Amaechi’s timely reunion with mentor

CHUKWUDI AKASIKE writes that the recent reunion of a former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, and his godson, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, could change the political calculations in the state The saying that there is no permanent enemy or friend in politics has become axiomatic, so much so that many politicians have fallen apart with their closest political pals in the past and later came back to the same fold.

In Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his former boss and ex-governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, had been in enmity for over four years, a situation that led to a big political divide between supporters of the pair. Odili is seen as the governor’s boss because he brought him (Amaechi) to political limelight.

While the medical doctor held sway as the governor of the state between 1999 and 2007, his godson was at the helm of affairs in the state House of Assembly as speaker. The former chief executive of the state believed so much in the ex-speaker that many thought they were brothers from the same local government area.

But the truth is that Odili is from Ogba/Egbe/Ndoni Local Government Area, while Amaechi is from the Ikwerre part of the state. It was, however, shocking to the people of the state to notice the collapse of the relationship between the two leading political figures in the state. Though political pundits are of the view that friendship on the basis of politics does not last for a long time, many were surprised that it could happen so soon at the time it did.

Odili had encouraged his godson to run for the governorship position in the state in 2007. He even went as far as assuring him of his support. This was before the then President Olusegun Obasanjo propounded the K-leg theory that saw Odili’s lofty plans for Amaechi crashing like a pack of cards.

Obasanjo, who was then the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, determined the fate of many of those he wanted as governors and Amaechi was the picture. In February 2007, Obasanjo had visited Rivers to hand over the PDP flags to governorship candidates that would contest the elections in the South-South geo-political zone.

The crowd at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt was huge as every governorship candidate had his supporters in the arena. While the five governorship candidates from Edo, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa took delivery of their flags to the excitement of their teeming supporters, Amaechi, who was expected to receive his flag as the party’s candidate, was nowhere to be found.

It was not that he absconded from the stadium. The fact was that he (Amaechi) got wind of the decision to drop him as the PDP governorship candidate for Rivers. In order not to face further humiliation, the Ikwerre-born politician decided not to be at the scene. Obasanjo appeared to have stolen the show as he unilaterally announced to the party faithful that Amaechi’s case had a K-leg.

The PDP flag was eventually given to his cousin, Mr. Celestine Omehia, who went ahead to win in the election. Not deterred by the development, Amaechi went to court and within six months, precisely on October 25, 2007, he got his mandate through a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court.

But one may want to ask how the whole scenario strained the cordial relationship between Amaechi and Odili; a man perceived to be his mentor. The truth is that Odili prevailed on his godson not to go to court over the matter. That suggestion was said to have been rebuffed by Amaechi, who believed that he was robbed of the mandate the people gave him.

That Amaechi, who had recently been sworn in for a second term as governor, did not heed Odili’s advice reportedly created a gulf between the two. Until May 29, 2011, when Odili made a surprise appearance at Amaechi’s thanksgiving service and inauguration, both had not met even in a public function since 2007.

However, the meeting of the two politicians cannot be regarded as a happenstance as Amaechi had, before his re-election, made moves to achieve a truce. The governor had set up a reconciliation committee with the responsibility of bringing the aggrieved members of the PDP back to the party’s fold. The committee is headed by a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Okpara.

From the look of things, Okpara did not disappoint those who gave him the role as part of his obligation was to ensure that Odili and Amaechi were reconciled. The PDP reconciliation chairman promised to do his best to see that the two sons of the state were reunited. Apart from Okpara’s efforts, other factors counted in bringing the two bigwigs together again.

Amaechi himself mentioned the role the clergy played in turning things around. The governor said during his thanksgiving service at the Corpus et Sanguis Christi Cathedral in Port Harcourt, he had promised to reconcile with his former boss before or during the commencement of his second term in office. According to him, the Bishop of Port Harcourt Diocese, Catholic Church, Bishop Camillus Etukudo, had earlier expressed worry over the strained relationship between him and Odili.

The governor promised that the new alliance with his former boss would never be broken. “His lordship said he was worried that I was yet to reconcile with my former boss, mentor and father and I felt slightly uncomfortable for this to come from His lordship. I then said that at God’s own time, it would happen. I had made a promise to Nigeria and to God that at the end of the election or before or during my second term in office, I would have reconciled with my former boss, my mentor,” Amaechi stated.

He, however, expressed gratitude to Odili, the former governor’s wife, Justice Mary Odili, and the chairman of DAAR Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, for helping him to fulfil his promise to reconcile with the ex-governor. In his words, “I thank them for helping to fulfil my promise to God because probably the journey would have started from today to see how we reconcile. I assure you that the relationship will not break down,” he added.

The significance of the newfound friendship, according to a PDP elder in the state, Chief Dennis Emenike, remains obvious as it has presented an opportunity for Odili to bring the Action Congress of Nigeria’s governorship candidate in the state, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, and his counterpart in the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Mr. Celestine Omehia, back to the PDP fold.

Describing Amaechi, Omehia and Sekibo as brothers, Emenike stated that it would not be out of place to see Odili reuniting his political godsons. He said that the coming together again of the governor and Odili was a testimony to the fact that there were no permanent enemies or friends in politics. Emenike expressed the optimism that the blessing that the reunion would bring would be bountiful and beneficial to the people of the state.

A social crusader and human rights activist, Mr. Benson Izuocha, is of the view that human beings are made to come together and separate. Izuocha points out that even a child would leave the parents at a certain stage in his life, adding that Amaechi had gained a lot of experience politically from Odili. He states that the current governor’s four-year stint as the state governor so far had given him another kind of experience different from the one he gained while under the tutelage of his mentor.

“I am not saying that it is a good thing to separate, but the fact is that no two friends stay together forever. It is either they part ways due to the exigency of work or they feel they no longer need each other again. But seeing Odili and Amaechi reuniting is a good thing for the state and there is no doubt that it would change the political calculation in the nearest future,” Izuocha says.

Though Odili did not make any speech when he met with Amaechi (he was silent throughout the thanksgiving service and the inauguration of his godson), the thinking was that his occasional smiles at both events meant a hundred per cent approval of the new atmosphere of friendship.

The reunion could be said to be timely because if it had happened before the governorship election, many political pundits would have concluded that Amaechi’s landslide victory was sequel to his mending fences with his former boss. No time could have been more auspicious than when it happened – at the governor’s inauguration for a second term in office.

But the people of Rivers would want him to start talking; at least on the performance of the one he trained in politics. For now, there is no doubt that the current relationship between the governor and his former boss could change the political calculation in the state. This, some political observers in the state believe, may come by allowing Odili to have a little input in the making of Amaechi’s new cabinet.