Some radicals in society are propelled by nothing more than a self-flaunting, blatant showmanship; others are mere impostors riding on the wave of radicalism to achieve their selfish ambitions. But only in rare cases does radicalism coincide with altruism and a burning desire to align with the communal spirit, to advance the common good. Such rare instance is found in Chief Nyesom Wike, the executive governor of River State.
A case in point, a young lady of about forty-eight years recently came back from studying in the United States of Africa and called at her family home in Ogbum-nu-Abali (popularly called Ogbunabali) in the Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State. It took the beacons along the road and a strong desire not to ask the taxi driver questions for her to finally locate her ancestral home.
She stood transfixed, taking in the fresh oxygen from the specie of palms lining the centre median partitioning the road linking Aba Road, Nkpogu Junction and Garrison Roundabout.
The young lady marveled due to the fact that she had heard the term “Garden City” in connection with the Rivers State capital but by the time she left on a state government scholarship to America twelve years back in a programme that ultimately earned her a doctorate’s degree, Port Harcourt and its environs were like enclaves emerging from wars, and nothing then suggested anything close to garden. To complete her shock, the street lights soon came on as evening approached. At some point, it took the crowd of familiar black faces for her to reassure herself she was not still in America.
Her interaction on the Internet with some friends back in Nigeria had suggested that Wike was all about politics and opposition and that nothing was going on in Rivers State. Now she knew better, especially after she discovered that the road which connects Peter Odili Road to the east was not an isolated case. Across the state, roads with modern drainage systems were either under construction or already aglow with walkways, well marked packing spaces, street lights and modern directional signs. Welcome to the Garden City of Nigeria!
Wike clearly knew the circumstances of his emergence as governor for four and half years – that it was a divinely orchestrated event backed by Rivers people. That must explain why he set out to please only two constituencies; God and the masses. He had every opportunity to play politics as “business as usual’ and he knew he stood to gain a lot personally. But he shunned that in favour of the road less traveled.
In following this option, he obviously knew he would come against great obstacles, but he probably could not have envisaged the extent of the challenges.
He had one masterstroke; aligning with the people, the helpless masses of Rivers State and, indeed, other residents. This has been, and will continue to be his staying power. Across Nigeria, people believe that a governor must certainly ‘chop’, their grouse however is when all that he has to show for his government is ‘chopping’ and an era of kleptocracy.
This was the scene all over the country and more so in Rivers State before Wike’s emergence as governor in 2015. The initial thing he did was to sweep away an unproductive leadership and gather a team of young and vibrant technocrats but also socially conscious bureaucrats, before setting out with clear, unmistakable vision, mission and direction.
Unfortunately, the old aristocrats, the wheelers and dealers who had profited unconscionably from the old order could not read the handwriting on the wall. They did not understand that Wike had encircled his thought with positive change.
It may seem out of place to connect what Wike had done in Rivers State, in particular, his philosophy and modus operandi with the concept of class suicide, but it is not a far-fetched possibility. Sincerely speaking, he may have had Plebeian roots, but series of social circumstances had thrust him up as a de facto patriarch right from when he was a two-term Executive Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area under the watch of former Government or Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili.
The issues: when he got the mandate to govern – whether on a platter of gold, silver, bronze or wood, did he deliver in his first four years in the governance of Nigeria’s Treasure Base?
You bet! For the first time in recent history, civil servants, particularly teachers, could proudly claim that they are part of the nation’s workforce.
Children of the poor and down trodden can afford to go to school and actually handle computers! What the governor has done is to create a level playing field where, to draw a parallel from the evergreen Martin Luther King, one is no longer judged by the circumstances of his birth but by the content of his character, the degree of greyness of his or her brain. The scholarship fund which until recently was properly managed by the “incorruptible experts” has seen the children of the rich and poor alike scramble for sponsorship opportunities with only hard work and brain power as the determinants of who gets what.
There is hardly any reason not to believe that the new management will certainly toe that noble line. To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence according to John Quincy Adams.
The results of such experiments in normalcy in an overall abnormal national setting are not too far from us. Soon, there will emerge in Rivers State, a class of leaders, intelligent and radical, with a pro-people orientation and with an unwavering commitment to the common good, but who, unlike before, would not be too poor as to be marginalized or disregarded.
Governor Wike’s initial alignment with indigent persons may have been done out of mere radicalism, but it has proved to be the governor’s ultimate benefit as his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), battles with the opposition parties and other entrenched interests for the soul of Rivers State.

By: Bethel Toby