Rivers: How The Cookies Are Fast Crumbling

●  Why the dynamics of Rivers politics is shifting

By Our Political Correspondent

There are growing indications that the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara is beginning to gain traction in the ongoing fight for the control of the heart of Rivers State.

Although the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike has become the first in Rivers history to accord a lot of federal appointments to Rivers people through the support of his principal, many supporters of the ex-governor are however leaving his camp in droves.

They include political foot soldiers and able bodied youths who operate at the grassroots under the aegis of the Grassroots Development Initiative as well as, other groups like the Rivers Liberation Movement and the Sim Vanguard who think it is time to give Fubara all the support that he needs to lead the State.

Interestingly, more experienced politicians including former civilian governors, State commissioners, former local government chairmen, former State lawmakers and councillors who are still in office are equally shifting grounds and pitching their tents with Governor Fubara who is taking absolute control of the ship of state.

 

In Obio/Akpor where Wike hails from, serving councillors as well as the chairman of the PDP in his ward have said goodbye. They have joined the swelling camp of Governor Fubara.

In Akuku Toru, Etche, Okrika, Ogu/Bolo, Degema, Asari Toru, Bonny and elsewhere, more serving councillors who are presently weighing their options are coming to the conclusion that it would be politically expedient for them to work with the Sim administration instead of a handful of Abuja-based politicians who are allegedly interested in what they can get for themselves.

The Telegraph has further gathered through impeccable sources that a serious crack has seemingly occurred in the midst of serving state lawmakers who have hitherto clung to the apron strings of the Minister.

What these mean, despite strong denials, is that the back of Wike and his supporters is being pushed to the wall while Fubara and his team make serious inroads in their bid to protect the people’s mandate.

Politicians are not the only ones who reason that Fubara deserves the backing of Rivers people. Chiefs, elders and other opinion leaders are leaning heavily on the side of the governor.

They are saying, according to facts that are emerging, that enough should indeed be enough and insisting that the State cannot afford to have two governors.

Somehow, Governor Fubara’s growing political fortune, the Port Harcourt Telegraph has learnt, is coming against the backdrop of public understanding which is being generated across the nation by his resolve to ensure that peace reigns in Rivers State.

Fubara who has evaded a head-on collision with Wike has continued to insist that no price is too big to pay in maintaining peace.

Obviously, the stance taken by the Governor is resonating among Rivers people and other Nigerians who agree that peace is the foundation of progress and development.

The latest recognition received by Fubara’s effort to turn the tide of history in favour of tolerance, political stability and the unity of the State is from the Christian Council of Nigeria.

“We are so excited, first at his peaceful disposition”, said the National President of the Council, Most Reverend David Onuoha “For him, peace is central in everything.”

“He is quoted as saying that no sacrifice is too much for the peace of Rivers State. I think that is very commendable.

The priest stated, “We gave him an award as a ‘Pillar of Ecumenism’ because of his peaceful disposition and cordial relationship with churches in this State, irrespective of denominations. So, we felt we should encourage him to do more.

“Again, he has intimated us with his plans of placing emphasis on agriculture, health, and education. These are very laudable.

“We can only pray that God will give him the grace to actualise and implement all these.”

Recall that the Silverbird Group had conferred the honour of the Peace Advocate of Nigeria on the Rivers Governor at an event in Lagos.

As the fight for the control of Rivers State intensifies, many say Nyesom Wike is not a political pushover. Those who claim to know him closely insist he never gives up.

Ayo Fayose had admonished Fubara not to contemplate a fight with Wike just as the new governor was about to take his place in history as the State Governor, saying his  friend knows how to fight.

Now that the fight is here and both men are apparently in the trenches, some blame the growing differences between the two on their supporters who are voraciously and painstakingly looking for political space.

Others posit that the war that is being fought is probably an act of God, stressing that the Almighty never makes a mistake in his calculation.

Wike sang a song during the campaign, urging God to place confusion in the midst of his opponents.

As things are, God has allowed that confusion that he asked for in the midst of his political godson and himself.

But as James Hardley Chase put it in one of his novels, that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Those cookies are crumbling rather very fast in Rivers State, the treasure base of the nation, where history was made in the battle in 2023 to ensure the emergence of a Southern president.