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Between performance and sycophancy : The
options before Governor Amaechi By
Robinson Tombari Sibe
Newsdiaryonline Mon Feb 28,2011
Propaganda and sycophancy have become the fuel and lubricant
that drives campaign engines in this part of the world.
Ironically, it is the same twin evil that derails leaders and
makes them shift focus from advancing the wheels of development
to “oiling” the praise singers. I’m sure Governor Chibuike
Rotimi Amaechi is fully aware of this as he was an active player
in a regime that was characterized by unprecedented propaganda
and sycophancy. They made everyone believe that the Governor had
the Midas touch. That he was the best thing that ever happened
to Rivers State. All the positive titles in the book were
exhausted on him: The Golden Governor; The Action Governor; The
People’s Governor; Development Personified, etc. Even the State
House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. Amaechi, endorsed him
overwhelmingly for a second term. Today, the story is different
- Every failure of the past is blamed on that administration
even though it birthed the current. Surprisingly, those who were
at the forefront of that propaganda machine are the ones dancing
and pointing to the relics of the administration.
When Dr Peter Odili was seeking re-election for a second term in
office, the sycophants took praise-singing to another level. The
governor had done a couple of projects which his Public
Relations Department saturated the national airspace with. Free
School Bus for the Students (Where are the buses now?), Housing
Schemes in all the LGA’s even in places that didn’t have any
need for them, Free medical care for the young and old, Gas
Turbines that didn’t increase the electricity supply by
any significant wattage, etc. For those not living in
Rivers State, they imagined the state to be a “paradise” and a
model of how a State should be run. Free everything,
Uninterrupted Power Supply, Uninterrupted flow of “Ghana Must
Go” bags, etc. I remember being given special treatment during
my Youth Service because they thought I was from a State where
everything was working perfectly (I didn’t bother to correct
them since I was enjoying the special attention). Little wonder,
The “Golden Governor” won every available national and even some
international awards. What the Governor did not cross check was
the carat value of the Golden appendage to his name. His
publicists had simply gold-plated his administration with cheap
but sparkling gold, the sycophants polished it and focused
bright light on it for a dazzling lustre effect.
Listening to them, one would think the sun, moon, planetary
bodies and the whole cosmos stood still in amazement at the
“Giant Strides” of Dr Odili’s Rivers State. They made the state
sound (not look) like one the earth will proudly flaunt to other
planetary bodies as a glowing example.
I need not labour you with the details but Dr Peter Odili won
the elections with a landslide. Even though rigging was the
order of the day in that era, I’m sure if it was done in free
and fair conditions he would still have won with a wide margin.
His campaign team did a good work. However, few years after a
failed attempt at the Presidency that was largely buoyed by
these vociferous praise singers, the Golden Governor seems to
have lost his lustre and glitz. The gold has been “oxidized”.
Today, he cuts a solitary figure even in the few public events
that he dared attend. He has been deserted by all those who
drummed his praise. Where are those who chanted his name? Where
are those who flooded the streets with posters and billboards?
Where are those Organizations that came from far and wide to
endorse him? What went wrong? Where are those who sang “na Odili
yei-yei-yei-yei-yeh!”. Where are the “Carry-Go” exponents that
flooded the Podium then? How did it all go wrong?
Let me attempt to deconstruct what happened as an outsider that
I was. Dr Peter Odili probably started well but much of what
were on display as his achievements were mainly superficial in
nature. However, coming from a military regime, it all looked
like concrete achievements. The sycophants hijacked it, the
citizens were either too gullible or the years of military rule
had eroded their sense of strategic assessment of development so
they were easily contented with what was on display. And so, his
re-election was a mere walkover. He began his second term with
these sycophants still beating the victory drum. They were only
interested in the accruable “getting” and how to use his
thriving political machinery as a structure to launch their own
budding political ambitions. He compensated them with key
appointments, some got huge contracts. None dared to remind him
on building on his good start. None dared to tell him that the
gas turbines were not working and will never work the way things
were going. None bothered to tell him that we don’t have good
roads. None cared to tell him that the housing schemes in remote
areas (that have since become homes to reptiles and the likes)
needed to be put to use (and who told them it was necessary to
put up such structures in the first instance?).
None dared to tell him that he needed to set up sustainable
structures to ensure the continuity of all the “freebies”: Free
Healthcare for the young and old, free school bus, tuition-free
schools, etc. None dared to tell him that our schools were
dilapidated. None challenged him that the huge donations he was
giving to other state universities and organizations could have
been injected to our dilapidated educational sector. None dared
to challenge him on the increasing joblessness plaguing the
citizenry. None dared to challenge him on the growing
insecurity. None dared to challenge him on his spending
priorities. For them it was all “carry go”. Even the other arms
of government joined in the chorus. The ordinary citizens joined
in. The man Dr Odili was on “cloud 9” cruising at an astonishing
altitude because the spectators and the umpires were on his
side. We simply cheered him on to failure. Although, he is
singled out for chastisement today, we all had our roles to play
in whatever failure is attributed to that administration. We
were the people, we kept clapping for him and of course like
every performer, he was tempted to play to the gallery while
failing to check the score board which said otherwise and the
clock that was ticking away. Even the opposition had died
naturally or were totally “sold out”. The people around him
could not challenge him to do more; they either lacked or failed
to give him sound counsel. The majority of the masses kept
clapping and hailing him. Traditional rulers across the nation
were reeling out Chieftaincy titles. The other arms of
government were busy with his endorsements. And so, Dr Odili was
on cruise control. Looking back, I’m sure he would have probably
acted differently if the people had challenged him on areas of
deficiency - after all, he was a crowd pleaser.
