PenPoint With Monima Daminabo
An uneasy calm has accentuated the groundswell of mixed feelings which had trailed the simmering political crisis in Rivers State, courtesy of the recent twist associated with a reconciliation deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu between the principal actors in the fray, namely, embattled governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor of the state and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
As is easily recalled, a struggle for control of the political fortunes of the state came to a boil in October 2023 and even snowballed over time into a dimension, which was cited by President Bola Tinubu to impose a state of emergency on the state in March 2025. In the course of the imposition of the state of emergency, the president suspended Governor Fubara, his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, as well as all the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months. He further appointed a naval officer, Rear Admiral Ibok Ette Ibas (retd) as sole administrator for the same period of six months.
At the last count, rather than offering a clear-cut resolution of the crisis, the terms of the reconciliation portend to threaten fresh dimensions that may even deepen the crisis further, as judging from the thrust of the public take on the situation, much of what they offer is a tenuous calm to facilitate a break in the raging storm.
As has been virally reported, the terms include firstly that Fubara shall not aspire or present himself for election for a second term in office come 2027. Secondly, all potential officials designated for election in the forthcoming local government polls in the state shall be nominated by Wike. Thirdly,
Fubara shall weed out from his cabinet, all of his commissioners and aides that do not enjoy the endorsement of Wike, who left office as governor of the state in 2023 after eight years on the seat. Another condition is that Fubara shall pay all the outstanding allowances to the suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule as Speaker.
Not surprisingly, not a few Nigerians see the scenario as similar to the plight of a conquered political entity, where such conditions are imposed on it by its conqueror. Correspondingly, not a few have also called on Fubara to resign from the office of governor instead of accepting such demeaning terms of reconciliation as they see such as most unfair and tantamount to capitulation by him.
Others have also hailed his acceptance of the terms as the more tenable option open to him, especially as such reconciles with his long-avowed commitment to promoting peace in the course of governance of the state. In that context, therefore, what matters more now to him is not his personal inclination to being humiliated, as whatever he does in office is ostensibly on behalf of the state, which he is constitutionally mandated to govern. Hence whatever comes his way as sacrifice or benefit is simply a dividend of leadership.
From the perspective of typical leadership challenges, what matters most now for him is not his personal whims and caprices but what is best for Rivers State in a time as this. And hardly will any other dispensation fit the bill than a genuine progression towards speedy restoration of peace after the storm.
In appraising the challenges facing Fubara as governor and leader of the state, whose constituents include his kith and kin, friends and foes, including his current traducers, as well as those who are indifferent to his person and circumstances, discretion needs to be the better part of any consideration of valour for him.
In this context, what should be uppermost in his contemplation remains how to embrace the onrushing future, with respect to the remaining portion of his tenure.
With barely two years left in his tenure, which started with a blistering pace in terms of distribution of infrastructural projects across the state and had been beset with sporadic intrusions by disruptive tendencies in the course of his face-off with Wike, and the eventual imposition of state of emergency by the president, a huge mountain of expectations
By implication, the contest for the political soul of the state is no more the exclusive challenge of Fubara as governor. As many Rivers interests that Ànd the situation of their collective emasculation by any self-appointed interlopers intolerable, reserve the right to act and regain their political liberties.
awaits him whenever he returns to office.
There is still much to be addressed in his truncated tenure, which comprise the relaunch of initiatives of his administration and completion of ongoing projects, which have lifted the spirits of the Rivers people, and which the state of emergency trammeled in breach of the general flow of expectations of the people.
As for the disturbing terms of the reconciliation, strict compliance with them by Fubara may not remain with him alone, no matter his inclination and determination to so deliver, given that they constitute a blanket emasculation of the entire voting population of the state as a bona fide constituent part of the Nigerian federation, with a constitution and laws that define who should aspire to or contest any office in the land.
By implication, the contest for the political soul of the state is no more the exclusive challenge of Fubara as governor. As many Rivers interests that find the situation of their collective emasculation by any self-appointed interlopers intolerable, reserve the right to act and regain their political liberties. As the saying goes, nobody has the monopoly of mischief.
Whereas the sponsors of the terms of reconciliation may have opted to play god in saddling Fubara with such draconian terms, a bigger job awaits them with respect to its implementation. For while they may have proposed to exploit his dour circumstances to capture Rivers State politically come 2027, the ever-effervescent nature of Nigeria’s political terrain may also have in store, other factors that may vitiate the actualisation of such a parochial dispensation.
In the final analysis, what will prevail is the unchallengeable condition that time alone will tell.
Monima Daminabo can be reached through Email: monimadaminabo@yahoo.co.uk
