THE BURDEN OF THE PREJUDICE AGAINST RIVERS STATE.

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● According to Maya Angelou, “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”

● I can still remember vividly when President Tinubu had a political disagreement with the then Lagos State Governor & his political son, Akinwunmi Ambode in 2017. As a lover of Lagos State progress & development, Tinubu never allowed that disagreement to degenerate into a crises that will affect the progress of the state even when he had the support of many political bigwigs & a good number of the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly then.

● He rather admonished his supporters to remain calm & waited for the 2019 election to teach Ambode the lesson of his life (which they did).

● In a similar case, when the then Governor of Rivers State, Barr. Nyesom Wike (now FCT. Minister) was accused of sponsoring the attacks & killings APC members & supporters of Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, then Transport Minister in different parts of the state between 2016 / 2018; President Buhari never imposed emergency rule in the state nor appoint a military man as Administrator; nothwithstanding Buhari’s very close relationship with Amaechi.

● At some point, the outcries from Amaechi’s supporters became very intense on all social media platforms, print medias, radio stations across the country & National Television stations; with evidences of massive violent attacks & killings of their supporters, APC members & chieftains in the state by alleged Wike’s sponsored thugs.

● In a particular live interview on Channels Television, one Dr. Chidi Lloyd (now a Wike supporter) shed tears & called out President Buhari for abandoning his supporters to be killed by Wike in Rivers State. All these desperate acts, however, did not sway Buhari to bow for the emotional blackmails.

● As a true father of the nation, Buhari rather released a whooping sum of N79b to the Wike’s administration as refunds for Federal Road projects undertaken by previous administrations in the State, to enhance development for the betterment of the people of the State, in spite of the fact that Wike was his most vocal critic.

● That did not stop Buhari from winning his 2nd tenure election as President, neither did it stop the security agencies from forstalling the violence in the State which was misinterpreted & in most cases blown out of proportion to achieve inordinate political gains through the backdoor, as we clearly see it happening today.

● Now the question;
Why did President Tinubu not advice his appointee Wike from the inception of the political crises in Rivers State to allow governance in the State to continue unhindered for the sake of the masses, & wait for 2027 to teach Gov. Sim Fubara the same lesson Ambode was taught in 2019?

● Because it is common knowledge that Wike & his supporters & the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are all very loyal to Pesident Tinubu & see him as their backbone.

● Tinubu had & still have all it takes to ensure that the first impeachment attempt on Gov. Sim that led to all the crises never happened, & also insist that the both camps must manage their differences & focus on their primary duties of improving the lives of the people until 2027 when they can display their powers in the pools.

● Will it be out of place to call it a case of different strokes for different folks?, “a show of love for the progress of Lagos State & disdain for the progress of Rivers State”? Let’s be honest.

● While I agree that Rivers State has always had & still have many political leaders who are willing & ready to support the bombing of their State with ballistic missiles, if only that will secure their political interests & ambitions; but as a President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Tinubu should be bounded by the moral obligation to take bold decisions that will ensure that governance, progress & development of all parts of the country are unhindered at all times.

● What we rather see, is the constant hailing & praising of Wike by Tinubu for a good job” in the strangulation & stagnation of Rivers State.

● One thing is very sure, the burden of this prejudice against Rivers State & the well-being of its people will outlive the Tinubu’s administration.

~ Robertson Jack writes from the Old Port Harcourt Township senior boy.

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