By SUNNY IKHIOYA
President Bola Tinubu has finally wielded the big stick and declared a state of emergency in the troubled Rivers State. So, for those of you beating drums of war, threatening fire and brimstone, it is up to the opposition to do its worst. It is now left for the relevant experts to debate the constitutionality of his action and, if possible, leave it to the courts to give proper interpretations.
For me, the whole shenanigans should have been handled more appropriately without the wounds and bruises that have been inflicted on all sides. We used to say discretion is the better part of valour. In this situation, it was totally lacking. Nyesom Wike, Siminalayi Fubara, 27 state house of assembly members, and all the busy bodies and meddlesome interlopers played their part in getting us to this quagmire. Fubara is not the first godson to go against his godfather in the Nigerian political dispensation. The difference in his case was his inability to find support from the people who put him in power. Is it an indication of his weak political skills? I should think so.
In this country, we always want to eat the cake and have it at the same time. We are all hypocrites, only fighting for what we can get from every situation. If not, things would not have gotten to this extent. In this matter, every one of us is guilty, except the poor, innocent people of Rivers State facing the brunt of all the shenanigans.
Wike is a man most people love to hate, but you must give it to him as a formidable opponent to engage with. You cannot say that Bola Tinubu being in power now is the reason Wike is exhibiting hubris.We saw him take on the dreaded President Muhammadu Buhari to the end. What is the thing that makes Wike tick? It is for scholars of politics and human behaviour to unravel and give us answers because the politics of Wike is a full course of study if the academics decide to interrogate it further. But that is not my focus in this piece.
I am interested in parties on both sides of the divide who have egged the principal parties on to this extent. Maybe this will serve as a case study for future godfather and godson relationship in our political ecosystems. From the beginning, Fubara has proven himself to be what we call in Warri pidgin English as “apamper,” a weakling who can be pushed here and there by contending forces. He is neither here nor there. He gives the impression that he is amenable to a peaceful resolution of the whole matter, while on the other hand, he is stalling progress in the conflict resolution. A leader must take a stand and not be neither here nor there, he must be courageous. Having taken a stand, he must resolve to abide by it. Fubara gives the impression that he is a man of peace, but on the other hand, the actions of his government reveal a different picture. He is not the first godson to rebel against a godfather. We have a surfeit of them: Ganduje, Obaseki, Obiano, Soludo, even the present governor of Kaduna State, Sani Uba.
With all the powers at his disposal, Fubara failed to act decisively as a leader, and that is where he failed. Before him, we had Peter Odili, Chibuike Amaechi and Nyesom Wike. All of them were strong leaders who diminished their individual predecessors and became strong politicians at the national level, going on to contest for the presidency of the nation. Fubara is not in their class, and that is why he failed.
For Wike, the problem I have with him is his brashness, arrogance, and unforgiven spirit. Wike could have done all of these things quietly, underground without anyone knowing that he was behind it, but that is not for him. He must claim glory for everything. Incidentally, he is working under the master of political chess game. He should have learnt how Ambode was shoved out of the governorship seat, with the master mind in the background. That is a lesson for Wike to learn. Humility is a virtue that no leader must take for granted. He must be open to respect the views and opinions of others and must not be too loud, even in disagreement with others.
Under Fubara’s government, the state House of Assembly was destroyed, making it difficult for the house to sit and conduct business. Knowing that their role is crucial to the success of his government, I believe he should have found a way to win a reasonable percentage of them over to his side; this could take time but would have paid off in the end.
The great Adam Oshiomhole once told the story of how his government was stifled by the opposition when he first took over the reins of government. They were taking his budget to Tony Anenih in Abuja everytime for approval before the house passed it; but he ultimately found a way to bring such illegality to an end. And when he did, heavens did not fall. Former Governor Fashola also managed to meander his way through to a reelection and further appointments as minister in the federal cabinet.
That is the point I am trying to make. But even at that, Fubara appears to have won the sympathy of the people as the underdog. The impression is that Wike was overreaching himself. It would have been very difficult for the impeachment plan to go through without a conflagration. It was bound to happen, and I believe it is the major reason that the President intervened.
From what I am seeing, things can still be resolved in an amicable manner unless the meddlesome interlopers continue with their negative counsel that will do the antagonists no good. I believe this lull period can be used for useful meditation that will make them think service to the state first. There must be room for compromises that will usher in a fresh direction for the state.
Like I mentioned earlier, no party is innocent in this matter when you look at issues dispassionately. It must be noted that those who brought an ethnic slant into the whole matter did not do their candidate any favour, they only succeeded in escalating the whole situation and bringing unnecessary tension in the whole Niger Delta area. After all, when Wike stepped on heavy toes to put their son in power, none of them was there. Capitalising on the situation and playing the tribal card was descending very low. Encouraging pipeline sabotage and other forms of criminality in the region will only take them backwards as they will be the first casualty.
Let me end this piece with Dele Farotimi’s quote: “At no point since this imbroglio started has anybody talked about the interests of the people of Rivers State. It’s been about the overbloated ego of the aspiring Hitler of Rivers State, who is your FCT minister, and the inability of Siminalayi to keep his own part of whatever devil’s bargain they struck, when he was being imposed on the people “.
I have nothing more to add to this.
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