SpicyTricks

So much has been said and written about the duo of Rotimi Amaechi and his erstwhile ally. And Chief of Staff, Nyesom Wike who have been torn apart by power play. While the governor, Amaechi is battling to install his successor and prove his supremacy, Wike on the other hand is fighting to prove that he was actually the 'miracle worker' in Amaechi's camp before he switched loyalty to the wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan. 

He had succeeded in dividing Amaechi's camp and rose from being a servant to become a master. But the hue and cry by Amaechi over Wike's betrayal may have been caused by the governor due to his seemingly complacent attitude or by arrogating too much power and responsibilities to Wike while their friendship lasted. 

Though both men belong to the same ethnic group, Ikwerre, in Rivers State, and have been part of the Odili political group. If Amaechi, who is regarded as the 'lion of the Niger Delta' could so easily be beaten and over run by his second in command, it then means that he was never in charge as Wike claims or he may have taken him for granted. Could it be that Amaechi never truly knew Wike while the latter was busy under studying his strengths and weakness. Amaechi may have unknowingly created room for his hatchet man to stab him in the back or he may have inherited this monster that has threatened to send him into confinement and eventual political oblivion. Perhaps, Amaechi may have contributed to this cancer that almost consumed him. 
Nyesom Wike was said to have been a boy not too loved by his father. Sources within the family revealed that as a boy, he had exhibited some traits of treachery and betrayal. He was accused of passing on information to another rival family, being privileged to be presence during family meetings held in his father's house. As a result of this evil act, the father was said to have disowned him. The other rival family was quick to receive him as an adopted son and had conscripted him into the touting business at the Mile 3 Motor Park, from where he met Azubuike Nmerukini, who was the Chairman of the Rivers state chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers. He combined schooling with touting. From the Nsirims, he met John Mbata who took care of his schools fees. 

Upon graduation from the Law School and the mandatory Youth Service, Senator John Mbata introduced him into politics where he was made to replace his kins man, Rochas Ichenwo who had won the primary election as the flag bearer of the PDP for the Council election in Obio/Akpor LGA in 1999. 
Wike was said to have been under aged to contest the election so he quickly swore to an affidavit to upgrade his age. 
Amaechi and other members of the Odili political family were only interested in having him as the candidate in other to impress Mbata whom Wike later dislodged from the group. He thus became the elected Council boss and from there he upstaged his mentor, John Mbata to become the leader of the Obio/Akpor political group. 

His two tenures as Local Government boss witnessed the emergence of touts and political thugs known as Obio/Akpor who were made revenue collectors which involved multiple taxation of traders particularly the non-indigenes as well as multinational companies. They were forced to pay levies sometimes into personal accounts belonging to the Chairman or his surrogates. Commercial drivers and road users were at the mercy of his thugs. From radio license to sanitation baskets to stickers to marching ground, operational licenses and several creations characterized the era when he held sway. 

For forcing his deputy, Lawrence Chukwu to resign or face impeachment, the Evo kingdom in Obio/Akpor opposed his return to the Council for a second term. The Royal Majesty and a one time Deputy Governor, Eze Frank Eke,Eze Gbakaka of blessed memory and his Council of Chiefs threatened to vote for the opposition if Wike was picked again as the flag bearer of the PDP. It took the intervention of Rotimi Amaechi, who was the Speaker and the highest office holder from Ikwerre speaking ethnic group to intervene and secure a second term ticket for Wike under the PDP. Amaechi helped to convince the people to support Wike. 

With Amaechi as the Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, Wike still had his ways with high handedness in the second richest local government in Nigeria after Ikeja in Lagos. 

With the coming of. Austin Opara as Deputy Speaker through the instrumentality of Amaechi who had convinced Gov. Odili to chose him in replacement to Chibudom. Nwuche, Opara thus became another powerful and highest ranking elected officer in Ikwerre land. Opara and Amaechi thus became like Siamese twins and that apparently did not go down well with Wike who preferred to trail behind Amaechi. It was then he began to plan on how to upstage Opara. Wike, it was who blew the lid off the kettle when he told Amaechi that there were plans by the governor"s wife to install Opara as the next governor to succeed Odili. Thus, he brought bad blood between the two friends. 

