2015: Trip To Brick House …The Ethnic Claims, Counters

Every politically charged electoral process produces its defining issues, personalities, aspirants, contenders and pretenders. Rivers State’s is no exception, as stakeholders shout their voices hoarse in a bid to justify their claims to right of occupation of the Brick House, the state’s seat of power come 2015.
Virtually every politician believes it is the turn of his or her ethnic nationality, senatorial zone or geographical divide to produce the governor and the claims of all others, baseless. For this, some distort history, others manipulate facts and yet many more simply insist on the personality factor.
Interestingly, these arguments are coming at a time when, the familiar single-party arrangement which the state once enjoyed is no more. It is no longer the time when anyone on PDP platform will automatically win elections in the state. When a single-party, the PDP produced the three senators, all members of the House of Representatives, Governor, Assembly members and even all 23 local government chairmen.
Now, the tide has changed. There are today two dominant parties in the state that cannot sit and agree on which ethnic group, or zone deserves the governorship most and move ahead to actualise same.
Right from the first election that ushered in Chief Melford Okilo as the first civilian Governor of Rivers State in 1979, no such agreement was reached as all interested Rivers people threw their hats in the ring. After Okilo, the next elections under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s military Presidency, ushered in Chief Rufus Ada George, but that tenure was cut-short by the same military which mooted civilian rule.
Under the old Rivers State, the most viscious of debates centred around Upland/Riverine divides, as politicians played the card to suit their whims and ignored it when, it was unfavourable.
Today, the arguments are: Upon what yardsticks should a governor be chosen other than his competence, popularity and pedigree. Should the choice of Rivers governor be based on Upland/Riverine? Or should it be based on Senatorial districts created with the new Rivers State? Or should it be based on ethnic nationalities? What other considerations can help in arriving at a just end and how binding, without a strong history of such political compromise?
It is to provide answers to these questions that it becomes necessary to attempt to reproduce the claims of various interest groups and see if any can pass the true tests of denial, right and fair- play. Today, an abridged brief of each contending ethnic nationality and senatorial zone is here reproduced.
But first, let’s assess the potency of the political divides to which aspiring politicians source their acclaimed rights to the chair.
Upland/Riverine Deal
The first questions this generates include: Does it truly exist? Or is it a mere wish? If it indeed existed, when? In the old Rivers State before the carving out of Bayelsa State or the new Rivers State as presently constituted with 23 local government areas and three senatorial zones? If indeed it existed, since 1999 when, Dr Peter Odili became governor, why was he succeeded by Rt. Hon. Chubuike Rotimi Amaechi, another uplander? Or was it agreed that power will shift after four terms of 16 years?
Answers to these questions will reveal the weakness of the clamour for Upland/Riverine divides, except off-course, Rivers politicians would want to start now.
Even so, it still forms part of the claims by some ethnic groups in the quest for the Brick House.
Kalabaris
Politicians of Kalabari extraction are spread round three local government areas of Asari Toru, Akuku Toru and Degema and share same Senatorial district with former Governor Peter Odili’s Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Abua/Odual and Bonny local government areas.
The politicians there insist that it is not only the turn for the Riverine, that it is indeed Kalabari’s, on grounds that they have never produced governor or deputy since the creation of Rivers State. Yes, they have produced three speakers of the House of Assembly, and a chief judge, all heads of two arms of government in the state, but they have been denied the ultimate-Governor.
Opobo/Nkoro/Andoni
Aspirants here insist that it is not only the turn of their Senatorial district, but that it is also a Riverine turn.
Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni are part of Rivers South East Senatorial District, along with Gokana, Khana, Eleme, Tai and Oyigbo. They argue that since the two other Senatorial districts had produced governors from the upland divide, the only remaining Senatorial district whose turn it is to produce the governor, must source it from the Riverine divide, to ensure political balance. Although they have produced two deputy Governors, their eyes are on the main thing – Governor.
The Ogonis
The Ogonis share the same Senatorial district with the Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni local government areas as uplanders. Politicians here insist that Ogonis deserve the state governorship most on grounds that they have never headed any arm of government in the state nor produced either governor or deputy.
They argue that the Senatorial district is the only one that has yet to produce a governor while, the Ogonis are the ones in the district yet to even smell the post of Deputy governor, not to mention governor. It is their expectation that other Rivers people give them support as they had done for others.
Although, by virtue of their majority standing in the Senatorial district, they have produced all but one Senators, they believe that none others in the district and indeed the state deserves the governorship more.
The Ikwerres
The Ikwerres have the previledge of having one of their own, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, occupying the Brick House, and is about to complete two terms of about eight years. The Ikwerres are spread in Ikwerre, Emohua, Obio-Apkor and Port Harcourt local government areas. They share the Rivers East Senatorial District with Etche, Omuma, Okrika and Ogu/Bolo LGAs.
While the governor and some Ikwerre politicians insist that it amounts to injustice, if after eight years of an Ikwerre son’s tenure, another Ikwerre son succeeds him, some argue that the choice of governor has always been based on merit.
They insist that Governor Amaechi won the governorship on his own merit and rare resilience and not out of a gift to the Ikwerres, to which he was a beneficiary. Therefore, they argue, it should be left for Rivers people to choose their governor as they have always done.
Okrikans
The Okrika speaking people are spread round Okrika, Ogu/Bolo and Port Harcourt local government areas of the Rivers East Senatorial district. They believe that it is their turn to produce a governor because, not only was Gov Rufus Ada-George elected under the old Rivers State, his tenure was cut short by the military.
They argue that since the upland has enjoyed 16 years in the Brick House, a return to the Riverine is due, and should start with the truncated tenure, which cannot be counted as Okrika turn.
These are some of the claims by politicians, some of who hardly have facts to support their claims except that it is their turn.
The fact is, there has never been a prepared agreement with a register listing either ethnic groups or senatorial district’s turns for the governorship of Rivers State. Neither Odili nor Amaechi was a product of such arrangement. Both got the seats based on their party platforms, acceptability, popularity and drive. They were not produced by their ethnic nationalities nor their senatorial districts, for that matter.
Yes, a civil arrangement that gives every stakeholder a go at the Brick House will ignite hope among all for the future and reduce political tension every electoral year but there is little or no historical precedence to depend on. What has always been the case is for a governor to campaign, canvass and come out victorious. It is from there that all other zoning arrangements normally follow. A constant, however, is that no governorship and deputy-governorship candidates have ever emerged from the same senatorial district nor from either Riverine or Upland divides.
That being so, the rule appears to be, seek ye first the governorship, and get it, because no ethnic nationality will willingly give it to you. Get it and then the zoning of other positions will follow. Never seen the opposite since the creation of the state.
My Agony is that some politicians are distorting history in their desperation to earn sympathy for their course. The Governorship of Rivers State should be chosen based on competence and merit as has always been the case, unless we want to start it after Governor Amaechi. That’s the truth.

Soye Wilson Jamabo

Obuah and Ikanya