Socrates, the famed philosopher once said that, “an unexamined life is not worth living”.
On this premise, it becomes quite apposite to cast a retrospective view on the six months hiatus in Rivers State occasioned by the emergency regime imposed by President Bola Tinubu.
From where he was perhaps reclining in a sofa after exiting the navy in retirement as a Vice Admiral,fortune knocked on the door of the Cross River born Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, as he was called upon to superintend over the affairs of the oil rich Rivers State as Sole administrator for six months.
Needless here to rehash the circumstances that orchestrated the declaration of state of emergency, the Senate President, Obot Godwill Akpabio had cashed in on the opportunity and wielded influence as the highest ranking political office holder from the South South and recommended Ibas to Tinubu to administer the state.
Ibas landed Port Harcourt with aplomb, armed however with the brief of what to do, even though he glibly infused some personal agenda in the process.
As the six months of the emergency peters to an end, how is Ibas scorecard? Is he leaving Rivers State with an ovation or vituperations on account of his actions and inactions?
There is no better way to appraise the administrator’s term apart from looking at how he has dispensed his services to Rivers people in the last 6 months.
In his maiden statewide broadcast on arrival to the state after his swearing in by President Tinubu, Ibas pledged to ensure neutrality, foster peace, security and uphold inclusive governance.
It is important however to state that the situation in Rivers then was exaggerated to the point of imposing a state of emergency. If the president as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had acted dispassionately in the Rivers situation, there would have been no need for any emergency nor appointing an administrator.
Even so, there is actually nothing special Ibas seemed to have done that enabled peace in the state. Rivers people ab-initio were not at war. They were only torn between two political gladiators, one enjoying federal might and the other enjoying the masses’ followership.
Even some of the actions of the Sole Administrator had the potential to precipitate a crisis if Rivers’ people who were affected by those actions were inclined to be violent. The game changer as it were in the whole drama has been Fubara who had kept urging his followers to remain peaceful even in the face of the worst provocation.
What manner of peace and neutrality would Ibas say he was promoting when he went even beyond the terms of his appointment and descended on the boards and commissions duly appointed by Fubara, dissolving them even those that are tenured and replacing them with Wike’s apologists?
Same he did even to the governing councils of the state owned tertiary institutions. Could this also count as part of restoration of democratic institutions or deepening peace in the state?
The outgoing administrator is also celebrating the October 30 local government (s)election in the state as a pivotal success of his administration. Only the birds can hear this kind of story! An election process that was flawed from the outset to the end, where those who came out as winners were already known even before one single vote was cast.
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Again under the watch of Ibas, Port Harcourt relapsed to becoming the den of gangsters, cultists and pirates. Diobu, a shouting distance from the government house, was conquered by the Deegbam and Deywell confraternities. Hapless school children going for their WAEC exams and commuters aboard a boat sailing from Bille enroute Okrika were abducted and held for weeks. It took the intervention of Asari Dokubo’s private security outfit to secure the release of the victims while a top retired military officer who should know better was holding forte as the administrator of the state.
It is difficult to find a spot in analyzing the six-months outing of Ibas in Rivers State as the administrator to credit the Cross River born retired naval chief for a job well done. Everything that appears to have been done even with the best of intentions is laced with ulterior motives.
For instance, he announced that he has been awarded a contract for the renovation of the state secretariat complex, but the contract value was neither disclosed nor the contractor handling the project.
When Fubara was leaving after the emergency rule was imposed, he left a certain amount of money known to the state. Ibas received the bulk of money that was then seized on the orders of the Supreme court, he has also received federal allocation for the past six months in addition to the internally generated revenue for the same period. But not a whimper has been heard from him on the state of the finances of the state as he is leaving.
Since he arrived in the state, the administrator erected an intimidating wall between him and the media, such that it is very difficult to ascertain the true position of very critical issues concerning his administration and the state.
Assessing the six month reign of Ibas in Rivers, All Progressive Congress, (APC) chieftain in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze said Ibas is a conduit to achieve three broad objectives:the plundering and looting of the treasure of Rivers State, the humiliation of the State and her people by taking over illegally the political structure(s) of the State and most importantly to ensure that Rivers State doesn’t progress ahead of Lagos State by destroying her economic base and the speed in which Governor Sim Fubara was driving the State progressively.
“All through the six months period that the Administrator held sway, the wheel of progress was grounded. Everything came to a halt. No project was initiated. None was completed. None proceeded beyond the level it was when the Governor was unlawfully suspended. And no one is asking questions on the whereabouts of Rivers’ money. The Mr. Ibas looted the state dry. That was the mandate.
“How can a man who said he was sent to make peace turn around to support a faction in the crisis? Giving them appointments here and there even when such indulgences clearly offend extant laws. Conducting local council elections without having the powers to do so. It’s unfortunate we find ourselves here”, Eze lamented.
On the whole, Rivers people are excitedly looking forward to the return of Fubara and put the Ibas era behind them even as great harm has been done to the state.
