Behind calls for state of emergency in Rivers From Kelvin Ebiri

THE caution by some Ijaw elders that there would be political instability in Rivers State unless the circumstances surrounding the emergence of Celestine Omehia as governor were resolved may not have been taken seriously by the powers that be both in the state and outside.
At last December's governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), four out of the eight candidates cleared to contest, namely Senator Martyns Yellowe, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Samuel Pawariso Horsfall and David Briggs were of Ijaw extraction.
Before the primaries, the Ijaw aspirants led by Senator Yellowe staged a walk out. Yellowe had emerged second behind the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chibuike Amaechi.
According to him, "the governor (Peter Odili) was said to have decreed that Amaechi is his candidate. Now we are seven of us here and we are protesting that we will rather have a level playing field and lose than this kangaroo kind of election. We would not accept it and we are walking out in protest."
A pro-Ijaw political group, the Rivers State Ijaw Consultative Assembly (RICA) condemned the conduct of the primaries in strong terms and rejected the result by calling for fresh polls.
Expectations among the Ijaw became high during the flag off of the PDP presidential campaign in January when former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that the party's governorship ticket (Amaechi) had a K-leg. They had assumed that since Yellowe came second, the ticket would be given to him.
They were wrong. A few days after the party announced Celestine Omehia, from the Ikwerre ethnic group as the governorship candidate. Omehia, then was a Special Adviser to Odili on inter-religious and administrative matters, was never in consideration, as he did not contest the primaries.
The RICA, which like other Ijaw groups had anticipated the emergence of an Ijaw aspirant, rejected the nomination. The chairman and secretary of RICA, Nemi Adoki and Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo respectively, argued that with the disqualification of Amaechi, Yellowe should have been the logical replacement or alternatively, any of the aspirants that were cleared for the primary.
RICA cited the case of Bayelsa State, where Dr. Bola Igali, was dropped for Mr. Timipri Sylva, who came second at the primary. RICA argued that Igali was dropped on the ground that he did not go through the due process of nomination and party primaries.
The aggrieved Ijaw were of the view that the imposition of Omehia is shrouded in mystery, foul play and corruption because he was until his selection by a serving political appointee of the state government and did not resign his appointment three months prior to his nomination as required. RICA urged the PDP not to condone what it described as an act of political fraud.
The group argued that it would be fair, just and equitable if the next governor of Rivers should be a riverine Ijaw. It hinged the stability of the state on the upholding of the principle of power rotation between the upland area and their riverine counterparts.
The allocation of the position Speaker of the state House of Assembly to the Ijaw did not douse their political aspiration. And on Monday, the Ijaw under the aegis Niger Delta Ijaw Elders and Leaders Forum, decided to break their silence that has been maintained by groups like RICA since the emergence of Omehia as governor.
Ijaw elders led Chief Edwin Clark, at a press conference prayed the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Rivers and after six months, conduct a free and fair election for the people to pick an acceptable governor.
Ijaw leaders present at the briefing included, former Aviation Minister, Alabo Graham Douglas, Chief Albert K Horsfall, former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Chamberlain Oyibo; Air Vice Marshal Mbu (rtd.), Admiral Bob Manuel (rtd.); Prof. Princewill, Prof. Don Pedro, Chief Francis Doukpoulagha Mr. Edward Akpangbo among others.
The Ijaw leaders reviewed the political situation in Rivers since 1999 and accused most politicians in PDP of being members of secret cults and bemoaned the party's decision not to heed the advice of the State Security Service (SSS) to stop them from holding power in government.
They urged the Federal Government to set up a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the immediate and remote causes of the present gang war in Rivers. They also asked for a probe into the killings of the former national vice-chairman, (South-South) of the All Nigerian Peoples party (ANPP), Chief Marshal Harry, former National vice-chairman of the PDP, Chief Alfred Dikibo among others.
