Let me therefore use this opportunity to highlight
the major gladiators and those holding the key to
restore sanity in the State
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN GCON
Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is of the extraction of
the Ijaw Nation in the South-South region of
Nigeria and the first Head of State of Nigeria from
the region; graduated from UNIPORT with a
Second Class Upper Division Honours Degree,
Zoologist, a University Don and the first Nigerian
Head of State with a Doctorate Degree. He is the
Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger,
GCON and presently the President and
Commander –In-Chief of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. He has the singular honour to be the first
Nigerian to be a Deputy Governor, Governor of
Bayelsa State, Vice President and President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria less than six years, a
feat that does not come that easy. The heat in
Rivers State is being generated by those that feel
that every obstacle to his second bid to the
Presidency must be routed out. A quiet and
unassuming gentleman but a deadly tactician
when pushed to the wall; they are many great
politicians that have tasted his bitter pills that can
attest to this. His strength leans more on his
perceived weakness. Some people erroneously
assume that he is vindictive but records of those
that have undermined him in the past currently
benefitting so much under his administration
proves that otherwise. He is not the ambitious
type but fate continues to thrust on him higher
responsibilities that he never schemed for. If he
listens to some of the appeals on the on-going
macabre dance in Rivers State, he has the sole
key to put an end to the dance if he wants to.
RT. HON. CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI OON
Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi an indigene of
Ubima Nkwerre in Rivers State. His rise to his
present status is as mysterious and miraculous as
that of President Jonathan. A Master’s Degree
holder, Amaechi was the first Nigerian to be the
Speaker of a State House of Assembly for a
whopping eight years and later becoming the
Chairman of Conference of Speakers Forum an
umbrella body of all Speakers of the State Houses
of Assembly in Nigeria. His assumption of office as
the Governor of Rivers State, though his political
party PDP dumped him after convincingly
winning the ticket of the party during the
primaries of the party until the Supreme Court
restored him as the Governor of Rivers State still
seems a mystery to many political watchers in the
country. By May 2015 he may have spent eight
years as the Governor of Rivers State. He is
currently the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors
Forum and maybe re-elected by the next few
days. His unprecedented feats in transformation
of Rivers State have won him many international
and local awards and respect of great world and
Nigerian Leaders. His resolve to re-contest the
office of the Chairmanship seat of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum and his perceived lack of
support to the perceived candidature of President
Jonathan come 2015 is the main cause of the on-
going macabre dance in Rivers State.
He was the rallying force behind mobilising the
Governors under PDP to support the presidential
aspiration of President Jonathan during the PDP
Presidential Primaries that produced Jonathan as
the PDP Flag-bearer and during the 2011
presidential election proper ensured that
President Jonathan got over 2million votes from
Rivers State the highest by another State in
Nigeria. A misunderstood but an amiable
personality; his forthrightness and boldness to
stand by the truth attracts so much enemies to
him particularly those who can’t withstand his
manner of approach to result oriented feats. His
numerous ‘sins’ will be highlighted later.
CHIEF BARR. EZEBUNWO NYESOM WIKE
Chief Nyesom Wike an indigene of Rumuwike
Nkwerre is a lawyer by profession, a political
tactician of note and strategist of the first order.
He was the National President of All Local
Government of Nigeria from 2003 - 2006
(ALGON), the umbrella Forum through which all
the 774 Local Government Council Chairmen in
Nigeria interface and interact on issues affecting
the Politics and policies of Nigeria, while from
1999-2007 he was the Executive Chairman of
Obio-Akpor Local Government in Rivers State, an
office he used to redefine and exhibit his special
brand of governance. He constructed the Local
Government Secretariat that stands as one of the
best in Nigeria and a great edifice to behold. His
tenure witnessed various developmental
initiatives in the local government and he is
remembered most especially for empowering a lot
of youths, elderly women and men, the physically
challenged. An ardent hand at grassroots
mobilisation, He is credited together with Gov.
