By Kassim Afegbua
Politics in Nigeria is very complex, and the complex web of godfather and godson relationship deeply embedded in it, as a new norm, has more recently birthed wars of toxicity, featuring back-stabbing, betrayal, knavery, subterfuge and manipulations. While most people see economic interest as the main bone of contention when things go sour for these relationships, there is indeed much more to the root of their problems. It is often much deeper that money. It is assertion- the desire for the real power. Diatribe, watered by the attitudinal buffet of the antagonist godson, defined within the labyrinth of their true character against pretentious character during the contest for power come out in the open. The heart of man is deep, dark, and as the Bible says, wicked. There is no art to reveal the mind’s construction on the face; leaving the success of choosing a successor in the hands of He who only always succeeds; when choosing a successor, the grace of God is abundantly required. Those who are now clapping for Governor Fubara for being his own man, for exhibiting bad behaviour are simply doing so because they don’t like Wike’s style of politics. But they are also inadvertently watering the seedlings of bad behaviour and betrayal in politics; thereby destroying trust and loyalty. Every vocation has its own peculiar characteristics, and in politics, you cannot wholly remove the interplay of godfather and godson- officially it is called endorsement.
I have been watching with keen interest the political gymnastics playing out in Rivers State between citizen Wike and his estranged godson, Governor Sim Fubara. It is simply bad behaviour on the Governor’s part to have derailed from the harmony and struggle that produced him. Take it or leave it, Governor Fubara is a beneficiary of the same process that he now voraciously quarrels with. If Wike was bad, Fubara was part of it. If Wike was good, Governor Fubara was part of it. If Wike was stupendously “acquisitive”, Fubara was part of it. As Accountant General of the state from 2020 to 2023, Fubara, cannot by any stretch of imagination, wash himself clean of any halitosis of the political and governance process in Rivers State. If Wike stepped on toes to produce Fubara as Governor, Fubara should not now make a 360 degree turn to whip up blackmail against Wike for whatever reason. With complaints about Rivers state Gubernatorial election gone awry, Fubara has not deemed it fit to resign. The only way that Governor Fubara would stand honourable was if he decided to step down from the rostrum of leadership, renouncing the process that produced him. He cannot be a beneficiary of a so called “rotten” process, and still want to inhale the fresh air from the same polluted environment.
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Now fingers are being pointed. I saw a claim that over N3.2trn of Rivers money was swallowed by Wike during his eight years in the saddle in Rivers State. My first query is, how much accrued to Rivers state in those eight years? Two, as the Accountant General of the state, why did Fubara not raise an alarm then? Could it be that Fubara was quiet because he too was swallowing Rivers State money? In politics, it is very easy to call a dog a bad name just to be able to hang it. Blackmail is always a handy tool. Pretense is an accomplice. We all are living witnesses to the various projects executed by Governor Wike, ranging from fly-over bridges to schools and roads infrastructure. Why didn’t Fubara at that time, alert the world as Accountant General, that those projects were unpaid for or that the state was being manacled with debts of monumental proportions. Why now? Have those projects vanished from Rivers state landscape? Must projects be fully paid for before they are done? Rivers state has the potential to borrow money for projects and infrastructural development because its monthly IGR is in the region of N18b monthly. If some of those economic projects are not fully paid for, it is the responsibility of a successor to continue from where his predecessor stopped since government is a continuum. I really don’t know what point Sim Fubara is trying to score. Rivers state under Nyesom Wike was a construction site as witnessed by the residents and visitors. We can’t deny it.
Talking about probing the Wike administration, it is naturally the final bus stop that any successor will want to use to railroad his predecessor on the path of infamy, and to rubbish the former. Who is afraid of probe anyway? In doing such probe, Fubara should also be bold enough to include himself because if Wike was wrong, Fubara would be the chief culprit as Accountant General. Most government transactions carry the signature of the Governor by simple directive to deal. The Governor does not handle money or cash. That is why it is often difficult to culpate a former Governor. And if they “wacked” money, their accountant generals are often the real culprits. If you claimed that Wike built a N350b house as his residence, did he build it on the high sea? N350b naira is no joke. Such a house must have a helipad, fully automated, private jet, helicopter, and a yacht all around to compliment the house. By whatever assessment, a N350bn house will be out of this world. I have been to Wike’s residence in Port Harcourt and I didn’t think I was out of this world while I was there. I am aware also, that Fubara’s home doesn’t look wretched either. The point I am making is not to argue against accountability and probity, but in doing, that all parties must come with clean hands. Are Sim Fubara’s hands clean in the first place to earn him the morality to probe another? If you were aware as Accountant General that projects were not being paid for, what did you do then? Turn a blind eye?
Bad character will remain bad character, and those who exhibit such traits brazenly, often warn people about themselves. When Governor Obaseki started his political fight against Comrade Oshiomhole, the easiest way to blackmail him was to tell Edo people that Oshiomole wanted him to “share” the state’s resources. When he left APC to join PDP, he continued the same narration. Now that he hasn’t been “sharing” the state’s resources to godfathers and their associates, what exactly has Governor Obaseki done with Edo state resources? He has acquired N356b debts and is planning to take a fresh loan of N24b. Edo state infrastructures are rotten and decayed, needing urgent intervention. Blackmail is cheap, but performance is sure hard to find. Where is Edo State’s money? I would have expected Sim Fubara to sit down and work for Rivers people instead of championing a political fight that will clearly derail and distract him. I expect him to out-perform his predecessor in the overall interest of the state. Each time a godson misbehaves, he’s quick to point at a nebulous rationale as the reason for his decadent behaviour. It is all very cheap blackmail; we all know he is a beneficiary of the same situation he is trying to demonise. He has decided to bite the finger that fed him. All the major actors of Rivers politics are presently on the side of Nyesom Wike. Are they collectively wrong? Sim Fubara is an ingrate; pure and simple. An unclean man cannot accuse another of being dirty.
I recently tried to lead Edo State as governor. In the course of my engagements, I searched tirelessly for a godfather who will boost my chances and opportunity of emerging as the candidate for my party. All my would-be benefactors said, “this is how you all come, pretending to be holier than thou, only to end up behaving like Fubara, Obaseki, Aregbesola and Ambode.” I felt undone and my chances withered away, but the Governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki who quarrelled so patently against godfatherism has been quick to produce his friend and business associate Asuen Ighodalo, as his godson and PDP candidate. Double standards and sheer hypocrisy!! We must stop demonising godfatherism; as I said before it is just another name for endorsement. The electorates, town unions, peer groups, political groups, and donators, all play the role of godfathers in political engagements. You can’t deny their influence in the course of seeking any political office. I am on the side of Nyesom Wike on this one. I don’t like ingrates, no matter how much they try to paint the scenario. When Wike was fighting everybody to install his preferred successor, those who are now clapping for him were on the opposing side trying to sabotage the effort. Pretending to be supporters of Fubara today because they don’t like Wike is enough to know how dubious they are. Bad behaviour will remain bad behaviour no matter how elegant Sim Fubara tries to paint himself. Ingrates, like Judas Iscariot are wicked and dangerous.
