As Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, continues his long-standing attempts to wrestle his embattled former protégé (Sim Fubara, the Rivers State Governor) to the ground, I find myself mystified.

Why?

Most of the Rivers people I know are loudly hailing Fubara for rebelling against Wike, his erstwhile mentor, and “rejecting godfatherism”.

When I tell them that I share their distaste for godfatherism and point out that Fubara, by joining the APC and partnering with President Tinubu, has merely exchanged a local godfather for an even bigger godfather from the other side of the country, Fubara’s praise singers shrug and murmur feeble excuses or simply maintain a stubborn silence.

OK so their main beef against Wike is their belief that he expects Fubara to share power with him. And I am definitely on the same page as anyone who thinks that it is wrong for ex-governors to bully their successors…even if the current governor would never have made it to gubernatorial glory without considerable backing from the ex.

When you help someone rise, you should stand back and let them plough their own furrow, even if they never thank you enough or at all for the elevation. You should certainly not plunge an entire state into turmoil because you are miffed with a political son you regard as an ingrate.  

Mentorship of any kind is like parenthood. You may have made enormous sacrifices to assist your children, but you shouldn’t keep aggressively interfering in their lives once they reach adulthood.

You should allow them to become their own people, even if you don’t like the people they become or the people they marry or mix with. And even if you feel that they have not repaid your love and generosity.

I am also firmly wedded to the idea that Rivers money should be reserved for Rivers People, many of whom are painfully impoverished.    

For far too long, we have been saddled with governors who have insisted on neglecting the poor huddled masses in our 23 local government areas, just so they can throw endless petrodollars at outsiders they hope will support their presidential ambitions.

To be fair to Fubara, he has not displayed any annoying obsession with national stardom so far. HOWEVER, he is still falling into the same trap as his predecessors by looking outwards instead of inwards.

Long story short, the protection Fubara is getting from Abuja Mandarins is not cheap or free. He is now their lackey. And he will have to pay through his nose to keep Tinubu on side and help him hijack our state in 2027 the way he hijacked it in 2023.

And I don’t understand why so many Riverians think that it is better to be a Yoruba man’s lackey than an Ikwerre man’s lackey!

I can only describe their attitude as a colonial mentality! As in you prefer to be pushed around and ripped off by an outsider!!!

I say we don’t have to be pushed around or ripped off at all by an indigene or “foreigner”. And I personally don’t want my Governor to be anyone’s lackey. I want him to remember that we have a tradition of war canoe houses. I want him to be a warrior with a strong backbone.

I reckon that if Fubara had bravely encouraged the Rivers People who were ready to fight for him when he was under siege, he would have won the battle for independence and dignity.

We used to be a proud people…a collection of minorities who stood tall and somehow managed to hang together. But something has gone wrong.

Rivers is the capital of the Niger Delta, a region that has kept Nigeria afloat for decades. We have every right to dictate terms and conditions in relation to the rest of the country. But somewhere along the line in recent years, we lost our self-confidence, our courage and our powers of discernment and are now basically a conquered people.

It is so very very sad.

NIGERIA UNFILTERED – spicy commentaries on Naija issues – appears every Wednesday, while DONU’S WEEK appears on Fridays and is international as well as local and covers a mish-mash of soft and tough issues around my personal life, my work and my worldview.

Two days ago on Nigeria Unfiltered, I talked about a $9 million fee an American lobbying firm is being paid to counter the Christian Genocide narrative on behalf of our government. I wondered how this exorbitant price tag – which only covers a 12-month period – can be justified

Please check out my Donu’s World library (dating back to early 2024) on YouTube, plus the new videos I produce every week. I would love to hear your opinions and any constructive criticisms you may have to offer. And I will be very grateful if you “like”, subscribe and share!

DONU’S WORLD

I have a YouTube channel. It’s called DONU’S WORLD.

https://youtube.com/@donukogbara?si=bBm_IPdFZ_wUyKYq

RESPONSES TO  [email protected]  or to 0805 404 6887. (TEXT ONLY). PLEASE NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU REQUEST ANONYMITY, YOUR EMAIL OR TEXT MAY BE PUBLISHED WITH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS ATTACHED

Please listen to my podcast AfricaHere&NOW.

YouTube.com/@AfricaHereAndNOWPodcast

http://Www.africahereandnow.com

It can also be accessed via Spotify and Apple podcasts