‎PDP‬, Amaechi and the Morsi Syndrome

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE

The Rivers State affair is very unfortunate; it is shameful and it has shown that we have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing and that our politicians can and will do anything and everything to achieve parochial interests. It is a naked display of the might-is-right syndrome in a descending order such that as Amaechi is suppressing the LGs and legislators with contrary spirits, the Abuja forces are unleashing their awesome powers on him. It has also brought glaringly to the public attention again the issues of state police and the precarious position of chief-security governors who do not even have a say in the appointment of their personal security details!

All efforts must be made to de-escalate the crisis. The president must act and act fast because even if he is not directly involved, the sordid events are happening in Nigeria, in his party, and in his zone. He was also a governor before and a victim of institutional and political oppression; he knows what it feels like. Wike should not set Rivers on fire because if he did so, he would not have anybody and anything to govern if he becomes governor. He doesn’t need to run Amaechi out of town to be whatever he wants to be. A ceasefire should be declared and all the captives should be set free. Amaechi has won the propaganda and poor-me war but he is not that innocent. If he has a right to his political convictions, Rivers LG officials and legislators should also be free to disagree with him. Federal institutions should grant him the privileges and respects due to him as Citizen Amaechi and as Governor Amaechi. Amaechi should pursue his political ambition, and so should Wike and whoever else. But it should be without bitterness and according to due process. If Amaechi feels that the fingers feeding him are giving him poison, he should just port rather than biting those fingers! After all, right from the governorship nomination days and Obasanjo’s K-Leg doctrine, he has been at permanent loggerheads with his party! Those who encourage in other parties what they cannot stomach in their own parties are also being mischievous: only the truth can set us free. All those urging calm and caution should address their appeals to all the parties to the conflict. The policeman who was viciously brutalising a Nigerian citizen [honourable or dishonourable] should be disciplined while the Rivers House leader should actually be charged with attempted murder – that is, if his victim survives!

For Amaechi, I advise more caution and tact. He who stands should be careful lest he falls [1st Cor. 10:12]. ‘Amandiujo’ is an Igbo name that reminds us that it is from the house of the coward that people usually point at what was once the house of the brave. Humility, caution and diplomacy are also aspects of valour. It is very difficult for him to be right and correct on all occasions! As for Wike and the Abuja forces, politics is by consensus, negotiation and persuasion; it is not by-fire-by-force. I cannot speak emphatically on the partiality or otherwise of the police commissioner, but the invasion of the House by unauthorised persons and hostile airport reception for the ‘solidarity’ governors are indications that something is amiss! The police hierarchy should carefully examine this matter and act accordingly. As for the man himself, he should not overstep his bounds because if care is not taken, politicians may sacrifice him to the god of ‘roforofo’ politics. Unfortunately, late AIG Ige of the Ngige abduction fame is no longer alive to share experiences with him. The truth is that our politicians are use-and-dump [UAD] experts. As for those small police boys, Amaechi’s ADC and CSO who refused to report to their superiors because Amaechi is providing them with cover, they are toying with their future and lives – in or out of the police.

The PDP elders in Rivers State and South-South are not helping matters. Either during their visit to the president or their recent intervention on the matter, they are pouring fuel into the conflagration. They have to be more conciliatory because it is the best thing to do and because it may be anybody’s turn tomorrow. All the mediating parties must be objective; they should advise all parties because all conflicts are a least two-sided. They should also put Nigeria and democracy first. Politicians should also learn that as the Egyptian experience has shown, mandate is a two-way affair; when people hand over their collective power and will to you, you must also deliver the goods to their satisfaction. For everybody [participants and onlookers], let us remember that no condition is permanent and let us do unto others as we would wish to be done to.

It is also important to remind both PH and Abuja politicians that ‘a real star does not fight to dominate others; it makes room for others to shine because the beauty of stars is in their numbers’ [Aity Dennis Inang, Guardian Life, 9/2/13]. They should let a thousand stars bloom. Furthermore, destruction, violence, fighting and quarrelling are everywhere because the law is weak and useless and justice is never done. The evil get the better of the righteous and so justice is perverted [Habakkuk 1:3]. If our institutions are strong, delivering on their mandates and serving the common good instead of the current big-man, we should not have been experiencing this sordid affair.

As for our politicians, it would appear that Oliver Cromwell’s speech on 20/4/1653 was directed at them: ‘Ye are a pack of mercenary wretches and would, like Esau, sell your country for a mess of pottage…. Is there a single virtue now remaining among you? Is there one vice you do not possess? You have no more religion than my horse; gold is your god. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the republic? Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not…turned the democracy temple into a den of thieves by your immoral principles and wicked practices?’

Ten years ago it was Anambra; today it is Rivers State; tomorrow, who knows? When shall this nascent democracy mature? Let there be peace in PH and let us always do the right thing! [concluded]