by Chief (Barr.) Dumo Lulu–Briggs
Published in THISDAY Newspaper, Sunday February 2, 2014 page 92
I was angry with my friend
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
William Blake, in Songs of Experience, 1794
For more reasons than several, it would be inappropriate to assume that Rivers State is daily in the news in Nigeria because of the size of her budget which even the governor of the State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi says is almost that of Ghana or because of her relevance to the Nigerian economy or the unity of our dearly beloved country, Nigeria. Something unwholesome has been happening and silence cannot still be fashionable.
January 1st, 2007, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi came to visit me at my small hideout in Port Harcourt. In his company were eminent sons of Rivers State but for the purpose of this reportage, I beg to mention just three of them, namely Hon. Chidi Wihioka, popularly called Elder, Hon. Andrew Uchendu, three time member of the Federal House of Representatives and leader of the Rivers State caucus of the hallowed House, and Hon. Azubuike Nwanjoku, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
It was early afternoon and the city of Port Harcourt was rather quiet belying the violence and brigandage of the past months and days preceding the visit. In addition to his dignified presence and that of the persons with him, I was honoured with a new year hamper. My visitors graciously accepted to sit in the discomfort of my small living room, and my friend, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly at the time and who had only a few weeks back won the PDP gubernatorial primaries of Rivers State but had been refused the flag of the party by then President Obasanjo on a warped k-leg logic, said he was just paying routine visits to friends in the spirit of the season. He nonetheless felt obliged to tell me as a co-aspirant in that gubernatorial primary election that he was still working on the discomfiture of President Obasanjo’s alleged k-leg.
I told my friend, Rt. Hon. Amaechi and his entourage that I know he will be governor of Rivers State, k-leg notwithstanding. That, in the interest of Rivers State, he should please open the political space when he becomes governor. I began to explain that our leader, Dr. Peter Odili, governor of the State had made the mistake of closing the political space which usually happens once a group of persons who have political headship and control of an area decide that they would hold and rotate control of that area for several more years among themselves and their cronies to the exclusion of all others. Once you decide to close the political space, as a corollary, you would also consciously work to close the economic space because you know that in a democracy, especially the type practiced in Africa, only those with economic muzzle can crack your political fortress and wrest political headship and control from you.
During the reign of Dr. Peter Odili whom I hold dear for several other reasons, the political and economic life of Rivers State was open only to a few friends and allies resulting in the politics of hate, killings, and brigandage at every election season. The law of survival meant that politicians resort to all sorts of unlawful acts to gain the recognition and acceptance of the governor because as a deliberate policy of state, politicians who were not part of the accepted political equation and hegemony had their economic fortunes scuttled. Even though Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi was speaker and adopted first son of Dr. Odili, and heir apparent to the headship of that political hegemony, I urged that once he had the opportunity, he took deliberate steps to break down the barriers erected by his benefactor. My friend and now governor nodded very approvingly, or so I thought, and Hon. Andrew Uchendu promised to always remind our friend and brother.
Soon after, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi’s long walk to the political headship of Rivers State continued in the wilderness of Ghana, culminating in the judgment of the supreme court of Nigeria on October 25th, 2007, heralding his reign as the Executive Governor of Rivers State. As a unique creation of the judiciary and the political vicissitude in Rivers State, his place in history and the enormous responsibility his latest crown put on his head were not lost on him. His success or otherwise would be determined by his own next steps. And so, rising above prejudice, and pleased by the fortunes of the South African example, he would set up a TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION in Rivers State, headed by late Justice Kayode Esho.
If Justice Esho helped to unearth some truth in Rivers State, he was not to take responsibility for the reconciliation needed to unite a people, the people of Rivers State, and the urgent actions necessary to “lift artificial weights from the shoulders of men and clear the paths of laudable pursuits for all, to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race of life.” That was the expected directive principle to guide state policies in Rivers State, and only the deliberate, very conscious steps of the governor of Rivers State would have been strong enough to steer us on that path.
The converse rather informed government actions following the completion of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as the administration of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi took the “government of a group, by a group, and for a group” to a ridiculous new height in Rivers State and made it the abiding principle on which government actions rest. The deep divide, the grossly grotesque polarization of a once comely, convivial and fraternal people is a direct consequence of the actions and inactions of their government. The setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation commission is a recognition of a malady that must be conquered, let alone allowed to fester, and this case, to directly cultivate.
