The present situation of things in our Nation requires a lot of prayers and God’s guidance. As a result of this I am inspired to quote the word of God as stated in Romans 12:9-21
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful I prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Nigeria currently finds itself at a critical juncture, where the actions of the current political administration threaten to erode the very foundations of our hard-won democracy.
Twenty-six years after the restoration of civilian governance, a growing number of Nigerians are left questioning the authenticity of a government that claims to be of, by, and for the people.
It is time for us to confront these challenges head-on and demand a democracy that truly serves its citizens.
Recent events in Rivers State are indications that the administration of our democracy remains problematic.
Following the declaration of a state of emergency on March 18, 2025, by President Bola Tinubu, which involved the suspension of Governor Siminalaye Fubara and others, I raised the alarm that they are potential threats to our democratic framework.
It is noteworthy, that prior to and subsequent to the emergency declaration, Rivers State witnessed no significant incidents of violence, not even a ‘chicken’ was killed in the state. Nevertheless, a group entangled in this manufactured man-made crisis shamelessly praised President Tinubu’s decision, revealing that the motivations behind the declaration were politically motivated—a deeply troubling reality that cannot be overlooked.
Currently, there appears to be an effort to legitimize this illegality. Last week, President Tinubu formally sought the National Assembly’s approval for key appointments in Rivers State as part of the measures instituted under the state of emergency.
In a letter presented and read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a plenary session, the President requested confirmation for the appointment of a Chairman and six members of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). These nominees were proposed by Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), the Sole Administrator responsible for overseeing the state’s affairs.
The President underscored the necessity of these appointments to facilitate effective governance during the emergency period and to assist the administrator in managing state functions efficiently.
The request also includes confirmations for positions within the Rivers State Primary Healthcare Board, the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, and the Rivers State Local Government Civil Service Commission.
The President’s insistence on these appointments reveals a troubling disregard for democratic principles, this move raises serious concerns about the concentration of power and undermines the very fabric of our democratic institutions, suggesting a calculated effort to bypass accountability and manipulate state functions at a time when the people’s voice should be paramount.
The Senate referred the matter to its ad-hoc committee on emergency rule in Rivers State, which is expected to submit its report within one week.
The implication of above is that a person in office illegally is now being mandated to conduct council elections in this oil-bearing state.
I once told Tinubu that in 1972, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the great and iconic Nigerian musician who was born by a clerical father and a radical mother, released his popular album, “Roforofo Fight” where he sang ‘When Trouble Sleep, Yanga Wake Am, Wetin E dey Find, Na Palaver E Dey Find. Na Palaver E Go Get oooo’.
Fela died in 1997 but unfortunately, the effect of that song is still reverberating in Nigeria today.
Those in charge of the polity have closed their ears to reasoning and deliberately coming out with policies capable of disintegrating the country.
It is disheartening that Nigeria is precariously and dangerously staggering on the path of self-destruction.
I pray this trouble does not start from Rivers State.
It seems those in charge have refused to learn lessons from events of the past. Pitiably, lovers of Nigeria are too timid to challenge them.
I want to reiterate that what the President is doing in this Rivers matter is completely illegal and Nigerians know this. Constitutionality is being disregarded and disrespected. It is not possible for illegality to overcome legality. It will never happen, now or later. The President is not the government. The Governor is not the government. It is the people that constitute governance and government. The moment you take the mandate of the people away, it is no longer democracy. That is exactly what is happening in Rivers State.
Some people were deliberately mandated to cause crisis in that state so that the All Progressives Congress (APC) can take Rivers from the back door, which is unfortunate.
In the 60s, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa was asked what he was doing about the crisis in the Western Region and he said as far as he was concerned, there was no crisis. We all know the rest of the story.
I want to tell Tinubu that he is not a king or emperor. This is a Republic and he doesn’t have absolute powers. This is how Adolf Hitler started in Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Instead of Tinubu addressing critical issues in the polity, he is busy naming and renaming public facilities after himself. Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.) is not the Governor of Rivers State. He is in office illegally. As long as he is there illegally, he doesn’t have powers to appoint people to fill all these critical positions because he was never elected.
Today and with the series of crises, insecurity, hunger, joblessness and other vices in the country, Tinubu is busy toying with the future of this country.
Nigerians don’t feel safe anymore in their fatherland but the Federal Government, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Senate are only interested in controlling Rivers resources.
