Special Appeal to Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State

[admin]

SPECIAL APPEAL TO GOV. ROTIMI AMAECHI (RIVERS STATE GOVERNOR)

I am using this forum to appeal to the Governor of Rivers State, in the person of Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, on the proposal of its government to widen the new Eliogholo – Port Harcourt Airport road by another 450 feet.

This road initially claimed 100 feet and the casualties of that exercise are yet to recover. It is surprising to hear again that the government is planning to extend the already dualised road by 450 ft on both sides. Some of us bought land in this area when it was a thick forest as we could not afford to do so in any habitable area. Fortunately, the immediate past government dualised that road and many of us, including the writer, had to go and borrow money from Co-operative society. I will still be servicing this loan for at least the next few years. The loan notwithstanding, the fact that I am living in my house brings joy to me and my household.

I wonder where to go if this house, that is already completed, is demolished because the government wants to build high rise buildings on a road that stretches up to 4-5 kilometers.

I am strongly appealing to Governor Rotimi Amaechi to consider the mess that many families will be put into by this singular act. It would be good to mention here that some of the landlords are widows and even jobless men. The fact that they have a roof on their heads makes life a little bearable for such people. I wonder what would be their fate should this plan materialize.

I beg the Governor in the name of God to reconsider this plan and as well imagine the pains that it will bring to many lives and families. Many to-be-affected people, if the plan is finally executed, may never come out of this mess for years to come.

I am very confident that the Governor is a God-fearing man and he will use his good position to temper this issue with mercy.

God bless you.

Regards,
Ben Emman

[No Smoking]

The supposed advantages of the democratic process includes consultation and representation.

Has the govermor embarked on this project straight from a wet dream, or has the proposal been tendered for consultation? Have the affected communities involved their LG Councillors, SHA member, House of Rep member and Senator?

Guys, the politicians may have stolen your votes to get themselves into office. Even so, whilst they bear the name of representing you, make them work at it!! If the governor and his men are moving too fast ahead of themselves, get a court injunction.

If the consultation process identifies that the project is in the overall interest of the State, then pursue an adequate compensation and resettlement.

[Abraxas]

Hi, folks!

It is clear that Mr. Ben Emman's special appeal to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is rather selfish even if, laughably naive and unconvincing, despite its feigned sanctimonious posturing.

For a start, most of the beneficiaries of plots of land in Rivers State, that were, as it were, located in the middle of Nowhere, were cronies of the immediate past administration in Rivers State, who recklessly self-dispensed or derived patronage among themselves as a closed clique of families, partisan political associates, and personal praise singers of Sir (Dr.) Peter Odili, the Megalomaniac of Port Harcourt.

As a matter of public knowledge in Rivers State, they incestuously allocated public properties to themselves, including plots of land in newly opened up locations around Port Harcourt, strictly in speculation of the benefits such properties would accrue to them in the short- to medium-term! What Mr. Ben Emman is doing is like packaging a rotten scam as a if everything about it is OK: it is NOT!

However, one also wonders when the due processes of community consultation, environmental impact accessment, and economic planning involved in all the grand projects that Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi wants to execute at neck-break speeds will begin, especially given the current near melt-down of the global economy?

Who knows? Maybe, the good people of Rivers State need food, instead of expressways; education instead of skyscrappers; quality primary education, instead of a polytechnic; uninterrupted electricity instead of a ring road. You cannot know what the people want until you communicate EFFECTIVELY with them; NOT talk at them!

It seems like 30 cummulative years of military dictatorship (from Aguiyi Ironsi through Olusegun Obasanjo, to Abdulsalami Abubakar) has turned even "bloody civilians" into hardened autocrats. The irony of it all is that a soldier (General Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo) gave autocracy, and arbitrary imposition of personal whims as government policy or "dividends of democracy": the very foundations of a severely dysfunctional governance system in post-colonial, post-military Nigeria.

It will do a lot of good if the people of Rivers State also make their inputs BEFORE so-called urban renwal efforts commence. Let there be dialogue between the people and whoever wants to claim to lead them. Enough of the pseudo-military resort to ad-hocism, and abuse of executive privileges! EXECUTIVE is NOT equal to INFALLIBLE.

Consultation is the key, my pikin.

Muchas gracias.

Don Juan-Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

[Mikky jaga]

Consultation is good if you are not sure of the steps you are taking. Governors are elected to impact the lives of the people the way they feel is best for them. They may end up being wrong, but nobody will accuse them of not trying.

A lot of properties have been demolished in PH to give way for the government's Urban Renewal Programme. Compensations have been paid when the owners of the properties have shown they occupy the slots lawfully. Rumuola Road, NTA Road all in PH are few examples of places where edifices have had to give way for the expansion of these roads by this same government.

Now, the Eliogbolo PH Airport road is one of the busiest roads in the city with attendant traffic jams. The stream of VIPs blowing sirens to clear the road to the airport is endless. If the government decides to further widen the road to ensure smooth flow of traffic on the road, it should rather be supported.

Yes, some people will be adversely affected like the writer of this special appeal, but should the interrests of the few be allowed to override the interests of the vast majority of residents of Rivers State that ply that route on daily basis?

If the writer is sure of the legitimacy of his ownership of the land on which his house was built, he has nothing to worry about since the government has been known to pay adequate compensations to people that had to be relocated for the general good.

If the road has to be built so let it be. If we want a Garden City worth its name, all of us should be ready to make sacrifices whenever called upon to do so.

[denker]

the key-word: ad-hocism

is there any master-plan for PH-City...... like dis:

ad-hocism

The tendency to establish temporary, chiefly improvisational policies and procedures to deal with specific problems and tasks:

“In the absence of specific policies carefully tended by specialists, ad hocism took root”

[Mikky jaga]

Originally Posted by denker

the key-word: ad-hocism

is there any master-plan for PH-City...... like dis:

ad-hocism

On the contrary, Mazi denker, the problem of PH city is the lack of adherence to the Master Plan of that City. Amaechi's government has therefore decided to remove any structure not in line with the master plan.

[No Smoking]

Originally Posted by Mikky jaga

Consultation is good if you are not sure of the steps you are taking. Governors are elected to impact the lives of the people the way they feel is best for them. They may end up being wrong, but nobody will accuse them of not trying

Wow, Mikky!! Is that democracy, or dem-all-crazy???

Even a philanthropist, spending his own money on charitable causes, will achieve more if he consults with the beneficiaries to determine their needs. A state governor, whether military or elected, is not spending his own money. That calls for humility and even greater consultation, to ensure that the public money is spent for the greatest good of most of the people.

[chanchaga]

Gov Rotimi, please listen to the plea of this man. If the property has to go. Please compensate him adequately as well as any other person that is affected. Signs of desperations reflect on the man's pleas.

The most import issue here is that Mr Emman is the legitimate owner of the property and he is trying to safe it. For Abraxas to suggest that the land was acquired bogusly would have been okay if he can prove such claim. We all have to be careful because it could happen to anyone including Abraxas. Please lets not jump into conclusion except we have facts to back them up.