By Idoko Ainoko
Anyone seeking to understand the concept of a tortured soul only needs to pay close attention to Rivers State Governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, whose every action in recent days seems to provoke his demons instead of pacifying them. Yet, Wike knows the solution to his problems, he has to stop chasing shadows and focus on the reality, the reality that he is fighting a lost war of attrition. He sowed the wind and he is now reaping the whirlwind, physically and politically.
That he is today the equivalent of a political orphan is of his own making, after all he actively partook in the destruction of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he attempted to become the supremo of the dying behemoth once touted as Africas largest party. Had he been wise enough to not kill his own political party, perhaps he would have been ble to go into the election with more confidence such that he woul not hve needed to rig the election, kill and main the same people he is desperate to govern. The fanatical zeal with which he pursued that agenda is today directed at making Nigeria fail.
With a dead PDP, Wike was left with no other option than to unleash violence of industrial proportion to steal the election. But knowing that the law does not approve of violent behaviours, even from certified touts, he thought himself clever by dressing his thugs in military uniform. The idea appeared smart the time since it allowed Wike’s thugs to go about unmolested while soiling the image of the military, which was the only impediment to the criminality he was bent on imposing on Rivers state. But like every other crime, Wike has since realize that there are consequences.
Poor Wike has become a tormented soul since controversially winnning that election. He now presents with clinical manifestations of hallucination. He sees detractors even in the midst of his own family. If he is not talking about Amaechi he is talking about Buhari or attacking Federal Government institutions.
His troubled state of mind has not allowed him lock down on one strategy in pursuit of whatever it is he is so desperate to acheive. He has oscilated between attempting to advise President Buhair, when he clearly lacks the capacity to do so, and being belligerent towards the President once he realized that his poisoned chalice got not positive reaction.
The maniac tendencies of the Rivers State Governor makes no distinctions that would have intelligently recognize that Federal Government agencies are not meant to be his private property. Like a disoriented avian attacking its reflection in a glass panel, Wike has been hurling himself like a projectile against these organizations. If he is not fighting himself he is fighting the military. If his outburst is not directed at the Police then it is directed at the Army.
This brings us to how bad things have become for Wike in the last few days to the point of launching demented allegations against the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarhem. In the space of a few days, Sarhem, has in Wike’s troubled mind attempted an assassination bid on him, run an illegal oil bunkering squad with the objective of financing his drive to be made the Chief of Army Staff and possibly Sarhem even attempted to become the next Rivers state governor in Wike’s hallucination.
But the source of Wike’s disturbance is well known. He is is possibly the only one still in denial as to what truly ails him. Truth be told; Wike is afraid of the possible consequences of having rigged himelf in as the governor of his state for a second time. He knows that organizations like the Army, Police and other federal agencies that were present during the polls have information that can sink him in the course of judicial challenge to his win. He election that he has rigged himself into office. For instance, he decided the GoC is an enemy after his offer of bribe was turned down.
The Rivers state governor is in need of help and urgently so. Those close to him have to do something to manage his delusional tantrums. They can start by reassuring him that a loss at the Election Tribunal would not be the end of the world, They should also remind him that those whose elections have been nullified by the courts are fortunate enough not to be criminally tried for stealing the election in the first place. He should be told that the most of his phobias are unfounded since the Army and Police have more pressing issues than wasting scarce national resources on lowlife politicians, so they will barely have time to care about what happens to him after being sacked by the tribunal.
Instead of chasing shadows, Wike should productively engage himself, both as a matter of responsibility being the Rivers state governor and as an act of contrition, remorse and remediation. He should give law enforcement agencies the comprehensive list of the people he mobilized to unleash violence during the election for the purpose of their being demobilized and rehabilitated. He should also work with these security agencies to retrieve the firearms he provided to these people. The entire country may be facing one security challenge or the other but the one in Rivers will prove peculiar in the future because it is being inspired by one man’s unsettled mind.
Ainoko is a civil rights activist based in Abuja.
