, it is that person’s business. The constitution of Nigeria stipulates on what qualifies anybody to have ambitions. So if that is the reason for which Rivers State is being denied everything, too bad. I have said it they don’t like Rivers State. If they like Rivers State, they should show us evidence that they like Rivers State. Everything that comes to Rivers State they have taken away…. Even ordinary waivers for security helicopters, agricultural materials, they wouldn’t grant the state. Anything we applied for they will never approve. There is nothing we applied for that we have successfully gotten, absolutely nothing. It is not that the president is bad, the president is absolutely a good man, but those people around the president, continue to give that impression, they fan the ember of hatred and dislike because that is how they will succeed and make their money, that is how they will be relevant and unfortunately the president has not seen that. He needs to see that.
Speaking on allegation that he is being confrontational to Mr president,Amaechi said “ For any man to ascend that office he must have passed through a lot of challenges, for him to overcome those challenges and become president, it makes him qualified . I do respect the president and I challenge anybody that say I disrespect the president to show me evidence of disrespect. I don’t think having a contrary view amounts to disrespect. So the president as a father must be ready to accept contrary view.”
