Fubara returns as fallen hero: On Monday, Fubara flew to Abuja for “a father-son discussion” with Tinubu and be “properly guided so we don’t be in any situation that will bring crisis again”. His return is a tragic inversion. The man who fought the gods now kneels before them, in the classic fashion of fallen heroes.
By Ogochukwu Ikeje
As his flight touched down at the Port Harcourt airport on September 19, crowds brandished solidarity placards, waved, and smiled at him. But it was a hollow ritual meant to put him in good humour, after all, he had been ousted for half a year.
Yes, Sim Fubara is back, but what version of him would sit out the remaining half of his tenure? A defiant but focused chief executive, or a rebranded yes-man to wait upon every word from the puppeteers in Abuja?
It’s a no-brainer. Fubara returned as a fallen hero, without a voice or toehold in the state he claims to govern. He’s roundly conquered, and the godfather’s victory is in bold print. A dirge is playing out not only in Rivers but before Nigeria’s 233 million people.
Fubara indeed raised hopes in the first half of his tenure, daring Nyesom Wike, his mentor-turned tormentor. He balked at his subtle and brazen orders and resisted his 27 loyalists in the Assembly. He seemed focused on the task of governance and the vast majority of Nigerians cheered him on, seeing in him a mirror of their own frustrations with the manipulative and self-centred politics of the godfather.
Even as Wike’s grip tightened, culminating in President Bola Tinubu’s unconstitutional declaration of a state of emergency in the state and the sack of democratic structures, Fubara’s bonding with Nigerians was unshaken and would have remained so even if he ended up not returning to office.
But the man mistaken for the young David about to end Goliath’s menacing reign, was no David after all. The budding national hero carrying the frustrations and aspirations of millions of Nigerians only flattered to deceive.
His unravelling started in May, halfway through his suspension. At the Service of Songs held in Port Harcourt in honour of Pa E.K. Clark, where Fubara’s supporters and other democratic voices condemned his tormentors and called for his recall, Fubara shouted them down. “Do you think I want to go back there? My spirit has left that place long ago,” he snapped.
That was not the voice of a man on a mission. It was the tone of a man without a moral core, a fallen hero.
In June, TheCable reported that after a secret Aso Rock meeting with his adversaries, Fubara would return to office but must forswear a second-term ambition and must not appoint commissioners or have any sort of control over the local government. In plain language, he can sit out his remaining two years, collect his salaries and allowances, and take a walk.
TheCable’s exclusive report has not been convincingly refuted or contested, indicating its accuracy.
Unfolding events tend to lend credence to the report. In August, while Fubara was away, Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired naval officer Tinubu appointed as sole administrator, weirdly organised local government elections in a state under emergency, with the All Progressives Congress, loyal to Wike, sweeping the polls. As Fubara returned, so did Wike’s 27 stooges, who have since taken firm control of the House.
Fubara knows he’s on a slippery slope. If he’d walked away after the Aso Rock meeting, or chose to fight its conditions, he would have been a hero, win or lose. But fallen heroes avoid either options.
As his plane landed on Friday, there was no thunderous manifesto, no rallying cry against the godfathers who had sought to bury him alive. Just a perfunctory thank-you to the masses, laced with vague assurances that rang like empty campaign phrases. “I am back to serve,” he murmured.
The evening address to the Rivers people only deepened the disappointment. Under the floodlights of the Governor’s Lodge, Fubara promised to “work for the people”—a platitude so threadbare it could have been scripted by any functionary in Aso Rock. Worse, he extended gratitude to Wike and Tinubu for their “peace efforts.”
Peace efforts? These were the very architects of his ordeal.
Why did Fubara swallow these terms? Was it the call of the governor’s salary and allowances?
In accepting, Fubara’s supporters now stare at a governor whose hands are tied tighter than a puff-puff vendor’s pouch. He’s no longer the lone ranger staring down the Assembly’s wolves; he’s in cahoots with the antidemocratic forces he once personified resistance against. Wike’s throaty boast from his FCT ministerial throne is getting louder, while Tinubu’s olive branches are nothing less than fetters.
On Monday, Fubara flew to Abuja for “a father-son discussion” with Tinubu and be “properly guided so we don’t be in any situation that will bring crisis again”. His return is a tragic inversion. The man who fought the gods now kneels before them, in the classic fashion of fallen heroes.