From then on, there was a crisis of confidence between Amaechi and Opara and that eventually forced the latter to throw his hat into the ring for the governorship race.

Having lost Mbata and Opara from his ethnic group, Amaechi had no option than to rely on. Wike who wielded so much influence as the National Deputy Chairman of ALGON and later Chairman. He also controlled the 23 LGA Chairmen in the State. Not even his former boss at the Motor Park, Azubuike Nmerukini, the Mayor of Port Harcourt City, that could lord over him amongst the Concil Chairmen. 

Towards the build up to the 2006 PDP governorship primaries, Wike had played a role so that when President Obasanjo declared Amaechi's ticket as havin a K-leg, Wike's name was one of those Amaechi penciled down as his replacement for the ticket. But Odili had rejected him on the grounds that Wike was neither qualified nor suitable to succeed him as governor. 

When the battle to reclaim his mandate through the courts was on for ten months in 2007, Wike again positioned himself as the leader of the 'Believers' who were at the fore front of the struggle. Being in that position, he not only took directives from Amaechi who was ferried away by Odili to Ghana to avoid the EFCC harassment which sought to use him as a prosecution witness against Odili. 

His self-acclaimed position as Amaechi's points man in the struggle also availed him the opportunity of receiving all the monetary contributions and legal advise from Amaechi's friends, supporters and sympathizers. Unknown to many, while Wike along side others fought with Amaechi through the courts, he was also being hounded by the EFCC to answer to petitions against him on his alleged acquisition of several properties using his brother's name as surrogates in some cases. To evade arrest, Wike never travelled to Abuja by Air through the airports. He convinced those who were not in the know that he was scared of flying. 
When the battle was over, Amaechi gave him the first right of refusal as the Chief of Staff, which he quickly grabbed. 

As Chief of Staff to the Government House, he was privy to all government affairs, the governor's public and private life. He knew all those who were awarded contracts as well as those who were appointed into lucrative positions. Most of the mess of the Government was handled by his office and it was easy to know who did what and who got what. 

His office was the clearing house as the Commissioners all depended on him to have their demands scale through. Amaechi gave him a budget of N600million every month to run the government house while he also got a large chunk of the contracts from Education, Works and Health Ministries. He was charged with the responsibility of drawing up a list of those to be awarded contracts particularly those from the Ikwerre axis. He was the de facto leader of the Ikwerre people, a position he used to empower those who are seen as his core loyalists today. 
Not even the diversion of over N20billion earmarked contract jobs meant for members of the Ikwerre Youth Movement, IYM, compelled Amaechi to sack him. The governor only confronted him on the allegations that he had registered business names for himself and diverted the jobs which he only sublet the jobs at lower contract values to those who were desperate to execute the jobs. That led to the poor construction of most of the roads by his cronies who battled to make profit from the low contract values. 

Rather than stop him from becoming a Minister, Amaechi, again, submitted his name for a ministerial position which President Jonathan was initially strongly opposed to. 

It was as a Minister that Wike unleashed his worst side on his former boss when he switched loyalty to President Jonathan. He capitalized the seeming gulf between Jonathan and Amaechi to ignite a fire behind the president's back, then offered to quench it. 

Amaechi who was a close friend of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mohammed Bello, had introduced his former COS to his friend during the legal battle in 2007. And upon his appointment as Minister, Wike formed a closer tie with Bello who is alleged to have his fingers also. In every pie. Together, they hijacked the PDP structure from Amaechi through the Courts while Bello was said to have helped Wike deepen his relationship with the President. 

Even Wike's penchant and taste for luxurious lifestyle while as COS could not be quenched by the governor who probably considered it his private life. In his time as Chief of Staff, Crystal, an expensive cognac was the order of the day until he graduated to Louis Xiii which is said to cost about N1.6m. 

Though Amaechi had disregarded Wike's suggestions to go after perceived political opponents including the former governor, Peter Odili, using the White paper of the late Justice Kayode. Eso's Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Inquiry, he also failed to expose Wike to these persons after his reconciliation with them. 

Now, with Wike as Amaechi's greatest political foe, was it the governor who created this Minister turned Monster or did he inherit him given his previous antecedents and background? 
Could it be that Amaechi had underestimated the desperation and ambition of his former ally or was he carried away by Wike's cosmetic loyalty?