The six-month state of emergency in Rivers State concludes at midnight, drawing a line under one of the most dramatic interventions in Nigeria’s recent political history. President Bola Tinubu’s decision to suspend an entire elected government was a momentous and deeply controversial one, a drastic surgery performed on the body politic. As the machinery of democracy is set to whir back into life from tomorrow, the pressing question is not just whether the patient has been stabilised, but whether the illness—a bitter feud between a godfather and his protege—has been cured, or merely sedated.
In his address to the nation, President Tinubu laid out the legal and administrative case for his actions. He spoke of a paralysed government, an inability to pass a budget, and a Supreme Court observation that “there was no government in Rivers State.” But behind this constitutional crisis lay a very human drama: the spectacular and acrimonious breakdown between the current Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his political benefactor and predecessor, Nyesom Wike. What began as a political inheritance soured into a very public duel, pulling the state assembly into two warring camps and holding the entire state hostage to their quarrel. The government’s gears were seized not by accident, but by the rust of this personal and political estrangement.
The President was right to invoke his constitutional powers under such dire circumstances. His proclamation was a necessary, if drastic, tourniquet. It stemmed the bleeding, protected the state’s vital economic organs from further damage, and provided a moment of forced convalescence. For this stabilising effect, he has rightly thanked the traditional rulers and people of Rivers State for their forbearance, for holding the lamp while the operation was conducted.
Yet, the use of such a sweeping power will, and should, continue to give pause to any democrat. While the constitution provides the scalpel, its use on elected bodies leaves a lasting scar. The hope must be that this intervention remains a rare procedure for a rare disease, not a precedent for future political prescriptions.
But now, the emergency is over. The anaesthetic is wearing off. Governor Fubara is being handed back the controls of the ship of state. He returns to the bridge, but the shadow of his predecessor, now a powerful federal minister, still looms large on the horizon. The political settlement brokered by Abuja is widely seen as having clipped the governor’s wings, leaving him to navigate a cabinet and an assembly where loyalties are deeply divided. The hope for all Nigerians must be that he returns not with a sense of grievance, but with a new understanding that true strength in leadership often lies in astute navigation of complex currents, not in head-on confrontation.
This is his profound test. Has the time in the political wilderness taught him that the art of governance is the art of building alliances, even with those who may oppose you? The people of Rivers State have been audience to a jarring cacophony for too long. They do not care for the musicians’ squabbles; they simply wish to hear a symphony of progress—of roads built, schools staffed, and communities secured. They need their governor to be a conductor, not a soloist in a battle of bands.
Likewise, for the other figures in this drama, the lesson should be clear. The well-being of millions cannot be the casualty of a personal feud. Political rivalry is one thing; a conflict that burns down the very house of governance is another. The members of the State House of Assembly have a duty to now play their part in this renewed ensemble. Their role as a counter-melody to the executive is vital for a rich sound, but dissonance for its own sake, or on another’s command, creates only noise.
President Tinubu has played his part by stepping in to retune the instruments and by stepping back to let the concert begin. He has set the stage. It is now over to the political actors in Rivers State. The emergency rule was a drastic intermission. The lights are coming back up. The audience—the long-suffering people of Rivers State—wait, hoping the next act is one of mature cooperation, not a return to the same discordant drama. They deserve a government that is not just back on stage, but finally in tune with their needs. The hope is that all involved, especially Governor Fubara, have learned that the most important relationship is not the one with a godfather in Abuja, but the covenant with the people who elected him.
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