CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI
Quintessence Award 2013
For Distinguished Accomplishments as a Public Administrator,
And Outstanding Contributions to the History and Heritage of African Peoples
The Right Honorable Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is now in his second term as the governor of Rivers State, the largest on-shore oil-producing and the largest gas-producing state in Nigeria. He is also in his second term as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, elected by a majority vote of his peer group of governors that head Nigeria's federated 36 states.
Born in Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State, Governor Amaechi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. After a brief stint as a public relations officer for a hospital/clinic in Port Harcourt he became a politician when Nigeria returned to democratic governance in the 1990s.
Under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria, Governor Amaechi was elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly in 1999, representing his constituency in the Ikwere Local Government Area. He was elected Speaker of the Rivers State House in the same year and promptly elected by his peers at all 36 states as the Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria. He served for eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House, becoming the only Speaker of a Nigerian state assembly with that degree of longevity.
In 2007, Governor Amaechi was elected the Governor of Rivers State, an event that elevated him to a platform on which he would unveil a vision of urban renewal, infrastructural development, expansion of public education opportunities at all levels, jobcreation and skills development, and security of life and property in a region of the country that until his election had been restive and explosive with militant agitations and confrontations. Through the well-reasoned, expertise-driven and people-oriented policies of the government and a transparent, integrity-obsessed approach to the enterprise of governance, Governor Amaechi and his team restored peace and tranquility to the state, paving the way for his ambitious urban renewal projects.
Governor Amaechi was easily re-elected in 2011. Among his accomplishments are the on-going building of 500 public primary schools, the construction of over 24 public secondary schools, the unprecedented expansion of scholarship opportunities for students from the state to study at institutions in the country and outside the country, the rigorous training of teachers and equipment of academic institutions, and the building of power stations to increase the production and supply of electricity. In April of 2012 the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, World Book Capital City for 2014 in recognition of the efforts of a private-public partnership for literacy, reading, and the promotion and enjoyment of books.
In healthcare, Governor Amaechi has built 160 health centers in all 23 local government areas of Rivers state, as well as several specialist hospitals, with a commitment to the containment and eventual eradication of malaria. His particular commitment to security inspired his administration to undertake the training of over 300 police officers in the State of Israel, the establishment of a police college in the state with instructors from Nigeria and Israel, and the establishment of a Rapid Response Centre and system for emergencies. He initiated the building of the Rainbow Town Development project, an upgrade or conversion of a slum/squatter settlement into a premium, high-brow, income-generating center with pleasant urban aesthetics and tectonics. The Governor has also embarked on the construction of a mono-rail transport system, and the deployment of mass transit busses and water way taxis for ease of movement of goods and people.
Governor Amaechi has also become a symbol of gumption in pursuit of democratic principles, among which are the inalienable right of any law-abiding citizen to aspire to any position of leadership in the country, and the rights of the federating states in the nation to operate within the realms of state sovereignty without unitary-inspired undue interferences by a central government.
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