Amaechi of founding the formidable political
vanguard in Rivers State - the Ikwerre Youth
Movement (IYM) that decides and determines to a
large extent the political tide in the state. He later
was appointed the Chief of Staff of Governor
Amaechi from 2007 to 2011 and from 2011
appointed by President Jonathan as the Minister
of Education State of Federal Republic of Nigeria,
a post he currently holds. He is touted as the next
Mr “Fix It” when the original executor of the office
and currently the BOT Chairman of PDP, Chief
Tony Aneinh may have retired. It is in that
capacity that he was appointed to oversee the
PDP Gubernatorial Primaries of Sokoto, Adamawa
and Edo States a feat he performed most
stupendous to the admiration of those that sent
him. Apart from Edo State gubernatorial election
which PDP lost to ACN, PDP candidates won in
Adamawa and Sokoto States.
Currently, he is at the centre of the macabre
dance currently going on in Rivers State as
according to him, “I am defending the injustice
meted to Bro Felix Obuah the PDP Rivers State
Chairman to secure back his office as the
Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, this is in line
with how I fought when Gov. Amaechi found
himself in similar situation in the past”. Being the
Director General of the Campaign Team that
executed successfully the second bid venture of
Gov. Amaechi to the Rivers State Government, it
will be assiduously on his side to come out from
this dance unscathed no matter how hard he
tries. How far he can go in this his latest move will
be determined in future. He has warned the Obuh
led Executive and his supporters not to disrespect
Amaechi as he remained the governor and leader
of the party in the State. “By the constitution of
the party, the state governor is the leader of the
party in the state, so you must respect the
governor and carry him along in everything you
do. If not, you are not being fair”. The Hon.
Minister recently donated his salary for six months
to the foundation of Tompolo.
PRINCE TONYE PRINCEWILL
Prince Tonye Princewill an enigma as the three
characters mentioned above which modus
operandi politically is a study in mysticism as the
more you try to study him the more he develops
other confusing strategies. Born a prince of the
renowned Amachree dynasty in the Kalabari
kingdom of Rivers State and trained as an
aristocrat par excellence and bestowed with an
uncommon wisdom from God. He stormed the
politics of Nigeria like a colossus dispatching
political giants like Seregent Awuse to the
cleaners and clinching the AC ticket and sent
shock waves to the marrows of the PDP giants
during the 2007 gubernatorial election. In an
unprecedented political manoeuvre, he decided
to withdraw his petition at the tribunal and chose
instead to join forces with Governor Rotimi
Amaechi in a Unity Government based on
strategic partnership that has been hailed as a
model of constructive opposition in the nation.
This move proved that he placed the state’s
stability and growth first over his own political
ambition. Maligned in various quarters and within
the ranks of the AC then, Princewill stood by his
decision. His dynamism has also been recognised
by the Federal Government with his September
2008 appointment into the 45 man Presidential
Technical Committee on the Niger Delta with the
mandate to collate and review all past reports on
the Niger Delta, starting from the 1958 Willinks
Report, appraise their recommendations and
make other proposals that will help the Federal
Government to achieve sustainable development,
peace, human and environmental security in the
Niger Delta Region. On 18th April, 2009 he was
appointed alongside other illustrious Nigerians, as
a member of the Federal Government Vision 2020
Committee, where he was subsequently
appointed Chairman of the Subcommittee on the
Niger Delta. A position he resigned from on the
19th May 2009 in protest of the JTF onslaught on
Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Niger Delta Region.
Popularly known and addressed as the
undisputable Prince of Niger Delta Politics based
on the above feats. He is being mentioned here
not as a party to the on-going macabre dance but
maybe a channel in stopping it.
Interestingly these four great sons of Niger
Delta on whose shoulder lie either
escalating or finding how to restore peace
in Rivers State are all alumnus of the great
UNIPORT and the Port Harcourt big boys.
