I lived and worked for 10 solid years in Rivers State; long enough indeed to consider myself (subject to the approving authorities in the state) as a Rivers person by association. Rivers State is so etched in my consciousness that even after I have ceased to live there, I have maintained my numerous contacts and kept track of developments in the aquatic state of splendour called the ‘’Treasure Base of the Nation’’.
This is why as I write this, my heart has been tugging with trepidation at the ugly turn of events that followed the October 5 local government election in the state. Indeed, the state has been on knife edge since the parting of ways between incumbent Governor Simi Fubara and his predecessor Nyesom Wike who is currently the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister in the President Tinubu administration. I have watched along with many Nigerians their parting of ways growing bigger and more threatening to the point where, as the proverbial fight between two elephants, Rivers State has become the grass that has been suffering the effects unfortunately.
There is no need to recount the details of the beef between the two principal gladiators. Nigerians are more concerned that Rivers is hurtling dangerously down the road of violence and uncertainty which will not bode well for the state and the nation at large.
Fortuitously, I can say that I have crossed ways with some of the personalities involved in the imbroglio. On Wike, I recall that when he was Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government, his ‘revenue task force’, a motley collection of muscle-bound toughs ‘arrested’ me somewhere in the Trans Amadi area on the alleged ‘offence’ of having no licence for my car stereo. The beefy bruisers piled into my car and threateningly ordered me to proceed to the LG headquarters at Rumuodomaya to pay the appropriate fees for the ‘offence’. On arriving there, I was lucky to meet a friend of mine who offered to talk to the chairman. I was summoned to Wike’s office where, looking genuinely embarrassed, he profusely offered his apologies for the inconveniences and ordered my car to be released.
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Governor Fubara on the other hand we met under more salubrious circumstances. His senior colleague and fellow accountant Iyala Stewart of blessed memory who used to publish a local newspaper titled Ibani Herald along with his wife Linda Somiari Stewart now a legislator at the Rivers State House of Assembly, hailed from the Opobo and was a close friend. I remember on a certain Friday evening in Port Harcourt, Stewart came racing frantically to me, pleading for a boat booking for two of his friends to Bonny Island to attend the funeral of a friend of theirs. Even though the booking had closed and I had used up my booking slot for Stewart, I nonetheless was able to squeak a couple of seats for the two. What caught my attention was the name of one of the two passengers. The one Fubara was a two-penny name in the Ijaw areas of Rivers State. But the other name Finebone puzzled me even though in the riverine areas of the Niger Delta; such similar names like LongJohn, Fyneface, Finecountry, California, Liverpool, Heineken etc. were commonplace owing to historical contacts with British adventurers to the riverine areas of Nigeria. Subsequently, until I left Rivers State through Stewart, our paths often crossed with these two gentlemen. Finebone later became the publicity secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State and a close associate of Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation, under the Buhari administration.
Amaechi, of course I came to know, when he first became Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly in 1999. And even though the circumstances of our interaction were official, it was inevitable that we would come to relate informally as it happens from time to time.
Fortuitously these three gentlemen; Amaechi, Wike and Fubara who eventually became governors of the state at different times are now the dramatis personae in the vortex of the current imbroglio in Rivers State. With my deep connections in Rivers State, I find it difficult taking sides with any of the parties involved in the ongoing debacle in the state. My overriding interest like many Nigerians is in promoting peace in Rivers State.
Most people talk of Rivers State in terms of the abundant oil and gas resources in the state and the revenues that these generate into the coffers of the country. It is indeed true and that is why it is referred to as “The Treasure Base of the Nation’’.
But Rivers State is much more than that. It is a state rich in history and a tapestry of cultures. It is also a state that pulses with in-your-face vivacity and vibrancy that matches the diversity of its peoples.
From the northern part of the state, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni and Ahoada where the visitor gets welcomed with mashed dried fish and kola nuts, to Ikwerre land where you are hailed with greetings of ‘Ammeka’ to Abua/Odual where you are served with arguably the sweetest tasting pineapple in the country and to the land of the graceful, sophisticated Kalabari people and their preference for sartorial elegance and etiquette where you are welcomed in the Kalabari language with ‘Annua’; then to Okrika, the land of marine warriors and amazons paddling through the creeks in dug-out canoes, fishing and trading in the hundreds of fishing ports dotting the famous Cawthorne channels.
You are welcomed here warmly in the Orika language with the expression ‘Ndani’. And to the land of the proud but genteel Ibani people of Bonny and Opobo, and their colourful war canoe house festivals and dances that bear names like Peterside, Hart, Allison, Wilcox, Brown (Boye-Omuso) Halliday, Green etc. reflecting their long contacts with the British. Rivers is also the land of the great Andoni people who greet you warmly ‘Ire ire’ in the language. They have a reputation of being so skillful at fishing that they almost often ‘outfish’ fishermen from every other ethnic group in the state. And not leaving out the amphibious people of Ogoni land who form the link between the riverine and upland areas of the state with names like Barinem, Baridua, Nwinudee, etc. Lastly the Etche people of Umuma and Etche who share cultural links with their Igbo and Ikwerre neighbours are a prominent component of Rivers life.
Indeed, Rivers State is a veritable poetry in colours, cultures and history in addition to its vast mineral resources which should qualify as a United Nations cultural heritage site.
Nigerians should be very concerned that such a very important state with such endowments is tipping inevitably towards implosion. We must not just passionately appeal to the people of Rivers to sheathe the daggers they have drawn at each other; Nigerians must also encourage and join hands with the people of the state to work towards preventing the state from going down the dangerous path of destruction it seems bent on.
Rivers State must not be allowed to fall because the flames of such an avoidable conflagration will spread through the Niger Delta and certainly engulf the country eventually.
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