…And Fubara Removed His SIM CARD From Wike’s PHONE }{ The Scoper Media

By Muiz Banire SAN

    A few years ago, a novelist played a critical role in my appreciation of powerplay among leaders of society with his cast of child characters lost on an island after a shipwreck. It is the novel titled Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a British novelist and playwright. The beginning is somewhat impressive with childish innocence and adherence to democratic principles with an election conducted to choose the leader of the pack. The intellectual but purblind character that emerges from the election is able to lead the group of little children with some progress recorded.

Over time, over-vaulting ambition takes over with a bullish and forceful character taking over the leadership of the group by force. The consequence is the destruction of their symbol of authority, bloodshed and recession to barbarism. The final phase of it is the rescue of the children when a rescue ship is able to locate them on the said island. Cries of losses and agony of destruction take over. The society has become damaged beyond repair as human lives have been sacrificed. This scenario has been playing out in Nigeria for quite some time particularly since the emergence of the nascent democracy in 1999 and in all cases, the mace, the symbol of authority of the House of Assembly of the theatre of the absurd, would have been broken. The collective innocence damaged. The past few days have been an enactment of free for all fights between the past Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria, now the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike and his successor-protégé, Siminalaye Fubara.

It has been a terrible show of shame where people in high offices are being dragged recklessly in the mud by their combating supporters and the police and other law enforcement officers, apparently influenced to take sides, have made it more disturbing. In the melee, the usual attempt at removing the Governor from office cropped up. This is in pretending to be acting in line with Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The usual resistance on the part of the Governor also rose to the occasion. Probably in order to prevent the House of Assembly from being able to carry out the removal proceedings, arsonists set the House of Assembly building where Laws of the State are enacted, on fire and what remains of the former Rivers State House of Assembly Complex is now mere ashes and charcoal.

Nothing was rescued. Nothing was saved. The only luck we have recorded so far is that no one seemed to have died in the inferno. We do not know probably the negative might be the case when full accounts would have been taken of the actual number of casualties. In the course of the fights, the Governor was tear-gassed and drenched in water. An official casualty was shortly thereafter recorded as the Speaker of the House was reported to have lost his seat with some members of the Parliament having removed him in a process shrouded in secrecy. Another immediate Speaker emerged with the minority being in charge. Later we learnt that 24 members of the House had removed that new Speaker and reinstated the previous Speaker. One of the two Speakers ordered the removal of the Chief Judge.

An unbelievable abomination! Thank God for the immediate intervention by Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who seems to have calmed the situation. We hope it does not degenerate any further. It is at this point that I feel it is imperative to look at the frequent rancorous relationships between the past Governors and the incumbents, which are fast becoming an emerging pattern. The vanity of life and unpredictability of human efforts and outcome are proving themselves to the establishment the limitations in human wisdom. Although the former or outgoing Governors often desire and actually actualize the imposition of their successors under the guise of continuity but the emerging truth is that they only want to continue in office behind this façade

The Nigerian lawyer