Tonye Cole: Enter the new breed

Rivers has been in the eye of the storm since the present government came on board and every right-thinking Rivers person knows it’s time to move away from the norm. The outland Rivers is characterized by indicia of poverty, from lack of basic infrastructure to poor health and educational facilities plus the state government seems […]

Rivers has been in the eye of the storm since the present government came on board and every right-thinking Rivers person knows it’s time to move away from the norm.

The outland Rivers is characterized by indicia of poverty, from lack of basic infrastructure to poor health and educational facilities plus the state government seems overwhelmed.

The current governor of Rivers state who used to be a local government chairman is as crude as they come and thus, his crude method of governance.

Tonye Cole, 51, and until recently the co-founder of Sahara group has thrown his hat into the ring to serve the people of Rivers.

I tell you, the people of Rivers are lucky to have this alternative to the status quo. Tonye is everything Wike aspires to be. He is well prepared to take on this surmountable challenge.

Tonye Cole is an innovation leader, thought leader and business leader rolled into one. He has over more than 20 years, built a leading African Power, Energy, Gas and Infrastructure Conglomerate. Tonye was recently announced as the recipient of the lifetime achievement award by the Oil and Gas Council (the largest and most influential network of oil and gas executives in the world) because of his business agility, and his role in promoting inclusive economic growth for poverty eradication, capacity building, food security and access to potable water in Africa as well as his commitment to philanthropy.

According to Tonye, in his response to an interview on CNN, challenges always bring innovation and it causes you to do things differently. It’s not every day you have the luxury of someone who masterminded the largest independent power project in Africa, volunteer to serve.

His passion for youth development and giving back to the less-privileged led to the establishment of his foundation, the Nehemiah Youth Empowerment Initiative.

I don’t know him and I may never meet Tonye but, as he prepares to take on this challenge, it’s up to Rivers people to reject the status quo.

It was Terry Eagleton who said “We know the lion is stronger than the lion-tamer, and so does the lion-tamer. The problem is that the lion does not know”.

Dear People of Rivers, the power to make Rivers great lies in your thumb. It’s time to unleash decades of brewing yet bottled up umbrage and animus towards the status quo! This is your moment of self-realization! It is time to exert revenge for this persistent pauperization! It is time to break free. It is time for a new breed! Want a better Rivers? Tonye Cole is your guy. Do this for your unborn generation!

Chiechefulam Ikebuiro, Lagos.