Aside the fact that history is a faithful record of the past, it is also a prophecy of what is coming. That is why Fela’s song is still apt, decades after.
Today, I see what led to the collapse of the First and Second Republics being repeated by the APC-led Federal Government.
When democracy was suspended in Rivers, the National Assembly, without the mandatory two thirds approval, rubber-stamped this unconstitutional action by voice vote.
That was an indication of things to come.
It is disheartening that Nigeria is on the spot globally for the wrong reasons.
The law says two thirds of members of the National Assembly must approve a declaration of state of emergency. That is, 74 Senators and 240 Representatives. So, what is the meaning of voice vote? Did they get these numbers before the emergency rule was okayed?
This presidential system we are operating now is worse than what happens in a military organisation.
This is no longer democracy. It portends what is coming in 2027.
My message to Tinubu is that power is transient, not absolute. The power you wield today is not permanent. You only know the beginning of a crisis. You don’t know where and when it will end.
Nigerians are suffering but these operators don’t care about the people.
There is a dangerous slide to anarchy in the polity. If they don’t apply the brake now, the wrong direction they are heading may lead to political collapse.
To President Tinubu, I want to ask you: is this democracy or dictatorship?
Where did you get the powers to suspend elected officials when you declared emergency rule in the oil-bearing state on Tuesday, March 18, 2025? As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, you have powers to declare emergency rule all over the country to deal with enemies of state but from which Constitution did you get the powers to suspend elected officials?
If you remember, former President Goodluck Jonathan declared emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in 2013 but he did not sack the Governors. Kashim Shettima, who is your deputy today, was Borno Governor then. Despite the fact that he did not sack Governors then, below is what you (Tinubu) wrote to attack Jonathan:
“It is now abundantly clear that President Jonathan has finally bared his fangs, confirming what was widely speculated. By declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, he has intimidated and emasculated the Governors of these states. We are witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.
“The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events to the unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015.
“Borno and Yobe states have been literally under armies of occupation, with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. “This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.
“Let me be quick to say that this administration will be setting in motion a chain of events the end of which nobody can predict”.
President Tinubu, if, in 2013, you accused Jonathan, somebody who did not remove Shettima and others from office, of ‘setting in motion a chain of events the end of which nobody can predict’, what do you want Nigerians to say about you with your suspension of democratically-elected governor, his deputy and lawmakers?
Tinubu, if your advisers are not ready to tell you the truth, Nigerians have spoken with one voice that your despotic tendencies – by jettisoning democratic governance in the name of state of emergency – cannot stand.
This is a travesty taken too far. Sadly, Nigeria is sliding dangerously into full-blown dictatorship.
Nowhere in the constitution is it written that democratically-elected officials can be removed by emergency declaration.
Jonathan demonstrated this in 2013. You criticised him. Now, you have done something worse. Even before the heavily-compromised National Assembly ratified it, you already swore-in the Administrator.
Are we in full-blown presidential lawlessness now?
The message you are sending to Nigerians is that laws mean nothing to those in power.
With series of unchecked abuses, this is a classical example of how democracies die.
Enough of executive recklessness and brigandage. The time for tolerating a flagrant disregard for our democratic norms must come to an end.
Rivers State stands as the cornerstone of our economic vitality and financial resilience. The current trajectory is far from a viable path to peace; rather, it risks igniting a crisis that will reverberate beyond state lines, impacting every Nigerian. I speak from the position of an elder who has seen so much in our country.
Let this serve as a clarion call: Enough is enough. A word is sufficient for the wise to heed the warning. The stakes are too high to remain silent any longer.
Enough is enough.
Finally let me leave you with this quotation.
“Every time we refuse to face up to issues and confront them, we weaken our character”, says one writer. We need courage to have strength of character. If we do not have the courage to face things are wrong and deal with them then we are what the people of old called ‘moral cows in our plump comfortableness’. There is no doubt that our age suffers from a lack of moral courage. So many are in the inglorious business of keeping their heads down. ‘We are in the process’ says a politician, ‘of being standardized morally – and at a very low level.’ The new moral code is: ‘It must be right if everybody does it.’
Many Leaders can lose their way because of lack of courage. They lie down before everything instead of standing up for something. All is not lost while we have courage. God is ready to give you all you need.”
*CHIEF OLABODE IBIYINKA GEORGE
ATONA OODUA OF YOŔUBALAND
