The unfolding political drama poses a deep and serious threat to public safety and our nation’s security, hence I could not disagree more with those criticizing the president for intervening to ensure peace and tranquility reigns in Rivers State and Nigeria.
The president of Nigeria, notwithstanding the occupant of the office, is the chief security officer of the country with assistance from his national security adviser.
The primary responsibility of this president or any president for that matter is to ensure the nation’s security, public safety, and security of the lives and properties of Nigerians. Consequently, when taken in totality the president’s action in pushing for the immediate cessation of hostilities between the political gladiators is the right thing to do and what is expected of the president and commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
As some of the negative comments and critics of the president’s actions rightly said it is not the president’s constitutional responsibility to settle the political divisions within a major opposition party between one of his ministers and a sitting state governor.
However, given the likelihood of major political violence that could result and spill out of control, it falls within the president’s constitutional mandate as chief security and law enforcement officer of the nation to act accordingly, including the fact that aside from there being no constitutional provisions barring his actions, the president has an inherent moral responsibility to act and we as a nation are better for it.
The intervention by this president is not only right, it was the responsible thing to do as allowing the matter to escalate or doing nothing could have resulted in the following:
1. The crisis degenerated into violence and destruction of lives and properties.
2. The resulting violence and resistance by one of the parties to the dispute could have taken a tribal or ethnic dimension.
3. Given the ethnic configuration of parties to the dispute, the resulting violence could have been exported to other states in the Niger Delta a situation that could reignite the Niger Delta insurgency that began in the late 1990s.
4. The significance of Rivers State to the national economy and our nation’s oil production output could be seriously damaged by sabotage and violence, were this crisis allowed to fully explode.
Already some unpatriotic elements have dusted up their playbook and tribal cards by threatening to blow up oil pipelines, a threat that must be taken seriously by our security services as such threats and those behind them are advocating violence as a means to resolving political differences which is nothing, but advocation of terrorism as a political instrument. However, the presidency should continue its efforts and hold both parties to the terms of their agreement. It is worth mentioning here that the ultimate test of the agreement brokered by the president would be how the state governor and his predecessor engage going forward on current and future issues affecting their state. Will they continue to engage offline directly on all matters affecting their state or will they allow sycophants, tribal gladiators, and those with nefarious political agendas to stoke further divisions? However, I am heartened a bit by a statement credited to Rivers State Gov. Sim Fubara, “that no price was too much to pay for peace”, and hope that former Gov. Wike will also commit to maintaining the peace in Rivers State at all costs while recognizing that there can only be one governor at a time and support his handpicked governor to ensure the peaceful development of his state.
The following may help in building on the president’s accord with Gov. Fubara and former Gov. Wike:
1. There can be one governor at a time, so former Gov. Wike should pull back the political chokehold on Fubara and allow him to govern the state.
2. Gov. Fubara should deepen his engagement with his predecessor former Gov. Wike and carry out wider consultations with him to maintain peace in the state on major transformational actions by his government.
3. Gov. Fubara should communicate directly with his predecessor, not through third parties or surrogates.
4. The Hon. Minister should prioritize his current portfolio help the president deliver on his agenda and allow the governor to manage his state.
5. Gov. Fubara and former Gov. Wike should both understand that the real power and sovereignty rests with the Rivers State indigenes, and they will have another crack to exercise this power in 36 months when the governor is up for reelection, so both must shield their swords.
6. The presidency should ensure regular engagement between the president’s national security adviser, former Gov. Wike, and Gov. Fubara given the threat any serious conflicts in the state will have on our national security.
Finally, I would like to commend the president, his national security adviser, and well-meaning indigenes of Rivers State that were part of this peace accord, and for recognizing the threat that this issue could have posed to our nation and acting to extinguish it. The president should direct the national security adviser to continue and deepen further engagement between Gov. Fubara and the former Governor and Hon. Minister Wike to give this accord time work.
Nosa Osaikhuiwu is a public commentator, a culture change advocate in Nigeria, and a certified expert in process improvements and elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in Houston, Texas
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