Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike seems not to be happy with the second visit of outgoing Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, to some Ijaw communities in Rivers State.
Few days ago, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike hosted prominent chiefs and leaders of Kalabari Kingdom, a clan of the Ijaw ethnic nationality in the state, who were on a solidarity visit, at Government House, Port Harcourt.
During the meeting, Wike did not hide his feelings as he queried why his Bayelsa State counterpart, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson would visit Abonnema and Buguma, two out of the three major towns in Kalabari Kingdom without informing him.
Rivers and Bayelsa States are currently before the Supreme Court over the ownership of the disputed Soku oil fields, which was ceded to Bayelsa State by the Federal Government in 2012 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
It is worthy to note that Wike as the Minister of State for Education had led other prominent Indigenes of Rivers State, including the current National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus and State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, to receive Dickson at Abonnema in 2013, during the governor’s visit to Ijaw communities in Rivers State.
It is also worthy to note that Wike was among PDP governors and leaders, who stayed away from the grand finale of the party’s rally ahead of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Read Also: IBB Speaks On His Rumored Death
Addressing the Kalabari leaders at Government House, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Governor called on the leaders of Kalabari Kingdom to prevail on their monarch, King Professor Theophilus Princewill, not to allow himself to be used by external forces to create disunity in the State.
Wike, who expressed regrets that the Kalabari monarch deliberately allowed Dickson to use him to promote divisiveness, said: “I want to publicly lay a complaint on the action of Amayanabo of Kalabari. The next time it happens, I will act as a governor.
“The Amanyanabo of Abonnema (King Disreal Gbogbo Bobmanuel) didn’t do it, he called me on phone when the Governor of Bayelsa, Dickson tried to create problems in Rivers State.”
The governor stated that the outgoing Bayelsa State Governor visited the state, without getting in touch with the relevant authorities, under the guise of coming to see Ijaw people.
He said, “He said he was coming to see Ijaw people in Rivers State and he would be hosted by the Amayanabo of Kalabari and Amayanabo of Abonnema.
“The Amanyanabo of Abonnema called me and said how can that be? The Bayelsa State Governor did not call me. The Amanyanabo of Kalabari did not call me. What he did was to roll out drums to receive the Bayelsa State Governor.”
He informed the Kalabari delegation, that should the Amanyanabo of Kalabari take such illegal action in future, he will face sanctions.
Wike said: “That day I would have removed him, but I held myself. What they would do is to go to Radio and abuse me. But I am use to insults. I am trying to complain to you people.
“You can see how people are trying to divide a State. A fellow Governor would come from somewhere to create Division.”
The governor stated that Dickson professes love for Ijaw people in Rivers State, but is busy working to take the State’s oil resources in Soku and Kula.
He said: “Already, we have gone back to Court in relation to Soku oil wells. This is the man who is claiming Kula oil wells and Soku.
“I have gone back to court and we will reclaim the Soku Oil Wells for Rivers State. This is the same man you claim loves you and you roll out drums against protocol.”
Wike, who reiterated that the Kalabari monarch will face sanctions if he continues acts of Division, said: “If any of such things happen again, I will take the necessary action.
“I will not listen to any further excuse, that is why I am saying this publicly. Tell him to respect constituted authority.
“It is not good for anyone to come and divide Rivers State, because the state is one. It is unfortunate what my colleague did. I handed him over to God and prayed for God to do his will.”
But, to Prince Tonye Princewill, a politician and scion of the Kalabari monarch, the King had been in hospital bed in Port Harcourt and never received Bayelsa State Governor.
Tonye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, said the Royal Family will reply the governor at the appropriate time.
The statement reads in part: “I am here by the King’s hospital bed in Port Harcourt where he has been for almost a week now, so you can see why my priority is not responding to Wike.
“The King will be 90 in a few days so if a small boy speaks, his superiors do not always have to answer him. Especially if he is the garrulous kind.
