AS anyone who knows would have noticed, the title I have chosen for this interview is hardly original. It comes, in part, from the title of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, the filmed record of the 1934 Nazi party convention in Nuremberg, possibly the most powerful (and perhaps the most horrifying) propaganda film ever made.

Yet, the more I contemplated the implications of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s unprecedented Supreme Court victory and his seemingly widely remote belief, during the darkest days of his struggles to regain his mandate that the human will, as embodied in the Almighty’s Will, will see him through, I found myself going back again and again, to the title of Riefenstahl’s weird but ‘brilliant’ film.

Niger Delta militants

The odds started at birth. Born to his poor parents, in his native Ubima town, in Ikwere Local Government area of today’s Rivers State on the 27th of May, 1965, he stood a little chance of ascending the socio-political ladder in a society where, a man’s pedigree is presumed to make all the difference. For him, there was none of the settled pattern of life that typified the lives of some holders of political office in our country.

Niger Delta militants

Naturally, his Uniport years were rebellious, with the young 18-year old forever tearing at the nerve-ends of tradition and constantly confronting a responsive and inspirational teaching staff at the English Department of the University’s Arts Faculty.

From the point after he graduated from Uniport in 1987, there was hardly a break in his career: Public Relations Officer at Dr. Peter Odili’s Pamo Clinics and Hospital (1988-1991), Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State (1992-1993), Secretary, National Republican Convention (NRC) (1990-1992), State Secretary of the Caretaker Committee of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) (1996) and Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly (1999-2007).

All these briefs appear to have prepared Amaechi for the greater challenges of leadership. But it was his encounter with Judith in 1992 and their eventual marriage in 1993 that further deepened, not just his faith in himself but also in his religious faith. There is, not surprisingly, to be encountered in Amaechi, a somewhat queer mixture of rebellion and piety, piety that is fuelled by an adherence to a Roman Catholicism of an almost fanatic dimension!

Ironically, this interview, as reproduced here, does not capture, in my view, the very essence of what I call the Amaechi phenomenon, that glint in his eyes when he talks about poverty and how it ought to be confronted or the emotion that consumes him when he bemoans the privileges enjoyed by the minutest of the percentage of our people to the detriment of the majority in a ‘rich’, but poverty-stricken country such as our own.

This verbatim interview does not capture the glaring image of a man who sees politics not as a series of maneuouvres but as a plain vehicle for offering service. It does not capture, for instance, the shrewdness of the man, the fact that beneath his calm modesty and impatience with formal structures and narrow conventions is a severe, almost isolated, inner, spiritual strength that propels him.

But perhaps, one does not need the interview to see that in Rotimi Amaechi, we are dealing with a different breed of Nigerian politician. The exhilarating change that is taking place today in Rivers State, both in its depth and dimension, is without parallel in the short history of the state and certainly, (with the possible exception of Cross River State), unprecedented in the entire South-south zone of the country.

Obviously, I write here with the benefit of privileged knowledge about the visionary schemes that are unfolding before our very eyes in the state, such as, the New Master Plan for Port-Harcourt, which encompasses a Mono Rail project, a New Town, a new Ring Road, and new University, plus the University Town, the total transformation of the old Port-Harcourt metropolis, scores of Housing Estates, Hospitals, Schools and new networks of roads.

By any estimation, these outlined giant schemes would do any two-term Governor proud, let alone one who has barely been in office for one year and has had to contend with the additional distraction of criminal elements and disgruntled, erstwhile over pampered politicians who are displeased that business may not be as usual, any more!

Of course, only time will tell whether this zeal and vision will survive. But as Governor Amaechi celebrates his first year in office, one gets away with. It’s a must read.

In your past interviews, you come, in your own words, from a background of poverty. How has that shaped your career as a politician; indeed, how has that shaped your life?

What it has done is to shape my world view. I perceive the world from the point of the suffering majority of the people of the world, especially the people of Nigeria, and in particular, the people of Rivers State.

