NIGERIANS and indeed political observers the world over, do not need a soothsayer to tell them that all is not well with the political landscape of rivers state hence the recent declaration of state of emergency in the area by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to many did not come as a surprise.
Right from 2023 when Governor Siminalayi Fubara mounted the saddle, it has been a preponderance of clogs on the wheel of good governance by meddlesome interlopers and undemocratic forces bent on subverting the rule of law in the state.
From the defection of the pro-Wike 27 legislators, the parallel house of Assembly to the recent lock out of governor Fubara from holding meeting with the legislators, the narrative leaves much to be desired.
Added to these are the asphyxiating effects of the Federal Government withholding the funds of the state accruing from the federal allocation in compliance with the recent supreme court.
We are worried by these orchestrated crises in the state as they portend evil for democracy and good governance not only for Rivers State but Nigeria generally.
Certainly, this unhealthy situation can precipitate in security of lives and property coupled with collapse oil production in the area as some ethnic militia have threatened to wreak havoc to oil installations should the federal government continue to withhold the state’s share of the federal allocation.
While the agitation may sound plausible, we however, do not subscribe to violence as a solution since this will worsen the security and economic situation in the state in particular and Nigeria generally.
Rivers state is a major stakeholder in oil production and oil being the mainstay of our economy, no reasonable government will allow the sector to be subjected to unmitigated or irredeemable damage.
Now that state of emergency has been imposed and democratic structures sacked illegally though, the gladiators, particularly Nyesom Wike, Governor Fubara, members of the state legislators ought to have learnt some bitter lessons ,sheath their swords and bow to superior wisdom.
Sadly, they may not as the subversive elements seem to be playing out a script of their godfather.
For instance, what is the justification for the pro-Wike legislators led by Amaehule to reject invitation to meet with Governor Fubara who has conceded to pay the lawmakers their outstanding salaries and allowances and present to them fresh budget proposal as directed by supreme court?
This recipe for anarchy and further progression on error merely served as the catalyst for declaration of the state of emergency.
The pertinent questions now are: is it a crime to have a political godfather? Must the state’s resources, power and control be mortgaged to a meddlesome interloper and his hirelings under the guise of political god- fatherism?
It is our firm view that these gladiators, emboldened by their inflated concept of god-fatherism have crossed the red line.
In a democracy, the rule of law should be hallowed rather than the whims and caprices of unconscionable god- father and hirelings.
Anything to the contrary is ridiculous, preposterous undemocratic a cannot stand the test of time. These subversive elements should be reminded that power of the god- father is not absolute or irreversible.
According to V the author of The Mafia Manager(a guide to the corporate Machiavelli) “Everyone early in his or her career, needs the sponsorship of a capo- a patron, a priest, a rabbi or mentor” .
The mentor should however not constitutes a clog in the will of progress of the mentee as doing so may spell doom for the former.
According to Machiavelli as captured in the Mafia Manager” ….’If by bad happenstance the mentor of your early years with the company stands in the way of your advancement… Whack him, no question.
He has had his career’…The culture of rascality, lawlessness and impunity in rivers state should stop and agents of destabilization called to order without further delay.
It is very unacceptable for the wheel of democracy, rule of law, the common patrimony of law-abiding majority, global best practices, justice, equity and good conscience to be slaughtered on the altar of the inordinate ambitions of egocentric and avaricious few.
There must be an end to this drift to total today, it is Fubara, tomorrow it may be another man.Enough of this dangerous swimming in the tempest of Nigeria’s rivers of Babylon.
