The return of Fubara

Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, and state lawmakers on Thursday resumed duties following the lifting of the six-month emergency rule by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday. There was jubilation in Rivers State over the return of democratically elected officials. The six-month emergency rule was declared in Rivers State on March 18 due to the seeming political logjam between the governor and the state lawmakers on one hand and the rift between the governor and his estranged political godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on the other hand. The disagreements between all of them nearly paralysed governance in the state and almost led to anarchy.

It is good that the President has lifted the emergency rule in the state so that democracy can indeed return to the state fully. Before the state of emergency many critics had argued that the political situation in Rivers State was not enough to warrant its imposition. They were even more critical of the removal of elected governor, his deputy and the members of the State House of Assembly. They equally faulted the appointment of former Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) as the sole administrator of the state. The removal of elected officials during an emergency rule was seen as an aberration in a democracy. We shall not go through this path again.

During the six-month absence of the governor and other elected officials in the state, governance and indeed development were reportedly stalled. The function of the sole administrator was to restore peace and normalcy. He was not meant to carry out real governance and development in Rivers State. He was not elected. He was not from the state. His being an alien or an outsider did not help his situation at all. During his short reign, a local government election was held in which APC won almost all the seats in the usual Nigerian peculiar political style. The PDP was awarded three seats to demonstrate that the election was free and fair. All of us know the truth. Now that democracy has returned, the people are calling on Ibas to render account of his stewardship, which is legitimate in a democracy. Whether Ibas will do so or not is left to be seen. In Nigeria, anything can happen, including impunity and abuse of abuse of office.

With the return of Fubara, his deputy and the lawmakers, what is paramount now is how to achieve real peace and governance in the state. How Fubara and the lawmakers will work together in this fragile democracy should be seen in the days ahead. For now, the peace in Rivers is like the peace of the graveyard. Regardless of the fragility of the situation in Rivers State, the main political actors and other stakeholders in Rivers politics must give peace a chance. Rivers people more than anything else now need peace and good governance.

The time for quarrel is over. It is time to build. Fubara, his deputy and the lawmakers have lost six months of their tenure. The lost months will not be regained. They can make up by hitting the ground running and delivering on democracy dividends to the people of Rivers State. No doubt, all of them must have learnt useful lessons from the emergency rule. All of them are losers and therefore casualties of the political fracas in the state. I believe that Fubara and the lawmakers will do things differently now that they are back to power. They must be guided by maturity and experience. Their new epiphany will enable them to the right things. Old things have passed away and all things are new. As new political creatures they must act wisely as serpents.

This is the time for true reconciliation of all the political actors in Rivers State in the spirit of no victor, no vanquished so that they can move the state forward. Has Fubara been tamed, humbled or subdued as being insinuated in some quarters? Only time will tell. Will this lead to his political castration and irrelevance towards 2027 or not? In politics nothing is certain or sacrosanct. There are no permanent friends but interests.

How will Fubara wriggle out of the political landmines over party structure at the grassroots and even at state party level? Will he decamp to the APC as being rumoured or remain in the PDP? How can Fubara work with the present elected officials at the local government with most of them belonging to the opposition party in the state? Will Fubara appoint new commissioners or retain the old ones?

There are many questions begging for urgent answers. Has the six-month emergency rule fully addressed the problems that led to it? Perhaps it has. Perhaps it has not. Without fully addressing the problems that led to the crisis, which engendered emergency rule, the current peace will not be sustainable. It will backfire or at best they will remain as enemies in one big house. For real peace to reign in Rivers State, all the parties to the dispute must learn to forgive each other and promise to work for the interest of Rivers people.

They must be born again politicians and do away with politics of bitterness and fully embrace politics without bitterness. The six-month emergency rule is enough to learn useful lessons on political tolerance and patriotism. The Rivers people have suffered enough in the past six months without democratic leaders. Now is the time to rebuild the state and wean it of its acidic politics in the spirit of give and take or compromise. The new born again Fubara must have learnt some useful and pragmatic lessons on politics, especially on how to manage political godfathers, state lawmakers and other entities.

He must be wiser now having taken his political stock in the past six months. He should be more tactful and diplomatic in his politics now. He must not outshine his master. That should be regarded as the first law in political survival. All the parties to the dispute, including Wike and the central government have equally learnt some useful lessons as well. One is that there are other more peaceful ways to settle political dispute than state of emergency. Our democracy has passed that stage of crude imposition of emergency rule.

The Rivers State matter should have been settled through dialogue without resorting to emergency rule with its attendant problems. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo used emergency rule. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan used it. President Tinubu used it. And we saw its futility in resolving disputes. Never again shall we use that route to remove elected officials of government. There is no gain in using it as a tool to settle political dispute. Rivers State has just demonstrated to us its futility and needlessness.