THOUGHTS ON GOVERNOR FUBARA’S PORT HARCOURT DECLARATION

 Sim Fubara is a soldier of peace, reckons IKE OKONTA

The rainbow is a mix of primary harmonious colours. It usually appears in the sky after rainfall. Sim Fubara, governor of Rivers State’s declaration last June in a major speech in Port Harcourt, that he had joined the Rainbow Coalition, the political family founded by his predecessor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, is therefore doubly significant. Fubara’s speech bespeaks the return of political harmony in Rivers State. It also signifies the complete cessation of hostilities between himself and Mr Wike.

Governor Fubara also stated in this speech that he was in full support of Kingsley Chinda, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Rivers State, and that he would do all that was within his power to ensure Chinda’s victory in the election come 2027. He also urged all Rivers State people to line up behind the Rainbow Coalition and make sure that the political programme of unity between members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) that former governor Nyesom Wike had initiated in the state found a solid footing and produced victory for all the candidates it would field during the general elections next year.

The first condition for economic development in a state is peace and harmony. In making a bold move for peace amongst members of the political class in Rivers State, Governor Sim Fubara is saying that what is uppermost in his mind is the economic development of the state. Building peace so that development will ensue is no easy task. It takes humility, perseverance and a willingness on the part of major political actors to put the ordinary people first and their own personal interest last. This is exactly what Sim Fubara with his recent Port Harcourt declaration has done and he deserves fulsome commendation.

Incidentally, this selfless and visionary declaration is only one in many milestones in the field of Rivers State development recorded by Sim Fubara. In his eight years as governor, Nyesom Wike radically transformed the physical landscape of Port Harcourt, the capital. Roads and flyovers sprung up all over the city where there was none before. The traffic congestion that had hitherto blighted Port Harcourt, making it difficult for commuters to drive about and attend to business and leisure, vanished and the city quickly returned to its moniker: “the Garden City.” Nyesom Wike also earned the name, “Mister Project.’’

In his nearly four years in office, Governor Fubara has continued in Wike’s footsteps and has executed major infrastructural projects in Port Harcourt and all over the state that have endeared him to the people of the state. It used to be that other Nigerians mockingly called Rivers “the one city state’’, referring to the fact that Port Harcourt was the only city in the state with modern facilities. But it is no longer so. On Sim Fubara’s watch, development has spread to several other towns in the state so much so that many residents of Port Harcourt are now eagerly relocating to these towns. This is what is known as performance.

Health and education are also areas that have earned Governor Fubara’s attention. Nyesom Wike in his eight years refurbished dilapidated primary and secondary school buildings in various towns and villages in the state. Fubara, following his predecessor’s example, not only continued the project of refurbishment but also paid attention to the plight of primary and secondary school teachers. He has not only ensured that they are regularly paid their salaries, but that they also receive back-up equipment required to do their work diligently.

Health, the popular saying goes, is wealth. It can therefore be said that the people of Rivers State are presently reaping enormous dividends in the health sector thanks to Governor Fubara’s visionary intervention. Primary and secondary health institutions in the state are in robust condition. The specialist and university teaching hospitals are thriving and doing their work well. As a matter of fact it is now known that medical doctors in other parts of the country are relocating to Port Harcourt and environs where the conditions of service are very attractive, thanks to Governor Fubara.

It used to be the case that Port Harcourt and the wider state were the hot bed of youth militancy. The Ijaw Youth Council used Port Harcourt as its headquarters in the many battles with the oil companies and the Nigerian government as its members pressed for a fair share of the oil revenue obtained from the Niger Delta. Nyesom Wike led the work of pacification by reaching out to these angry youths and addressing some of their demands. Sim Fubara has continued and indeed further extended the project of peace, making it known to these militant youths that the doors of Government House in Port Harcourt are open to them.

Environmental remediation and care are also uppermost in Fubara’s mind. This writer was visiting Port Harcourt last June when Bille, a town some 40 kilometers from Port Harcourt exploded in a surge of gas and oil leaks, polluting farmlands and streams where the people obtained drinking water.  Bille leaders sent a delegation to Governor Fubara and asked for his intervention. Fubara not only made money available to buy palliatives, he sent his personal representatives to Bille to investigate this gas and oil blowout and to identify the oil company operating in the area and urge it to take remedial action.

Governor Sim Fubara has also excelled in the work of promoting inter-ethnic harmony in Rivers State. His predecessor in office, Nyesom Wike, has a favourite saying – “I nye ndi eba, inye ndi eba,’’ meaning “You give to this side, you also give to that side.’’ This is wonderful political and ethical philosophy, ensuring balance, harmony and the politics of give and take. It can be boldly said that Governor Fubara’s approach to inter-ethnic relations is grounded in this ethical balance, wherein no ethnic group in Rivers State is favoured more than the rest and each has a sense of belonging in the wider Rivers family.

It is a testimony to Sim Fubara’s sense of fair play and all-roundedness that there has not been reports of any ethnic group in the state complaining bitterly that it has been ignored in the provision of infrastructure and social amenities while others are more favoured. Under the governor, the ethnic groups in the state, large and small, are united and marching ahead in the journey of development. The supply of development funds is not infinite, and so the governor has had to be careful and frugal, apportioning funds in areas where they are urgently needed and extending a reassuring hand to other ethnic groups that their own time would surely come.

I end this short essay as I began it. Governor Sim Fubara is a soldier for peace and harmony in Rivers State. This is not an easy task in a big multi-ethnic state impatient for peace and development. In extending an olive branch to his predecessor and founder of the Rainbow Coalition, Fubara has signalled that uppermost in his mind is the development of Rivers State, which only political harmony will bring about. Nyesom Wike is also of a similar mind, and jointly, the two political gladiators have teamed up to give Rivers State a new lease of life founded on peace. It is for this reason that I commend Governor Sim Fubara.

Dr Okonta was until recently Leverhulme Career Fellow in the Department of Politics, University of Oxford