President Jonathan and Princewill are of the
Ijaw extraction while Amaechi and Wike are
of the Nkwerre extraction. Jonathan is the
eldest of the four while Princewill is the
youngest.
the major gladiators and those holding the key to
restore sanity in the State
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN GCON
Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is of the extraction of
the Ijaw Nation in the South-South region of
Nigeria and the first Head of State of Nigeria from
the region; graduated from UNIPORT with a
Second Class Upper Division Honours Degree,
Zoologist, a University Don and the first Nigerian
Head of State with a Doctorate Degree. He is the
Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger,
GCON and presently the President and
Commander –In-Chief of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. He has the singular honour to be the first
Nigerian to be a Deputy Governor, Governor of
Bayelsa State, Vice President and President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria less than six years, a
feat that does not come that easy. The heat in
Rivers State is being generated by those that feel
that every obstacle to his second bid to the
Presidency must be routed out. A quiet and
unassuming gentleman but a deadly tactician
when pushed to the wall; they are many great
politicians that have tasted his bitter pills that can
attest to this. His strength leans more on his
perceived weakness. Some people erroneously
assume that he is vindictive but records of those
that have undermined him in the past currently
benefitting so much under his administration
proves that otherwise. He is not the ambitious
type but fate continues to thrust on him higher
responsibilities that he never schemed for. If he
listens to some of the appeals on the on-going
macabre dance in Rivers State, he has the sole
key to put an end to the dance if he wants to.
RT. HON. CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI OON
Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi an indigene of
Ubima Nkwerre in Rivers State. His rise to his
present status is as mysterious and miraculous as
that of President Jonathan. A Master’s Degree
holder, Amaechi was the first Nigerian to be the
Speaker of a State House of Assembly for a
whopping eight years and later becoming the
Chairman of Conference of Speakers Forum an
umbrella body of all Speakers of the State Houses
of Assembly in Nigeria. His assumption of office as
the Governor of Rivers State, though his political
party PDP dumped him after convincingly
winning the ticket of the party during the
primaries of the party until the Supreme Court
restored him as the Governor of Rivers State still
seems a mystery to many political watchers in the
country. By May 2015 he may have spent eight
years as the Governor of Rivers State. He is
currently the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors
Forum and maybe re-elected by the next few
days. His unprecedented feats in transformation
of Rivers State have won him many international
and local awards and respect of great world and
Nigerian Leaders. His resolve to re-contest the
office of the Chairmanship seat of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum and his perceived lack of
support to the perceived candidature of President
Jonathan come 2015 is the main cause of the on-
going macabre dance in Rivers State.
He was the rallying force behind mobilising the
Governors under PDP to support the presidential
aspiration of President Jonathan during the PDP
Presidential Primaries that produced Jonathan as
the PDP Flag-bearer and during the 2011
presidential election proper ensured that
President Jonathan got over 2million votes from
Rivers State the highest by another State in
Nigeria. A misunderstood but an amiable
personality; his forthrightness and boldness to
stand by the truth attracts so much enemies to
him particularly those who can’t withstand his
manner of approach to result oriented feats. His
numerous ‘sins’ will be highlighted later.
CHIEF BARR. EZEBUNWO NYESOM WIKE
Chief Nyesom Wike an indigene of Rumuwike
Nkwerre is a lawyer by profession, a political
tactician of note and strategist of the first order.
He was the National President of All Local
Government of Nigeria from 2003 - 2006
(ALGON), the umbrella Forum through which all
the 774 Local Government Council Chairmen in
Nigeria interface and interact on issues affecting
the Politics and policies of Nigeria, while from
1999-2007 he was the Executive Chairman of
Obio-Akpor Local Government in Rivers State, an
office he used to redefine and exhibit his special
brand of governance. He constructed the Local
Government Secretariat that stands as one of the
best in Nigeria and a great edifice to behold. His
tenure witnessed various developmental
initiatives in the local government and he is
remembered most especially for empowering a lot
of youths, elderly women and men, the physically
challenged. An ardent hand at grassroots
mobilisation, He is credited together with Gov.