So, I see politics as I see the world. There are a lot of people who are deprived. And it is unfair to visit them with injustice, not just in terms of government policies, but also in terms of economic injustice.

Because, the fact is that the policies of government, most of the time, benefit a minority, who, by one way or the other, may have found themselves in government or in a position to influence government policies to their own benefit, and usually, to the detriment of the majority of the poor.

Does this also explain why, as a young undergraduate, you were known to have embraced leftist ideas and theories of human development? How do you resolve in your mind, the contradiction of such an early progressive disposition with your current role as governor, considering the putrid and hardly progressive nature of contemporary Nigerian politics?

I would like to say that I embraced ideas that are pro-the people. That will explain it better. You will appreciate the fact that once you know that you are pro-people, the next thing that comes to your mind is service to the people and I believe that you cannot properly serve the people outside government.

You must acquire the instruments of authority which will now give you the necessary infrastructure to apportion or allocate resources. Now what is the struggle for power? The struggle for the allocation of resources is determined by who holds it and who allocates it.

And basically, some of those who have had these opportunities have allocated these resources to the benefit of a minority in the leadership team. Because one may not be a governor, or a legislator, to be found in the sphere of governmental relationship where one’s position influences decisions.

And these are the majority of the people who benefit from government policies. So, basically, I don’t see the contradictions because I need to be able to participate in government to find myself in a position where I can allocate resources and then bring my ideas, my pro- people’s ideas, to influence the allocation of these resources for the common good. And I believe, I maybe wrong, but I think I am utilising it.

Did it occur to you that you needed to do something to resolve these problems that are found in the society?

Yes I did. Right from when I was in the University. As soon as I left the University, it occurred to me that there was a need for a change. When I left the University, I also felt that if that change was to occur, then, there were two ways to go about it: either you participate in a revolution, whereby you create a vanguard of the people that will lead you into a revolution that will bring about change in the system, or, you join the ruling class and seek for power.

Now, a revolution in Nigeria is not an easy thing because people are not galvanised for a revolution. Nigerians believe in hope. This is how they see it: “if this government is bad, they, can go after four years. One day, a new government will come in”! The next government comes in and it is not different. When I realised that there was no way you could galvanise Nigerians into a revolution for now, I decided to participate in the policy making process and that is why I joined politics.

Let us go into your relationship with the former Governor of the state, or Peter Odili, whom you have also described as your mentor. Obviously there has now been a parting of ways between both of you. What went wrong?

That is a very long story; it would be as long as reading the book of Genesis if you are a Christian, that is! (Laughter). It is a very long story. But the truth, like I’ve told people, at a point again, it became like a struggle for the economic allocation of resources.

At a point, Obasanjo and his team felt threatened that I was not the right person to take over the authority of governorship of Rivers State; that if I was allowed to do that, the process of allocating these resources may not benefit their team; and they used the instruments of EFCC against me. At that time, everyday, the EFCC will come up with one story or the other. And when they came after me, I said to my former boss:

“Look, I’ve been arrested and I’ve been released the next day”. And he spoke to the President. I spoke with my boss again and you saw how he was going up and down, trying to resolve these issues. I was no longer interested and then I said to him again: “Let’s try and see how we can manage to resolve the issue of you remaining in power until May 29th, 2007".

But he urged that I challenge the decision of EFCC and the former President in court. And I went to court, after I had asked him on three different occasions and told him that I hoped he would not ask me to withdraw the case from the courts, because the moment I bring my reputation to the public, I won’t let go. And thank God I did just that because I didn’t want EFCC to dent my reputation. I believe that I am viewed by some Nigerians, if not most Rivers State people, as an honest man.

You spoke about integrity and reputation. What does that mean to you as a politician?

They mean quite a lot. They mean that you must be transparent. You must be honest. You must be open. There must be due process in whatever you are doing in government; let the public know what you are doing and try as much as possible not to compromise. Do your best and leave the rest to God, and let the public be the judge.

