OPINION…Re: Tinubu should avoid Wike’s and Buhari-era parade of incompetence

Ideally, and under other circumstances, Chidi Amuta, the writer of the above tepid display of immeasurable ignorance of Nigeria politics would have been ignored, but for the sake of Nigerians and the need for nation-building at this critical time in our history, it is imperative that the author of distortion is told he cannot cure history. He won’t be allowed.

President Bola Tinubu went through a very turturous and timultous campaigns of calumny, possibly by the likes of Chidi who did not give the former Lagos State Governor a chance. It is bemusing that the same pen-for-hire diasporan editor has suddenly transmutted to become an unsolicited “advisor-at-large”.

The president is equiped with the necessary credentials as one of the best democrats anywhere in the world, and most pertinently, Africa. He was there against the stranglehold of military dictatorship to which he fled from the country into exile under Abacha. Today, he is the president of Nigeria with the aid of some individuals who know this part of his credentials. He needs to build political bridges in forming his government that would be one of National Unity. No need listening to those who are burdened by the guilt of not giving him a chance. His focused attention should be on trusted, reliable and dependable individuals like former Governor Wike, who stood by him during the trying time as a strong advocate for National Unity anchored on rotational Presidency with the south taking its well deserved turn.

One cannot be too sure of what triggered Chidi Amuta to direct his darts against Wike except for selfish interest fuelled by those who are frightened by Wike ever his growing political profile. Amuta is surely one of these jealous writers who suffer under the burgeoning trade of using their effort not for nation-building, but for cynical manipulation of the unsuspecting public. They flout all the elementary principles of journalistic ethos. Every single Nigerian Chidi wish to induct into his revolving duct without an exit knows that going by the results of the last elections, something the president mentioned during his two-day visit to Rivers State, he needs those who can continue to deliver votes and requisite support for the country’s political stability and development. Wike, no doubt, fits that mould perfectly well. The president acknowledged the fact that without Wike, he wouldn’t have been the president of Nigeria ( President elect as he then was).

Let Chidi continue with his lenghty literature-fiction which reflects not the reality of our politics, but the decomposition of the political prospects of him and his sponsors. His article which is targeted at Wike bears nothing but the graphic picture of their painful loss. The article is a grotesquerie of the caricatures they have become since 25th and in the brink of total extinction. When the sabre rattling of the election ‘war’ grew louder, it was men like Wike that stood by Tinubu. So it is easy to define Wike as a man that can be depended on and be trusted, a man who can deliver positive results, even in government, and implementation of policies. No doubt, his infrastructural footprints in Rivers State in 8 years has entered our political lore forever. He made Rivers State a state to behold. The then president has testified to. So what Wike did in the state in terms of transformation through initiation and execution of projects makes him a quality addition to any government that has the mandate to perform beyond expectations.

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Perhaps Chidi and his invisible mutual friends missed the thanksgiving service of Wike earlier last month where Nigerians literally converged in Port Harcourt City to talk about the man who has endeared himself to people from different political persuassions. The who-is-who in Nigeria were there present to attest to his impactful administration in Rivers State.

Or was Chidi lost in a maze when even as one of the greatest critics of the former president, Buhari, gave him an award for his infrastructural exploits?

Chidi has no moral authority as a hired faraway armchair political analyst and critic to induct President Tinubu into his association of political impotence. If he is serious and wishes the nation well, let him leave his comfort zone to come to Nigeria. His choices are not limited only to deep resentment of Wike through his unfocused use of his space as an editor of an online newspaper, but by actually coming home to join forces in nation-building.

Chidi, from the sound of his name may be an indigene of Rivers State, but his lack of commitment to truth which he ferrets out with careless abandon shows he knows nothing about Wike. He has elected himself to arbitrarily diposit what his lackeys told him.

Wike is a very straightforward individual. He says what needs to be said without hiding under subjective contexts or diplomatic niceties. He finds appropriate words to pass his message in very lacerating ways no matter whose ox is gored. He is not a man to be sent to Russia, US, Uk as an ambassador. He is one of the few Nigerians who believe, with certitude, the unity of the country in an uncompromising way. The nation needs him now to bring to bear his 8 years of transformative governance in Rivers State to the national stage.

For now, Chidi and his ilks should find some unacknowledged corner to lick their wounds of electoral loss. No need trying to further polarize the nation which they couldnt do by destorting the zoning arrangement that have helped sustained the unity and stability of the nation.

Let it suffice that the likes of Chidi should acknowledge that Wike’s place in our modern history is very assured. Wike has etched his name into our national political psyche with outstanding developmental landmarks. He has helped in supporting Tinubu to shape our recent political history and national relationship between the South and North, the East and West. What Chidi’s sponsors failed to achieve is the encouragment of political impunity and rascality.

AUTHOR: Elempe Dele

Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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