BusinessDay 11 Feb 2018

Sunday 11 February 2018
C002D5556
BD SUNDAY 11
Politics
of the state. In fact, they are on record for producing
two. One was commissioner of education
and later governor for about five months.
The other was speaker for eight years and later
governor for almost eight years.
The most painful aspect, he said, is that their
son, Amaechi, not only served as speaker for
eight years and governor for another eight years,
but also anchored his agenda on education, but
Ubima, the home town, remained without a
college under a son who budgeted an average of
N30billion every year on education. He recalled
that Amaechi had boasted of building what he
called world-class secondary schools at the
cost of N4.5billion each but the only secondary
school his people laboured to build was left to
ruination.
Okah said: “This is Gov Wike mission to
Ubima. This twist of fate could easily be seen
boldly written on the faces of the people of
Ubima when the convoy of Gov Wike stormed
the sleep community as they got wind that
their plight may be over at least in the area of
education.
“The Community Secondary School, Ubima,
in Ikwerre local council area was built in the
1980s through community effort, not by the
government at that time. It was the era of selfhelp
for communities that had no strong link to
the government of the day which was far from
them. Faced with lack of nearby secondary
schools to enable more of their sons and daughter
embrace the spreading academic access, the
community raised funds to build a community
secondary school.
“They had acquired large expanse of land
to accommodate many facilities but could no
longer raise more funds to keep up with the
pace as expected. So, over the years, the villagers
began to encroach on the land. So, when the
former governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine
Omehia, was commissioner of education, some
oil companies were invited to support some
secondary schools in the state. The school at
Ubima received support and that was how it
was fenced.
“It looks like where Omehia stopped was
where the secondary school stopped getting attention.
Thus, nothing happened anymore until
about 2014 when the present governor, Chief
Barr Nyesom Wike, was minister of state for
education. The Federal Government was renovating
some secondary schools. That was how
he now nominated Ubima Secondary School
along with St Aquina Secondary School, Elele
and some others. If you go there today, you will
see the impact Wike made as minister. Unfortunately,
when it came to that of Ubima Community
Secondary school, the case changed as
if it was a curse to produce a governor or two.”
Okah said Ubima’s case could not materialise
because the then governor, (who is now
minister of transport) vehemently objected to
the Federal Government’s good plan in Ubima,
his community. “He chased the contractors
away on ground that it was a state government
property. One would expect that a man who
took such a drastic action would move in next
and show that he had bigger plan for the school.
Alas, this government that chased the FG contractors
away did not even rebuild the school.
Ubima Community Secondary School remained
that way to this day. Instead, the surroundings
grew so wild that it became the hideout of most
of the abductions we read about in the newspapers.
The boys would abduct passengers on
the highway and run through the farms into the
disused buildings under wild grasses of Ubima
Community Secondary school. When the governor’s
entourage got there last weekend, the
place is now like a forest.”
So, on Saturday, February 3, 2018, the governor
and his team were there for flag-off of
the project, the project to turn the school to a
modern centre of learning, to wipe off the tears
of a hapless people. “As at this day, there is no
external examination centre (GCE) there. The
Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Rivers State governor (2nd l); Ipalibo Harry Banigo, deputy governor (2nd R); Celestine Omehia, former Rivers State governor (r),
and Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, commissioner for Education, during the flag-off of the reconstruction of Community Secondary School, Ubima.
team only managed to see a few students
who managed to clear a spot so they could
receive lessons. So, they are living in the
forest, so to speak.”
Okah volunteered the reason for the
neglect of Ubima school. “One of the reasons
why Amaechi the former governor
did not touch the Ubima Community Secondary
School is because of his leadership
style. He does not believe in completing
projects started by others. That is why
he never touched the likes of the Port
Harcourt Mall which has been vandalized.
There is also the Forces Avenue awarded
by Omehia. Chippings were poured on
that road, near Port Harcourt Club. Those
chippings remained there years after until
some good Samaritans cleared it out
of the road. That is how Forces Avenue
Now, because
Omehia brought
an oil company to
fence the school,
Amaechi now
saw it as Omehia’s
school. As a
result of this deep
animosity, he
refused to recognize
Omehia, his
cousin, as a former
governor
remained un-repaired despite it leading
to the Government House through the
‘Ceremonial Gate’.
“Now, because Omehia brought an oil
company to fence the school, Amaechi
now saw it as Omehia’s school. As a result
of this deep animosity, he refused to
recognize Omehia, his cousin, as a former
governor. It is important to know these
facts and use them to interpret the events
of today. The situation of the Ubima Community
Secondary School was touchy to
the present governor, Governor Wike.
This is not a school built by any government
but by the sweat of the farmers,
traders, civil servants, anybody that cared.
You can imagine how they feel when they
see that school go down the drain.
It was therefore memorable to the
community when the saw Gov Wike
come to rescue the school.”
APC reacts:
Rivers All Progressives Congress
(APC) said she has watched with amusement
what the party described as the recent
“macabre dance” by Governor Wike
with his crop of jesters, political jobbers
and jokers when they assembled during
the weekend at Ubima, the home town
of Chibuike Amaechi to an event they
termed as foundation laying ceremony
to reconstruct a primary school in Ubima.
The APC in a a press statement circulated
on Tuesday in Port Harcourt by Eze
Chukwuemeka Eze, the Media Consultant
to Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, State Chairman
of Rivers APC to media organisations
said, “For Wike to have supervised the
looting and destruction of the model
Secondary School and Primary School in
Ubima described in some quarters as better
than most higher institutions in Nigeria
built and equipped by the administration
of Amaechi and for the same Wike to turn
round to embark upon the frivolity of
last Saturday in Ubima where he claims
of reconstructing a dilapidated Primary
School demonstrates and position Wike
as someone lacking understanding of
what governance is all about. The party
wonders the rationale behind leaving a
model primary school well equipped in
Ubima to embark upon the reconstruction
of a dilapidated primary school that
gave way to the construction of the model
school in Ubima if not to score cheap political
publicity.
“We truly sympathise with Wike as
all his efforts to disparage and malign
the person and personality of Amaechi
always backfires thereby exposing him
not only as a vindictive person but a fellow
pursuing the impossibility of equalling
the feats of Amaechi in the politics
of Rivers State and the country at large.”
The party pointed at various wrongs
they said were committed by Wike including
alleged sacking of 13,000 teachers
employed by Amaechi and alleged
pocketing of the funds said to be meant
for the construction of some of the model
secondary/ primary schools in Rivers
State without executing the projects.
The APC said the Ubima people
had to assemble to perform traditional
cleansing of the Ubima town by sweeping
off the feet of Wike and his team immediately
after the unholy event of last
Saturday. The party quoted several elders
who allegedly performed the cleansing
exercise such as John Didia, the Ubima traditional
Ohwor title holder, Ohna Ubima in
Council (Traditional Custodians of Laws),
and others.
The party said both the Ohna Ubima
in Council and the Owhor holders spoke
and presented the position of the APC and
that of any other right thinking person in
Rivers State on the embarrassment that
Wike has allegedly constituted himself to
in the governance of Rivers State.
“As we commend the Ubima Community
for this decisive step in support
of their son, we must ask Wike to desist
and allow Amaechi to rest as none of his
efforts will ever make him to equal the
records and feats of Amaechi who is his
superior in all ramifications,” the statement
finally declared.