The madness in Rivers

The drama in Rivers State is going beyond what is expected in a normal democracy. It has degenerated into thugocracy. If the desperation of political actors in the politics of Rivers State is not nipped in the bud, it is capable of truncating the democracy dividends that have started manifesting in the state.

It is sad that Nigeria is still witnessing the anti-democratic activities that were commonplace during the dark days of the military. It is more worrisome that many of those who are busy giving democracy bad name were the same people who fought tooth and nail to end the dictatorial military rule in the country.

We are concerned that Rivers State has been turned into a war zone for the simple reason that a few individuals want to feather their selfish nests. We condemn in strong terms the assault on the constituted authorities in Rivers State by security agents.

The other day, the state commissioner of police openly had a slanging match with the governor of a state he was supposed to serve. In line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the police commissioner is supposed to cooperate with the chief executive officer of the state to ensure peace and tranquillity.

The recent free-for-all at the state House of Assembly and the aloofness of the police bore the imprimatur of some disgruntled elements and a calculated attempt to plunge the state into anarchy. If the reports are anything to go by – that the security officers at the Assembly complex stood akimbo watching violence being visited on some lawmakers by their colleagues – it is tantamount to abdication of duty, to say the least.

That it took the intervention of Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his security details to quell the uprising was a huge indictment on the police echelon in the state, and indeed questions the raison d’etre of a police commissioner in Rivers.

It is undemocratic for lawmakers, who know what the constitution says on the process of impeachment of a speaker, to have wilfully invented contrived processes to achieve the ouster of the Rivers’ speaker by all means. How democratic and constitutional is it for five members of a 32-member Assembly to contemplate impeaching a speaker when the rule stipulates two-third membership?

We are also concerned that the struggle for the soul of Rivers State is fast dividing the youths into violent groups. These youths, populated by former and current militants, were seen last week aligning themselves with different power blocs. That was not the first time mayhem would erupt at the instance of some politicians. With the failure of police to carry out their constitutional roles in Rivers, the outlook is very frightening ahead of 2015.

Last week CLEEN Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that promotes public safety, security, and access to justice, listed the most volatile states with high risk of security threat during the 2015 election. Rivers topped the list among seven others which are Borno, Bauchi, Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa, Delta, Sokoto, Adamawa, and Yobe states.

We congratulate the National Assembly which has since taken over the Rivers State House of Assembly. We urge the federal lawmakers to dispassionately look at the immediate and remote causes of the ugly development in the state and appropriately mediate in the interest of peace and progress. We also appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently halt the drift into anarchy.