By Tony Ademiluyi
Rivers State is a strategic state in Nigeria because of its abundant oil deposits. It houses the largest number of international oil companies in the country and is home to many ethnic groups. It gets the second largest share of revenue accruing from the federation account.
Despite her oil wealth, it has always been a hotbed for political violence especially with the return of democracy to the country in 1999. In 2002, Dr. Marshall Harry who was the National Vice-Chairman of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the south-south zone was gruesomely murdered. The 2003 elections there was fraught with a lot of violence and arms freely circulated on the streets as the politicians didn’t recover the ammunition given to their disgruntled thugs. In 2004, Chief A.K. Dikibo was mowed down in his residence in GRA Port Harcourt. He was the successor to the late Harry as the Zonal National Vice-Chairman.
The erstwhile Governor, Peter Odili, was said to have had an army of thugs which he unleashed on his hapless political opponents. These thugs would allegedly morph into liberation fighters during the pre-amnesty period where Rivers State played a key role in the blowing up of pipeline installations and abductions of expatriates and highly placed Nigerians for humongous ransoms.
The amnesty brought a lot of peace to the troubled state as the freedom fighters became overnight emergency millionaires. They dropped their arms as they found it more rewarding to secure lucrative pipeline security contracts to fighting in the creeks.
The state also recorded a first when the former governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was installed by the Supreme Court without contesting the 2007 gubernatorial elections. Surprisingly, there was calm all over the state as even Amaechi’s then opponent, Prince Tonye Princewill of the rival Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) withdrew his case from the election petitions tribunal and joined the government as a member of the state economic advisory council and was given the opportunity to nominate two commissioners.
Trouble reared its ugly head when Amaechi went on an offensive against the then President Goodluck Jonathan. He defected to the All Progressives Congress and was named the Director-General of the Buhari campaign organization. This didn’t go down well with his kinsmen as they saw it as a gargantuan betrayal of their brother in power. Don’t forget that Bayelsa where Jonathan hails from was part of Rivers state until 1996 before it was carved out. The 2015 elections was bloody there as it was the battle against Wike and Amaechi who incidentally are from the same Ikwerre tribe. About 60 people died and many more maimed for life. Wike was backed by the then First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is from Okrika in the state. It was the battle of ego for who controls the state as Amaechi was also determined to prove a point that he was still in charge and wouldn’t condone a defeat from his former Man Friday who greatly helped him secure his Supreme Court victory while the former scampered to Ghana with his family for safety. Expectedly, the PDP won convincingly dealing a huge blow to the Amaechi myth.
In 2019, Amaechi was re-appointed as Buhari’s campaign manager. This time around he was hell bent on installing an APC-led government in the state – more of an ego trip and bragging right. The APC split into two factions – one led by Amaechi which had Tonye Cole as its gubernatorial flagbearer and the other led by Senator Magnus Ngei Abe who was a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government during Amaechi’s first term. The court ended up disqualifying both factions. The transport minister then threw his weight behind the candidate for the African Action Congress, (AAC) Awara in his bid to unseat Wike.
Amaechi moved to Rivers and was seen strutting around town with a retinue of military men. The election in Rivers was the bloodiest across the country as the people vehemently resisted the plot to have an imposed governor on them. Over 20 people were said to have been murdered by the security forces that are paid by tax payers to protect them.
A recent rally showed some women protesting before the military officers and daring them to kill them.
It is clear that the APC and what Amaechi represents is grossly unpopular in the oil rich state which Nyesom Wike seems to have in his palm. I don’t think the Rivers people will forgive the former for truncating the second term bid of Jonathan. Only God knows when next a south-south person will sit in Aso Rock as President. The Lion of Ubima has clearly committed an unpardonable infraction.
There appears to be some confusion in the APC camp as Oshiomhole denied given the directive to Amaechi to be present in the state with the military men.
A school of thought believes that Amaechi wants to destabilize the polity so that a state of emergency can be declared which will lead to the imposition of Awara.
History repeats itself because man with his collective amnesia learns the stories but never the lessons. Electoral violence was what led to Operation wetie where political opponents burnt their rivals and doused their houses with petrol in the then western region which led to the military takeover in 1966. In Ondo state, after the 1983 elections, the supporters of Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin took to the streets to prevent Chief Omoboriowo from being announced as the Governor.
Rivers state seems to be following this ugly trend which will do nothing but take it 50 years backwards. The stakeholders must come to a round table to sue for peace as violence does no one, the elite inclusive, any good. It is high time Wike and Amaechi sheathed their swords and draw up a blue print for how to develop the state. A visionary leadership is needed as crude oil is fast losing its relevance globally. A wise leadership should emulate Saudi Arabia’s bid to create a post-oil economy.
A word is enough for the wise!
Tony Ademiluyi wrote in from Lagos