Rivers’ seized helicopters: Matters arising

I don’t know why, these days, top officials of government always want to politicise anything that affects the opposition. Recently, the Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Lagos Area Command, brought to the public domain, the issue of the two choppers that were seized after the importers refused to show up. Some few days later, the Governor Nyeson Wike administration came up with a press statement telling the world that the seized choppers were imported by former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

This set the tone for Amaechi, now the Minister of Transportation, to issue his response, stating that he imported the two choppers with the support of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when the going was good and as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As such, the government of Rivers State was granted a waiver for Customs duty on the two choppers. But following the duo’s parting of ways due to irreconcilable differences, the Federal Government shifted ground on the waiver earlier given to the Rivers State government and, before the two choppers arrived the shores of the country, Amaechi had ceased to be governor. This then caused the accumulation of demurrage following the long stay of the choppers at the port.

In his magnanimity, Governor Wike wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, donating the choppers to the Nigeria Airforce to fight insurgency in the North-East. However, rather than commend the decision of the Rivers State government, some fifth columnists railroaded the Customs service into portraying the state government in bad light. There is no need to paint white black simply because of two political gladiators on a collision cause. It is imperative for the two political leaders to have genuine truce in order for the state to forge ahead. The amount of money invested in the two choppers could have made a great difference in the lives of the people of River State through the provision of potable water, good roads and health care delivery.

Politics should not be confused with working for the progress of the state and its people. What is most needed in the state is cohesion and mutual respect by the citizens irrespective of political differences and primordial interests. The people need to eschew anything that is inimical to the survival of the state now and in the near future. It is also necessary for the prominent leaders of the state to come to a roundtable for reconciliation to enable the state to move forward.

Political mudslinging and insults need to be discarded. A new approach is what is needed in Rivers State, which is known in public parlance as the “Garden City” because of the serenity that attracts people from all over the world.

Usman Santuraki

Jambutu, Jimeta, Yola