Tinubu urged to heed 1962 Akintola-Awolowo feud to avert Rivers crisis

Criticism has continued to trail President Bola Tinubu’s action following his decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly.

Recall that Tinubu announced during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday evening that the suspension would last for six months, during which time Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) would be appointed Administrator to oversee the state’s affairs.

Speaking in Benin, a public affairs analyst and veteran journalist, Mr. Tony Abolo, said the decision to suspend Governor Fubara amid an increasing political dispute in the state involving the Rivers Governor against his predecessor and current Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, and pro-Wike lawmakers was a script that the federal government had allegedly plotted a long time ago.

Abolo said the hurry to suspend Governor Fubara and the imposition of a state of emergency on Rivers State is an ill wind that blows no one any good.

He expressed worry that the President suspended the governor and has found nothing wrong on the part of the current Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, and pro-Wike lawmakers, who are also vested interests in the Rivers feud.

The veteran journalist said President Tinubu should know the implications of taking sides in the political impasse in Rivers State, with other similar political conflicts brewing in Lagos, Kano, and Osun States.

He urged President Tinubu to learn from history in the case of Chief S. L. Akintola and Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s impasse in 1962.

He faulted President Tinubu for not being a good student of history, adding that if he was, he would easily recall the political crises between Akintola and his friend, Chief Awolowo, in 1962, where the battle for supremacy in the party led to disagreement between them as Akintola disagreed with Awolowo’s decision.

He stated that what is playing out in Rivers State is a script acted out by the political powers in Abuja.

“It was a script that they had plotted a long time ago, and so they now wanted to execute it. In trying to execute it, they gave themselves an excuse to have gone and blown up a pipeline. Fubara has already said it is the other group that went to blow up the pipeline.

“So it became a lame excuse to say they have started. Therefore, there is a breakdown of law and order. There was no such thing as a breakdown of law and order in Rivers State. Because if Tinubu had acted as a true democrat, all he had to do was, if there was this normal Godfather-Godson issue, he wouldn’t take sides with one person. He ought to become a mediator, but he wasn’t.

“He took the side of Wike, and then when he first called the warring factions, Tinubu told everybody to go back and withdraw their lawsuits. Then Fubara, because he was naive, young, and inexperienced, withdrew his. Wike held his, and then held on and started to use his own to go up in the judiciary, and it ended up at the Supreme Court.
“Now see the conflict. The president ought to have asked the other man to withdraw his suit in obedience to what he advised.
“So, Tinubu must take the blame. Nobody else can take the blame for what has happened but the president himself.

“The pity is that, given his age and the fact that he is a Yoruba man, it grieves me because, at my age too, I know exactly what happened in 1963.

“We all know that in 1962, there was a conflict between Awolowo and Akintola at the Jos convention. Akintola was in Action Group. In the end, it created the Wild Wild West imbroglio in the West, and all of that went on and on.

“We were quite evident at that time, knowing and pleading that people like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa should listen and mediate.

“Balewa didn’t mediate. And in the end, when it snowballed into a major crisis, who paid the price? Sadly, those who didn’t do anything.

“They paid the price. So one ought to remember, like Santayana says, those who forget history are bound to repeat the same error.

“And here we are repeating the same error. And you think there’ll be no consequence? Is the President going to now take Rivers State on a platter of gold? The same man will be going to Rivers in 2027 for a campaign, and you think the Rivers people are so foolish to receive him? It will be difficult to get their support again.

“Meanwhile, Lagos is not okay. See, the Lagos State House of Assembly issue is there too. They can’t even listen to Tinubu anymore. They are saying, ‘Look, we have had enough of this control, control.’

The Osun State crisis is also there, Edo State is there, and Kano State is there. I mean, how does a man run a country with so much problem?” he said.