Rivers State Imbroglio: What Punishment For Wike?

By Bolanle BOLAWOLE
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Nigeria is touted as the second most religious country in the world; after the Taliban’s Afghanistan. Similarly, it is said to be the second most impoverished nation; again, after the same Afghanistan! Be they Christian or Muslim, religious Nigerians wear their religion like a badge. Outwardly they are pious; but inwardly they are worse than whited sepulchres, just like Jesus Christ bemoaned in Matthew 23: 27: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness”.

This is the period of the Muslim Ramadan; it is also the Christians’ Lenten season. Ongoing is the 100 days of fasting and prayer declared by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), perhaps, the country’s most celebrated pentecostal church.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is observed by Muslims worldwide as a holy month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Considered as one of the five pillars of Islam, it started here in Nigeria this year 2025 on February 28th/March 1st and is expected to end on March 30th. Ramadan is the month in which the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims, is believed to have been revealed to Prophet Muhammed. Because the spiritual rewards of fasting are believed to be multiplied during Ramadan, Muslims generally refrain, not only from food and drink, but also from all behaviour deemed to be sinful, devoting themselves instead to prayer and study of the Quran. In my secondary school days when we observed the Ramadan, you would often hear from someone observing the fast but has been offended say to the offender: You are lucky it is Ramadan! But be sure he shall revisit after Ramadan!

On the other hand, Christians begin Lent on Ash Wednesday and it runs for 40 days, leading to Easter Sunday, during which period Christians remember the events leading to, and including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity. This year’s Lent began on 5 March and runs till 17 April. For Christians, it is time of solemnity and sober reflection on the sacrifice Jesus made for mankind on the cross at Calvary; it is also a time of asking for forgiveness; and when Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection and the feast of Easter, which comes up at the very end of Lent.

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Why 40 days’ fasting? According to some scholars, this is done as a sign of sacrifice and to test or build up one’s self-discipline; representing Jesus Christ’s own sacrifice when he went into the desert to pray and fast for 40 days, where he was tempted of the devil and, overcoming the temptation, he went therefrom to lay down his life on the cross.

As we speak, millions of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria are in the thick of Ramadan and Lent. In addition, the 100-day fasting declared by Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer of RCCG, commenced on January 11th and ends on April 21st because, according to Daddy G. O., as he is fondly called, 2025 is a landmark year of grace and glory and there was no better way to begin it than setting aside a special time for fasting and prayer.

Nigeria, undoubtedly, is a religion-inclined country but whether the people are truly religious or pious remains to be seen. In times past, periods of Ramadan, Lent, and fasting and prayer sessions as decreed by Pastor Adeboye would be seen as periods of abstinence from sinful conducts; from war-mongering and shedding of blood; from controversies, conflicts, confusion, and acrimony; they would be periods when every heart, spirit, and soul would, in penitence, point skyward in the direction of God. Even soldiers on the war front and in battle fields ceased hostilities to observe and honour the occasions. No more!

In Nigeria, it has become the most appropriate season to create what social media sarcastically described as Nigeria’s 37th State – the State of Emergency in Rivers State! It is a time for discord and strife; for confusion and conflict; for flexing of muscles; and for rationalizing the irrational. It is another season for unending controversies over trivialities and trifles while serious matters are left unattended to.

Witness, for example, how my beloved Ondo State has become the killing field of Fulani herders while the authorities, like King Nero, fiddle! Do we need or must we wait for the Supreme Court to tell us that there is absence of governance in Ondo State before we act? Tell me, what is the Presidency waiting for before acting on Ondo state faster than it did in Rivers?

This is a season to plunder the treasury; to give and receive bribes; to speak from both sides of the mouth; to go back on one’s word; to trample justice and throw equity and fairness out of the window. This is the season of might is right. The powers-that-be have their way; the weak, poor, and downtrodden suffer their fate! All of these in the holy month of Ramadan and Lent running concurrently with Adeboye’s 100 days of fasting and prayer!

None of the protagonists in the crises that befuddle us is an advertised pagan, idol worshipper, Isese person, or even an atheist. They are mostly advertised Muslims and Christians, with chains of religious titles and decorations to boot!

In Rivers State, the governor (godson) has been punished; the House of Assembly members (shamefully, the willing pawns in the chess game between godson and godfather) have been punished; but what – and where – is the punishment for the godfather, seen by many as the big masquerade behind the imbroglio? That is the question many are asking. Had he been allotted his own portion of blame as was done to the governor and the House, many commentators’ angst would have been assuaged and the state of emergency bitter pill would have been sweeter to swallow for many. Leaving him out smacks of undue favouritism and hatchet job which, to many, leaves much to be desired.