There is this issue that there is no morality in high level politics?

How can you say that? There are so many people in politics today with high levels of morals. When you talk about allocation of resources, it is not the issue of morality; it is the issue of reality. It is the issue of life. No church pastor tells you God said, “I should allocate you N100 million”.

That is determined by the economy. It is not determined by morals or moralists. But as for whether there are morals or moralists in politics, I believe that quite a lot of people are disciplined. Quite a lot of Nigerians who are in politics are disciplined.

Do you believe that the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will truly reconcile the difference warring factions in the state?

If I didn’t have that belief, I wouldn’t have set it up; it wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. I believe it will reconcile but, to what extent, I will not be able to say for now; not until their report is submitted.

But don’t forget that it is called Truth and Reconciliation, and some are going there not to tell the truth, but just to tell lies! You need to be able to reconcile yourself with that group that wishes to tell the truth, and then the Commission must find out how to resolve the lies before moving to the truth, and then the truth and reconciliation!!

The Niger Delta crisis has suddenly (that is, in the past few years) taken a turn for the worse. How did we get here? What went wrong?

So many things. The first thing is that Nigerians took the Niger Delta for granted. So many years of injustice and victimisation had begun to take their toll. You can’t ignore that fact. Having said that, you are not seeing an organised resistance in the Niger Delta.

It is not organised. It’s not even ideological. What we are seeing is a response to economic deprivation and as I have told you, in the absence of the legal means of livelihood, most times, illegal means of livelihood will be set up. So what you are seeing is a growing criminal economy as opposed to a legal economy because the legal economy is benefiting the rich, to the detriment of the poor. Now, the poor is reacting.

As a governor, who claims to be pro- people, why then insist on the enforcement of the law, you may ask. The argument will be two-pronged. The first is that this crisis is not ideological. It will achieve nothing, absolutely nothing if you leave the criminals to continue in their crime and for that reason, it will kill the economy of the state and you have majority of the poor dying because of poverty.

You cannot lift them out of poverty because few Nigerians who can’t withstand the brunt of economic injustice have found another route of surviving, to the detriment of the majority of the people of Rivers State that I have sworn to protect.

Having analysed it the way you’ve just done, how do we get out of it?

The first way to get out of it is to enforce the law. Let everybody know that you are within the law. When you are able to assert the authority of the law, then you must also assert your capacity to develop the human resources of the state.

When I say development of the human resources, I am talking about the possibility of improving on the level of poverty. Nobody is saying we should make everybody wealthy! What we are saying is this: let those in the Niger Delta be able to afford a means of livelihood.

The moment you can create the opportunity for the people to be employed, or to be able to overcome poverty to that extent, they can survive. That is the first solution.

But that doesn’t address the issue of the so-called militants.

Let us talk about law enforcement. There are two approaches to it. While you are insisting on enforcing the law, and bringing the security agents to enforce the law, both the federal government and the state government must also open up a channel for which those who are ready to give up arms, that is, the so called militants, can be retrained; not the kingpins.

The kingpins will never give up the benefits they are gaining and I don’t think they can ever come out to say: “Ok retrain me”. For them, it has gone beyond being retrained. They will have to re-orientate their value system. Their value system has changed to the extent that even Nl million does not mean anything anymore to them.

You mean the kingpins?

Both the kingpins and the middle class group that is close to these kingpins. But for the other smaller criminals, N50,000 or N100,000 is good money. Now, to show you how this problem is partly that of unemployment, those who go there to live in these hideouts are paid salaries of up to N20,000 to N30,000 for every ‘criminal’ trip they go out on.

It may not seem like much but, the point is, at least, it is a regular form of payment, a regular form of income, unlike in the normal society where they don’t have any form of opportunity of being employed at all.

