How Oshiomhole jabbed Amaechi at Hadiza Bala’s colloquium

A former governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, made a veiled reference to former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, at a colloquium to mark the 50th birthday of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head, Central Delivery Unit, Hadiza Bala Usman.

Oshiomhole, who was one of the speakers at the event, alleged that he Amaechi tried to rubbish Bala Usman when she was the Managing Director of Nigeria Port Authority (NPA).

During the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, Amaechi was the Minister of Transportation, the ministry which supervised NPA.

However in June 2021, the Minister recommended the suspension of Bala-Usman and ordered a probe.

Explaining the reason behind the suspension at the time, Amaechi noted that he was shut out of the happenings in the NPA under Hadiza Bala – Usman.

He was quoted to have said that part of the responsibility of the minister of transportation was to give general instructions as it affects parastatals that were under the ministry and give general directions.

“With NPA, I think it was just completely shut out and we didn’t know what was going on in the parastatal and we wanted to know. Don’t forget we are investigating the NPA and not the managing director of NPA,” he had said.

However, since he left power, Amaechi has been very critical of the government which Bala Usman is a key cabinet member.

At an event to commemorate his 60th birthday last year, Amaechi had said Nigerians should come to remove Tinubu because they were hungry.

“We are all hungry. All of us are. If you are not hungry, I am. So, for us the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power (Tinubu), we can remove him from this power,” he had said.

But speaking at the colloquium organised to celebrate the 50th birthday of Hadiza Bala Usman in Abuja, on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said, “When you were appointed as MD of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), some people with ‘bad belle’ who were drunk with power tried to rubbish you without knowing your background and you fought back.

“They tried to rubbish your family’s name, but in the end, they have rubbished themselves and right now, they’re hungry. That hunger, is lacking the capacity to oppress the collection of even the best among us. So, the day I heard that those who were so powerful yesterday are now hungry, I said may the hunger remain till they return to their creator.”

Oshiomhole, who extolled the leadership qualities of Bala Usman, said, “Look at it, today you are here, you have the honour of Nigeria’s Vice President being in attendance to celebrate your birthday. Can you expect more, while those who wanted to rubbish you remain in hunger and after some time, they will be starving. You have the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; you have the Chief of Staff and us,

“Hadiza, this is the reward of listening and imbibing the best of your father. I don’t know why I choose to talk about your father, but people can’t understand why you are different. I was in Abuja here, your father came to join us to protest at the National Secretariat. So when I listen to peoples comments about you, not knowing our relationship.

“They said that small girl, very stubborn, but I am very proud of you. Your intellect, during the election, you came with some perspective that people may not have thought of and when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed you as a policy advisor. I said yes because at the heart of governance is policy and the outcome of policy choices that determine the ultimate of governance.”

He said policies don’t  happen in an ad-hoc manner and so President Tinubu knows where he put her.

He added, “He did not do it as a favor; he did it because he needed you. He has kept you there because he continues to appreciate… for a reformist government. People don’t like reforms, even though we have seen that you cannot keep doing the same thing all over again and expect different outcomes.

“This is what we say every day, but when you now have a government, supported by the Vice President that said we will stop doing things the old way because we want a different outcome, the same people begin to complain. That is life, but for those who are convinced about the future, they will rather take the risk and formulate the policies and execute them ruthlessly, so that tomorrow can be better than today.”

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