By Charles Igbo
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says he has never seen a man as humiliated and betrayed as Dr Peter Odili, former Governor of Rivers State. Yet, said Wike, Odili remains forgiving.
Wike spoke at a State Banquet at Government House Porthacourt, Monday night, he organised on behalf of the Hon Justice Mary Peter- Odili, JSC, to mark her 70th birthday, and retirement from the Supreme Court.
Justice Peter-Odili, a very accomplished Jurist, and a former First Lady of Rivers State, retired from the Supreme Court on May 12, 2022, the day she turned 70 years, after 44 years of meritorious and credible service to her fatherland.
Speaking at the banquet, Wike said Dr Odili made many enemies in Rivers State over his insistence that an Ikwerre must succeed him, Odili, as Governor of the State.
However, Wike regretted that after Odili’s sacrifice which made it possible for an Ikwerre to become Governor, it was Ikwerre that put him in the dock.
Odili had chosen his political godson, Chibuike Amaechi, who also, was Speaker of the House for eight years, thanks to him, to succeed him. But Amaechi inexplicably rejected by President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a last resort, Odili, in conjunction with Amaechi, chose Amaechi’s cousin, Celestine Omehia as replacement. Amaechi was in Ghana where Odili flew him to, without an international passport, when the Supreme Court pronounced him Governor.
Apologising profusely to Odili, Wike, an Ikwerre himself, said Ikwerre people owed Odili an apology for humiliating and betraying him, and finally putting him in the dock.
Recall that Amaechi, as the Governor of Rivers State, was the one who, to the shock of not a few Nigerians, put Odili in the dock when he set up what he called a Truth Commission where all kinds of people made what were seen as spurious allegations against his benefactor, Dr Odili.
Recalling that period without mentioning names, Wike lamented what Dr Odili went through for Ikwerre people, and later, in their hands.
Wike: “I have never seen a man who has suffered such humiliation. I have never seen a man who has suffered betrayal in life like Dr Odili. There is no politician in Rivers State serving at the Federal and State level since 1999 that would deny passing through the tutelage of Dr Odili.”
The Governor was, particularly, grateful to Justice Peter-Odili who he said gave him access to her husband, and thus laid the foundation of who he, Wike, is today.
