Peace, A Necessary Ingredient For Development

Recent events in Rivers State leave much to be desired in the quest for a conducive environment where development will thrive. It will be recalled that two forces diametrically opposed to each other have been at each other’s jugular in an unending quest for supremacy and the soul of the state.
In fairness to the supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, they have continued to exhibit restraint even in the face of unbridled aggression from the supporters of the Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike. On the part of the die-hard supporters of the FCT Minister, perhaps, they have a sense of entitlement to the largesse and perks of the state in view of the prominent roles they played towards the emergence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara. They never imagined for an instant that they would be relegated to the fringes of political prowess. They never reflected that a period would come when they would be ushered unceremoniously to the back ground while new kids on the block would dominate the political space.
The whole scenario smacked of someone who had committed a great sacrilege. Obviously, they had been in power for such a long time, that they could not imagine themselves out of the power matrix.
Buoyed irrepressibly by their leader, the FCT Minister, his supporters have unleashed torrents of violence on the people of the state without minding whose ox is gored or who is at the receiving end.
With intent to avoid acts capable of instigating a crisis that would be difficult to manage the pro-Fubara supporters have been hanging on the ropes, soaking in jabs upon jabs, but in all, they retained their cap of diplomacy. Their inaction may be misconstrued as sheer cowardice, but an introspective analysis of their methodology would convince you that they are driven, motivated and sustained by their unending quest for peace, a sine qua non for development.
The crescendo of the macabre dance was the brazen destruction and burning of local government secretariats and the resort to pseudo-logic by the FCT Minister’s camp, claiming that the orgy of violence unleashed upon the local government secretariats were caused by Governor Fubara’s insistence or propensity of not obeying court orders. Without mincing words, this is one of the most bizarre pseudo-logic, if there ever was one.
As the unending legal melodrama continues unabated, the battle ground has shifted to the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court.
Inextricably poised at the centre of the power tussle, is the issue of the defection of the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers. In what appears as a significant volte-face, the pro-Wike lawmakers are denying that they defected at the first instance. However, in controvertible evidence abound that they had towed that path only to make a U-turn when the defection was used against them to the effect that they had lost their seats automatically, according to Section 109 (1) of the Constitution of Nigeria. This writer is at loss as to why the case of defection has not benefitted from accelerated hearing, such that the good people of the state would know the authentic Speaker and lawmakers in the eyes of the law.
While the bottlenecks frustrating the accelerated hearing of the defection lawsuits continue, agents of destruction are still having a field day in the state. In all this, Governor Fubara should be commended for his peaceful posture and overtures despite a barrage of open provocations. It is worthy of note that Governor Fubara preaches this same gospel of peace to those that believe in him and his apostles.
Perhaps, this is the singular reason that the state has not been burnt to the ground yet. But, for how long will this non-retaliatory approach hold sway or work? For how long can the governor and his horde of supporters turn the other cheek in the midst of continuous slaps? Perhaps only time will tell.
For sake of emphasis, the pro-Fubara supporters should reflect copiously that in the course of general elections, all means will be employed to exact victory for the valiant. It would be just secondary to taxonomise those means as legal or illegal.
In politics, the end justifies the means. I hope that the pro-Fubara supporters will have an ace up their sleeve in the event of general elections that will dredge up all manner of characters and all manner of foul play all with intent to secure an undue advantage. But, alas, Rivers State needs peace for development to thrive.