Grumblings And Rumblings In Old Rivers State

While the declaration of state of emergency in a component unit of our federal system is within the purview of Mr. Presi­dent, does he possess the consti­tutional right to suspend an elect­ed executive and legislature of a state in the process? The answer is a resounding NO!!! Some apologist may cite the 2006 case of President Obasanjo in Ekiti State; the point remains that President Obasanjo disman­tled the democratic structures in Ekiti State following the im­peachment of Governor Ayodele Fayose and the resultant political crisis and tense atmosphere; this culminated in the appointment of a retired military officer, Tunji Olurin, as the sole administrator until normalcy was restored. In further comparison, the state of affairs in Rivers State was not anywhere near what obtained in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States in 2010 yet President Jonathan did not dismantle the democrat­ic structures in declaring state of emergency in those States.

Rather, he directed the military to “take all necessary action [to] put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists”. Pri­or to that, when militant groups crippled oil activities in the Niger Delta, President Yar’Adua did not suspend the executive and legisla­ture; rather, he reached out to the various groups with olive branchby way of an amnesty program. Incontrovertibly, the suspen­sion of the executive and legisla­ture of Rivers State by President Tinubu is ultra vires and there­fore impeachable.



Sadly, with a National Assembly that sings “on your mandate we stand” to the President and a Senate Pres­ident that spots a cap with the Tinubu insignia, expecting im­peachment would be delusional; a wishful thinking. The inability of National Assembly to impeach Tinubu is as predictable as the sun rising in the East.It is gratify­ing that many Nigerians have re­acted and are still reacting to the brazen abuse of power.

Former President Jonathan has admon­ished authority figures to “do what is best for the country irre­spective of [personal] ambitions”. Wole Soyinka, the revered Nobel laureate, sneaked momentarily out of the ignominious cocoon of his newfound ethnic bigotry and managed a few feeble words against Tinubu’s action in Rivers State. Other notables such as Ati­ku Abubakar, Peter Obi, El-Rufai and many no less Nigerians have spoken in the same line.

Informed by growing concerns over the festering frayed nerves in Rivers State, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the apex so­cio-political body of the people of the Niger Delta, has reiterat­ed its call on President Tinubu to “reinstate Rivers State Governor Fubara, his deputy and the State Assembly.” Similarly, leaders of the Ijaw nation have declared that the Rivers State incidence has “awakened our consciousness as a people and has given us reason to reassess our place in the Nige­rian enterprise”. The above reactions are in­structive; they are indicative of the support and loyalty Fubara still enjoys irrespective of the odds.

This is more so realizing that it contrasts with the usual attitude of Nigerians who readily and easily abandon an authority figure immediately he/she is out of office. While these demonstra­tions of support may easily be waved off as being orchestrated, a vox pop of Rivers people begin­ning with civil servants would clearly show the massive support base that Fubara enjoys. Bishop Godfrey Onah, Cath­olic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, averred that “A nation is doomed when its leaders are no longer afraid of the reaction of the peo­ple”.

In a lengthy analysis that epitomizes the concept of weap­onization of poverty in Nigeria, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State categorically says that Ni­gerian masses are completely incapable of organizing against the leaders. In the heat of the cur­rent situation, a political leader snapped thus: “to hell with them” in reaction to the suffering of the masses; these and more clearly support Bishop Omah’s asser­tion that Nigerian leaders are no longer afraid of the reaction of the people. Generally speaking, Nigerians are docile, malleable, complaisant and compliant; they epitomize the essence of Fela’s classic hit “Suf­fering and Smiling”.

However, the current situation in Rivers State runs deeper than that. Amon avis , President Tinubu should heal himself of the Iguana Syndrome that plagues Nigerian leaders and put his ears on the ground to hear the grumblings in old Rivers State, which is the core of the oil-rich Niger Delta; he should quick­ly and resolutely use his good of­fices to mend fences amongst the warring groups, and reinstate the democratic structures in the state by returning Governor Fubara and other democratically elect­ed officers to office after three months. This is to ensure that the extant grumblings do not degen­erate into rumblings in the state and beyond.

All hands must be on deck to avoid a situation that has the propensity of precipitating greater evil in Nigeria. *Osai, a public affairs commentator, writes from Port Harcourt.