[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ollowing several failed attempts at crippling the economy of Rivers State by promoting and deliberately amplifying insecurity in the State without much success, as it has remained undaunted and maintained its developmental strides under the leadership of Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON; the All Progressives Congress, APC, through governmental channels has taken a dramatic and dangerous bid to cripple the economy of the State by targeting multibillion naira investments in it.
In one fell swoop, two of the largest revenue generators of the state, Indorama Petrochemicals and Notore Petrochemicals, have been accused of sabotaging Nigeria’s economy by the national security adviser to the president.
While indeed the clear details of the allegations amounting to economic sabotage are not readily available to the public, the office of the national security adviser has threatened sanctions on the companies should their business not conform to the unclear expectations of the government, strengthening the allusion to witch hunt and nothing more.
Quite queerly also, the plot is being strategically unleashed on the same day, the federal government is inaugurating a governing council and board of trustee for the much dramatised, but yet to be implemented, Ogoni Cleanup exercise, in a bid to both condense the effect of the move and mutate public opprobrium against it.
Indorama Petrochemicals is about the largest private sector investment in Rivers State currently valued at over $1.5 billion and is the cynosure of business success in the state. An attack on Indorama or Notore is not just an attack on the economy of Rivers State, it is an attack on the very nerve center of Nigeria’s economy and, quite frankly, smacks of crass senescence given the possible threats to national security that such growing fundamentalist moves pose across the country.
One is, however, not surprised that former Governor Rotimi Amaechi who governed the state for 8 solid years and is a chieftain of the fundamentalist political organisation and government that is hell-bent on crippling Rivers State, would sit comfortably and watch a state he claims a right to govern by proxy get completely grounded, since after his 8 years at the saddle. He, Amaechi, cannot show an investment of his loot in his Sstate.
Every single dime was freighted out of the State. Little wonder he doesn’t give a hoot if Rivers is completely razed aground. He has no stake in it. He never believed in it. All that he cares for is the flow of the milk until the cow can no longer be of use. But one thing is certain, the failure that has become a part and parcel of the APC will wreck it and all those associated with it, as even nature has rejected them.
The general public is alerted to the desperate moves by the APC. By its very hands, APC is stoking the heat.
APC is stoking the heat!
Oraye St. Franklyn is a barrister-at-law. He is senior special assistant to Governor Nyesom Wike on Social Media. He is a strategic communicator and good governance advocate, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He tweets from @RealOraye. He is also on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
