There is a tragi-comedy going on in the country, especially among the political class.
A villain is always playing the part of the victim, shouting himself hoarse of a plot, from imaginary enemies, to undermine his or her office.
Pitiably, this malaise is now rearing its ugly head in our dear state, Rivers.
Not that Riverians thought the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike would do anything to alleviate their suffering but they didn’t know the situation would be so bad as we have it today.
There is a popular saying that some people will leave leprosy unattended to and be looking for ringworm medicine.
This saying is apt to the maladministration going on in the state.
Recently, an article by a paid writer took on the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside.
Among others, the writer accused Peterside of meddling in the affairs of the state government.
He also advised Peterside, the Director-General (D-G) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to wait till 2019 before challenging Wike.
Honestly, there is nothing sane Nigerians will not see or read in this country.
If the truth must be told, it is not Wike’s megaphone that will tell Peterside if he is interested in the 2019 governorship race or not.
The writer also criticised Peterside’s statement at the Rivers APC East Zonal mega rally held in Okehi, Etche, ahead of the rescheduled Rivers rerun poll that Riverians are tired of the Wike administration.
But Peterside was only saying the obvious because people are really tired of Wike and his administration. With due respect, the governor is behaving like ‘a dictator’, sacking and suspending commissioners at will, dissolving councils when he feels like.
And describing Peterside as a bad loser was the height of insensitivity about political and economic happenings in our state.
Of course, everybody knows what happened during the governorship election in Rivers last year.
The question to ask Wike is: Must you rule by force?
Today, the ‘gangsterism’ in Rivers State is unprecedented.
The number of those killed for political reasons, the latest being the popular Port Harcourt lawyer and activist, Ken Atsuete, is unprecendented in the annals of the state.
It is not an exaggeration to declare that Rivers is already a theatre of war.
Election that should have been conducted has to be postponed by INEC again because of insecurity.
This is a governor that openly boasted that electoral officers should write their Wills if they are coming to the state to conduct election.
By saying that Peterside’s statement ‘is capable of overheating the Rivers State polity’, the writer must be told that it is not Peterside that is overheating the state. Wike has already done that.
Rivers is now known in the country as ‘one week, one trouble’.
That is why Peterside, a Christian, must follow what is in the biblical book of Isaiah 58:1 which says: ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions’
Nobody is safe again and they want Peterside to keep quiet and not tell Riverians and Nigerians when Wike errs? Arrant nonsense.
What they don’t know is that Peterside is not waging war. He knows that Rivers is strategic to the economic well being of the country and when the governor is doing everything to undermine the economic potential and security of the country, he must be called to order.
Since Wike took over on May 29, 2015, it has been one crisis after the other in our dear state.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Wike has done everything possible to undermine democratic institutions in our oil-bearing state.
Despite the fact that tenures of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and Rivers State Judicial Commission (RSJC) are guaranteed by law, the first thing he did was to announce their dissolution. And, pitiably, a few hack writers defended this action, telling some gullible Nigerians that as governor, he has the power to dissolve any constitutional body.
To the governor, anything goes as long as he has his ways.
To summarise, Wike has not fulfilled his electoral promises. He has not solved social problems. Investors are running from the state because of the level of insecurity.
At the Okehi, Etche rally, Peterside raised some posers to the governor entitled ’10 important questions Wike must provide answers to Rivers people’.
*Which government has officially promoted and supported kidnapping and, under its watch, over 1200 persons have been kidnapped in one year?
*Which government has superintended over the killing of more than 1,000 rivers people by cultists in just one year?
*Which government has borrowed more money under one year than all our previous governments from 1967 borrowed put together?
*Which government withdrew nearly 400 undergraduates sent on scholarship abroad by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to different countries?
*Which government deceitfully wants to take credit for projects conceived and delivered by the Amaechi administration?
*Under the watch of which government has more policemen and security personnel been killed by criminals armed by same government agents than have been killed ever in our history from the creation of Rivers State?
*Under whose government is multiple taxation legalised, touting legalised, extortion made legal?
*Under which government have our schools and primary health centres closed down and our people are dying in their numbers?
*Which government has deceived itself by embarking on endless circle of BIOMETRICS as excuse to owe workers and pensioners six months salaries?
*In which government is a governor both contractor, supervisor and awarding authority?”
Today, Rivers has become the number one kidnapping state in Nigeria. Rivers people cannot be deceived by lies and propaganda, no matter how well-crafted.
An end to this malfeasance is near.
Under Wike, Rivers is not working.
And Peterside will not stop talking.