The initiative of the Minister of Justice who came out to throw some light on the reasons for the state of emergency declaration and to answer questions from journalists is commendable; he might not have convinced everyone but he tried his best. But if Wike was not part of the problem, as the Minister appeared to have reasoned, why was he a recurring decimal in all the peace meetings called by Mr. President? But it is not rocket science to understand why he has been left unscathed! Can we expect a man jealously guarding his own political structure in Lagos to frown at another person fighting tooth-and-nail to keep his in Rivers? Who knows if both are working hands in gloves towards 2027!

But let me say from the onset that I do not pity the estranged godson. He deserves his fate. What I detest is how it was served. Mr. President should have allowed the child to die from the mother’s hand. Since the House of Assembly members have already initiated impeachment proceedings against the governor, the law ought to have been allowed to run its course if, truly, we are a country under law. That is how our democracy can grow. Aborting the process is what has now entangled the President in the controversy of the constitutionality of his action and the altruism of his motive.

Was there a suspicion that the Chief Judge of Rivers state would not play ball? If he rejects the House’s instruction to set up a panel to try the governor, like the then Chief Judge of Ondo State did when the then Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu tried to impeach his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, that could be the end of the road.

Simply put, the state of emergency went rogue, fishing in troubled waters. A belated argument that it was done to save Siminalayi Fubara from impeachment is bunkum! An afterthought! Jejune rationalization! They should tell that to the marines! What has Fubara done to deserve being saved by them? Is he their friend? Na today day break, as they say? A better way – in fact, the only way – to save him, if really they had meant to, was to clip the wings of the godfather, which was within their powers to do! Why have they left him untouched?

Permit me to liken this situation to what Ibrahim Babangida did while stepping aside from office in August 1993: He left Sani Abacha behind to watch over the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan! Leaving the cat to protect the rat! The rest, as they say, is history!

Knowing how deputy governors are maltreated here, is it not possible that the Rivers State deputy governor had no hand, and no say, in the godson/godfather tango that led to the declaration of state of emergency? If the governor was the problem and had to be removed, why was his deputy not allowed to take charge? Why we have deputy governors and vice-presidents is because we believe that in the absence of the principal, the subordinate can step in and do a good job.

The House of Assembly members, in my view, have also not been fairly treated. They wanted to work but it was the governor that did not let them. Their place of work was demolished. Rather than engage in self-help as we have seen others do in other parts of the country, they took their case to court and won. The Supreme Court had harsh words for the governor and not for the House. So, why penalise them? Simply because we want a so-called level-playing ground?

Again, permit me to liken this issue to the “resolution” of the political impasse that attended the criminal annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by MKO Abiola. Once Abacha died (or was got rid of?) on 8 June, 1998, to balance the equation meant that Abiola had to follow a month later on 7 July, 1998!

What differentiates a democracy, especially representative democracy, from other forms of government is the parliament, which is made up of elected representatives of the people. Without it, democratic governance is absent in Rivers state.

Back to the godson. Why did I say he got what he deserved? To start with, he chose to ride on the back of a tiger into office. Getting there, he decided to disembark and trash the tiger! Use and dump! But we all know where he will end up if he is not strong and smart enough! Was he the most qualified when he was railroaded into office by the godfather? Did he win the election on his own? How dare he then think he could govern on his own terms? Biting the fingers that fed you!

Grandma taught me that when someone invites you to come and eat, it is sacrilege to remove his hand from the pot. Shifting the goalpost! Fubara was an apprentice who was too hasty to declare his freedom when he had not learnt work finish, as they say! Greed! Utter folly!

I have read and listened to many viewpoints on this matter: Constitutionality, Supreme Court judgment; 2027; the defence of the state of emergency by the Minister of Justice; the governor’s demolition of the House of Assembly building; Fubara running the budget with a four-member Legislature (as if the immediate past Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, didn’t act similarly!); the past stance of Tinubu against state of emergency; the past of the newly-appointed sole administrator; his perceived chubby (?) relationship with the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, etc. When some commentators advocated for the National Assembly to shoot down the state of emergency, I laughed! Which National Assembly? Rubberstamp? Are they living in this country or in a fool’s paradise? And do they understand what is at stake?

Whether intentionally or by coincidence, militants allegedly started attacking the oil pipelines and Nigeria’s oil production as the House served impeachment notice on Fubara; the pot of soup of the political class was thus put in jeopardy. The moment this was hung on Fubara’s neck – whether it was calling a dog a bad name to hang it or the embattled governor was guilty as charged – I knew he was as good as gone. Whatever any member of the ruling class is saying now – Atiku, Obi, South-South governors, PDP, even Labour – is merely winning political points for optics. Whoever touches the goose that lays the golden egg touches the apple of our political elites’ eyes!

For it is written: ”He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105: 14).

Crude oil is the “anointed” of Nigeria’s ruling class; and the petro-dollar that flows from it is their “prophet”. Touch not!

* Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-Chief , BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the ON LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in the New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.