Never in our history have we been as polarized as we are today; have we been as hateful of the other as we are today; have we been brazen in our effort to put the other down as we are today; have we been so locked up in our own self-demeaning prejudices as we are today; have we been led by our fears rather than hopes as we are today. Where is the Truth and the Reconciliation? There now exist a strong threat to our sense of a common future. But we must move from the old to the new and Rivers State must again find her soul. The truth of course, is that we have no right to aspire to govern our people if we cannot love our people as we love ourselves.
The governor of Rivers State says at almost every gathering that the people opposed to him are thieves and are very hungry. He also says the Supervising Minister of Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike, was nominated by him to Mr. President for appointment as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Please ask the question yourself but first be informed that Barrister Nyesom Wike has been a close ally and confidante of our governor since 1999, as two time Local Government Council Chairman from 1999 to 2007, and as Chief of Staff to the Governor from 2007 to 2011. Let me help with the question: Did the governor nominate a thief for appointment as minister of our dear country? Perhaps the minister became a thief as he became opposed to his governor.
Governor Amaechi says Mr. President and the First Lady are also opposed to him because he refused to allow them ‘macro manage’ Rivers State from Aso Rock. We have been waiting with bated breath for one such instance to be cited but we know it is going to be an endless wait. Mr. President who works more than 18 hours daily, to get our beloved Nigeria out of the woods would hardly find time to macro manage his own Bayelsa State.
Today, because of the works of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria along with Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey are called the emerging economic giants and the World Bank and Goldman Sachs have projected that by 2050, going by our current growth rates, Nigeria will be the 13th largest economy in the world, ahead of Italy, Turkey and Canada. Therefore, the statement that the opposition to the governor are composed of thieves, hungry people and a meddling presidency is precisely the way the Holy Roman Empire was holy, Roman and an empire. It has been the unfortunate lot of Rivers people that our governors have not been able to resist the allure of very active national politics, often misconstruing their mandate as licence to seek to conquer greater Nigeria for self. In that pursuit of self-satisfaction, the attention of our governors become divided initially into 30, but now 36 states and Abuja. Unfortunately, only the resources of Rivers State is available to our governors and we are thus forced to share it with all of Nigeria. That further explains why as very prosperous as Rivers State is today, over 90% of Rivers people are not part of that prosperity. We have it so rich, yet we are so poor and a very oblique reflection of our blessings from God.
I will not readily join those who say the governor has done nothing of note but I will be quick to dismiss even those gains because they were built of very shaky foundation. No house divided against itself can stand. We must begin to find oneness. We must throw away our complacencies or despondencies depending on which side of the divide we stand and “live in the inspirations of the pressing reasons of this present times”. We must swear eternal fidelity to the just causes and pursuits of every Rivers man, woman and child. Politicians are peddlers of hope, but a time comes when they can no longer even simulate an affection that they do not bear for their people. It is no longer fashionable to engage in facts embroidery. Fortunately, “no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking”. It was Alhaji Adamu Ciroma who said in 1995 that “We cannot monopolize prosperity and expect to enjoy it in a depressed surrounding”. We therefore, have to overcome the ‘crippling legacies of bigotry and injustice’ and balance the competing interest of peace, justice and reconciliation.
“The most important war is the one going on even now and whose battlefield is the Spirit, where Good and Evil, Courage and Cowardice, Love and Fear face each other”. Borrowing from former President Bill Clinton, I implore that as Rivers people, let us all strive “to focus on creating a genuinely unified, multi-ethnic state in the 21st century. In that connection, we have to foster a dialogue, we have to promote education and to explicitly expose myths that are not true and salient realities that are. And to have concrete actions that come but out of this endeavour. We will have to demonstrate that “Rivers State” is still capable of rising to a new challenge. That we are not going to disintegrate in the face of it but we are actually going to be more unified by learning how to respect and indeed celebrate our differences and be bound by common values.”
We have to reintroduce elegance into the things we do because that was what Rivers State was known for. “The gazelle when it runs is elegant even when it is merely fleeing from a lion”. A very concerned citizen accused some of our leaders of displaying attitudes that lower the altitude of governance. “From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.” The people cannot continue to endure the vanities of the elite and their rulers. It is time to put people first and in Rivers State, that must mean service that translates to opportunity for all and responsibility from all. There is always a little more toothpaste in the tube.
CHIEF(BARR.) DUMO LULU-BRIGGS is the current Chairman, Management Board, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri