Rivers State: Who Is Sharing What?

By PHC Telegraph

 

While there are signs that the political gladiators in Rivers State who have been at war are presently exploring the ground in order to reach certain understandings that would lead to the return of peace, imputations which suggest that deals have been made are emerging in the popular media as well as the social media.

Nobody would have expected that the disagreeing parties associated with the Rivers crisis would ever seat in one place to negotiate the way forward.

The dynamics appear to have changed following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu, it is gathered had ordered the gladiators and mediators who are acting as go-betweens to get to work after his one-on-one meeting with Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The Minister of the Federal Capital  Territory, Nyesom Wike has confirmed there was a presidential directive.

While speaking to the Pidgin English service of the BBC, Wike wondered if he has the capacity to disagree with such a directive.

The Minister of the FCT certainly knows who is in charge.

It is the President.

To prosecute the war against Fubara, a sitting governor and his supporters, the FCT Minister had the might of the federal government behind him..

Thus, the withdrawal of the legendary federal might from a serving official or friend of the government in times of crisis such as the nation has seen in Rivers State could spell doom.

So far, the Rivers gladiators who are committed to the peace process are yet to utter profound words concerning the real or actual gist about the painstaking talks that are taking place.

Insiders tell this publication that at best most of the conversations which have taken place are largely exploratory,  meaning that negotiators or mediators are working behind the scene to ensure that sufficient confidence is built around the peace process.

“It is difficult to say if Wike and Fubara have recorded great breakthroughs through the negotiating process.

“In principle both sides to the conflict have from their body language agreed that the ongoing talks provide the only pathway to the peaceful resolution of the impasse”, a close source remarked.

A retired diplomat conversant with how matters like this are dealt with at the roundtable disclosed, “all the sides to a conflict must accede to a cessation of hostilies, agree to invest confidence in the process and also accept a-give-and- take posture as a basis for reconciliation and peace.

“Negotiation, if you like the mediation process is not something to gloss over. It is usually intricate, delicate and time consuming.”

The former diplomat who served in one of the African countries added, “Issues relating to the Rivers crisis are exactly not new. Those matters are well known to most Nigerians.

“The Federal Government nonetheless deserves commendation for bringing the parties in conflict to the table. Its leader has proved that he is not the elephant in the room”

A well placed Rivers politician who did not want his name in print remarked, “the bulk will stop on the President’s table. In the presence of persons who are acting as mediators talks have begun and it would appear too early to say that those talks have run their full course.”

Lighting Up Internet Handles, Streets Corners With Tales:

But who is sharing what? That is the question that many interested in the events that are playing out are beginning to ask.

Has the outcome of ongoing negotiations between the two major gladiators been made public officially?

Have they even sat with the President to agree on a few things, assuming but not conceding that those acting as mediators and astute negotiators have also finished their work?

On the streets, in drinking pubs, the popular media and the new media as the social media is called, spin doctors are busy spinning lamb tales.

While some propagandists say Wike has taken everything, suggesting Fubara has been castrated, others are painting images of the return of council chairmen whose tenures have expired.

Fubara, we have heard, has been forced to swear to a secret oath in the presence of the FCT Minister while Wike would be expected to handle the appointment of commissioners, his Chief of Staff and other security details as part of the new deal.

Such is the extent of the information and misinformation that are pertaining to the impending peace deal that many in and outside Rivers State have become really confused.

Removing Obstacles To Peace:

In the meantime, the Presidency appears very determined to remove all obstacles which may inhibit the return of peace in Rivers State.

While the outcome of the President’s conversation with Fubara remains a guarded secret, the Presidency is pushing opposing forces within Rivers to come together.

It equally has a hand in the choice of eminent persons, including people like ex-governor Segun Osoba and Governor Abiodun, who are linked to ongoing reconciliation efforts.

“Most of these people are believed to have the president’s ear”, an analyst said in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

With the combatants talking to one another and their supporters coming to the conclusion that peace is inevitable, what is left as obstacles to the peace building efforts are being removed.

A major obstacle that many worry about is what will happen to the Rivers budget. Wike had asked what will happen if the returning lawmakers refuse to endorse Fubara’s budget

That obstacle is being removed ahead of the restoration of self rule in Rivers State.

President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the Rivers budget to the National Assembly for approval.

Section 11(4) gives the National Assembly to make laws in states like Rivers State where the State House of Assembly is incapacitated

With the National Assembly set to exercise that power, the issue of Fubara presenting the Rivers budget to a group of state lawmakers who may not have learnt any lessons would be bypassed.

 

The President’s presentation of the budget to the National Assessment is being seen as masterstroke which enable Governor Sim Fubara concentrate on delivering governance without any form of distraction.

What will happen to power sharing – how the resources of the State would be shared, how appointments will be distributed and other sundry issues of great interest to the political class – which could prove to be major obstacles would be broadly thrashed out by the time discussants agree on critical issues

Thereafter, the gladiators and perhaps key members of their political groups would sit at the roundtable to adopt key conclusions that are agreed on and fly with them.

“Until of these happen, stories that are making the rounds on the issue of power sharing are at best figments of the imagination of those who are peddling a national lawmaker who is a member of the APC noted.

And The Beat Goes On:

Hints about Fubara’s impending return to office are getting indeed stronger. So are calls for his restoration by so many Nigerians.

Chief Ambrose Nwuzi in a telephone chat with Telegraph’s Editor-in-Chief said his belief that Fubara will be restored to office remains undiluted.

The overall picture that is emerging here suggests that most Rivers people as well as residents living in their midst are indeed hoping that the President would remove the state of emergency before May 29.

Four out of five Rivers people spoken to on the street by our Correspondent want Fubara to return on or before May 29.

A respondent, Chima Chile who resides at Mile III,  a high density area in Port Harcourt said, “I want our Governor to come back to us on May 29. I want him to celebrate two years in office with his colleagues.”

Edna Obed, “You can see that nothing is happening in Rivers State. Everywhere is dry. Fubara is a kind man, a happening man. We are patiently waiting for Fubara to return. The women of Rivers State want Tinubu to bring back Fubara on the 29th of May”

But there are other Rivers people who think that June 12 declared Democracy Day in this country would be appropriate for the announcement of Fubara’s return to office.

Barikor Mike

said, “Fubara’s return should be tied to June 12 celebrations. In my view that date would be more like it particularly when you are talking about democracy.”

“What will the President say on June 12? Is 12 June not when he lets us in on what he is doing to preserve democracy? Is it not the day when we remember our heroes?

“Fubara has become a living hero not as a result of his political persecution alone, but also due largely to his fight in this dispensation to protect the irreversible mandate of the Rivers people”,  Idah Pepple stated