Gov. Chibuike Amaechi

By the time he is done with his memoir, the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi would have come up with such tales ideal only for political science classes. Indeed, after eight years as speaker and another eight years as governor, he should honestly give an interesting piece of his roles as an active player in the body polity.


Certainly, one of the stories to form part of his memoir would be his experience in Kano last Sunday. Amaechi was though in the state on condolence visit, his visit was however thought to be connected with the appointment of former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the new emir of Kano.


Whether or not that assumption was true, Amaechi paid for that trip to Kano. Here is the story. Amaechi and co had left Kano long before the announcement of Sanusi as the new emir that Sunday. He was Abuja bound. But on getting to the nation’s capital city, the weather was reportedly bad and had to head back to Kano again pending when the weather would clear to fly.


Arriving at the Kano airport, his chattered flight could not land and had to hover in the air, according to insiders, for almost 20 minutes. He had initially sensed something was not right and when he inquired from the pilot - apparently naïve – the fellow thought some planes were either landing or taking off. So, Amaechi relaxed and finally, they landed in Kano.


After a few minutes at the Kano airport, reports came that the Abuja weather was back to normal and they decided to return to their destination before an instruction came that the flight should not be cleared to fly and was technically grounded. Upon inquiry, airport authorities claimed, according to sources, that it was from the Air Force Commander. When allegedly contacted, the commander in turn said it was an order from above and as such, the flight would not leave the airport. Sorry, he was helpless!


Okay, that said, Amaechi and the crew made to leave the airport, only to discover they had been locked inside, perhaps with the intention to make them sleep at the airport. But the governor ordered the doors broken and by the time they sauntered out of the airport, lo and behold, military vehicles loaded with soldiers (all of whom should have been deployed in Yobe and Borno to confront Boko Haram) were waiting outside for these “unwanted visitors”.


Well, a typical Amaechi allegedly dared the odds, manned the wheels and drove himself from Kano to arrive in Abuja in the dead of the night. The Sunday experience makes it the second time that a similar order, allegedly from above would have Amaechi’s official plane grounded, the first being April 26, 2013 in Akure, the Ondo State capital. That aircraft is still grounded without the implications of its maintenance and functionality after a long time on the ground.


Well, whatever it is with Amaechi and the “order givers” from above, one thing is certain, the last of such developments is yet to be heard. Fingers crossed!



Source: ThisDay