RIVERS State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi |
Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has ruled out the possibility of having a violent revolution in the country.
Amaechi spoke in Ekiti State on Saturday at the second Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders.
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi,
Prof. Pat Utomi, Chief Executive Officer of Sahara Group, Mr. Tonye
Cole, and representative of Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan,
among others, attended the symposium, organised by The Future Project.
Amaechi said many Nigerians had become used to suffering rather than pushing for a change.
According to him, Nigeria has experienced worse situations than what led to revolution in some other countries.
Amaechi said he was sure that those who
gathered to protest against the removal of oil subsidy in January 2012
would flee immediately the President drafted soldiers to the Freedom
Park in Lagos and other states to quell the uprising.
Continue reading after the cut....
He said, “Yes, revolution can happen
outside Nigeria. But here, I do not think so. Tell me what happened in
Sudan, Libya, Zimbabwe and other countries that have not happened here.
Our elasticity has no limit. You do not pray for electricity to be
regular but you know that some Nigerians pray ‘God, let the light be
stable today.’ We pray without working to solve our problems and we
think God will do what we are supposed to do for us.”
Noting that courage was required to make
any change, he said those who were truly seeking a change would never
be afraid of guns.
The governor, however, said he was not
in support of the call for the disintegration of the country, saying
there were many advantages in being together.
Meanwhile, Presidency on Sunday faulted the claim by Amaechi that Nigeria was gradually sliding back to the era of dictatorship.
Before reading his speech where he was
honoured with the Vanguard Personality of the Year Award in Lagos on
Saturday, Amaechi was said to have explained that he decided to read a
prepared speech, because “I am becoming more careful, given that we are
gradually going back to the era of dictatorship in this country”.
But in an interview with one of our
correspondents, the Special Adviser to the President on Political
Matters, Ahmed Gulak, said the governor could not have been referring to
the President.
Gulak said so far, the President had been ruling the country by adhering strictly to the nation’s constitution.
He said Jonathan, in the spirit of
democracy, has also been consulting widely before he takes any decision
and so could not be said to be a dictator.
The presidential aide said since Amaechi
was one of those ruling the country by virtue of being a governor, he
might be admitting by his statement that he was ruling his state like a
dictator.
He said, “As a governor, Amaechi is one of those ruling this country. Is he admitting that he is a dictator in his state?
“We are in a democratic administration.
We are ruling by the constitution. The President is committed to the
rule of law. I am not sure the governor is referring to the President.”
-Punch
Share your thoughts....thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment