Agenda Papers Editorial:Time for president Tinubu to call Nyesom Wike to order before it’s too late—-By Austine Uche-Ejeke

This piece would have come out last week before the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State but for some inexplicable reasons it couldn’t be achieved.

Keen observers in the polity generally and in particular Rivers state are wondering what is wrong with Nigeria of today.

They have never seen such abnormality and impunity than what they are observing today.

Narrowing it down to the theme of the day one wonders how the president, elder Statesmen, stakeholders and Indeed Nigerians sit down and watch the degeneration of the once vibrant Rivers state going in turmoil because of the selfish interest of some politicians.

Since the conclusion of the 2023 election Rivers state has not had peace, it’s one squabble to the other and one would ask what is the root cause of these squabbles and it is nothing but to capture the very soul of the state.

Without taking sides but with focus on addressing the issue and possibly advising the early settlement before it degenerates to something catastrophic for the entire country we would try to be less emotional to achieve our goal.

With the declaration of the State of emergency and the suspension of Governor Sim Fubura and the entire legislative arm of the government, the next thing for Tinubu to do is to call his FCT minister Nyesom Wike to order. Although he should have done it earlier before we got to this abysmal level.

With the appointment of Wike as a federal minister rational logic demands that he faces his job and stop meddling in the affairs of Rivers state or any other state for that matter.

What Nigerians want Wike to do is to focus on his onerous job as a minister and transform the city of Abuja, reduce crime rate and ensure smooth running of every sector of this all important sit of the government.

But what do Nigerians see a combatant and bitter man always lashing it out to governors, talking down on individuals, elders old enough to be his father,institutions and ethnic groups as if he didn’t have any home training.

It is on record that Wike openly said he will burn down or put fire in Bauchi state when he had altercations with the state governor Bala Mohammed. Nothing was done to him and no form of reprimand was extended to him. As such his boldness and temerity kept on rising everyday.

Recently about a fortnight ago he spoke so disparagingly about the Ijaw nation calling them all sorts of unprintable names and nothing was still done to him.

Same Wike also last week said openly that if Fubura, a duly elected governor is impeached that the heavens will not fall. He was allowed to go scot free on that too.

The president needs to be reminded that some of the utterances of Wike can set the country ablaze if care is not taken. Such a man needs to be tamed and put to where he belongs.

Nigerians keep on wondering what juju, agreement, oath taking that Tinubu has with Wike that he cannot openly muster up courage to warn him against all these highly inflammable outbursts that can ignite fire in the country.

Some political pundits are saying that the criminal silence of the president is located on the permutations of 2027 where the ruling APC wants to capture Rivers state by fire by force.To us that is neither here nor there

Whether that is true or not is not within the purview of this piece. What we are after is the stability of the country as it is only God that knows what tomorrow will be.

Moreover it is a country that is stable, united together that one can talk of winning elections or taking over the resources of a targeted state. A country under turmoil and at the verge of disintegration will never achieve that.

I don’t think that Tinubu knows the extent of the volatility of Rivers state and indeed the entire south south region. If he knows he wouldn’t allow Wike to be behaving like an uncontrollable mad man that has lost it all.

If the Niger Delta region is provoked and pushed to the wall the kind of terror they will unleash may sink Nigeria and that is what a sensible president and leader should try to avoid at all cost as no single individual is indispensable or bigger than the entire country.

Perhaps it could be that Wike is playing the devil advocate and fifth columnist that may sink this Tinubu’s regime. Who really knows.

It is also on record that this same Wike has no steady friend as all his goal is achieving political supremacy.

Wike has fought and denigrated all the elders and leaders that brought him to political limelight namely Peter Odili, Goodluck Jonathan, Patience Jonathan, Rotimi Amaechi and a host of others. Such a character should be avoided or at best kept at arms length.

The president should know that Wike can accomplish his contrived evil if he is left in the government where he knows every secret of the government as an overtly ambitious man can go to any extent to achieve his goal not minding if the country is put ablaze.

Borrowing Wike’s exact words the heavens will not fall if Wike is removed as FCT minister now. The president can get somebody who will do the job better and still give him and the entire country peace of mind.

As our people always say a stitch in time will save Nigeria from a major catastrophy that Wike will cause if he is not tamed now or outrightly put aside for the sake and peace of Nigeria.

*Austine Uche-Ejeke a public affairs analyst and publisher Agenda Papers wrote vide eaustineuche@yahoo.com*