Sir, I recently came across a post that was purportedly signed by you (His Excellency, Engr. Tele Ikuru, former Deputy Governor of Rivers State) on Facebook. If that post is not from you, kindly ignore my comments, otherwise, you may consider the content herein.

I have admired the eloquence and finesse you display each time I’m privileged to listen to you. Your delivery in addressing audiences is always smooth and captivating to me.

However on this occasion, I beg to differ; to say that the governor ‘threw his safety and comfort out of the window and placed himself as a sacrificial lamb for the good of Rivers State and her people is rather questionable. Perhaps, you were right when you stated in your post that ‘’Impatience seems to be one attribute we have in short supply… before we have the full facts of events, we have already concluded and passed judgment.”

Your statement aptly describes the governor’s rather harsh and unnecessary action and yours following the public outcry over the action.  I say so because it is now in the news that the hotel in question did not belong to the said youth leader as the governor would want the world to believe but to a businessman named Promise Gogobari, who does not even reside in Rivers State. (So could it be that other information leading to the demolition of the hotel were sheer fabrications? Perhaps we will find out later). I refer you to a publication of the Punch Newspaper on the 15th of May, 2020, titled “No ill-feeling towards Wike for demolishing my hotel – Gogobari”.

But let us assume that the said youth leader owned the hotel or hotels and some individuals or management of the hotel broke the law. Is it proper for the governor to act as the accuser, judge, jury, and executor?  Has the Nigerian constitution been set aside? If the constitution is still in force, what has happened to separation of powers between the executive, legislature and the judiciary? Is it now okay, for an arm of government to make, interpret, and enforce laws? I don’t think so because the outcome could be chaotic.

Your Excellency Sir, you have the right to your opinion and I respect that and it is not misplaced for you to praise the governor where he has done well, but the statement that “we still have a limited spread of COVID-19 cases in Rivers State is directly attributable to the long-range decision and proactive actions he took”, is outlandish and lacks evidence.  I believe that the key elements in the long-range and proactive actions you talk about is the shutting down of some public places (including some private businesses) and total lockdowns of sections and entire local government areas in the state. It will interest you to know that Taiwan (a considered part of China) which is just about 2,000km away from China did none of those things, yet the spread of the disease there is controlled and their economy is not shut down. Rivers State is more than 10,300km away from China. Yet, we are taking a risk on our already fragile economy.

Moreover, the governor’s antecedents did not show his love for Rivers people. Please, Sir, find out how many employment opportunities his government has created for Rivers indigenes. Could you compare the employment figures of this administration to that in which you served as a deputy governor? I believe you are aware that employees of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) have not been paid for upwards of five (5) years. Yes, that agency that was the pride of the government in which you served as a deputy governor. I am told that many pensioners are still being owed their pensions and gratuities long after disengagement from the civil service.  It is no longer news that the governor arbitrarily sacked some civil servants on unclear and unacceptable circumstances. Do you know that as I write, many projects of your government are being allowed to rot? Here are a few; The Songhai Farm in Tai LGA, The metal recycling plant between Tai and Oyigbo LGAs, The Buguma Fish Farm, The Cassava Processing Plant in Oyigbo, the Adama Project at Etche. I could go on and on.

Can you therefore imagine what toll the forced ‘lockdown’ would have on a people who have been ‘forcefully’ impoverished by the same government that now claims to ‘love them’?

UNICEF has warned that ‘Indiscriminate lockdowns’ are ineffective in controlling the COVID and could lead to more significant mortalities from other diseases especially in children (Published in The Telegraph of 13/05/2020). The report states that the risk of children dying from malaria, pneumonia or diarrhea in developing countries like ours due to the pandemic is on the rise and that it “far outweighs any threat presented by the coronavirus. Yet we are locking down in such a hostile manner. We do not have to copy whatever is done elsewhere but develop peculiar solutions to our peculiar challenges.  We are hysteric when we should be sober.

Remember, that we’ve had cases of Lassa fever and Ebola viral diseases at different times. The observed case mortality rate for severe Lassa fever is between 15-29% that of Ebola is 25 to 90% while that of COVID-19 is a mere 1.4%, neither did the country nor the state embark on lockdowns during Lassa fever or Ebola epidemics. Perhaps, it wasn’t done because Europe or America didn’t. I think that a combination of firm access control at the ports, contact tracing, isolation, treatment, hand sanitation, enforcement of nose mask, and physical distancing would have sufficed as control measures for the COVID-19.

I agree that the governor is energetic and daring in his actions, but there is a general concern that he is leading us astray. So, as you go public to praise him, also go public to advise him. So that posterity may be kind to you.

Tekena Lawson

About the Author

Tekena Lawson, a development expert and former senior manager with the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), wrote from Port Harcourt.