Can Ibas Restore Peace to Rivers State?

Blessing Ibunge writes about the prospect of peace returning to the oil-rich state with the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibot-Ete Ibas (Rtd) as Sole Administrator

Since his announcement as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday and subsequent resumption of duty in Government House, Port Harcourt, Vice Admiral Ibot-Ete Ibas (a retired Chief of Naval Staff), Rivers State has experienced relative calmness, especially from the politicians who had been at war in the past 16 months.

On his assumption in office on Thursday, the former CNS assured that he would restore peace in the State, even as he stated that he is a ‘Port Harcourt Boy’, and is conversant with the terrain.

Residents and citizens of the state have also noted the relative peace in the state, although there are stakeholders who accepted the former military chief in the state, but believed that the process of his emergence was illegal and against the constitution.

But during his broadcast at about 7:15pm on Thursday, Ibas stated he was appointed by the president to restore peace, security, and stability for economic activities to continue to thrive and avert any disruptions to the way of life of the people of the State.

He stated that the action of President Bola Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and his subsequent appointment was primarily to ensure stability of livelihoods for the people.

 Ibas explained, “For decades, I have dedicated my life to the service of our great nation. First, as a member of our Armed Forces, where I had the honour and privilege of serving as the 20th indigenous Chief of Naval Staff and more recently, as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Ghana. After what I believed to be my final retirement from public service, duty has once again called. I have answered, not for personal ambition but out of an abiding commitment to the peace, stability and prosperity of Nigeria as a whole and more specifically, Rivers State.”

 He said his appointment came at a difficult and consequential moment in history, stressing that, “The political impasse of nearly two years in Rivers State has paralysed governance, desecrated democratic institutions, threatened security and undermined the economic and social fabric of the state. It has deepened divisions amongst the people and cast a shadow of uncertainty over the future. These are realities we cannot afford to ignore. As a son of the Niger Delta, I am one of you. I recognise the weight of this moment, the expectations of the people and the challenges that lie ahead.”

He noted that “The uneasy calm that pervades the state is palpable and I feel the weight of families, young and old, businesses that have made both little and huge investments in Rivers State uncertain what the immediate future holds. My mandate is clear to restore law and order, stabilise the polity and to create the necessary conditions for the full restoration of democratic institutions and representation”.

While calling for collaboration of all in the state to achieve the needed peace, he said “This is not a task for one man alone. Success will depend on the collective effort of all Rivers people, elders, political leaders, traditional rulers, trade leaders, youths, women, the media and civil society.”

The former CNS stated that, “Destruction of national infrastructure in the name of agitation is something we in the Niger Delta have since put behind us. Through collective engagements, our people have become more aware of the collateral damage that comes with it.

“Not only does it deprive the government of enough resources to provide necessary critical infrastructure and services, the damage to the environment has left vast areas of the Niger Delta extensively devastated, affecting the health and livelihoods of our people.”

He warned that Niger Delta people must resist the temptation to return to the ugly days, engage in dialogue and honest engagement as a veritable tool for resolving differences and conflicts of any kind.

“There’ll be no room for lawlessness, no space for violence and no patience for actions that threaten our collective well-being. We will not act arbitrarily but neither will we hesitate to enforce the law where necessary. Let no one be in doubt we will hold justice and fairness but we will also ensure that civil order prevails.”

Some stakeholders who spoke with THISDAY on the development expressed diverse reactions on whether the sole administrator would be able to restore the needed peace in the State. However, some of them said the State was not in crisis, rather it was a disagreement between politicians, alleging that the battle was for selfish reasons and not in the interest of the overall citizens and residents of the State.

An elder statesman, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, who always stood for the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, said he has no problem with the retired CNS being the sole administrator in the state, stressing that his condemnation was on the President, who allegedly did not follow the due process constitutionally in the appointment.

He further knocked Tinubu for suspending an elected governor, saying that the action was against the constitution that guides the nation. He also alleged that the federal government is dragging the country back to the military era.

Sara-Igbe reacting further, said, “As Rivers people we have no problem with the Sole Administrator. The problem we have is the illegality that brought him. So far as we are concerned, he is not here legally.

“If he comes in as an emergency, trying to restore peace, no problem, but for him to take over the role of our elected governor, is the problem we have. We have walked through the constitution, there is no section of the constitution that empowers Mr. President to suspend or sack the governor or even House of Assembly members, or even the councillors, there are no provisions for that in the 1999 constitution as amended. He also alleged that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike being close to the former CNS, doubted if his coming was genuine.

