Dr Chisom Gbali is the Commissioner for Youth Development in Rivers State. In this interview monitored on Arise Television on Friday December 22, he speaks on the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, why Governor Siminalayi Fubara signed the Abuja peace accord and the implications of the peace accord, among others. Excerpt…
Gbali: With the development in Rivers State concerning the Peace Accord with President Bola Tinubu, on whose mandate are you standing as Commissioner?
I’m totally for Governor Siminalayi Fubara. I’m the Commissioner for Youth Development and if you look at me you will know that I’m a youth and I am a practicable practising youth and that is the kind of government Sir Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State. That is why the youth of Rivers State are totally for him and that is why you are not seeing any clash or confrontation in all of these because the entire people are for the governor. I went around the 23 local governments canvassing and talking to Rivers people that this is a paradigm shift to a newer innovation to bring them to the same wavelength with what people from states are into. People have moved to space and we are here discussing and talking about politics instead of meeting up with trending things across the globe. I’m the Commissioner for Youth and I’m preaching for peace and following the line of peace which the governor is prophesying. The governor is someone that is soft-spoken and he is a meticulous speaker and he doesn’t talk much but he is a very active governor. There is a rising tide of peace and still water of prosperity in Rivers State because the entire people are for the governor.
Question: You said everyone is supporting the governor’s pact to peace but the elders forum seem not to be happy with the President’s intervention…?
Gbali: I will say that we were actually in a confined space because I was part of the delegation with the governor in that presidential meeting. It was supposed to be a deliberation and an interactive session but it turned out to be a different thing. But again what we are saying is that the governor has made his commitment but it has to be subjected to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the ground norm. So, anything that is outlined in that Mr President’s directive that is not in tandem with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, of course, will not hold water. Like the issue of the 27 lawmakers who resigned their membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it is not the governor who will decide that. That is subject to litigation and it is already ongoing and the National Working Committee of the party is on it. I know that there is a subsisting judgement and you know that the judgement of the Supreme Court is a law. There is a subsisting judgement and people vacated their seats, so it is not the governor that will decide that. And whatever the law and the Electoral Act say is what will happen. I’m not a legal practitioner but these things are things a layman can even say that these people are wrong. There are no two ways about it and trying to make amends or trying to cutting corners to see how you can have a soft landing is an aberration for me. The elders are talking about why the governor signed such an agreement but of course, will he bolt out of the President? No. Of course, the governor is prophesying peace and afterwards, we will correlate it with the laws of the land and anyone that is in aberration with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will not hold water. This is where we are and those who understand will know that Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State is a man of peace. And that is why we have not spoken in a way that the youth would begin to be restive. I have always told them that we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we perish together as fools. When we start being restive and take this thing to another level, all of us stakeholders here will lose. What is happening is that those outlines must be correlated with the laws of the land. Anyone who is in aberration will not subsist.
Question: What is the feeling of the commissioners who didn’t resign with one of the resolutions of the President’s interventions stating that commissioners who resigned should be absorbed into the cabinet, is there any ill feelings among the other commissioners?
Gbali: What is happening in Rivers State is a different thing altogether against the backdrop of the story of the Prodigal Son, the commissioners who are still working are very happy. Just recently we were gifted our official vehicles, so we are heroes because we are prophesying what is right. We are upholding what we voted for and we are not regretting. So, even if our colleagues who are former now decide to come on board tomorrow, we are not going to discriminate against them. But again, if they have true integrity they will know that the ground has drifted beneath their feet and they are no longer on the same wavelength with us. So, if they have integrity, they won’t even want to come back even if the President has said come back.
Do you think that peace has returned to Rivers State or do you still think that there is a lot of struggle ahead?
It is not a walk in the park and it is a process.
Question: Has the Nyesom Wike faction reached out to you to bring you to their side?
Gbali: We are all one big family and these issues playing out would eventually want to affect what is known. Again, there is nobody in the cabinet that would not have been reached out to. We all have been asked in one way or the other to throw in the towel by backing off from the governor. They have reached out in one way or another but as a youth, we are looking at the future and we have been complaining about our successive administrations or our leaders, how do we change the narrative if we are doing the same thing and expecting a different result? Our youth should be talking about how to uphold the truth and integrity because it attracts development and innovation. So, all of us have been reached out to but if you mean well for yourself and for your future, it is not even about the governor, you will know that this governor has done nothing and he means so well for the people of Rivers State.
Question: But you were a beneficiary of Governor Wike’s godfatherism and you couldn’t have become commissioner if Wike’s Fubara ticket didn’t come in, why are you talking about the future of the youth when you are a beneficiary of this same godfatherism?
Gbali: I will tell you clearly that we still appreciate the work and commitment of our leaders, especially the former governor. I still uphold them in high esteem because they have done their part in infrastructure and all that but the thrust of the matter is that no matter how good you are on stage, you must leave the stage. There is always a time for you to leave the stage because life is a natural succession. You must have successors and in this case, you have beautiful successors and wonderful brains, what you need to do is to be on an advisory seat and allow them to spearhead the ship. That is just what we are talking about. We are not against our leaders. I benefited because I was a caretaker chairman under His Excellency Governor Nyesom Wike and till tomorrow we appreciate the wonderful work he has done. We are your successor because even your chil)d if you make him the Chief Executive Officer of your firm, you will allow the child to spearhead the ship. Like the former governor Peter Odili said, it is a needless crisis and it is not supposed to have started in the first place. These are the things we are saying for instance, I have served this PDP for over 13 years and I have my boss and my boss works directly with the former governor. We have learned from them like the Igbo people will do the apprenticeship in trading, we have learned from them and we now know the basics of politics and governance.
Question: Why didn’t you stand with Wike since you said he is your godfather?
Gbali: I said we are successors and we appreciate what he has done and in this case there is no victor no vanquish because what we are prophesying now is peace. Telling me about standing with Wike or not does not hold water but against that backdrop I stand with Siminalayi Fubara, the governor because we are the new generation and we have acquired the basics and we are ready to lead. This is what we are talking about and you have to train people and allow the people to take the lead.
Question: Do you think that your governor has removed the ladder through which he climbed to the top as Wike alleged?
Gbali: Everybody passed through a ladder. Even the former governor passed through a ladder and I’m sure you heard a former lawmaker saying that he took His Excellency Nyesom Wike to the wife of the former President. It is a natural law because you must pass through somebody. Life is a ladder and you can’t just wake up and then you metamorphose into whatever you will become. You have to take it one step at a time and that is why we decided to carefully and determined to learn from our leaders because they were doing well and they have done well. Our own is to take it to another milestone and make it better than what we met. So, the issue of the ladder is for everybody and even President Goodluck Jonathan passed through Olusegun Obasanjo and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. So, everybody passes through a ladder.
Question: Are you saying that Governor Fubara did take away the ladder that put him up there in Rivers State?
Gbali: Not at all and if you watch Governor Fubara is still prophesying consolidation and continuity and that is the mantra with which this administration was formed. He has not taken it away. Almost everybody working with Governor Fubara is still from the former administration. Forget about the nine commissioners that resigned, what of other parastatals, they all came from the past administration and he has not one day said anybody should go and resign because he rose from the ranks. Governor Fubara is so intelligent that he is exceptional and that is why God brought him at this time.