Opinion: Tonye Cole, the best governor Rivers state never had

Okenyi Kenechi

Tonye Cole is supposed to be the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress in Rivers state but the walls supposedly are always closing in on him by the decisions made by the minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Amaechi in a desperate bid to foist Cole on the rest of the faithful party members and stakeholders, eschewed every form of decency associated with democratic practices. Not that Nigeria practices democracy anyway but sometimes, it become imperative to even pretend to. However, the end is always the beginning.

It was not an easy task, depriving a state like Rivers State the opportunity to chose who will be best man for the job from a pool of candidates whose real job would have been selling their manifestos to the electorates who then sit, stand or crawl or whatever they deem fit doing, then select who best represents their aspirations.

The possibility of the state electing people on the back of their achievements were constant topics in private conversations. When one starts talking about Rivers state election with any group or people not enamoured with politics, the ideal change of mindsets were always glaring.

The allure of Cole’s candidacy was obvious. It is not just the promise of removing the state from the hands of a group that has exploited it for two decades but that of bringing business sense into politics. But how do you do that when one of the biggest beneficiaries of that two decades of exploitation is your biggest backer?

Tonye Cole may be the best governor that Rivers State never had. Thanks to the minister of transportation and leader of the APC in Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi whose attempt at becoming the latest replica of the Lagos Landlord in the state deprived the state of a very competitive gubernatorial election.

Tonye Cole is smart, urbane and cultured. Watching his interview on Rhythm FM’s View Point through their Facebook live handle informed my opinion and changed my perception about the man.

During the interview, the Anchor, Segun Owolabi stretched the Guber candidate to a level that was unnecessary. He equally put words in his mouth. I was alarmed in a way but Cole maintained his cool. That is glaring evidence of a man who is mature and ready. And then came the question and answer series where party members, agitated as ever, communicated their anger and he quietly answered them one after the other.

The People of Bille also had reservations about the comments made by Cole during that interview and issued a 48-hour ultimatum for him to apologise and apologise he did.

Yet, how such a man allowed himself to be railroaded into the irregularities that characterised the Rivers APC congresses and primaries beat my imagination. It is simply a tragedy that could have been avoided, by him given the fact that he claimed to have grown in a house filled with lawyers.

Rivers APC, filled with an assortment of intelligent men like Senator Magnus Abe had the potentials of going into the election with its head held up high. All that was required was a free process where party members elect who will fly the party’s flag. That did not happen. Now, if they are ever going to get into the ring, they will go as a battered platoon of soldiers who barely survived a protracted in-house fight.

Senator Abe is right in his decision to take up the undemocratic way through which the minister wanted to run the party in court. As a lawyer himself, he knew how to go about his fight from day one, blocking every loophole that would have ensured that the minister’s faction exploits the process and make an escape. That is commendable and teaches lessons too.

It is bad to go into a supposedly democratic battle in an undemocratic way. That shows that fascism is ripe in Nigeria and despite the hues and cries by members of the party, the blame should be placed where it rightfully belongs – at the minister’s feet.

Having been a beneficiary of the court process, giving the way the minister came into power as governor in 2007, one would have thought that the minister would have been the biggest – if not – the most efficient respecter of law. No! he chose – infamously – to go against the system that made him what he is by leading assaults against the very judiciary that gave him victory, first as a governor by disregarding supreme court decisions in appointing a chief judge, shutting down the courts for years and by allowing loyalist to attack the state’s high court on May 11, 2018, while the court was about to give an interlocutory injunction in a suit brought before it by APC members.

What the Tonye Cole’s political voyage shows is that a good man cannot go through an illegal process and come out untainted. He could not have sanitized the state with the people whom the minister surrounded him with, most of whom are standing trial for several grievous offences and have not heeded to the orders of the court to take their pleas.

He should be alarmed and perhaps, be thankful to Senator Abe for ensuring that the right things were done.

When this battle is finally over as the Appeal Court ruling signalled its end, Cole should have a sober reflection of the whole process and perhaps, come back as a free man and try again – this time, on the backs of his own conviction and knowledge.