BY IBRAHIM BAKARE
The Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has lamented the rising spate of insecurity and political intimidation in Rivers State. The Minister who is a former Governor of the State voiced his concern at the funeral service of late Justice Adolphus Godwin Karibi-Whyte.
Amaechi said: “You have lost your voice. The sage has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was Governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices.
“I was happy with the sermon, the Bishop indicted us. If you are a Governor, have you governed well? If you are a politician, have you carried your people along?”
“Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are back to a period when nobody can speak. But from next year, I will begin to speak, if nobody wants to speak.”
While giving tribute to the late Justice, Amaechi said, “We are all here because we need to bury a man God has blessed. I have stopped traveling because of bad weather, but I told myself I must be here because of Justice Whyte.
“If you knew Justice very well, you will know I was close to him. I was one of the few people he mentored. He taught me that character was essential to life. I was a Governor at 42, and he told me, even in my 40s, I was the oldest person in Rivers State and that I must behave like a father to all”