Top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) including former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday gave kudos to the outgoing Rivers State Governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, for his contributions to the success of the opposition party at the just concluded national election.
Tinubu and others who spoke at the launch of a book authored by the duo of Dr. Chidi Amuta and Dr. Yomi Ogunbiyi and titled: ‘Dynamics of Change: The Amaechi Years,’ held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, said the governor played a significant role in what they tagged ‘Commonsense Revolution,’ in Nigeria.
Describing the documentation of Governor Amaechi’s eight years administration in Rivers State in the book as a justifiable celebration of idea of commonsense revolution, Tinubu said the revolution mantra of the APC was non-violent.
“Amaechi is a good example of common sense revolution. In the course of our historic campaigns for the 2015 elections, I was emphatic about popularising the commonsense revolution - that Nigeria needed it.
“This revolution is not a violent one to tear things down. It is a revolution to rescue us from violence, injustice and poverty.
“It is a positive one to rescue, repair and restructure the nation and its institutions in ways that further collective prosperity and well-being. The only violence that is to be done is to violence, injustice and poverty themselves.
“The commonsense revolution was a call to return to a level of decency in the relationship between government and the governed.”
He assured Nigerians that now that the elections were over, it was time for the leaders and the citizens to brace up to meet the challenges required to build a better, more prosperous nation, stressing that ”We must re-tool ourselves and the new leadership must embark on policies that will improve the general well being of the masses.”
Soyinka on his part described both Tinubu and Amaechi as the greatest contributors to the current political change in Nigeria, urging Nigerians to emulate their courage.
“I admire Amaechi’s courage of conviction. People should put themselves out and make sacrifices for the country.
“The political atmosphere; whatever name you call it, I recognise two people who are the architects; Tinubu and Amaechi.
“I urge Amaechi not to slow down now. If he slows down, he would be playing with fire,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, Amaechi, who appreciated quite a number of people who inspired and supported him as governor of the oil-rich state in the last eight years, said contrary to widespread belief, he is not a stubborn personality but that instead, he operates on principle.
”I’m not stubborn, I only operate on principle. They were taking our oil wells because Bayelsa produced the president, so, I allowed the Kalabari chiefs protest in Abuja and they were rattled by that,” he said, explaining the cause of the disaffection between him and the presidency.
While noting that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum was a peer review mechanism among state executives to facilitate rapid development at the state levels, Amaechi urged incoming governors to adopt the concept to enable them enhance development in their states.
Other notable personalities such as former APC national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, the current APC chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Justice Karibe-White, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Kyari Abubakar, former Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and several others had good words to say about Amaechi.
President elect Buhari arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 5.20am.