“So, for the president to suspend our elected governor, that is abnormal, is the problem we have. Other than that, we don’t have a problem with that. And if at all we are not cooperative, we have not accepted him as a legitimate official; if our brother is a member of the Niger Delta, we have no cause to complain, but the point is doing the right thing. “Again, the moment they announced it, Wike posted pictures with him, showing that is a Wike man. And so, we are doubting, you cannot cut a green snake in green grass. We don’t know his source; I don’t know why he came. So far as the elders are concerned, we don’t have a problem with him. We have a problem with how he came.

“If Sim Fubara is restored and is here, like what Goodluck Jonathan did in Borno and other states, by sending the Chief of Army Staff their to maintain peace, we have no problem, but taking over the role of our elected, not an appointed governor is where we have problem”, Sara-Igbe added. The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Tony Okocha, in his reaction, expressed total confidence that the sole administration in the State would report peace.

Okocha who had earlier commended President Tinubu for the declaration of a state of emergency in the State following the long-lasting political crisis between the State Executive and the Legislative, said the decision was timely, alleging that the state has been in unrest for the past months.

He expressed that, “It was clearly the best of all possible decisions to checkmate the brewing circumstances of economic sabotage and general anomie that were trickling and bedeviling the peace in Rivers State.”

 He commended Ibas for his appointment, saying “We congratulate the square peg Sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd) whose pedigree in administration and scintillating service to our Nation speak volumes who is appointed by Mr. President to temporarily superintend the affairs of Rivers State.”

Expressing his concern on the State matters, Okocha said, “I believe that Vice Admiral Ibas can restore peace here, because in Rivers State we were beginning to notice the return of lawlessness and criminality arising from whatever they call politics, the matter has been exercise, and a certain group is saying that Fubara who belong to their own camp is removed, they will make the place ungovernable. I think the appointment of the retired Navy Commander is a welcomed development. In fact, if you are in Port Harcourt, you will see that there is real decorum, people are going about their normal business happily, it would have been worse if we were in the other system. Is painful, but what can we possibly do.”

On his part, an environmentalist and Programme Manager, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Port Harcourt, Kentebe Ebiaridor, flawed the president’s appointment and the swearing in of the former CNS into office while the process was yet to be approved by the National Assembly who were deliberating on the matter as at the time when he has resumed duty in the Government House, Port Harcourt.

He said, “the situation where the person that brought him into office is already flawed, where it has not yet been concluded by the national assembly, but he has resumed office and he has also been sworn in by the President, it gives a wrong thinking on how the President wants to run the State.

“I do not think that the military invasion into the democracy of Rivers State was in response to any misunderstanding between the legislative and the executive. But as far as Rivers State is concerned, democracy has been invaded by the military, orchestrated and spearheaded by the president of the federal republic of Nigeria. That is a very sad moment for the country and for democracy.”

Reacting to one of the reasons for the state of emergency declaration, Ebiaridor said, “I am also looking beyond the fact that it is a ploy to have access to the oil that is already existing in Ogoniland, which the President has vowed to resume production. And if you watch the president’s body language, there was an attack on Ogoniland in the morning, there was another attack on another pipeline somewhere else in Rivers state, and he did not wait up to 12 hours before responding. Immediately they responded, a state of emergency was declared.

“This is not the first time a pipeline has been attacked in Niger Delta, yet there was no call for emergency, even on the environment. If the president is very serious about the revenues of the country, he should also make a call for an emergency on the environment. The Niger Delta is already polluted and we do not have a state of emergency there will be no alternative than oil.

“Holistically, I do not see the sole administrator as somebody who can restore peace because it is a political issue, there is no need of having a military invasion in democratic system”, he argued.

For a civil society group, Civil Liberties Organisation, the federal government should rescind its pronouncement of a state of emergency in the state. One of the leaders of the group, Christian Onyegbule, said President Tinubu must rescind the state of emergency and reinstate all duly elected officials to restore constitutional order.

The group said instead of a sole administrator, there should be an independent panel constituted to investigate the root causes of the crisis, ensuring accountability and justice. “All stakeholders must engage in constructive dialogue to resolve the political impasse and prioritise the welfare of Rivers State residents. The President must mandate all relevant institutions to ensure the full and unbiased implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

The focus is now on the Sole Administrator to see if his appointment will help restore peace and stability to the State.