Harvesting From The Political Skirmishing In Rivers State—A Non-Partisan Stance

At a training session in Port Harcourt, and precisely on 4th July 2013, at one of the test presentations by participants on any chosen topic, I purposely went out of the way to do a presentation on a topic “RISING POLITICAL SKIRMISH IN RIVERS STATE”.

My choice was influenced by a conviction that anyone living in a community or state should pay due attention to any development that threatens public peace and, just as the early Greek philosophers propounded, that he is accursed that keeps aloof from public life. Thus, in spite of my avowed disdain of the ways of an average Nigerian politician, I still take interest in tracking their actions and inactions in the public arena.

Within the less than three minutes of power point proficiency demonstration, I put the unfolding dangerous political skirmishing in histrionics, tracing what had happened on the economic, social and political turfs in the state, and a build-up to the political skirmishing thus: the impressive development strides of the Amaechi administration, the rising political permutations towards 2015, the plain and hidden geo-political romances with their reprisals at the national and sub-national levels, as well as the early casualties, etc.

I observed that: the travails of both Governor Amaechi and the agonized local government chairmen/councilors were largely political; the contrived impasse over the Nigerian Governors' Forum has become a shameful and dangerous outcrop that must be uprooted or properly covered; the skirmishing has adversely affected the peace and pace of development in Rivers State; the grounding of the Governor's plane and other retaliatory actions were ultimately to the detriment of the people who actually should claim ownership of the jet (even though the purchase may not have been their priority need); the state legislators and local councilors were unjustly being paid salary (and even allowances) for doing nothing, etc.

I then called for a credible panel to be setup to probe allegations against the Obio/Akpor Council, and for non-partisan elders and religious leaders to urgently intervene in order to stem the tide of political skirmishing. No doubt my audience of largely unemployed youths and students may not have been ripe for that level of analysis at such a training event, but I felt satisfied that I had chosen to exercise due thought on a critical problem that confronted a society in which I live. In spite of my religious and personal dispositions towards partisan politics, I still believe we should be concerned about good governance in our clime. The events that had overtaken the polity in Rivers State since then are too fresh on us for my labouring to argue that those that were supposed to intervene failed to do so for reasons that they alone can explain to their future generations.

It is for this condemnable amnesia that I ask: Where were the noisy religious mind-guards who make governors and other politicians believe that their miracle powers alone win elections and ensure stability of tenures for governors? That virtually all the warring factions in this saga belong to one religious denomination or the other is not in dispute; but why was it not possible for any of them to exercise a restraining influence on their “very faithful” members? More importantly, since after the satanic assembly assaults, why is it that none of the pugilists has been axed by an avowed “Body of Christ”, for surely the politicians are well-known and highly adored persons in any of the churches they attend? How else are we expected to benefit from the touted hallowed image of churches? Here lies the significance of denominations that restrain their members from partisan politics and other untoward activities, such as the Deeper Life Bible Church that recently axed their General Overseer's son for just being a bit flamboyant in his wedding; most churches are beneficiaries of the wantonness and financial malfeasance of their members.

We should identify and take note of which denominations our unruly politicians and their ilk belong, even as the churches and their leaders have failed us in this case. In the same vein, the traditional rulers, who draw fat sustenance from the State treasury, failed to restrain their “illustrious” sons and financiers of community development projects from their pernicious ways: and that is why the legislative services of Rivers state will henceforth be provided from outside the State; and this dereliction of customary duty will be the justification for paying the idle members of the state Assembly for the joblessness their rascality has brought upon them, even after they had destroyed valuable public property kept at their charge in the (hallowed?) chambers. Certainly, the people should not be put in such a diminished condition of suffering avoidable double jeopardy.

Thus, as the National Assembly wades in to maintain peace in the first six-moth interregnum, the people should be given the following minimum reliefs: (1) The integrity of our democratic process should be restored by verifying and sustaining the mandate of whoever won the last NGF election (irrespective of our varied opinions on the Forum's relevance); the annulment of duly concluded elections should no longer be tolerated in our clime.

(2) The allegations of financial mismanagement against the Obio/Akpor Council should be investigated by a credible panel set up by the NASS – for this was the only credible and constitutional step the State Assembly should have taken all the months it hanged that fraud tag on the Council's neck, rather than being occupied with other controversies like the allocation of market stalls.

The proposed panel's report should be treated constitutionally, to indict or exonerate the Council Chairman, and thus recover any money due to the unemployed youths and impoverished citizens in the local government area. Probity and the people's interest will be better served in this way, rather than finding a PDP-in-house political solution to an allegation of fraud against public office holders.

(3) The true reasons leading to the grounding of the Governor's (indeed the people's) jet plane should be unraveled by a NASS-appointed independent panel, ascertaining whether extant regulations have been applied as well to other governors who fly such state-owned planes.

At the end of it all, Rivers people should decide between owning and selling off the grounded plane, in line with their economic priorities. Those who overstepped their bounds in the plane grounding saga should be sanctioned.

(4) All the affected State assemblymen should be made to bear the total cost of replacing the properties destroyed during their unruly behavior, while their salaries and allowances are stopped or at best halved for the entire period of their not sitting

(5) The NASS should ab initio set out plans on how to discharge their constitutional/legislative new role in a manner that will still enable the Governor to vigorously pursue all the developmental programmes and projects due to be delivered to the state; it will be a great disservice to the people of the state if this political indiscretion of young politicians is allowed to bridge the pace of development witnessed in the past six years.

(6) The Governor and other politicians in the State should be counseled to both moderate and align their political ambitions to the realities on ground, and be recommitted to the primary duty of serving the citizens to the best of their abilities.

Thank you.
Victor TC Anyanwu –Snr. Economist And Public Policy Analyst

08036676651; [email protected]; [email protected]

Issued in Port Harcourt, this Wednesday, 31st July, 2013.