Time To Restore Democracy In Rivers State

Ever since President Bola Tinubu unilaterally suspended the democratically elected governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor and all members of the State House of Assembly, the state has been a shadow of itself.
Irrespective of the forays of the military in our democratic culture and journey, it bears recalling that Nigeria has been at the forefront of the fight for the enthronement of peace, justice and equity, the world over.
A clear testament of Nigeria’s crusade for equity and good governance can be gleaned from Nigeria’s sterling contribution to the dismantling of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. It must be stated categorically that the Nigerian government played a dominant and prominent role towards liberating black South Africans from the grip of the Apartheid regime.
In stark contradiction, it is nothing but nauseating the manner in which the federal government led by Tinubu, conspired to declare a dubious state of emergency in a state that did not have the trappings of a security breach. Many analysts are still trying their best to unravel the rationale for the dubious and illegal declaration of emergency rule in a state that is perhaps one of the most peaceful in the entire Nigeria.
Perhaps, the presidency needs to be reminded that what played out in Rivers State was a political coup and definitely sets a very unprepossessing precedent. It is nothing but disheartening that of all the trouble torn states in Nigeria, Rivers State has been singled out, her governor and lawmakers booted out with little or no ceremony.
One must commend the human rights lawyers who took the matter to the American Embassy in Abuja, but it may not sway the pendulum in favour of Sir Fubara. There is a popular international law maxim which states that one sovereign state cannot impose its sovereignty on another sovereign nation. It is common practice that where there is no serious conflict of interest, the sovereign nation that is expected to act, may tend to play opossum and look the other way.
The bona fides of the right to good governance, the right to democracy, the right to fundamental human rights of the people of Rivers State cannot be wished away by a cabal whose loyalties one cannot easily deduce.
Unless we are all collective amnesiacs, Nigeria has come a long way in the process of evolving into a democratic nation that is worthy of emulation. As a nation, we should be wary of actions or inaction that may encourage the erosion and downright muffling of our collective inalienable right to democratic governance.
It is mind-boggling and unconscionable how certain spin doctors conspired to weave together the vital elements and willing tools, which the enemies of democracy used to impose a Sole Administrator on the good people of Rivers State.
It is heartwarming and poignant that a wide amalgam of Nigeria and conscientious Rivers people have risen in one voice to condemn and lampoon the imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State. Series of protests from a wide spectrum of society have spelt out in unmistakable terms that Nigerians albeit Rivers people are not happy with the imposition of emergency rule in a peaceful state.
It must be stated categorically that the office of Sole Administrator to govern a state in a democracy is alien to our constitution and illegal by any stretch of the imagination.
The power grab in Rivers State is nauseating, despicable and unacceptable. In any way the federal government tries to legitimize or perfume this odious or repulsive declaration of emergency rule, the people of the state, in one voice, reject this imposition and demand full restoration of the democratically elected officials of the state in tandem to democratic structures.
In this post-modernist age, the chain of events playing out in Rivers State is anathema and alien to our constitution. We condemn President Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in the state and demand that Governor Siminalayi Fubara resumes office in Government House immediately. One does not need to be Justice Niki Tobi or one of the Supreme Court judges to know that President Tinubu made a huge mistake in appointing a Sole Administrator to govern Rivers State in a democracy.