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The Rivers State Crisis: Who is to be blamed?

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The crisis in Rivers State has been touched almost by everyone, the presidency, the governors, ministers, ambassadors, pressmen and women, high and low profile personalities etcetera. Amongst this, no one story or view is the same as the other as to what actually went down and the true cause of the escalating problem. One thing though does seem unanimous, which is the general acceptance or rather understanding of two perspective of the issue – the President Jonathan involvement and the lone operation of the State governor’s impunity.

Earlier this morning, a Judge called me to ask my opinion on the issue, whether or not I agree with the views of certain block of people that President Jonathan is actually the cause of the problem or that Governor Amaechi is the revolving and uncontrollable Pistle that shoots at any opposing image. I told him with all due respect that am less concerned of who the cause of the problem is, but more of the character exhibited by the Law Makers a time before their plenary session. It was without doubt, one of the world’s most unpalatable and barbaric sights in history. I watched with total dismay, pity and shame as so-called honourable members fight like common motor park agberos, with life threatening weapons. Where a member had to physically assault a Speaker – slapping, boxing and hitting him with any available object including the Mase. Where a member had to come to the House with a band of street urchins to disrupt activities of the House. It was and still is, horrific.

The problem isn’t just that the power from the top tried to muscle out that of Rivers State, it wasn’t just for the real fact that the Rivers State governors impunity was becoming too glaring and disturbing, the problem is that the Law Makers as well as other political leaders in the troubled State, and the country in entirety, cannot exercise maturity, diplomacy and civility in handling their squabbles or differences as the case may be.

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I listened to an interview on Channels Television over the weekend, where some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and a Rivers State indigene who is a political analyst, was attributing the problem to President Jonathan’s 2015 presidential election interest. To me I say that’s balderdash. These leaders speak so strongly and negatively about the Nigerian youths not capable of leadership due to their youthful exuberance, but what I have come to realize is that the youths in this instance, might act more differently and responsibly.

No single individual no matter the strength or quantum of his power has the overall control, if the bigwigs in Rivers State wants peace, they will get peace and for Christ sake they should stop acting like Area Boys and start acting like leaders of a 21st Century.

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Jeff Okoroafor is a leading member of a new generation of civic advocates for government accountability and democratic change in Nigeria. The Citizen Affairs Initiative is a citizen-driven governance initiative that enhances public awareness on critical issues of service quality in Nigeria. It encourages citizens to proactively seek higher standards from governments and service providers and further establishes new discussions in communities about the standards that citizens should expect and deserve from those they have given their mandates. Jeff is the Managing Director of SetFron Limited, a multimedia development company that is focused on creative and results-driven web, mobile app, and ERP software solutions. He is the co-founder of the African Youths Advancement and Support Initiative (AfriYasi), a non-governmental not-for-profit organisation that provides tertiary education scholarship for young people from low-income homes in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative and the United Nations World Summit Awards. A Strategic Team member of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, and a member of the National Technical Committee on the Establishment and Management of Missing Persons Database in Nigeria. Jeff holds a Bachelor and Postgraduate diploma degrees in Computer Science, and a Certificate in Public Administration from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA.

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2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Silas Ogbu

    July 17, 2013 at 7:02 am

    Add a comment…

  2. Silas Ogbu

    July 29, 2013 at 12:32 pm

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