These guys are not graduates. They just carry weapons. You must provide an alternative to what they are doing, something that can attract them, while at same time carrying out the re-orientation of their value system, especially now that money does not matter to them. Life does not matter to them either.

While you are doing what you have just said, will there by any alternative approach, some form of engagement with the militants?

These reorientation and rehabilitation cannot be done without engaging them. But let them know that if we don’t enforce the law, they will not come for the reorientation. They must know that there are consequences for these actions and that it’s becoming too risky. Then they get the alternative they seek.

Do you feel that the law enforcement personnel here should also be able to enforce seizure of properties?

I am thinking about it. I am going to seek for an amendment to the secret cult law and add that to the law. We will certainly not only seize the properties of these so called militants, we will demolish the ones that should be demolished; so that they don’t reap the benefits of their crimes.

You spoke about the economic benefits to these regional militants.

I didn’t call them militants; they are criminals.

Yes, but you know they see themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods who get something from the state, and claim to share the resources among people. Is it not possible for government to look at the possibility of designing a social security network to take care of the more vulnerable young people, and wean them from these criminals?

No! Are you saying that those who are not collaborating with the so called militants but are also engaged in plain criminal activity should be taken care of through a social security network, funded by the state? No. Government cannot do that; that will be begging the question. The challenge we face as a government is to create the right atmosphere, the right environment for investment to take place for people to be employed.

Talking about investment, what has been the impact of these criminal activities on the investment climate and the economy of the state?

Very huge impact. The first is that business is leaving Port-Harcourt. Everybody can see that. The second is that there are a lot of investors that we have contacted and most of them have said, ‘No, we can’t come because of insecurity troubles’.

I was telling some people that I had spoken to a company in America that was to bring us at least 750 megawatts of power, and they refused to come back, because the company that was to fabricate the gas turbine refused to transport them to Port-Harcourt. They said that if they didn’t get a warranty,

They won’t transport; they won’t give engineers the equipment to install. Even in situations where they do agree to do this, they won’t send any engineers down to maintain the equipment brought in. So you see how difficult the problem is.

So, how do you intend to bring investors back to Port-Harcourt?

The first step to take is what the Federal Government is trying to do now. The Federal Government has decided to take the bull by the horns by enforcing the law. What you can now see is a huge military presence, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Police, on the streets and in the creeks to reduce crime and arrest and punish those who are participating in the crime.

That is the first thing. Now if they achieve that and there is a level of peace and stability in the state, then we can talk to the investors again and ask them to come back.

But some people have accused you of inviting destruction on your people, by asking the military to come and fight these militants, who some consider their children. What do you say to that?

Why not take a poll or do a survey, and ask the people how they feel about the military presence. You will find that the people are literally begging the army to stay. Anytime the army carries out an operation, the people are very happy. You can see how peaceful Port-Harcourt has been since the last operation was carried out. People are happy and walking about the streets.

Nonetheless, if tomorrow, these criminals succeed in one of their operations, people will run back into their houses. People are happy when they hear that the operations have been successful. The bottom line now is that Port-Harcourt is safe. Yes; better than when we met it.

Let us have a quick look at your one year in office. In your maiden broadcast, a copy of which I have here, you enunciated a 12-point charter, which were preceded by how you wanted to be judged, at the end of 4-years. You spoke of a contract you entered with the people. While it may be unfair to judge you only after one year, it would be interesting to know what your most challenging moment has been.

The most challenging moments I have had to deal with, have had to do with security. But like I said, there is a lot of improvement in security situation. People forget a bit easily in this part of the world. By the time I came in, there used to be gang shoot outs right here in Port-Harcourt.

We could be sitting here right now and you will start to hear people shooting. These things seem to have disappeared, yet, nobody seems to have been given any credit; nobody seems to ask the question: ‘how did it happen? But you don’t blame them. It is natural to live in a more secured environment and so they have taken it for granted. So, the fact that we have stopped that, does not amount to an achievement to the people.

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