[OPINION]: Wike The Wicked - By Tola Adeniyi

Nobody expected it to be so soon. Hardly had Barrister Nyesom Wike taken office as Governor of oil-rich Rivers state that his people were reported to have giv­en him a new alias. Words came from some indigenes of the state that their newly sworn in governor is now called Wike the Wicked. I thought it was a joke until my attention was drawn to many activities the governor had reeled out since assuming office that were believed could only have ema­nated from a sadistic mind!

First was the very crude and uncivi­lized manner the governor was reported to have pursued the issue of property recovery from some members of the immediate past government in the state. All the newspapers and not a few tele­vision stations reported the ugly scene of the invasion of the residence of the state’s former Commissioner of Infor­mation.

With close to a battalion of heavily armed police men and sundry security operatives, the peace of the home of the said commissioner was rudely assaulted by heavy forklifts and pay-loaders to physically ‘arrest’ and impound vehi­cles alleged to be government property. The poor woman ex-commissioner was not at home when the invaders arrived, and without a Warrant, brutishly carted away two vehicles.

The question on the lips of most im­partial observers was, ‘why the show of such quantum of naked power?’ If government had any reason to suspect that some vehicles were in the posses­sion of unauthorised persons or quar­ters, a more decent way to recover such property was to invite the possessor to explain why the vehicles or any govern­ment property should be in their posses­sion. A simple procedure of courtesy.

It bothers on brigandage and rough-neckedness for a man occupying ex­alted office of the Chief Executive of a state to get associated in whatever form with such act.

Almost in a rampage, a mass sack of 344 lecturers and others employed at the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori since September, 2014 by the state’s immedi­ate past administration led by Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has also been re­ported.

So also was the disbandment of the Rivers State Road Traffic Management Authority (TIMA-RIV) and other ac­tions bordering on witch–hunt and out­right victimization which have made the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to believe that the new governor of the state, Barrister Nyesom Wike, was out to play politics of vendetta. The Con­gress posited that such actions would not be in tandem with what the nation in general and Rivers State in particular needed at the moment.

The General Manager of the State Television has also been booted out in a manner that really outraged the peo­ple of the state. The woman head of the station was believed to be a thorough professional who discharged her du­ties with the best ethics of her calling. Her only offence as narrated by people in the state was that she served under Wike’s purported enemies.

Every public officer in the state now lives in fear and trepidation that the rampaging axe of the Wicked may de­scend on their neck any time soon!

Matters have now come to a head to warrant non-indigenes in Rivers State under the aegis of Endangered Non Indigenes Forum in Rivers State (EINFRS) to cry out to President Mu­hammadu Buhari, pleading with him to come to their rescue following an alleged threat by Governor Nyesom Wike to crack down on them as part of his determination to deal ruthlessly with associates and loyalties of the im­mediate past government.

The concern of this writer is not whether Wike has a right to settle scores with his perceived political en­emies. Politicians have their own pecu­liar way of dealing with each other. And Nigerian politicians are a special breed when it comes to extremisms.

The Rivers state has probably not known peace for almost 3 years now. The immediate past governments at the Federal and state levels flexed muscles to no end, and the fall-out of the mad­dening drama may be the visit of wick­edness and high-handedness on the los­ers in the long-drawn battle.

This scenario does not however jus­tify unmitigated wickedness and sa­distic display of power. Even in armed conflict, winners are still expected to be civil to their victims. There is a mini­mum level of human decency expected in all human relationships. And people who wield temporary and ephemeral power are reminded to always bear in mind that power is transient.

It does not speak well of any one in power to behave as if drunk and intoxi­cated. It is the height of insensitivity and cruelty for some one in authority to derive joy in inflicting pain on those under his authority.

Governor Wike surely will not like to be remembered as a wicked, vengeful and sadistic governor. And the earlier he calls his overzealous aides to order the better for the reputation he would like to carve for himself and be remem­bered by. ‘Wike the Wicked’ should not be allowed to stick.

After all, whatever be the case, he has triumphed, so to say. He is currently the governor unless the tribunal decides otherwise. He should therefore have no cause or reason to be vindictive or al­low people to run away with a name his parents did not give him.

It is also not too late in the day to make amends. If vehicles needed to be recovered, simple, decent procedure can still be followed. If appointments needed be terminated, there are better and less painful ways to go about it. But a situation where a leader deliber­ately uses or mi-uses power to oppress or victimise or inflict pain on others is certainly not acceptable.

I don’t think I want that alias to stick. And I don’t want the Yoruba speaking people to dub him ‘Wike weke-weke’!

The Opinion

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