Today, his successor, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, whom I shall vote
for by the way, is faced with similar circumstances. He had a
relatively strong start compared to his predecessors. He’s built
and commissioned over a hundred health centers; built modern
schools in all the Local Government Areas; Sponsored Rivers
indigenes to study in UK, Canada and Malaysia; done a couple of
road projects; revamped the failed gas turbine projects; Made
efforts (however little) to beautify Port Harcourt, Commenced
the Greater PH Project (even though I have my fears over the
guiding philosophy and the workability); spoken like he was on
the side of the masses, etc. Quite naturally, and deservingly
too, the people have been singing his praise. But then, that
might be the beginning of his failure if he allows these
professional praise singers to derail him from his developmental
agenda.
The Governor can put up with all these sycophancy now since
politics in this part of the world is largely propaganda driven.
However, if he does not want to follow the path of his
Predecessor, he must realize that he has to keep the sycophants
at bay immediately after the elections and concentrate on the
heavy task at hand. If he wants to succeed, he must surround
himself with sound, disciplined and passionate people. People
who have the passion and capacity to develop the state; People
who can look him in the face and challenge him on the
workability of the Greater PH Project; People that can tell him
that it is not enough to give our youths scholarship to study
abroad; People that can task him on the sustainability of the
laudable projects he has done; People that can tell him that
even though he’s done a good job in the education sector, that
he can still do more; People that can advise him on how to take
agriculture and aquaculture to the next level; People that can
advise him on how to revive Rison Palm; People that can tell him
the truth that despite the billions that he has graciously
released that most of our roads are poorly constructed and
pot-hole ridden; People that can tell him that unless the
dividends of his administration can trickle down to every home
in one way or the other, history will not consider him a
success; People that can suggest effective strategies for
traffic management to compliment what has been done; People that
can recommend practical and workable strategies to open up the
local economy; People that can join him in the fight for
companies to engage qualified people from host communities;
People that can tell him that just as the government have the
right to make certain things mandatory to the citizenry (like
making it mandatory to have a see-through fence in certain
areas), so also the citizens have the right to demand for the
best – good roads, hospitals, etc; People that can suggest to
him to terminate the contract of under-performing contractors
even if the contractor is a friend or relation of the governor
or a senior Party official; People that will support him to
ensure that the people have the full complement of whatever
wattage that is generated in the turbines; People that can tell
him that what needs to be done is more than what have been done;
People who can tell him that it is not enough to do Biometrics
for staff with the end product being just for salary payment
when it can be fully integrated to a full blown Human Resources
Management Application to automate all personnel related
activities of the civil service; People that can suggest to him
effective, transparent and cost saving e-Government strategies;
People that can suggest to him how to get the best out of
laudable initiatives like the RivGIS project; People that can
recommend ways to get the best out of the abundant human
resources; People that can suggest to him how we can revive
sports in our secondary schools; People that can suggest ways
the citizenry can have quality and affordable health care.
People that can suggest to him ways of improving our security;
People that will tell him the truth that we have a very faulty
record system and therefore no data for any form of statistical
and spatial analysis/evaluation to aid development decisions;
People that can suggest to him on ways of rewarding hard work
and creativity; People that will remind him that the sycophants
around him will not remember him beyond the present if he does
not leave behind concrete and credible achievements.
These are the caliber of people the Governor must surround
himself with if he wants his name to be etched in gold in the
history of the state. The governor has showed he has the energy
and drive, but he needs direction and vision so that energy can
be put to the best use. Therefore, his choice of people that
will work for him should not be based purely on political
reasons. He should look around and he’ll see many of those that
were with him under the umbrella in 2007 now carrying brooms,
Cocks, etc. The Politician you are pacifying today by giving an
appointment he doesn’t have the capacity for will be the one to
champion your prosecution when you fail after the expiration of
your term. I don’t need to dwell on this because he should know
better than me. His guiding principle should be getting the best
people to occupy the right office so he will not suffer from the
familiar second term syndrome. That way, I’ll be proud of my one
vote in four years time. Anyway, the choice is his to make. He
can either focus on improving on his performance or shuffle in
harmony to the tunes of the sweet melody of the sycophants.
Robinson Tombari Sibe (+234) 08037069277
sibe99@yahoo.com
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