Rivers, Wike and glorification of gangsterism, by Anthony Brown

There is a tragi-comedy going on in the country, especially among the political class.
A villain is always playing the part of the victim, shouting himself hoarse of a plot, from imaginary enemies, to undermine his or her office.
Pitiably, this malaise is now rearing its ugly head in our dear state, Rivers.
Not that Riverians thought the controversial administration of Governor Nyesom Wike would do anything to alleviate their suffering but they didn’t know the situation would be so bad as we have it today.
There is a popular saying that some people will leave leprosy unattended to and be looking for ringworm medicine.
This saying is apt to the maladministration going on in Rivers State.
Last week, Wike, through one of his paid writers, Robert Obioha, in an article entitled: ‘Peterside and APC fantasy’ actually fantasised endlessly and ejaculated what sane Nigerians see as ‘a nauseating vomit’.
Wike, through Obioha, took on the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside.
Among others, he accused Peterside of meddling in the affairs of the state government.
He also advised Peterside, who is now the Director-General (D-G) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to wait till 2019 before challenging Wike.
Honestly, there is nothing sane Nigerians will not see or read in this country.
If the truth must be told, it is not Wike’s megaphone that will tell Peterside if he is interested in the 2019 governorship race or not.
Rivers people will take the decision. In fact, they have taken the decision because they are already tired of Wike.
Obioha also criticised Peterside’s statement at the Rivers APC East Zonal mega rally held in Okehi, Etche, ahead of the rescheduled Rivers rerun poll that Riverians are tired of the Wike administration.
But Peterside was only saying the obvious because people are really tired of Wike and his administration. With due respect, the governor is behaving like ‘a drunken dictator’, sacking and suspending commissioners at will, dissolving councils when he feels like.
And describing Peterside as a bad loser was the height of insensitivity about political and economic happenings in our state.
Of course, everybody knows what happened during the governorship election in Rivers last year. In fact, some INEC officials, who conducted the election, are already confessing to security agents how they were bribed with hundreds of millions of naira by the PDP government. Some rough necks were also paid to kill scores of Rivers people who were members of APC. The question to ask Wike is: Must you rule by force?
Today, the ‘gangsterism’ in Rivers State is unprecedented.
The number of those killed for political reasons, the latest being the popular Port Harcourt lawyer and activist, Ken Atsuete, is unprecendented in the annals of the state.
It is not an exaggeration to declare that Rivers is a theatre of war due to Wike’s belligerent nature.
Election that should have been conducted has to be postponed by INEC again because of insecurity.
This is a governor that openly boasted that electoral officers should write their Wills if they are coming to the state to conduct election.
By saying that Peterside’s statement ‘is capable of overheating the Rivers State polity’, Obioha must be told that it is not Peterside that is overheating the state. Wike has already done that.
Rivers is now known in the country as ‘one week, one trouble’.
That is why Peterside, a Christian, must follow what is in the biblical book of Isaiah 58:1 which says: ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions’
Nobody is safe again and Obioha, you want Peterside to keep quiet and not tell Riverians and Nigerians when Wike errs? Arrant nonsense.
What Obioha does not know is that Peterside is not waging war. He knows that Rivers is strategic to the economic well being of the country and when the governor is doing everything to undermine the economic potential and security of the country, he must be called to order.
Honestly, if anybody should be accused as being clueless or confused about governance, it is Wike.
Since he took over on May 29, 2015, it has been one crisis after the other in our dear state.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Wike has done everything possible to undermine democratic institutions in our oil-bearing state.
Despite the fact that tenures of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and Rivers State Judicial Commission (RSJC) are guaranteed by law, the first thing he did was to announce their dissolution. And, pitiably, a few hack writers defended this action, telling some gullible Nigerians that as governor, he has the power to dissolve any constitutional body.
Anyway, the orgy of illegality being perpetrated in our state today does not come as a surprise to anybody, given the antecedent of Wike when he was the ‘de factor’ minister in charge of education during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
To the governor, anything goes as long as he has his ways. As long as he pleases his sadistic inner being, the heads of innocent Rivers people can be chopped off.
Immediately he resumed, he took what people have now seen as phoney bank loans.
About N30 billion was approved by his lackeys in the House of Assembly. In fact, he set an unprecedented record of about N1 billion per day.
It is a shame that a governor could be openly bragging about his closeness to militants and hoodlums, all in the name of telling whoever cares to listen that he is in charge of the state.
To summarise, Wike has not fulfilled his electoral promises and he will never do that because he doesn’t have the capacity and sincerity. He has not solved social problems. He has destroyed the economy. Investors are running from the state because of the level of insecurity. In fact, he is making a mess of the state and it is not his fault because you can only give what you have.
At the rally Obioha referred to, Peterside raised some posers to the governor entitled ’10 important questions Wike must provide answers to Rivers people’.
*Which government has officially promoted and supported kidnapping and, under its watch, over 1200 persons have been kidnapped in one year?
*Which government has superintended over the killing of more than 1000 rivers people by cultists in just one year?
*Which government has borrowed more money under one year than all our previous governments from 1967 borrowed put together?
*Which government withdrew nearly 400 undergraduates sent on scholarship abroad by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to different countries?
*Which government deceitfully wants to take credit for projects conceived and delivered by the Amaechi administration?
*Under the watch of which government has more policemen and security personnel been killed by criminals armed by same government agents than have been killed ever in our history from the creation of Rivers State?
*Under whose government is multiple taxation legalised, touting legalised, extortion made legal?
*Under which government have our schools and primary health centres closed down and our people are dying in their numbers?
*Which government has deceived itself by embarking on endless circle of BIOMETRICS as excuse to owe workers and pensioners six months salaries?
*In which government is a governor both contractor, supervisor and awarding authority?”
Obioha, are you aware that Wike is owing Rivers workers six months salaries?
Also, are you aware that Rivers has become the number one kidnapping state in Nigeria?
Why are you leaving serious issues to deal with the mundane?
Rivers people cannot be deceived by lies and propaganda, no matter how well-crafted.
An end to this malfeasance is near.
Wike, Obioha and other paid writers should be told the truth.
Under Wike, Rivers is not working.
And Peterside will not stop talking.