Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to cease fire over their lingering political feud, warning that the matter could escalate into a bigger crisis with regional or national implications.
“Rivers State is very critical in this country. Rivers State is the heart of the Niger Delta. If Rivers State is destabilised, the entire Niger Delta will be destabilised, and it will not end within the Niger Delta alone because I am from this part of the country, and I know how the system works. We don’t want any crisis in Rivers State,” Jonathan said.
He spoke yesterday, during flag-off of the construction of the multi-billion naira Trans-Kalabari road project, at Nkpor-Aker road roundabout, Rumuolumeni, Obio/Akpor Local Council.
The former president recalled problems that often attended the transition of governments in Nigeria and resultant crises, saying the trend does not bode well for the nation’s development. He said at the centre, where presidents have taken over from presidents, transitions were better managed.
He lamented, however, that things were worse at the state level. He said outgoing and incoming governors must know they have to work together for the collective interest of the citizens in their states.
“In this case of Rivers, Minister Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara must work together for the development of the land and the people of Rivers State. The tension will not help us. Leaders must know that nobody takes 100 per cent. You must learn the principle of give and take. So, our political actors must work together if you love Rivers people.
“I join the leaders of Rivers State and well-meaning Nigerians who have been calling for a truce, who have been calling for a ceasefire, to also re-emphasise that there is the need for a ceasefire. Let us do things that will rather project this state positively,” Jonathan said.
Quoting the proverbial ‘when two elephants fight, the grass suffers’, the former president said: “Both the governor and the minister are young people, very young people, but they are powerful. And if you continue to fight, Rivers people will suffer. We don’t want Rivers people to suffer. So, we are calling on them to embrace. It takes two hands to clap. We want them to work together for the collective interest of Rivers people.”
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Jonathan added: “Whatever has happened has passed. Let us move to a new phase for the interest of the state, for the interest of the Niger Delta, and indeed, the interest of the country.”
Meanwhile, elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw nation, Edwin Clark, has accused the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Umar Ganduje, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Umar Damagum, of colluding with Wike to sabotage the Fubara administration.
In an open letter yesterday, Clark said Wike needed to be called to order because he was “dancing naked in the open market in the politics of madness in Rivers State with one leg each in the two parties.
He said: “I know both of you are fully aware and involved in the political crisis in Rivers State, which is caused by Wike, who is controlling the two parties in Rivers State, particularly the PDP. I strongly advise both of you to withdraw from the madness of politics of Rivers State to avoid the dangerous crisis facing Rivers State, one of the most important states producing the resources used to sustain the economy of this country. I hope you do not forget that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the deep seaport of Onne are very well established in Rivers State.
“How can the Federal Government and the two main political parties allow an individual to disrupt and cause confusion, harassment of the democratically elected governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on the guise that he alone, and not the people of Rivers State, made Fubara governor, in his provocative and inciting statement?”
Clark said the support given to Wike by both chairmen had made him courageous enough to intimidate and anger the Rivers State governor and government, describing as criminal any attempt to overthrow Fubara.
He added: “I am therefore appealing to you, in the interest of peace and stability in Nigeria, to disassociate yourselves from the diabolical and mischievous plan by Wike for no just cause to bring down the government of his successor. I strongly advise both of you to retrace your steps and take charge of your political parties in Rivers State, and not leave it for Wike who is neither PDP nor APC.”
