KEN UGBECHIE

Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, is trending. The boy from Rumuepirikom in Obio-Akpor local government of Rivers State has moulted into a bold and brave adult. Daring. Combustible. Effervescent. The son of a respected and reserved priest, Reverend Nlemanya Wike. Perhaps, Wike would have ended up at the pulpit as is the pattern in some families where pastors shepherd their son(s) to follow in their step. Not Wike, he chose politics over the pulpit. The soapbox over the sanctum sanctorum. And he has made an impressive career of it. Former local government chairman, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Minister of State for Education (later full Minister) and now a two-term governor of his state, his family, community and those who nurtured him in his life’s journey would be proud of the man he has become.

But this piece is not about what would have been if Wike had taken the path of priesthood. It’s about what has become of Wike, the politician and the man on the hustings. A lawyer and Administrator, Wike the politician has become a leader with multiple badges of honour and many scars of betrayal. Feisty with a predilection to pounce on and pound his attacker, Wike would, no doubt, have fared well as a radical, plucky, fire-spitting Pentecostal pastor. But here we are, confronted with a politically abrasive Wike who has become both a victim and a victor. Victory at the polls, in the court of public opinion. Victorious in the field of development, yet a victim of back-stabbing, political treachery and monstrous betrayal.

Nigerian politicians are not usually associated with fidelity. Their ideologies are nondescript, only defined by the dictates of their belly. They hop from party to party. Some mutate from democrat to republican. From hybrid to low breed. In a space of one year, a Nigerian politician can switch among three political parties and would not be ashamed to rationalize his or her despicable action. Such is the variant of some Nigerian politicians: Chameleonic and fickle. Think about this, in just this year, Ibrahim Shekarau, the strong man of Kano politics, has migrated from APC to NNPP and now hibernating in PDP. He might yet move, roving like a roller coaster. Such ideological vagrancy defines most politicians. They start with Party A, collapse into Party AB, morph into Party AC. At the end, it’s hard to tell who and what they represent. Democratic ideal, Republicanism or Conservatism?

Not so Wike. He is a faithful party man. He has from inception stuck to the Peoples Democratic Party, the party that brought him to the cusp of politics and power. He has openly professed his loyalty to PDP. In 2015 when PDP lost power at the centre and relapsed into the opposition mode, Wike stepped forth to keep the fire burning. Many left the party. Some others left well before 2015. They even fought the party and were instrumental to the APC upending the PDP at the polls in 2015. And after 2015, expectedly, there was an exodus of some members including governors, senators, ministers etc out of the PDP into the APC. Wike never shifted a foot. With a very weak media team and an obvious lack of knowhow and skill to play the role of the opposition effectively by the PDP publicity minders, Wike took over the role of opposition. A one-man squad. It’s to his credit that the PDP kept afloat. This explains why he is miffed. Angry at his party, at the turn of events these past months. Wike was simply betrayed by those he trusted in the party. He was betrayed by his soulmate, Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto State. Wike and Tambuwal had a few things in common. They had age advantage going into the PDP Presidential primary. They had friendship, or so it seemed. But Wike had a little edge. He’s from the south where it was largely believed the presidential ticket would swing to. Both campaigned nationwide with Wike doing much more. What was not clear was whether both trusted each other. Perhaps they did with Wike trusting their friendship more than Tambuwal. In his trust reverie, Wike forgot that religion and ethnicity are the twin evils that drive the rotor of Nigerian politics. And when the crunch hour came, Tambuwal pulled the rug from under Wike’s feet. It happened in one night of political brinkmanship marinated with religion and ethnicity. Tambuwal stepped down, not for Wike, his bosom friend, but for Atiku Abubakar, his brother. Ethnicity won over friendship. Hard lesson for Wike. Ever since, the faithful and dutiful party man has been up and about, manifesting tendencies that could, prima facie, be interpreted as anti-party activities. But they are not. Wike is simply flexing his political muscle. And he has it in quantum. Under his watch as governor, Rivers has consistently given the PDP the highest number of votes in the entire south, bar Lagos. Wike is a mobiliser of men and resources. And he deserves to be paid special attention. Since the primary was lost and won, and decision on presidential running mate made, Atiku ought to have drawn closer to Wike at least for his very high electoral value, energy and political skills. The PDP should never have allowed even an inch of void between its top hierarchy and Wike. Sending emissaries to Wike sounds like an insult. It’s indeed an insult.

The recent London meeting between Atiku and Wike was good but it took so long in coming. Wike is among the rare jewels in the PDP and he sure deserves better than the short shrift he’s getting. Those who throw jabs at Wike, including the PDP Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, who said Wike was a baby when PDP was formed, do not help the cause of the PDP, nor that of Atiku. Hauling derogatory remarks at Wike does damage to the political fortune of Atiku. As chairman of the PDP, it’s Ayu’s responsibility to unite the party, and not divide it. The bottom line is: Atiku needs Wike. He needs him for mobilization, logistics and for his energy. And by all means, Atiku should win Wike back to his side, fully. In politics, as in life, you can stoop to conquer. Grandstanding helps no one. Ayu and his ilk should stop insulting Wike, a man who kept the house intact while Ayu and company sought inconvenient comfort elsewhere.

Wike hobnobbing and hosting politicians from other parties is not new. It’s been his style. Right from his early days, some of the many projects commissioned in his state were done by persons from other parties. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (it still beats me that APC could not give its Presidential ticket to this star of the modern era) once called Wike ‘Mr. Projects’, an allusion to the multiple projects in Rivers. Other politicians from other parties have been to Rivers to commission projects. Wike justifies this: Politics should not take the place of development. I concur.

By the way, this whole episode has brought out the once latent talents in Wike. He’s a damn good dancer, song composer and, now, an awesome Fashionista too good to be ignored.