…Urges Ijaw to rebuild Rivers alliances

Former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, on Sunday said that he had been vindicated on his earlier position that the political crisis between former Rivers State Governor, Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his successor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) affair and had nothing to do with the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

 

Eradiri recalled that when he made his position known during the crisis, many Ijaw leaders, who wanted to profit from the dispute, attacked him.

 

Eradiri, who spoke on the resolution of the crisis and the political future of the Ijaw people in Rivers State, commended Fubara for returning to his political family, but warned that the political fallout had created divisions and animosity that would take time to repair.

 

According to him, attempts by politicians to ethnicise the dispute between Wike and Fubara damaged the relationships between the Ijaw and other ethnic nationalities in the state.

 

He said: “I appreciate Governor Fubara for going back to his political family. We warned, but they did not listen, and a lot of things happened that will be difficult to reverse,” he said.

 

“Some people wanted to score political points by trying to ethnicise the political crisis. The Rivers State crisis was a PDP crisis. It had nothing to do with ethnicity”.

 

He argued that Fubara’s emergence as governor was not the product of a collective decision by the Ijaw people, insisting that Wike did not consult the Ijaw ethnic nationality before choosing his successor.

 

“When Wike wanted to choose Sir Siminalayi Fubara as the governor, he did not call Ijaw people for a meeting. If he had called a meeting of the Ijaw ethnic nationality and announced his decision to make an Ijaw governor, I am sure Fubara would not have been the Ijaw choice.

 

 

Ijaw people would have gathered to make a collective choice. Nobody knew Fubara in the political arena,” he said.

 

Eradiri said Fubara’s lack of extensive political experience before becoming governor contributed to the crisis, warning that political office without adequate political preparation could create serious problems.

 

“Once you are not schooled politically and suddenly they give you a political office, it is usually difficult because you will use your first office to start learning how to play politics. If you allow ego to enter, you won’t learn, but you will create more problems. That is what has happened in Rivers State”, he said.

 

The former IYC leader also rejected the narrative that Wike had become an enemy of the Ijaw, recalling the former governor’s role in supporting the Ijaw community after the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

 

Eradiri also referred to appointments of Rivers people into positions at the Federal Government level, arguing that Wike’s political influence had contributed significantly to some of the opportunities enjoyed by the Ijaw and Rivers people.

 

He said: “When President Goodluck Jonathan left power and there was heat, Wike was the one who stood solidly behind and supported the Ijaw people. And all of a sudden the same man was tagged an enemy of Ijaw people. I said no,” he said.

 

“When you look at some of the benefits the Ijaw has had in this administration, all the appointees in Abuja came through Wike and all of a sudden Wike has become an enemy of the Ijaw. How?

 

He said the Ijaw people must also critically examine what happened during the crisis, particularly the fate of those who became politically exposed because of their support for Fubara.

 

“As at the time the governor was going back to his political family, he forgot the entire Ijaw people that were creating enemies because of him. How many Ijaw people in the struggle did Fubara appoint?” he queried.

 

Eradiri blamed Fubara for allowing the disagreement with Wike to escalate, stressing that the FCT Minister had played a major role in his political journey.

 

“Fubara should be faulted because Wike picked him from the NYSC level till where he is today. So, nobody should know Wike more than Fubara. For him to have started striking within one year of assuming office, it means he was playing with fire,” he said.

 

He, however, cautioned that the end of the Wike-Fubara crisis did not automatically resolve the political and ethnic tensions involving the Ijaw in Rivers State.

 

He said the Ijaw still had a legitimate opportunity to seek the governorship of Rivers State, but warned that such an ambition would require strategic alliances with other ethnic nationalities.

 

“We have not settled the divide between the Ijaw and the power brokers in Rivers. We have created more divide. We have created hate and animosity.

 

“Let us not forget that the Ijaw people in Rivers State have not led Rivers. Ijaw people still have an opportunity to present their candidate,” he said.

 

Eradiri challenged Ijaw leaders, who believed the ethnic group possessed the political strength to produce a governor to demonstrate it by sponsoring and supporting a candidate.

 

He said no ethnic group could single-handedly win the governorship of Rivers State, stressing that political victory depended on broad-based alliances.

 

The former IYC president urged the Ijaw to repair relationships with other ethnic groups and abandon what he described as the perception that the Ijaw could intimidate their way into political power.

 

“Where are those Ijaw leaders that abused me? Why don’t they gather and sponsor a candidate in one of the political parties in Rivers since they think we have all the powers to make governor in Rivers?

 

“To make a governor in Rivers, you need all the ethnic nationalities to support you. We cannot stand alone and produce a governor in Rivers State. We need to build back those alliances,” he said.

 

“We must resolve the tension between us and other ethnic nationalities. They should stop looking at Ijaw as intimidators. They think we feel we can intimidate our way into leadership. But it is not correct. Only a few persons created that idea,” he said.

 

On the emerging political alignment ahead of the 2027 elections, Eradiri urged the Ijaw people to consider either working with the Rainbow Coalition or collapsing all their structures to back an Ijaw candidate in another party.

 

Eradiri welcomed the emergence of Major Jack as the coalition’s Ijaw running mate, urging the Ijaw people to rally around him and use the opportunity to rebuild their political influence.

 

He also challenged Ijaw leaders, who believed the group could independently produce a governor to rally behind other candidates, citing Dumo Lulu-Briggs as an example.

 

He said: “I was told that an Ijaw man, Major Jack, has been chosen as a running mate for the coalition governorship candidate and what we need to do is to rally round Major Jack to lead the front.

 

“We need an Ijaw political leader in Rivers now. And if Major Jack becomes the deputy governor in Rivers, he should become the rallying point for the people. He should start reaching out to douse the tension.

 

“But if Ijaw leaders believe that we have the capacity, we have other parties and there is a consistent Lulu-Briggs who has been contesting. They should rally round him and back him so that we can have a contest,” Eradiri said.