Prologue: Rivers: The Scheme For Emergency Rule: ‘It Is Written’

By Jide Ajani
"It is written, that the Office of the State Governor shall become
vacant and you, as Mr. Speaker, shall become the next governor of this
state.
"It is written and so sayeth the Lord….."
This is no fiction.
Before your mind wanders too far and begins to play tricks on your
consciousness, hold your peace – we will get back to that later.
But first, how does the human mind work?
How does the mind determine what is right from what is wrong?
What makes a man launch a voyage with messianic pursuit into realms
thatare at best unknown and at worst possibly dangerous?
Well, myopia, for one, plays tricks on the human mind. This is an eye
focusing disorder, a condition that makes "close objects look clear
but distant objects appear blurred". The direct import of this in the
instance of politics is that those who engage a process are never able
to see the clear and present danger that engagement constitutes until
it hits them in the face.
And that is exactly why Nigeria's political space is strewn with acts
of serial folly.
Those who threatened to make life miserable for the Goodluck Jonathan
administration pre-2011 presidential election have had their
conscience runfor cover in the face of the rampaging and deadly acts
of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko
Haram.
The same goes for Olusegun Obasanjo's pursuit of the Third Term agenda
and the consequential downward spiral of his image and status as a
once globally respected statesman.
That introductory prophesy was not from a man of God.
It was the voice of a fake seer, planted in front of the house of the
Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
It was a story that played out in the state in October, 2006.
Please believe it. That was how it all started and how the state came
under emergency rule.
The story goes like this: The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly,
had a fake Aladura, a fake seer, planted around his house such that he
would hear him make prophetic statements about his (the Speaker's)
rise to power. The Speaker had always ignored the seer until the
political crisis between Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja (read
Obasanjo) and Governor Ayo Fayose almost reached a head. It became
clear to the Speaker that the only way he would become governor of
Ekiti State was by impeaching Fayose and Mrs Abiodun Olujimi, his
deputy.
The first panel set up by the House, in amost shambolic manner, the
Justice Kayode Bamishile Panel, did not meet the expected end. Another
panel was hurriedly set up (mind you, all with themission to fulfill
the prophecy), the Aladejana Panel, which swiftly impeached both
Fayose and his deputy. Fayose insisted that his purported impeachment
was a joke. While this air of uncertainty prevailed, Olujimi was
summoned to Abuja by Obasanjo and, upon her return to Ekiti State,
pronounced herself governor.
Meanwhile, within 24 hours, the Speaker, too, declared himself
governor. As this sordid drama was playing out, there were already
instituted, two cases in court. But all these were not to matter as
Obasanjo imposed emergency rule and swept aside all democratic
structures. So, who says it was not written?
It is the same thing that is happening in Rivers State today. Because
some characters who have decided to put their trust in queens –
contrary to the Biblical admonition that men should not place their
trusts in princes – and who have been assured of the governorship of
the state, all hell had to be let loose.
But there are some conclusions to be reached and which are utterly
unbecoming of leadership.
To even associate the office of the President and Commander-in-chief
of Nigeria with any act that is unbecoming is bad enough.But without
prejudice to the fact that Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers
State cannot be exculpated from any blame in this matter, does not
grant those associated with and fully inspired by Aso Rock the magna
carta to turn a House of Assembly into awar zone or seek to remove a
governor from office illegally. Each time Aso Rock issues a statement
denying complicity, the standard response from most right-thinking
Nigerians is, "who does the Presidencythink it is fooling?". Yoruba
have a saying: "Won pe e lo'le oon gbe omo eran jo" (You're seen as a
thief and yet you are dancing away with somebody's goat)? There is
sufficient suspicion that Aso Rock is working day and night to get
Amaechi out of office and there are serial acts linked to Aso Rock
suggesting that pattern; yet it persists along that line.
There is an Arabic saying that an army of lions led by a sheep would
always be defeated by an army of sheep led by a lion. Shambolic acts
only seek to beget other acts of shambolisim. In a situation where
there is already a deficit in goodwill, the powers-that-bechoose to go
further down the hole? Inany case, how does Amaechi's ouster bolster
the goodwill and integrity of Aso Rock? So, why waste precious time in
helping to acquire more sympathisers for Amaechi while Aso Rock makes
itself the object of ridicule and scorn? There was the aircraft
issue;the Governors' Forum shame is still there; now we add the Rivers
State House of Assembly disgrace.
And to think playing god or goddess is one of the signposts of grand
folly makes all this vain pursuit more laughable. Asking why? Because
vanityupon vanity comes down to vanity and we are all mortals.