20th December, 2023
By Paul Dada
Not a few Nigerians have heaved sighs of relief since they learned that President Bola Tinubu waded into the stenchy and festering political crisis sorely bedeviling Rivers State.
Through Tinubu’s mediation, it appears the embattled godfather, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and his disgruntled godson, the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and their loyalists, have sheathed their swords even if grudgingly.
It is now common knowledge that at a meeting chaired by Tinubu which involved critical stakeholders, it was resolved that all court cases instituted by Fubara be discontinued and all impeachment proceedings initiated against him halted. It was also resolved that Wike’s loyalist, Martin Amaewhule be recognised as the Speaker of the House of Assembly while the other 26 lawmakers that defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, remain as state legislators. Of course, this part of the resolutions is silent on whether factional Speaker, Edison Ehie would return as Majority Leader. I think that is impossible anyway since there is no agreement that the majority of the members who defected to the All Progressives Congress would return to the PDP.
Other resolutions are that Fubara shall not interfere with the funding of the House of Assembly, and the lawmakers will choose where to hold their sittings. The resolutions involve the Governor re-presenting the 2024 budget to the House of Assembly. He had earlier ridiculously presented the budget to a five-man faction headed by his ally, Ehie. It was further agreed that Fubara shall re-submit to the state legislature the names of the commissioners who resigned from his cabinet ostensibly in protest of the Governor’s move against his estranged godfather.
Of course, the resolutions look skewed in favour of Wike and appear like a pyrrhic victory for Fubara. But the Governor at an event said no price was too big to pay for peace to reign in the state. He also re-affirmed his commitment to the resolutions.
While the President deserves commendation for brokering the peace ( some would say it is a fragile one), it does not change the fact that our democratic maturity and progress as a nation remain hobbled by too strong men riding roughshod over weak institutions as the Rivers case shows.
The case of Rivers is that of a godfather seeking to be a political demigod and a godson lacking the sagacity, political finesse and patience necessary to handle such a person with panache. First, let us come to terms with this reality; godfatherism is an enduring feature in Nigerian politics. Like it or hate it; it is what it is. A Fubara who worked in the cabinet of Wike, got sponsored, trained and promoted by him to succeed him in the office, cannot just overtly turn against his godfather a few months after being sworn-in. There is no method in such madness.
There is a better way to manage Wike even if Fubara seeks to break off what he may see as the stranglehold of his larger than life and rambunctious godfather. How on earth could Fubara think he would go into an obvious combat with Wike and not come out of it bloodied? How did he expect to scale through by recognising and working with only five lawmakers who were loyal to him when 27 of them were for his godfather?
Who gave Fubara the advice of presenting the budget to that five-man faction? Who advised him to demolish the House of Assembly Complex with the hard-to believe claim of the place suffering structural integrity? Who was the killjoy Ahitophel that counselled him to relocate the sittings of the House of Assembly to the Government House? Isn’t the gale of resignations in his cabinet a strong pointer to who is really in charge in the state? Fubara needs to grow politically. I hope he does.
While Fubara deserves knocks for his naivety, Wike should attract no praise for his emasculation of institutions in Rivers State. As things stand, Wike controls the executive and the legislature in the state. It is understandable that he is a man of influence but he should let the state breathe. Fubara may be his mentee but he is not his houseboy. Please, Wike, let Fubara breathe.
I think Wike should learn from Tinubu under whom he currently serves as a minister. Tinubu built a political structure in Lagos. All governors that have superintended over the state have his anointing. But you don’t see him getting into an open messy fight with any of his successors.
When former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode somewhat stepped on the toes of the political strong forces in Lagos, no one disrupted his administration. They waited for him to seek a second term. They simply made sure he lost in a primary election that seemed transparent. A wise political godfather does not have to demonstrate open bitterness and hostility to make a point.
Thankfully, normalcy or what looks like it, is back in Rivers. Let Fubara focus on making life better for the residents of the state. Let the lawmakers be alive to their duties.
I just hope real and enduring lessons have been learnt.
About a Lagos General Hospital forcing food on patients
Recently, PM News reported that patients at the Orile Agege General Hospital were being forced to buy food prepared in its kitchen. In fact, our investigations showed that even when patients rejected the food, they were still forced to pay for it.
I hold this to be ridiculous and oppressive as I believe it is an act of extortion. I had a WhatsApp chat with the Director of Press and Public Affairs in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Tubosun Ogunbanwo over this. And this is what he said to me:
“Patients are not supposed to bring their own home-made meals, because it has implications for the care they are receiving under out watch. If a complication or something sinister happens due to the meal taken, they won’t want to take responsibility, but would rather blame the hospital. So the patient is supposed to take the meals offered by the hospital while under our care. Taking home made meals is wrong and unacceptable to the hospital management, based on reasons adduced above.
“To turn around and ask the hospital not to charge fees for the meals is therefore asking the hospital to legitimize an illegality.
“God will keep helping us provide the best we can. We will keep up with our patient education efforts”
I found a few things not adding up in the explanation of Ogunbanwo. And I let him know that. I responded to him thus: “But the patients don’t know this. They think they are being forced. Our findings also showed that patients still bring in their food. They are not prevented from doing so. Yet, they still force the hospital food on them. Finally, patients who have yet to start eating solid food after surgery are still made to pay for hospital food. These three issues still remain unresolved”.
I think rather than defend this travesty, the Lagos State Ministry or Health should stop this bad policy. Let it stop immediately.