Nigeria, has, since the return to civil rule in 1999, remained afloat despite deluge of challenges.
In all of the 27 unbroken years, the lives of majority of the citizens have not been positively impacted. Many Nigerians cannot easily point to positive things democracy has done in their lives.
In some cases, experiences have grown worse than the dark days of the military jackboot. Conversely, there are few Nigerians whose lives have revolved around power in all of the 27 years, and they live their life to the fullest.
A good number of them moved from the worst form of poverty to the stupendous wealth they control today. They have no verifiable means of livelihood apart from politics. As it is said, they have no second address.
The instant wealth that politics guarantees political practitioners is the reason why the game has continued to be brutal, meant only for those who have the capacity to play it. Those in the game always brag about their capacity to “do and undo.”
In Nigeria, power intoxicates. It is like an opium. Once it is sipped, it begins to take control of the “sipper” or the “sippee”. If it is not moderated, the tendency of the individual to go off handle is high. In Nigeria, most times, it is not moderated, hence, the primitiveness that is being displayed everywhere.
Read also: Bwala: Fubara is APC leader in Rivers, not Wike
It is the high “dependency syndrome,” (a belief that they cannot survive outside politics) associated with political power that pushes state governors to do everything to retain power. They can starve their states of funds while they warehouse six months to one year allocation to prosecute their re-election ambition.
Even when their two-term tenures expire, and it dawns on them that they would soon vacate office, they begin to plot to foist stooges on their people as successors. That was how Nyesom Wike enthroned Siminalayi Fubara, a non-politician, whom he brought in as chief accountant, to “cook his books”.
Fubara was an angel while Wike’s administration lasted. And the godfather believed that the “boy” who was keeping his books and doctoring figures as it were, would continue to have his eyes blindfolded if he was helped to succeed him. That was the genesis of the impasse in Rivers today.
Had Wike understood the ephemerality of power, he would not have continued to aspire to “gain the whole world” at the expense of the people of Rivers State.
Fubara’s ordeals and unexpected deliverance
Fubara has survived impeachment on a number of times. He can be described as “a cat with nine lives”.
Paul the apostle alluded to his fight “with beasts at Ephesus” (1 Corinthians 15:32); even so, has Governor Fubara has done with the “political beasts” in Rivers, as it were.
The House of Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule, Wike’s loyalist, under extraneous influence, has continued to plot for Fubara’s ouster from the Government House.
They were on this last year before the governor was sent on suspension. When it was thought that there would be peace and tranquility in the state after the expiration of the emergency rule, the Assembly went back to the old file, alleging that the governor has committed some impeachable offences.
But the Rivers people were not fooled; they knew where all that is coming from. Fubara did a fast move by joining the APC, which has appeared to have guaranteed him a measure of respite.
The dramatic move enraged his estranged godfather, who now knew that Fubara may have become impregnable under the known philosophy of the broom association that whosoever that joins the party, his/her “sins would be forgiven.” To show his level of anger, Wike began to vituperate, calling some highly placed officials of the party names, and even pontificating that nobody could deliver the governor from his grips, as it were.
Read also: Emeka Beke-led APC in Rivers hails presidency for backing Fubara
Everything turning around for Fubara?
Many observers who have followed the attrition war in Rivers expressed their belief that things may be turning around for Fubara’s good. They alluded to a popular gospel song, “I can see everything turning around for my good.”
They were on the same page that what may have put Wike at an incredible disadvantage position in the unfolding drama in Rivers was that “he is not yet a member of the APC”. He is just working for the party as a hireling, as a compensation for the roles he played during the 2023 presidential election, when he bulldozed his way to secure victory for the broom association.
As a non-member of the party who was just called to “come and chop”, the party’s apparatchiks have reminded Wike not to rock the boat.
As if the warning has not been loud enough for him to hear, The Presidency on Friday said it louder and clearer that he should face his job in Abuja and forget the governance in Rivers.
The seat of power, where he erroneously thought he was the president’s man Friday, littered him with that public message delivered by Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication.
The Presidency affirmed that Fubara remained the leader of the APC in Rivers State, dismissing claims that Wike wields influence over the party in the state.
An inkling to Bwala’s message came Thursday, when the the impeachment moves against the governor, and his deputy got stalled after Chibuzor Amadi, the state’s chief judge, declined a request by the House of Assembly to constitute a seven-member investigative panel. Amadi said he was restrained by subsisting court orders barring him from taking such action.
For Amadi to have mustered such courage and developed a big ball to refuse to do the Assembly’s bidding, it was an express indication that he was merely dancing to the rhythm of a music the players of which are hiding in the bush somewhere.
Wike’s political trajectory
It is safe to say that Wike has not made a living from any other vocation outside politics as shown from his political trajectory.
From playing the role of political aide to some older politicians, he served two-terms as chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area from 1999 to 2007. After his tenure as council chairman, that same year, he was appointed as the chief of staff to then governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi
In 2011, he was appointed Minister of State for Education. He was later appointed the Acting Minister of Education, after Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’i was sacked. He resigned before finishing his term to campaign for governorship of Rivers State. In 2014, he won the Rivers State People’s Democratic Party primaries. In 2015, he was elected governor of Rivers State. He was also re-elected in 2019.
In March 2022, Wike declared that he would be running for the office of the president of Nigeria under the platform (PDP) ahead of the 2023 general election. He was defeated by Atiku Abubakar who won the primaries with 371 votes while Wike got 237 votes being the first runner up, during the PDP presidential election primary which was held at the MKO Abiola National stadium, Abuja on 28 and 29 May 2022.
President Bola Tinubu appointed him as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in August 2023.
Will he burn his finger?
Permutations are thick out there that if Wike does not moderate his ambition, by calling to order his loyalists at the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Presidency may get rid of him in a painful way.
Wike’s situation is not helped as he is yet to officially join the APC, but some analysts are quick to say that President Tinubu may be reluctant to show him the exit door because of his “nuisance value.”
An observer, who spoke with BusinessDay on condition of anonymity, said: “The president understands and cherishes the nuisance value of Wike. He needs him for who and what he is. If nothing else, the destruction of the PDP and destabilisation of the Labour Party, which was Peter Obi’s fortress, can earn Wike a holiday in the moon on Tinubu’s sponsorship, any day.”
