By Emeka Obasi

Sure Port Harcourt is destination next, even without invitation. This is urgent. Chief Chibuike Amaechi must be up to something. The silence is deafening, the last time he was this quiet, something good followed. From exile, the man landed in Government House.

Amaechi did everything humanly possible to get the All Progressives Party (APC) presidential ticket. When it was time for harvest, he was not allowed to reap anything. It was like the former Transportation minister planted on rocky ground.

As governor of Rivers, his defection to APC from the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) was partly responsible for the fall of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. What an irony that the man who led Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign could not be rewarded for that sacrifice.

I do not know where Amaechi’s friends are especially after his botched attempt at the presidency. The only one he could call a friend indeed may be Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the man who outsmarted APC coup plotters. Jagaban visited after snatching victory from the jaw of the dragon.

They called him ‘ The Anointed’. Amaechi was honoured with the title of ‘ Dan Amanar Daura’ ( the trusted son of Daura). Mrs Aisha Buhari was in his Abuja home. Kaduna delegates promised bloc votes. His first point of consultation was Government House, Katsina.

At the Eagle Square, Abuja, Tinubu soared up above the sky. Amaechi was a distant second, drowned and floating, with 316 Votes. How politics made a Rivers big man look like fish out of water continues to baffle me. APC abandoned Rotimi.

This has become a  Curse. Dr. Peter Odili went through this same path prior to the 2007 presidential elections. He flew round the North, from Nguru to Tankankara Sule. I am sure if there was a sea route to Argungu, the then Rivers governor would have sailed on the best ship to the Far North.

Odili was close to President Olusegun Obasanjo and wife, Stella. So much was done to honour Mrs Obasanjo in Port Harcourt which sounded nice. There is a road named after Obasanjo in the Garden City. He lived their between 1968 and 1970.

After all the Nationwide tour and consultations with Emirs and Imams, Odili was forced into political coma. Obasanjo chose Alhaji Umaru Yar’adua, a proper thing to do anyway, to maintain political correctness. President Yar’adua tried to calm Niger Delta Waters by dialoguing with militants.

While APC ignored Amaechi, PDP was doing the same to Governor Nyesom Wike at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja. Rivers money had sustained PDP after Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan turned their back. Like Amaechi, Wike finished second in the primaries.

The ticket went to Alhaji Abubakar Atiku who polled 371 votes. Wike got 237 votes. The game changer was Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto. Brutus played out and the North left the stadium victorious. The Rivers overlord has continued to bark and bite.

Beyond the setback, my job is to dig deep. History does not fail. There is something about Port Harcourt. Prior to independence and  in the heat of imperialism, Igweocha was renamed after  Lewis Viscount Vernon Harcourt.

As Colonial Secretary, Harcourt impressed Frederick Lugard, the man who coupled the Northern and Southern parts together to form Nigeria in 1914. As Governor General, Lugard looked at Igweocha and changed it to Port Harcourt.

Shame followed that fraud. Harcourt committed suicide in London on February 24, 1922. There were allegations that the big man loved small things and played dirty with minors. That change of name could be partly responsible for the Curse of Port Harcourt.

It is strange that with all the money generated from the state, Rivers politicians are always used and dumped. And these men have so much in common even when the Curse wants to put them asunder.

Odili made Amaechi. Their wives, Mary and Judith, hail from the South -East. Wike’s wife, Suzette is a judge, like Justice Mary Odili. Amaechi’s mother bore Mary. Wike was born in December. That is the birth month of Mrs Amaechi.

Justice Odili, Amaechi and Justice Wike were born in May, the same month all Rivers governors were sworn in in the Fourth Republic except Amaechi, in his first term. Governor Odili is a doctor. Wike’s father in- law, Ikechukwu Obuzor, is a doctor.

Justice Mary Odili’s dad, Bernard Nzenwa, was a lawyer. Justice Suzette Wike’s hubby, is a lawyer too. Odili was the first Rivers State governor to rule for eight years. Amaechi was the first Rivers Speaker to last eight years. Wike was Chairman Obi- Akpor Local Government for eight years.

One man, Celestine Omehia was governor briefly. He is from Ubima, Amaechi’s place. Infact, they are cousins. Both men are not so close. Wike worked with Amaechi, drew Omehia close. Today Wike and Omehia are not getting on.

My duty in Pitakwa, that is the jolly name for Port Harcourt, is to bring Odili, Omehia, Amaechi and Wike together. United, they will stand. Nigerian politics has taught them a bitter lesson. And Amaechi’s birthday is May 27. On that day in 1967, Gen. Yakubu Gowon created Rivers State. Nigeria continues to reject candidates from Rivers.