Politics mightily bemuses with just how easy it is for relationships to go down the drain.For many politicians, the sage political advice that there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics is a coda.
In 2023, Rivers State experienced a change of political guard. It was as smooth as butter though, because without hassles,Nyesom Wike who had been governor for two terms of eight years handed the baton to Similayi Fubara whom he had worked closely with. Whether the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state had done enough work to convince the good people of Rivers State to grant one of their own another term of four years had never been clear. But greater magic has happened at Nigeria’s increasingly beleaguered ballot box.
The transition in Rivers State was expected to be hassle-free. In fact, given that it was the first time in sixteen years that an outgoing governor handpicked and installed his successor, it was not predicted that there would be any significant drama. To this extent, what has happened in the state since then has taken many by surprise.
Nyesom Wike, the former governor and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has simply fallen out of favour with Siminalayi Fubara whose conciliatory unassuming mien has belied the ferocity with which he has dug in to defy his former boss.
While scores have accused Wike of being overreaching and overbearing, what is clear is that less than two years into his term in office as Rivers State Governor, Fubara is locked in a supremacy battle with forces that supported him to be governor. From the local government chairmen that served under Wike to legislators loyal to him, the battle has been exhausting and ultimately distracting from the business of providing good governance in the state.
A key consideration for Fubara however is that he seems to have the support of the Rivers electorate who are clearly desperate to know who to hold accountable for time spent in office. They do not want a proxy governor.They do not want a situation where the voice of Jacob co-exists with the hands of Esau in the highest office in the state. They do not want a situation where the number one citizen of the. The state cannot call his soul his own and may even be put in the extremely perilous situation of making monthly remittances from public funds to anyone.
They are desperate to avoid that. This explains why they have rallied behind Fubara.
The Supreme Court has sent all the parties back to the drawing board by voiding the local government election held in the state and reinstating the sacked House of Assembly members. These decisions may be a kick in the teeth for Governor Fubara but whatever it is, all the parties involved must sheathe their swords.
The state has been in the news frequently in recent times and not because projects are going on at an unprecedented pace, but because two politicians have cast caution to the wind and turned the state into a war zone.
Because both Fubara and Wike have channeled resources into their unseemly spat, the focus on providing the dividends of democracy to the people of the state has been lost. Instead, what has happened is that the state has incured heavy losses for example when some local government secretariats in the state were razed and again when the State House of Assembly Complex was bulldozed.
The madness in the state has gone on for far too long and it should now be brought under firm control. Rivers State does not belong to one person or a select few. The long-suffering people of Rivers State are bone-tired of hearing the same things over and over again. They must now be governed in the peace they deserve. It should never be the case that few people should deprive an entire state of serenity.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
