Rivers: The Culture And Politics Of Rhetorical Violence

Over the years, there are those in our dear Rivers State who have become posers of oratory and are vociferous in whatever they do, or say that they are embroiled in rhetorical cum political violence.
Rivers people have been inundated with an unending and suffocating political imbroglio in the state due to highhandedness and overbearing nature of these people that have turned themselves as demi gods in the land, who for sometime now have created affluence for themselves.
It is however quite disturbing, distressing and provocative that what is happening in the state, in recent times is unbecoming due to the unfolding incidences of party wranglings, mudslinging, backbiting and witch-hunting among others within the political class.
One is appalled and distraught at the height in which these so called power brokers unwittingly exercise their political prowess who go further, even to the extent of exposing themselves to public glare by their virulent criticism and utterances about perceived political opponents or enemies.
“It has been said that those who refuse to learn from history are bound to repeat it”.
Looking from a vantage point, if what is playing out in Rivers State is not mellowed down nor completely stamped out rightly, there is tendency for a repeat by those that are power drunk in the years to come.
Nigerians and indeed Rivers people were appalled by the recent unsavoury, vociferous and demeaning threats widely circulating on news headlines made by the former Rivers State governor and now minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike, on Saturday, 31st of August 2024, in Port Harcourt, which reads in part, “Let me assure all of you , not while we live will anybody take away the structure of the PDP from us.
“But let me tell people, I hear some Governors who say they will take over the structure and give it back to somebody”. I pity those governors because I will put fire in their states. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace – anything you see you take”.
Thus, the statement and threats to peaceful coexistence made by Wike, at the PDP Rivers State congress warned that he had the capacity to cause crisis in any PDP – controlled state working with his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara to take over his PDP structure in Rivers.
Meanwhile, Rivers elders under the aegis of the “Rivers Elders and Leadership Forum” have condemned what they called public outbursts and threats by the minister. They described the outburst as “callous, mischievous and unacceptable in its entirety”.
In an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after their meeting in Port Harcourt, the elders described Wike’s remarks as anti-democratic and capable of throwing the state and nation into chaos.
The letter, titled: “Nyesom Wike’s invocation of violence against some states in Nigeria”, was read by former Governor of Old Rivers State, Rufus Ada-George. According to them, it was regrettable that Wike, despite taking an oath to uphold the provisions of the constitution as a serving minister is the one breaking and endangering the peace of the nation.
The elders argued that the party structure in which Wike was claiming to have, was handed over by the first civilian governor of the old Rivers State, the late Chief Melford Okilo to Ada-George, to Dr. Peter Odili to Rotimi Amaechi before Wike, and therefore urged the President to call Wike to order by wading in for a lasting solution to the crisis, in the state.
More worrisome is the fact that a lot of objectives have been diverted from what is obtainable, where every succeeding government had not built on the dreams of founding fathers of the various states in the country.
According to analysts, the threat made by the minister, to “put fire” in the state of any PDP governor who intervenes in Rivers politics is totally a direct violation of section 37(1) of the Criminal Code. And that, it is a treasonable offence and unbecoming of a lawyer, ex-governor and cabinet minister.
Therefore, Wike can be held responsible for any break down of law and order in any of the PDP states, since no one has the monopoly of violence.
Rivers people have really suffered in the hands of politicians in the quest for control of structure and resources where a lot of scripts have been playing out as the ensuing and unfortunate political stalemate between the FCT Minister currently locked in a standoff with his successor, Governor Sim Fubara.
Also, the current faceoff between the two camps have brought out the true character of the gladiators of the state’s leading politicians.
Suffice it to say that, the people of the state and the rest of Nigerians have been curiously fixated on the embroiled razzmatazz of unguarded statements emanating from these highly respected persons within the political circle.
It is instructive to note that, “those who do things unsparingly to suit their interest without reflecting on the consequences, always forget that the law of karma exists, and it will in due time cut up with them”.
Indeed, the unfortunate political drama in the state in recent times has unearthed a lot of disturbing perennial problems associated with politicking and reasoning that have blighted the state where issues kept popping up whenever there is political gathering or campaigns are stirred up in the state.
Furthermore, the political tussle between the two camps have deepened and hitherto affected the socio-political, economic and well-being of the state.
Some commentators have attributed the crisis in Rivers State to what they termed as struggle for ‘resource/structure control’, where some have allocated resources to themselves and their cronies and associates.
Worrisome is the dimension in which the fight is taking, where “Mr. Wike is attempting to muscle the governor into submitting to godfatherism”. Wike was said to have vehemently condemned it when he was governor of the state saying that” the godfather syndrome is affecting some states in Nigeria and would not be allowed in Rivers”.
It appears that for one thing , the former governor now FCT minister is so concerned about structure rather than the structure of the people of the state, what they witnessed in the hands of politicians some years back, which of course was not very pleasing.
For over six months now, it has been structure, structure, structure, without much encouragements on the part of the FCT minister and his supporters to the governor of the state, for good governance and to move the state forward.
What kind of legacies and footprints do we expect to leave behind for generations unborn to follow when we exit this earth?
In conclusion, let every warring camp shun party politics, sheathe swords, join hands and rally round in support of the Executive Governor, Siminalayi Fubara to pilot the affairs of Rivers State to greater heights and in the interest of people of the state.
Let peace reign in Rivers State!