“Yes, I have heard what he said and I saw the video where he was fidgety, unsteady and accompanied by that slurred speech. I watched it well. I suspect he was drunk.
“It appears that he doesn’t understand that everything is not politics. I think we should pray for him and put him in God’s hands. I will be doing it daily.
“Rudeness is a weak man’s imitation of strength. His tenure is almost over. At the appropriate time, he will feel my response.”
For Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Rivers State Governor, Wike, deliberately allowed his Bayelsa State counterpart, to use him to promote divisiveness.
Dokubo-Asari, in a short video circulated on social media, reeled out how Wike schemed his way into power, with the help of former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, and how the Rivers Governor had been funding disaffection in his state and the entire South South.
However, the Bayelsa State Governor, Dickson has offered reasons why he visited Rivers State without a call on his Rivers State counterpart, Wike, saying his visit was to commiserate with the people of the state over the killing of Ijaws during the last Governorship and Presidential election.
Governor Dickson who dismissed Wike’s claim that the visit was illegal, said he was in the state to sympathise with the people over the alleged outrageous killing of 40 Ijaw youths during the polls.
Dickson, who reacted through his chief press secretary, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, noted that he is a member of the prestigious Kalabari Ekine Sekiapu Club and that he also visited Buguma in April to commiserate with the Amayanabo of Kalabari.
He said; “Over 40 Ijaw youths were murdered in the Rivers election in February, 2019. The only Governor of Ijaw extraction in Nigeria, the Governor of Bayelsa State, the Hon. Seriake Dickson, a member of the prestigious Kalabari Ekine Sekiapu Club, visited Buguma in April to commiserate with the Amayanabo of Kalabari.
“Before the visit, the Governor made efforts to reach his Rivers State counterpart, but when he couldn’t get him on the phone he contacted the Chief of Staff to Gov. Wike to inform him. No new visit has taken place. When did it become a crime to mourn with the bereaved in Ijaw land?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body of Ijaw Youths worldwide, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has faulted the threat issued by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on the removal of the revered Amayanabo of Kalabari over the private visit of the Bayelsa State Governor to the Kingdom.
President of IYC, Barr. Pereotubo Oweilaemi Pereotubo, described the threat as not only an insult to the entire Ijaw nation but also a sacrilege to its sacred traditional institution. “The Rivers State Governor has over stepped his boundary for daring to insult and ridicule the Ijaw nation in such a despicable manner.
“Governor Seriake Dickson as a law abiding citizen of Nigeria is free to move to anywhere in the country. He does not need to seek permission from anybody including the Rivers State Governor in taking a private visit to his fellow Ijaw people. Similarly, Bayelsa State being the only homogeneous Ijaw State, its Governor is the number one political leader in Ijaw land.
“As a leader of Ijaw nation by reason of his position as the Governor of Bayelsa State, Rt. Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson or any other person occupying that exalted office can visit any Ijaw kingdom or community for the promotion of our oneness as Ijaw people and to build our national cohesion.”
The IYC president recalled that in the course of promoting Ijaw unity, Governor Dickson on assumption of office in 2012 appointed Ijaw people from the six states where Ijaws are Aborigines into his government.
While noting that the same trend continues till date, Pereotubo said it was expected that the Bayelsa Governor will continue to provide leadership role to Ijaw people which includes visiting Ijaw communities.
“The Governor has been paying visits to Ijaw clans in Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. The Governors of these states know that Ijaw people anywhere in the world see the Bayelsa State Governor as a Governor to all Ijaw people.
“Governor Wike should not create an unnecessary tension in his state. The Kalabari King did the right thing to have received the Bayelsa State Governor. The revered Amayanabo has not committed any offence to incur Wike’s wrath.
“The Governor should rather apologize to Ijaw people, especially the Kalabari Kingdom for reducing the Clan to such disrepute with his disdainful threat of eviction. The Ijaw nation will not allow her respected traditional institutions to be insulted with such impudence,” Pereotubo stated.
NAN