By Lawson Fyneface
Without doubt, Rivers State is one of Nigeria’s most important states. Aside from being the home to many corporate Nigerian establishments, especially key players in the oil and gas sector, the state is also home to millions of talents whose contributions to Nigeria’s development cannot be downplayed. Such a state deserves peace, not peace of the gravesite, but genuine peace that engenders investment and human capital development.
On May 29, last year, Governor Siminalayi Fubara took over the mantle of the state from Nyesom Wike, who is now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Fubara, a former Accountant General of the state and who calls Wike “Oga,” owes his emergence as the governor to the political structure of the immediate past two-term governor. Differences arose between the governor and his predecessor who vowed not to allow anyone, not even his “boy” to destroy the structure he laboured to build, and political players in the state took sides. Unfortunately, many took sides without knowing what the issues were. So bad was the situation that the House of Assembly was set on fire and not long after, government bulldozers descended on it all in the name of flimsy renovation. From then on, the seating of the Assembly followed patterns strange to the letters and the spirit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Impeachment sword even dangled over the governor. People took to the streets in protest even though many knew nothing about, lawsuits started flying all over the places, producing injunctions and counter injunctions, and “Rivers of crisis” became the new moniker of the state.
This development and the frantic calls by well-meaning Nigerians for the president to intervene in the crisis drew the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who brokered peace between the parties. Fubara returned home, declared that there was no price too much to pay for peace, and began implementing the decisions, which included the re-nomination of commissioners who had resigned in the wake of the crises, the re-presentation of the state budget and others. This didn’t go down well with some bitter people who would rather see the governor continue to fight a battle he knows he has no means of winning. So, in the last few weeks, these interlopers have been fanning the embers of discord and distracting the political actors in Rivers State working to ensure the apparatuses of government work in the interest of the people. They are gunning for the throats of Fubara and Wike all at the same time. They are also not sparing President Tinubu who, as far as they are concerned, shouldn’t have brokered the peace. These people assume that Governor Fubara still has headache and on his behalf they are taking analgesic. One of such people is a former aide to ex-Governor Wike, Opunabo Inko-Tariah who appeared on a television programme recently.
The argument of the likes of Inko-Tariah is that Fubara should revolt against Wike and bury him politically. They want the governor to ignore the agreement reached during the Abuja accord brokered by the President. These meddlesome interlopers, as Arise presenter Rufai Oseni called them, pretend to have forgotten that Fubara said “no price is too much to be paid for peace in Rivers.”
These interlopers also expect that issues of criminality should be ignored. A clear case of this concerns the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly. In the heat of the crisis, the Assembly was set of fire. This is a criminal act which is being prosecuted by the police and whoever is found guilty should pay for the crime. These interlopers hide under fighting for the people of Rivers but a deep search will reveal that they are obviously bitter for reasons best known to them. But, there is no need stoking the embers of war. The governor will be clearly threading dangerously if he allows the likes of Inko-Taiah to direct him on what to do. No sound judgement can come out of bitter minds. They should give peace a chance and play politics the mature way.
Rivers stands to gain nothing from Fubara listening to those fanning the embers of discord. Fubara must not give room to people trying to wreck the state. It is also dangerous giving ethnic colouration to the Rivers State crisis because it is baseless. The Ijaws and Ikwerres in Rivers State are peaceful neighbours and people with double standards should not give the wrong impression. Only sincere and lasting peace is good enough for the state.
Like other states in Nigeria, Rivers has challenges. These challenges range from insecurity to housing deficit to increasing poverty and unemployment. These are challenges that cannot be addressed if peace doesn’t exist. Precious time that should be spent to face these challenges headlong should not be dissipated on fighting needless war.
Another interesting angle to this matter is the role of the police. The interlopers are accusing the police of taking sides with supporters of the minister because they are curbing hoodlums who are out to foment trouble and drag the governor into something he knows nothing about. The Nigeria Police Force in Rivers is headed by a core professional, Tunji Disu, a man whose records as the commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) remain evergreen. Disu, from what we have known of him, is unlikely to unjustly target someone who has no case to answer. So, it is time they dropped this line of argument.
I urge the interlopers to let peace reign in Rivers so that the people can benefit from more bridges, more roads, more drainage channels, more schools, more jobs and so on, in line with the consolidation and continuity agenda of the governor. The peculiarity of our state as host to the big private businesses and public institutions comes with its challenges because such enterprises provide employment to numerous upwardly mobile people who call our state home. Aside from those persons, millions of others also reside in and contribute to Rivers State and can reasonably expect us to cater for their needs. And only with peace can this be achieved.
•Fyneface, a social commentator, sent this piece from Port Harcourt