184 Days of the Locust in Rivers State

Quote:”Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded  landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake.”

Locusts are infamous for their devastating impact on agriculture and food security, especially when they enter their gregarious phase. At this stage, they form large, migratory swarms and move with rapid speed, covering up to 150 kilometers in a day. As a result, they strike without warning and make early control very difficult.   One locust can eat the equivalent of its body weight in plant materials daily. Its diet includes wheat, maize, rice, fruits, vegetables, and even tree leaves. Locust outbreaks can cripple subsistence farming communities and cause damage that could lead to food shortages, economic losses, and humanitarian crises. Adjudged one of nature’s shapeshifters, the locus leaves a devastated landscape in its wake. The declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State from March 18 to September 17, 2025, crippled   the otherwise smooth-functioning bureaucratic institutions and many aspects of life in the state.

The first salvo, which heralded the “locust effect” was the appropriation of N30bn to acquire gunboats. Rivers people wondered aloud if their State had a navy or was at war. Again, N22bn was expended on installing a new close circuit television (CCTV) in a Government House that already had an effectively functional CCTV. Regarding this, Kenneth Okonkwo jocularly asked if they are “trying to see the [genitals] of an ant”. That was an anomaly given the fact that the administration was a stopgap measure. Not a few Rivers people questioned the motive behind the installation, in view of the sensitivity of security; this fact remains very worrisome.      Like the shape-shifting locust, the Sole Administrator (SOLAD) consistently shifted from the authoritarianism of  military demeanor to the multi-tongued man-of-many-words mien of politicians.

Between these two behavioral extremities of the SOLAD, Rivers people groped in the dark and lived in confusion; they ached from the antics of an admix of “a bird of passage” and “soldier of fortune” who responded only to directives from his masters voice  from a distant land. Consequently, non-indigenes began  making decisions for Rivers State: Bola Tinubu  (Lagos State), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Tajudeen Abass (Kaduna State) and Kudirat Kekere-Ekun (Lagos State). The SOLAD’s mindset became akin to that of an imperial officer assigned to milk a colonial outpost. Resultantly, a non-indigene was appointed to the sensitive position of  Chairman, Rivers State Electoral Commission; the position of Chief of Staff went to another non-indigene and, and, and. In the end, it was a classical case of two brothers fighting over inheritance and a stranger stealthily steals it.

 In line with the “imperial officer” metaphor, the SOLAD arrogantly and audaciously said that he is not accountable to anybody other than President Tinubu.  Incidentally and quite tragically, when asked how the days of the plague will affect the people of Rivers State,  one of the SOLAD’s masters gutturally bellowed thus: “To hell with them”. To hell with Rivers people?!! Of course, subsequently, salaries were delayed till the 34th or later in the months. As at September 18 when the days of the locust ended, many workers and pensioners were not paid for August thereby extending the month of August beyond 49 days. This was a sad reminder of the grueling yesteryears of agony occasioned by bureaucratic bottlenecks in salary administration, organizational recklessness and systematized insensitivity to the plight of the people.

   In what Rivers people viewed as an adventure of “Alibaba and the Forty Thieves”, the Senate of the Federal Republic approved a budget of a whopping N1.48 trillion for an emergency rule of six months. A clear case of anomalous overreach and an outrage given the fact that the suspended governor was vilified for operating a budget approved by a factional section of the house. Even with the humongous budget, projects across the state were abandoned thereby affecting the economy of the state negatively. Meanwhile, Reuben Abati informs that  “over N400bn”  was spent within the days of the locust. On September 5, the agony of the ignominious experience of going on holiday without salary, a phenomenon that stopped when Fubara ascended the position of Governor of Rivers State, raised its ugly head again and Rivers people celebrated Id el Maulud empty handed. In other words, Rivers people celebrated “Sallah without Salary”.

 Soothingly, the Rivers State House of Assembly has expressed the intention of probing the finances of the State during the emergency rule. Whether anything positive will come out of it is another matter. For Abati, “Ibok Ette Ibas must be prepared to give proper account”. Here is a call to duty for civic groups in Rivers State. Sadly, what Rivers State experienced during the emergency rule was more than the devastating effects of a plague of locusts. The tragedy is that the “alien” invasion left a developmentally retarded  landscape and a psychologically traumatized people in its wake. Certainly, March 18 to September 17, 2025 has gone down in the history of Rivers State as 184 days of the locust. No wonder Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said that “Nigeria’s problem is not the absence of resources, but the presence of too many resourceful thieves”. Again, skeptical of the then novel  concept of democracy, Socrates projected that: “thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them…when they finally democratically take authority…there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy”.

It is however, consoling that, following his reinstatement on September 18, Governor Fubara “directed the immediate payment of pensioners August salary”. Regarding this directive, an author asserts that “This swift action underscores Fubara’s commitment to the welfare of employees and ensuring financial accountability in the state”. What there is to take home from the swiftness of this action is that Fubara is not only simple and humble, he harbors a humane heart.   Doubtlessly, the “grasses” of Rivers State have been brutalized and traumatized in the supremacy fight between two elephants. The prayer now is that the actors in the ring and those in the wings, including the millions of cheerleaders on both sides of the amphitheater, should sheath their swords.

By: Jason Osai