One of the great puzzles of the current political round is the silent acquiescence of the usually vociferous leadership of the IJAW ethnic nationality to the political oppression of their kith in kin in Rivers State. Political observers are scratching their heads as to why the just cause of the Riverine (largely IJAW) people, as it pertains to their aspiration to the governorship of Rivers State, has elicited very little or none of the passion with which the Ijaws have been known to fight for their rights.
It is common knowledge that, since the return to civil democratic rule in 1999, Rivers State has been governed by Dr. Peter Odili and Hon. Rotimi Amechi, both of whom are from the non-Ijaw parts of the state. Both men are specifically from the the Rivers West and East Senatorial Districts, respectively. Much like Nigeria, the various ethnic nationalities in Rivers State are generally and aacceptably classified into two major spatial/geopolitical groups – “upland” and “riverine”. Amechi and Celestine Omehia, who was ousted by the judicial ruling that installed Amechi the Governor of Rivers State in 2007, are from the Ikwerre ethnic nationality.
Chief Nyesom Wike, the immediate past minister of state for education whose robust but inordinate bid for the governorship of Rivers State is tearing the PDP apart in the state, is also from the very same Ikwerre ethnic stock. Wike’s aspiration has pitted him against a coalition of aspirants from the riverine bloc as well as those from the South East senatorial district which includes a number of nominally upland ethnic groupings such as the Ogonis.
Wike’s claim to the governorship of the state has been hinged on the argument that he has led the political fight against Rotimi Amechi following the latter’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the accompanying bad blood between the often rude governor and the President and First Lady. The point to note here is that Wike was not fighting Amaechi for the governorship of Rivers State. Amaechi was governor already and is not eligible for another tenure. Wike was supposed to be fighting a proxy war on behalf of his boss, the President, although the logic of his aspiration has now exposed the fact that he was, all along, fighting to become governor of the state, NOT to defend the honour of President Jonathan against a garrulous state governor.
The bottom line though is that Wike did not and cannot claim to have won any war against Amaechi. He actually LOST, to the extent that he could not remove Amaechi from office, try as he did. Indeed, some have argued that Wike’s pig-headed but tactless methods, anchored on his avowed love and commitment to violence, in language and in action, actually won Amaechi a few more admirers and might have enhanced the latter’s political profile in Rivers State and nationally. Many keen observers of Rivers politics firmly believe that the PDP will lose the forthcoming elections in the State if it dares to field Wike as its gubernatorial candidate.
But our primary focus here is not necessarily with the clear lack of merit for Wike’s candidacy. We are troubled by the fact that the leadership of the Ijaw National Congress, the Ijaw Youths Congress, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other prominent Ijaw leaders, past and present, have silently acquiesced to the brazen denial of the rights of their kinsmen in Rivers State in clear violation of the provisions of the constitutions of the PDP and the Federation. The President might claim all he wants that he is not an ethnic leader BUT he is still an Ijaw man. Moreover, as leader of the nation and his party, he is foresworn to defend the constitution and he, more than any other president in our nation’s history, ought to secure the rights of ethnic minorities and the principle of rotation of public office holding in furtherance thereof.
Why is Mr. President playing Pontius Pilate over what is going on in Rivers State? Has Mr. President forgotten, so soon, how the Ijaws of Rivers State were in the vanguard of the fight for his right and path to the Presidency? Why is the INC and IYC looking the other way while their kinsmen are being humiliated? Where are the vocal Ijaw leaders who would not stand for this injustice if it happened in Bayelsa or Delta States? Are the Ijaws of Rivers State any less Izon than their kith and kin from Bayelsa and Delta States? Are there really second class Ijaws as Rotimi Amaechi and others are now insinuating? Is there any truth to Amaechi’s implausible claim that some oil wells in Rivers State were ceded to Bayelsa State because the people of Soku in Rivers State are not “real” Ijaws?
Why is the First Lady sworn to the imposition of Wike on the Rivers people? Is she really an Okrika woman? Is their some truth to the rumour that her biological parents (mother as well as father) are from Abia State? Is this why she doesn’t mind if the state went up in flames? Why is the First Lady brazenly stepping up to the plate when the President has refused to play his hand? It is widely believed that the national leadership of the PDP is waiting for Mr. President to offer leadership in this matter because of his wife’s upfront endorsement of Wike. Not wanting to cross paths with the First Lady, party chieftains cannot even enforce the party’s constitution in the face of the First Lady’s rampant meddling and the President seemingly sitting on his hands.
We do not, by any means, intend to stoke ethnic hatred in our beloved state. We only want to know why our people, who have fought against oppression across the length and breadth of Nigeria are pretending not to be aware of our plight in Rivers State. We use this medium to call on Chief E.K. Clark, Professor Kimse Okoko, Chief Fumudoh, Senator Difa, Governor S. Dickson, former Governor D.S.P. Alamieyesiya, Chief A.K. Horsfall, Chief Government Tompolo, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, and the traditional rulers, indeed all other leaders of our people to speak up in defence of justice before it is too late. We also invite other men and women of goodwill who cherish justice and love Rivers State to stand up and be counted on the side of what is fair and equitable. Silence in the face of injustice is not golden. As Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral at times of great moral conflict”. May Hades not crawl with the agonising souls of Ijaw leaders !!!
