The Eastern Union, a pro-democracy advocacy group, has warned against the political situation in Rivers State, calling for truce before the crisis gets out of hand.
The EU in a release signed by its National President, Hon Charles Anike, called on well-meaning people of Rivers State to close ranks and find solutions to the political issues which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the state by President Bola Tinubu.
Anike pointed at Mr Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and the suspended Gov Siminalayi Fubara as the major players in the crises, and warned elders of Rivers State not to allow the feud to escalate beyond reconciliation, which, according to him, would be detrimental to the economic development of the state.
Quoting him, “The Wike and Fubara’s current showdown must not be allowed to continue, especially by the Rivers people in particular. Desperation has made it easy for long awaiting greedy neighbours to now take full control of the state and its overwhelming natural resources.
“These two, unfortunately, things never contributed to the long struggles of the Rivers people and the Niger-Deltans, but today both are desperate as they are not able to manage their disagreements.
“Rivers State has been successfully annexed. The question is: where is Wike’s wisdom which he always claims to have? He is shortsighted and very politically naive. He has played into the hands of his real enemy, unknown to him. When he will cry out for help, nobody will be there for him since he willingly compromised the interests of the Rivers people that made him who he is today.”
He urged stakeholders of the state to emulate the manner which was used to resolve the speakership crisis of the Lagos State House of Assembly by “sticking out their necks to rescue the state before it will be too late”.
According to him, “The colonists can still be repelled if all hands are on deck; though a herculean task but it’s surmountable. Nobody should rely on the social media propaganda of hungry and insatiable political contractors that have been sponsored to occupy all the media spaces.”
Recall that President Tinubu had suspended Gov Fubara and appointed Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, which will run for six months.
