•Bassey and Tinubu
A renowned environmental activist and novelist, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has questioned the declaration of state of emergency by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu this evening.
The Frontier reports that in a nationwide broadcast this evening, the president declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Governor Fubara and appointed a military administrator.
Reacting to the presidential declaration, Dr Nnimmo Bassey in a chat with The Frontier said although the actions that led to the murky situation in Rivers State have been a national embarrassment, declaring a State of Emergency in the state makes the scenario worse.
According to Bassey, “A return of military rule in any part of the Niger Delta is an egregious assault on the psyche of a traumatized people. Awakening the nightmarish memories of the 1990 must be condemned in the strongest terms. We will not forget region was and has remained militarized at the pleasure of multinational oil companies. Communities were leveled and blood flowed across the land and creek.”
Continuing he said, “In recent months egoistic barriers have been raised to block dialogue and civility and militarization is now hoisted as a panacea to the rotten situation. Will military rule give the good people of Rivers State to breathe? Or will this add to the political mishaps in the state? Is this a chilling signal to other political actors who don’t kowtow to certain political godfathers that they must fall in line? Is it a ploy to further militarize the region, deepen impunity and reopen closed wells for barrels of oil under the protection of barrels of the guns? Are we smelling a ghastly 2027? Many questions to ask and many rivers to cross in Rivers State.”
Kicking against the declaration further, Bassey said, “I have just read the full statement and it is really infuriating. The statement is so one-sided and unconvincing. Another key premise is that oil pipelines were being threatened. Is the governor of the state the Commander in Chief of the armed forces? Excuses upon excuses, none to justify the collapsing of governance structures in favour of militarization”.
