18th July, 2013
By Joe Igbokwe
Whatever way you choose to look at the political quagmire in Rivers State, it is obvious that June 12 1993 crisis and its attendant consequences are being replicated in Rivers State. For record purposes, on June 12 1993 a presidential election took place in Nigeria and the late Chief MKO Abiola won that election fair and square but IBB and his cohorts refused to accept the collective decision of 14 million voters, and annulled the election. That criminal annulment initiated a crisis that led to the disgrace of IBB and Shonekan out of office and the eventual death of Abacha and Abiola, the winner of that election.
There were also hundreds of other Nigerians that died from 1993 to 1998 when Abacha died. Today, Nigeria is still bedevilled by the dust raised by that criminal annulment even 20 years after. In Rivers State today the sordid event of 20 years ago is about to repeat itself in Rivers State. It all started with the election of the chairman of the Governors Forum of Nigeria. The election was conducted and Governor Amaechi of Rivers State polled 19 votes while Governor Jang of Plateau State polled 16 votes. With the outcome it was obvious that Governor Amaechi was elected the Chairman of the Governor’s Forum. But PDP, some PDP governors and the Presidency would never accepted it. Consequently the presidency threw its weight behind Jonah Jang, a man that lost the election. Amaechi supported by the 19 Governors that elected him stood their ground and hell was let loose in Rivers State.
Since then, it has been war in Rivers State. A combination of the presidency, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, Commissioner of Police Rivers State, Mbu Joseph Mbu, Minister of State, Education Nyesom Wike, and five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly including Evan Bipi, have declared total war on Rivers State Governor for winning that election in a free and fair process. When their useless efforts failed to make Governor Amaechi to shift ground, the impostors took violence to the State House of Assembly to continue the onslaught.
Five out of thirty-two members of the Rivers State House of Assembly criminally went into the hallowed chamber of the State Assembly with a fake mace to attempt to impeach the Speaker said to be a strong supporter of Governor Amaechi. That shame and brazen impunity was shown on television stations all over the world and these people are not done yet. The governor’s life was endangered as he was physically present during the madness that overtook the House.
The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu whose duty is to maintain law and order took sides with the invaders. He even commanded his men to teargas the Governor’s lodge. I consider this as an act of lawlessness unbecoming of his office. On Tuesday, July 16, 2013, four governors from the North namely Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano and Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, who were in Rivers State on a solidarity visit to Governor Amaechi were almost held hostage by hoodlums organised by Nyesom Wike and Evan Bipi. The hoodlums pelted the governors and their entourage with stones, smashing the windscreens of some of the vehicles.
This ugly incident added another dimension to the show of shame. That sitting governors of four states in the North would be attacked openly by hoodlums and fraudsters in broad daylight portends grave danger for our country and our hard-earned democracy. This is where my fear lies. Come to think of it, do these hoodlums and their backers realise the dangerous implication of attacking governors of a section of the country in a volatile country like Nigeria? Do they know that their actions could spark off ethnic crisis in Nigeria? Do they know that their dangerous actions could pull down democracy in Nigeria? Do they know that ordinary panic (great fear) started the French Revolution in 1789? Do they know that this Rivers State crisis could consume the characters that have been fomenting trouble? Do these charlatans know how the Arab spring started? Do they know why President Morsi of Egypt was removed by the army? Why must we give our competitors in uniform 1,000 reasons to contemplate giving Nigeria the Morsi treatment? My greatest fear is that the characters in this Rivers State quagmire do not know how we got to where we are today. They do not know the number of people that died to give us this democracy they are vandalizing today. The road that led to where we are today was littered with the blood and bones of innocent Nigerians. Rivers State political crisis is escalating today simply because President Goodluck Jonathan has not found the need to carry out an honest intervention to stop the drift. Nobody is in doubt where the president’s loyalty is but he should know that the buck stops on his table.
Mrs. Patience Jonathan, Nyesome Wike, CP Mbu, Evan Bipi and others cannot continue this brigandage without tacit support from the presidency. They cannot continue with this frightening impunity if somebody is not encouraging them to go on. What is at stake is the survival of democracy and rule of law, free and fair elections in 2015 and seamless transfer of power in 2015. Now the first step in dealing with the Rivers State man made crisis is to sack the Commissioner of police Mr. Joseph Mbu who has not only compromised his position but has also become a threat to peace in Rivers State. The day he called Governor Amaechi a dictator in an interview is the day he compromised his position as the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State because the governor can no longer trust him. His criminal negligence of duty has been clearly incompatible with the responsibility and objectives he is supposed to bring to the job. Nyesome Wike should be removed as a Minister for embarrassing the Federal Government of Nigeria. Evan Bipi should be arrested and prosecuted for endangering our democracy by criminally trying to make himself a Speaker with five members out of 32 members of the State Assembly. President Jonathan must as a matter of urgency clear the augean stable in Rivers State and save Nigeria from anarchy. This is a warning!
•Igbokwe wrote from Lagos