The Senate and House of Representatives chambers of the National Assembly did not disappoint in their virtual rubberstamping of the state of emergency President Bola Tinubu declared in Rivers State on Wednesday last week. He suspended those elected by the Rivers people to govern them for a term of four years – Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu and all Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly – for six months.
We, however, commend them for their resolution that whatever “regulations” the Sole Administrator, retired Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, makes for the administration of the State during his tenure must be approved by the National Assembly, not the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as directed by the president in his national address.
It is disheartening that Tinubu whose credentials as a democracy activist are often touted, has done so many things for which he condemned former presidents when he was an opposition leader. He had bashed President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 following an emergency rule in the wake of ethno-religious clashes that claimed over 2,000 lives in Plateau State.
Tinubu was angered by the suspension of Governor Joshua Dariye and appointment of General Chris Alli as Sole Administrator. He also called President Goodluck Jonathan’s state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa State in May 2013 (over Boko Haram terrorism) an act of “unpardonable mediocrity”, though Jonathan never even suspended the democratic structures.
We strongly believe that the emergency rule in Rivers State could have been avoided if the president had done the needful at the outset. The crisis started when Governor Fubara and his political mentor, Nyesom Wike, Tinubu’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, parted ways over matters that were none of the business of the Rivers people.
Fubara met with executive impunity Wike’s efforts to unseat him with his 27 loyalists in control of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Tinubu did not appear to have done enough to curtail Wike’s excesses. Indeed, his state of emergency speech, activities of and utterances the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, as well state organs like the National Assembly and Supreme Court, were pointedly pro-Wike and anti-Fubara.
The Governor, his Deputy, the Lawmakers and most importantly Tinubu’s Minister, Wike, should be encouraged to use this “cooling off” period to negotiate for peace with utmost respect for the mandates of the Rivers people. The president is still the best person to lead this effort, if he will avoid past mistakes. Otherwise, the “war” will simply resume after the emergency rule.
The interests of Rivers people – peaceful coexistence, rapid development and respect for their democratic rights and choices – must be put above those of any individual or political party.
Only justice will douse ethnic tensions.
