Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the ‘un-executive’ Governor of Rivers State has come to represent the most ridiculous tendency in the history of governance in Nigeria. The ex-village wrestler turned lawyer without a court appearance and Governor by strong-arm tactics lacks the least finesse that a State Chief Executive should possess. He is a typical example of a loose cannon. Suffering from an incurable diarrhea of the mouth, Wike’s speeches are like the grating noise of an unserviceable factory machine. His choice of words is the stuff for the back-of-the-woods gangsters. His thought process does not stray beyond come down and let us fight. He has taken this unfortunate character to higher levels of embarrassment to the chagrin of not just the good people of Rivers State, but the Niger Delta region and the entire polity of Nigeria. Wike remains a sorry advertisement for democratic and leadership experience in Nigeria. He has fallen short of the decorum, clear-headedness, and coherence of character that a Chief Executive should possess and exhibit. His predicament is further compounded by excessive drinking of alcohol.
Wike’s recent outburst about the release of hitherto withheld 13% derivation funds from 1999 to 2015 is, to say the least, a tissue of distorted information and concocted lies. It merely confirms how low Wike has sunken. His action calls to mind the parable of the madman who is unashamed, but his family members are ashamed. The people of Rivers State are ashamed and so are the people of the Niger Delta. Another parable of the madman says that his madness becomes incurable once he enters the marketplace. It seems like Wike, has not only entered the market, but he now lives there. Looking further, one recalls the parable of the Lizard that spoils his own mother’s funeral. Wike has become a sore thumb for the Niger Delta.
In his recent show of shame, Wike tried to ingratiate himself with the All Progressives Congress (APC) by lying that he built infrastructure with funds received from the withheld 13% derivation funds. The truth is that the Buhari administration didn’t just wake up to agree to pay the money. The funds were discovered by the present set of Finance Commissioners from the oil-producing States and followed up with a due process that enabled the Federal Government to agree to pay. Also contrary to the lies told by Wike, the funds have not been released in a lump sum. The Federal Government said it was going to pay for five years in sixty installments. Wike rushed to the banks and discounted the full share of Rivers State without thinking of the State’s future. By that Wike cleared everything accruable to Rivers by way of borrowing from the commercial banks in anticipation of the payments. What if the Government decides to stop payment? Then he would have plunged Rivers into an unmitigated debt disaster. This is the reality that Wike distorted to suit his newfound fantasy of being a servant-jester of the APC. It should be on record that the existence of such funds was discovered under this regime. It was not that the previous regimes knew and refused to pay. Wike is only being cheap by deploying the false narrative in order to discredit the other South-South Governors and gain acceptance from the APC.
The share of Delta State in the said fund is 240 Billion Naira which the Federal Government says it will pay in sixty installments for five years. Delta State has received only 17 Billion Naira in three installments. The State has also accessed 30 billion naira out of the 100 billion naira applied for bridging finance. This is the true situation as it concerns Delta State that Wike distorted and rabble-rousing Adams Oshiomhole and distressed Senator Omo-Agege mouthed to misinform the people of Delta State. Wike is a drowning man politically and he is desperately looking for a straw to hold on to. He has found one in a drowning political party which the APC truly is right now.
Wike must be bold enough to tell the world about the million Dollars he collected from Bola Ahmed Tinubu the APC Presidential candidate to support Labour Party’s Peter Obi in order to erode the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) support base. Wike should also be courageous enough to sing and dance in the public square to tell Nigerians how he destroyed the PDP’s rotational alignment by insisting that the Presidential ticket should be thrown open. The PDP leaders had thought that it would be fair to zone the ticket to the South-East, but Wike disagreed and dismantled the plan hoping that he would muscle his way through to get the ticket. Like a bulldozer without brakes, he crushed Uche Secondus, chased away Ben Ayade and Dave Umahi, fought Emmanuel Udom and Godwin Obaseki, attacked Peter Obi and other party leaders of mettle that he lacked. He played Father Christmas with Rivers State money which he squandered by doling out hundreds of millions to States in the North thinking he would get their support. He wasted so much money while people and communities in Rivers State were wallowing in abject poverty.
Wike will commission a project in Port Harcourt and invite the whole world, whereas other communities in Rivers State are an eyesore, and the people are desolate and poverty-stricken.
Wike has taken to playing to the gallery as a pastime, but Nigerians are discerning and will see the fact and truth clearly after laughing at Wike’s tragicomic amusements. The Delta State Government has come out to state the truth about the 13% derivation fund. Another highly credible group, Akwa Ibom Professionals, has also come out to expose the lies told by Wike. Wike is expiring politically and he is looking for revival. The victims of the crises he plunged Rivers State into in 2014 when he led thugs to invade the State House of Assembly are yet to fully recover. Used by Abuja forces to fight his benefactor, then Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Wike got rewarded with the Governorship of the State. With six months to go, Wike is looking for where to berth. Let the people of Rivers State tether him so he won’t run amok. They must make sure alcohol is not within his reach. Sadly for Wike, the other five South-South Governors have discarded him. He now has no base and home support. He has become a political straggler, a pariah.
©Joel Odhomo Salubi (Mr. JOS) a public affairs analyst writes from Lagos.
