Rivers of blood

Jonathan says he will not declare his stand until 2014, by which time analysts believe, he will have seized the entire political space available in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Rivers State, under Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has become a testing ground for a campaign for the presidential ticket as well as the election proper. At […]

Jonathan says he will not declare his stand until 2014, by which time analysts believe, he will have seized the entire political space available in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Rivers State, under Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has become a testing ground for a campaign for the presidential ticket as well as the election proper. At stake is an exaggerated 1.8 million votes from a single State in the President’s home base. This number is endangered for as long as Amaechi remains the chief executive; hence the determination of Jonathan and his cronies to remove the Governor at all costs.
Consider this emerging pattern: Amaechi’s aircraft is grounded by a compromised civil aviation body;  suddenly, a judicial intervention vests power in the faction of the PDP opposed to Amaechi and they begin to make several silly demands on him to restore the chairman of Obio/Akpor local government sacked by the Rivers State legislators, and other times they ask him to apologise (for what?); then Amaechi wins the Nigerian Governors Forum chairmanship election with 19 votes but the President recognises the loser who scored 16; Amaechi, along with 27 Legislators loyal to him, is then suspended by the ruling party;  an unprofessional Police Commissioner called Mbu deploys to Port Harcourt with a brief to stifle Amaechi and accordingly begins to conduct press briefings calling the Governor “dictator” and a “tyrant” (what will Mbu call those who sent him to Port Harcourt, you may ask); a domestic appendage, Patience Jonathan, visits Port Harcourt and the entire city is locked down for 11 days and an elected governor is confined to the government house as a proof that he is nobody; the “movers and shakers” of Rivers State visit the Villa and assure Jonathan that the stand-off between him and Amaechi will be resolved shortly; as a proof, five legislators opposed to Amaechi “impeach” the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly (RVHA) and “unanimously” elect Evans Bipi to replace him, hell breaks loose in the hallowed chambers and a free for all fight results in shedding of blood; thugs demonstrate against Amaechi and tear gas canisters are shot inside the Government House in Port Harcourt where the Chief Security Officer of the State resides; the armoured car in front of the Government House, the soldiers and Policemen guarding him are all abruptly withdrawn, and so on and so forth.
In the course of the above events, the Presidency has issued over half a dozen denials of its involvement. At different times, Ahmed Gulak, Reuben Abati, Patience Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, Labaran Maku and other cronies in Rivers have denied that Jonathan is in any way interested in the happenings in Rivers State. But can the Presidency also deny that they have responsibility to provide security for everybody in Rivers State, including the Governor? In the first instance, who posted police, soldiers and an armoured car to protect the government house and who withdrew them? Who deployed Policeman Joseph Mbu to Rivers and who has been approving his silly press conferences? How comes Evans Bipi is going in and out of the Villa proclaiming himself as the “speaker” of RVHA? Would Jonathan and his hangers on have tolerated it if Muhammadu Buhari had declared himself the President on 29th May, 2011? How comes that the leader of the largest political party in Africa and the President of the continental giant is both oblivious and uninterested in the obnoxious happenings in Rivers State? Why is Jonathan who has been favoured by providence to become president think that he has now developed the muscle to elbow others out of their own democratically acquired corners? And why is he of the belief that he has no responsibility to quickly intervene on the side of rule of law having sworn to “protect, defend and preserve the constitution”? Whether on the basis of morality or constitutionalism, the presidency cannot absolve itself of responsibility for the unfolding murderous saga in Port Harcourt.
Where were all those “guardians of democ-racy” who formed groups and organisations that clamoured for a constitutional succession of President Umar Musa Yar’adua by the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan? They should re-launch now and rediscover their voice by telling Jonathan to back off his tolerance of the disorder in Port Harcourt in favour of democracy. Why are General Yakubu Gowon and company silent? Where are Anyim Pius Anyim and his group? Where are Edwin Clark and his band? All of these men have a duty to work their phone lines now across to the Villa to tell Jonathan that Nigerians are sick of the bloody drama of intimidation, thuggery and engineered crisis aimed at removing Amaechi. These eminent Nigerians have a moral duty to publicly call on Jonathan to let Amaechi be. Or have they all benefitted from Jonathan that they are now beholden to him? Even General Abdul Salami Abubakar who a few hours earlier had asked politicians to be careful and not allow the situation in Rivers to truncate democracy was eventually reported to have showed up at the Villa to receive Patience Jonathan after her return from abroad. Did Abdul Salami go there to explain his cautionary statements over the Rivers State crisis or to brief his hosts on the meeting he had with four northern governors?
If a president wants to be respected, he should respect himself first; respect is earned not decreed. “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority”, says Ken Blanchard.  No elected official is greater than another and no elected official deserves greater respect than another. The constitution does not reckon with respect or disrespect for president or governor as a critical ingredient of this borrowed democracy and so is silent on it. If some misguided elements insist on one elected official respecting another, they should cite the section of the constitution that requires that, otherwise they should shut up. Certainly, the constitution does not say that the president is superior to a governor or citizen or vice versa. According to late President Umar Musa Yar’adua, a president is a servant – leader. Let this president serve the people and not expect the people to serve him. Let each star brighten its own section of the firmament and note that the moon is bigger, brighter and greater than all the stars put together.