Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has described Rotimi Amaechi as being among southern politicians that bootlick northerners, to the detriment of their people.
Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation and Wike’s predecessor as Rivers State governor had in a recent interview with the African Independent Television (AIT), said that activities of kidnappers and general insecurity in his state were hindering Federal Government projects in the oil-rich state.
“Nobody is ready to discuss doing railway to Rivers State because of insecurity and kidnapping,” Amaechi was quoted to have said in that interview.
But Wike, in a statement on Saturday, lambasted Amaechi for making the claim, arguing whether the Federal Government was not carrying out projects in North-West, North-East and in other parts of the country where the level of insecurity remained very high.
Wike said, “It is not my business what other lies the embattled Minister told whilst on that ill-fated episode.
“The lies told by Amaechi against his own people is one of the many deficiencies of southern politicians. They easily bootlick their Northern counterparts to the detriment of their communities. This unfortunate deficiency continues to undermine the development of the south and deny the south key placements in the Federal Government.
“Whenever the southern states are excluded from the development process, the north recruits prominent southerners to justify such exclusion. Whenever the north denies the south appointments, the north hires southern leaders to justify such marginalisation.
“It is disturbing that Amaechi still fits into the above category of hired hands despite using Rivers resources to fund the national campaign of APC in 2015 and serving as Director-General of their campaign in 2019. It is regrettable that his relevance is tied to his capacity to run down his state and geo-political zone.
“This was the same Amaechi that narrowly escaped being kidnapped in Kaduna according to the co-convener of Bring Back Our Girls. He was a direct victim of the total collapse of security in the North West.
“As I write, nobody plies the Abuja-Kaduna Route, yet the Federal Government executes projects in that insecure state. Bandits have turned Kaduna into a killing field, but Amaechi usually sneaks into Kaduna to serve as its public relations officer.
“In Katsina, there is no existing security framework. Bandits now run alternative administrative platforms. They regularly negotiate with the Governor of Katsina State and the military authorities.
“Despite the fact that the bandits run things in Katsina, Amaechi’s Ministry cited a tertiary institution in Daura, the President’s insecure hometown.”
The statement went further to read, “Across the South-West, bandits reign supreme, kidnapping and robbing with careless abandon. An alternative security agency, Amotekun has been established.
“Yet, Amaechi’s second office is Lagos where he briefs the media on per-second basis, on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, commenced by the Jonathan Administration.
“The North-East is the Headquarters of insecurity in Africa. Aside from propaganda and photo manoeuvres, there is no Government security control in several parts of this zone.
“The military works like Chelsea Football Club in the North East. They park the bus, while Boko Haram and ISWAP are permanently on the offensive, killing and abducting civilians.
“But the Buhari Administration cited about three military Universities and other projects in this zone. Amaechi justifies the siting of these projects because they are in the north.
“Herdsmen have commenced their annual ritual of slaughtering people in North Central. They also set homes ablaze and destroy property worth billions.
“While northerners at the Federal level scramble for projects to their states, Amaechi spends resources and time to explain why his constituents should not benefit from the Federal Government’s patronage.
“But the truth is known. Rivers State is amongst the most secure states in Nigeria. Therefore, the insecurity excuse by Amaechi is nonsensical and unfortunate. Rivers State is more secure than any state in the entire North.
“It has its own security infractions from time to time, but it is nothing compared to the marauding herdsmen, bandits, Boko Haram and ISWAP. Yes, there is room for improvement in terms of security, but nobody here will trade the situation with what is obtained in Amaechi’s north, where he is a cheerleader.”