By Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe
With the successes recorded so far in the Transportation sector, particularly in the Railway Revolution, would Amaechi have done better as Defense Minister with the level of insecurity facing the Government he fought so hard to bring about?
Keep your argument over his qualification as a professional security expert, because he is neither a Civil nor Marine Engineer to have pulled this once corruption-laden sector free from the woods.
I do not also expect many to applaud my position on this very burning issue considering that the only sign that you are on the right path of history is the high number of naysayers who are attracted to your page just because they do not want to hear certain names mentioned for good.
But only a visually impaired person or one suffering from dementia would feign ignorance of Amaechi’s passion for results, in spite of obvious challenges and pitfalls.
As Governor of Rivers State, he tackled insecurity with a heightened zeal that those who made a trade of kidnapping were chased out of the creeks and smoked out of their holes.
Each time I read negative commentaries on the state of security and governance in Nigeria under President Buhari and the APC Government, my heart bleeds for Amaechi, knowing that he was majorly instrumental to the election of General Buhari as APC presidential flag bearer during that heated party primaries in Lagos, December 2014!
Much as he lost out to the South West, and naturally that was expected, as Buhari’s running mate, he has continued to be a focal point of the Buhari Administration, in spite of occasional in-house fights over who should have the President’s ears.
The language, culture and religious barriers may have also affected what would have been a more progressive walk and work with between Buhari and his Minister. Make no mistake about it, those who consider themselves kith and kin of the man in power will always have an upper hand in government, although, I doubt if the same can be said of Amaechi and his immediate family members.
While I restrict myself to issues bothering on the security of lives and properties in our nation, I won’t fail to commend the Federal Government in areas where it has done well. But what is a good Railway without security? What is a good road without adequate security for road users? And even if we have more Okonjo-Iwealas, Amina Mohammeds and Akinwumi Adesinas representing Nigeria in the global market, of what relevance would that be without the security of the people they represent back home?
The sing-song of putting square pegs in square holes ought to hit the President now. The obvious war situation in the North by Northerners against Northerners is gradually trickling down to the South with local collaborators aiding and abetting the supposed foreigners in their own homes.
Do we sit down and play politics while the country drifts into the abyss without remedy?
The time has come for stiffer measures in combating the security issues we face and only those who have proved their mettle in similar situations can be handed over the responsibility as such a time as this.
To Amaechi, I say, it is a call to duty to help rescue the country from imminent collapse occasioned by both external and internal insurgents.
Let the miracle of Okochiri forest take place in Sambisa!