Amaechi of founding the formidable political
vanguard in Rivers State - the Ikwerre Youth
Movement (IYM) that decides and determines to a
large extent the political tide in the state. He later
was appointed the Chief of Staff of Governor
Amaechi from 2007 to 2011 and from 2011
appointed by President Jonathan as the Minister
of Education State of Federal Republic of Nigeria,
a post he currently holds. He is touted as the next
Mr “Fix It” when the original executor of the office
and currently the BOT Chairman of PDP, Chief
Tony Aneinh may have retired. It is in that
capacity that he was appointed to oversee the
PDP Gubernatorial Primaries of Sokoto, Adamawa
and Edo States a feat he performed most
stupendous to the admiration of those that sent
him. Apart from Edo State gubernatorial election
which PDP lost to ACN, PDP candidates won in
Adamawa and Sokoto States.
Currently, he is at the centre of the macabre
dance currently going on in Rivers State as
according to him, “I am defending the injustice
meted to Bro Felix Obuah the PDP Rivers State
Chairman to secure back his office as the
Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, this is in line
with how I fought when Gov. Amaechi found
himself in similar situation in the past”. Being the
Director General of the Campaign Team that
executed successfully the second bid venture of
Gov. Amaechi to the Rivers State Government, it
will be assiduously on his side to come out from
this dance unscathed no matter how hard he
tries. How far he can go in this his latest move will
be determined in future. He has warned the Obuh
led Executive and his supporters not to disrespect
Amaechi as he remained the governor and leader
of the party in the State. “By the constitution of
the party, the state governor is the leader of the
party in the state, so you must respect the
governor and carry him along in everything you
do. If not, you are not being fair”. The Hon.
Minister recently donated his salary for six months
to the foundation of Tompolo.
PRINCE TONYE PRINCEWILL
Prince Tonye Princewill an enigma as the three
characters mentioned above which modus
operandi politically is a study in mysticism as the
more you try to study him the more he develops
other confusing strategies. Born a prince of the
renowned Amachree dynasty in the Kalabari
kingdom of Rivers State and trained as an
aristocrat par excellence and bestowed with an
uncommon wisdom from God. He stormed the
politics of Nigeria like a colossus dispatching
political giants like Seregent Awuse to the
cleaners and clinching the AC ticket and sent
shock waves to the marrows of the PDP giants
during the 2007 gubernatorial election. In an
unprecedented political manoeuvre, he decided
to withdraw his petition at the tribunal and chose
instead to join forces with Governor Rotimi
Amaechi in a Unity Government based on
strategic partnership that has been hailed as a
model of constructive opposition in the nation.
This move proved that he placed the state’s
stability and growth first over his own political
ambition. Maligned in various quarters and within
the ranks of the AC then, Princewill stood by his
decision. His dynamism has also been recognised
by the Federal Government with his September
2008 appointment into the 45 man Presidential
Technical Committee on the Niger Delta with the
mandate to collate and review all past reports on
the Niger Delta, starting from the 1958 Willinks
Report, appraise their recommendations and
make other proposals that will help the Federal
Government to achieve sustainable development,
peace, human and environmental security in the
Niger Delta Region. On 18th April, 2009 he was
appointed alongside other illustrious Nigerians, as
a member of the Federal Government Vision 2020
Committee, where he was subsequently
appointed Chairman of the Subcommittee on the
Niger Delta. A position he resigned from on the
19th May 2009 in protest of the JTF onslaught on
Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Niger Delta Region.
Popularly known and addressed as the
undisputable Prince of Niger Delta Politics based
on the above feats. He is being mentioned here
not as a party to the on-going macabre dance but
maybe a channel in stopping it.
Interestingly these four great sons of Niger
Delta on whose shoulder lie either
escalating or finding how to restore peace
in Rivers State are all alumnus of the great
UNIPORT and the Port Harcourt big boys.
President Jonathan and Princewill are of the
Ijaw extraction while Amaechi and Wike are
of the Nkwerre extraction. Jonathan is the
eldest of the four while Princewill is the
youngest.
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