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Elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, Dr Femi Okurounmu has cautioned President Bola Tinubu to change his laid-back posture on the ongoing crisis in Rivers State as there are indicators that the power play ensuing might set the entire Niger Delta region on fire.
His contention is that aside from the likely issue of violence in the case of any eventuality, Nigeria as a whole might suffer from stoppage of crude oil flow from the region.
Okurounmu who spoke as guest on the popular monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena, on Sunday night, said it is unfortunate that President Tinubu has been shirking away from his duty to call his appointee Minister, Nyesom Wike to order from overheating the State.
The once-in-a-month current affairs programme which held via Zoom and broadcast live on two radio stations, Sweet 107.1FM, Abeokuta and WASH 94.9 FM, Lagos, was hosted by a media professional and public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu.
Frontline traditional ruler, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola, was the Keynote Speaker and chair during the discourse.
He lampooned the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Wike for being the architect and mastermind of the Rivers crisis, saying, “Even if Governor Sim Fubara is his godson, Wike should be told that he cannot be his surrogate as a sitting Governor with full powers”.
“Yes, Wike has assisted him to become governor and Fubara already said thank you, what is proper to do in a civilized democracy is to keep hands off his government except he is looking for dishonour,”, he added.
Okurounmu said further: “I think the implications of the Rivers crisis are very serious. If there is an escalation of crisis in the Niger Delta, which is where most of our oil comes from, that is, If the oil flow is disrupted or completely stopped, the whole of Nigeria will suffer.
“And so we need to avert crisis at all cost in any part of that region. I expected the President to have been more decisive on this issue. He should direct Wike to face his official duties. Wike is obsessed with power and he wants to be calling the shots in Abuja and running the show in Rivers at the same time.”
Senator Okurounmu also had harsh words for the Judiciary which,he alleged, has now been pocketed by those presently in power, concluding that today’s Judiciary is no longer the last hope of the common man.
Hear him: “Everything is wrong with a judiciary that encourages Justices chasing after cases of their choice. I do not oppose the fact that Judges must be well remunerated. But no Judge must be giving anything special beyond the standard remuneration that applies to all Judges.
“In cases where Judges are now given special remuneration over and above what is applicable is an attempt to curry favour of such Judges so they can always rule in favour of the Executive. Politicians are attempting to put the judiciary in their pockets.”
The Afenifere chieftain also lamented the decline in proper democratic governance values under President Tinubu, declaring that the system of government currently being operated in Nigeria is what he derisively called: “Quasi-Military Democracy”.
He said: “The period between 1960 to 1966 during the First Republic was the glorious era of democracy in Nigeria. We practiced democracy as handed down to us by the British from whom we got our independence.
“It was the Parliamentary System. The government recognized opposition in Parliament. And the opposition was supposed to be a check on the government and keep the government accountable at all times. And the parties were both as independent to choose their own candidates and make their own rules for selection of their candidates.
“Elections were relatively free and fair, not the kind of elections we have today, which are more or less determined by forces other than the people. The people are supposed to go to vote, but the voting is most of the time, a complete sham. They go through the motions of voting, but it is not really the choices of the people that count.
“It is the choice of INEC and the interested people in government. They make us go through these motions of elections, but other people decide for us who the winners are. You cannot call this democracy.
“What we have today is a Presidential system of government where all powers are vested in one man. All the Executive powers of the state are vested in one man. And if that one man has a tendency for gravity power, it means that we have no institutions in the country. One man who controls the Executive, One man who controls the Legislature. One man who controls the Judiciary. One man who controls the Police. One man who controls INEC.
“That same man is the one who controls everything. That is the kind of democracy we have today in Nigeria. Is this what you call a democracy?”