Omehia felt that the call for a state of emergency was a larger conspiracy aimed at pulling him down. He noted the fact the two accused masterminds of the recent disturbances in the state, Ateke Tom and Soboma George, are Ijaw and it is their elders who are clamouring for a state of emergency.
At a hurried convocation of Rivers stakeholders meeting on Tuesday, the governor condemned the elders for their failure to appreciate efforts being made to solve what was purely a political matter.
He said: "Some people from Rivers and outside Rivers wanted to control Rivers from their state where criminality is worst, decided to hold meeting in Lagos, calling on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Rivers.
"Those people are enemies of Rivers; they are the sponsors of the criminal activities in Rivers. Any person who believes that we should not end the criminal activities going on in Rivers does not mean well for all of us."
The governor recalled that he had set up the peace and reconciliation committee primarily to rehabilitate and economically empower those involved in hostage taking. He said that he regretted that his initiative was rebuffed.
"The miscreants, criminals, I won't call them the militants decided to shoot sporadically all over the place including the front of Government House, took over the streets of Port Harcourt and all they were asking for give us money," he said.
The chairman of the state chapter of the PDP, Uche Secondus aligned with the governor to castigate the Ijaw elders. Secondus described the call for a state of emergency as being driven by selfishness. He argued that since there exist a democratically elected government, the elders should have deemed it necessary to meet with the governor in order to proffer solution and "not sing war songs because state of emergency is a war song.
He said, "we condemn their statement and this call and ask the Federal Government and the president to disregard this as they are self serving and mischief makers. When the elders chose to turn the other way when people die then the undertone of the recent violence in Rivers can easily be known and traceable to some of these mischief makers."
He regretted that the crisis in the state and government's effort to restore order and fish out elements had elicited unwarranted provocative reaction from the Ijaw elders. This reaction is rather typical of the antics of those people who fan the ember of discord and disappear to other states to stir more trouble.
Secondus said a few criminals and a few self serving elders in the state cannot hold the people of Rivers who welcome what government has done to the state to ransom. The PDP chairman dismissed allegations that the party was involved in the recent disturbance in the state.
On the arrest of a state lawmaker by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in connection with the disturbance in the state, Secondus said the party would not hesitate to expel any party man indicted by security for sponsoring gangsterism.
"The JTF should investigate the matter and if he is found wanting, the law would take its course. We as PDP will not protect anyone who is lawless," he said.
He lauded the efforts of the Federal, Rivers governments in mobilising the JTF to fish out the gangsters and those behind them in undermining the peace and security of the state.
The son of the Amanyanabo of Kalabari and the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate, Prince Tonye Princewill, said the party as co-stake-holders in Rivers does not believe that the declaration of state of emergency would solve the resultant consequences of accumulated crimes against people these past eight years.
"There is a constitutional means to changing a despotic and unpopular government and that is why we should appeal to our people to continue to tolerate this arrangement and allow the military to restore peace among our people and for the election tribunal to hasten their efforts," he said.
He urged the election petition tribunal to reclaim their peoples; stolen mandate so that "we can have a government elected by our people, that will serve the purpose of our people and not a government by a clique and for the clique that is secluded from our people."
Princewill called on the government to apologise to Clark and other elders for castigating them. But that might not be possible as the battle line appears to be drawn.
In the state government's determination, the governor has ordered the commencement of the reclamation and demolition of all the slums along the waterfronts in Port Harcourt before December. The waterfronts included those in Aggrey, Ndoki, Marine Base, Bundu, Nembe, Belle and Bonny. Others are Abuja/Prisons, Reclamation, Borokiri, Elechi, Afikpo, Timber, Abonnema wharf, Okirika, Captain Amagala, Dockyard Creek, Rex Lawson, Enugu, Ojike and Abba waterfronts.
This issue of the demolition, which is now being interpreted by the Ijaw who inhabit the waterfronts, as a deliberate attempt by the Ikwerre to expel them from Port Harcourt, might be another flank for the Ijaw and the governor to continue their war of attrition.