Tinubu’s respect for Wike is not deep. Not much deeper than that for MC Oluomo. Perhaps Tinubu needs Wike for another two years. Tinubu’s focus is electoral conquest. So, he can swallow Wike’s shenanigans with a straight face. It won’t be too damaging because Nigerians are forgetful, and often votes don’t count. But could Wike be the overripe fruit — juicy, messy, and bound to stain someone? Time will tell. In a republic where empathy is optional and rules are no stronger than suggestions, Wike comes handy for any president.
Before Wike started remaking Rivers State in his own image, he used to rail against Lagos’ godfatherism. He thought it was feudalism. But those days are over. Now that he considers the Rivers government his political furniture, the private ownership of Lagos politics must be the manual to control his own stooges. Some say his hypocrisy is likable because it’s laughable. I guess that amphibian adaptability has helped his political ascendancy and longevity.
Those who know him speak copiously and eloquently of his generosity. Some call him POS Africa. Whatever that means. But this son of the general manager of many companies has other traits that endear him to many besides being a capricious political Santa Claus with public funds. Wike is a go-getter. A fierce competitor.
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But the problem many have with Wike’s special talent in go-getting is that it lacks ethical bearings. A go-getting without bounds. A wolfish go-getting that employs all means and tricks — subtle and abrasive, including sabotage, backstabbing, boastfulness, intimidation, and talkativeness that seems alcohol-induced — leaves many worried. But that’s also why some think he is a political asset in any banana republic. Because even when the rules are well defined, the enforcement is porous. In this ecosystem, the restless, ruthless, and rapacious have the edge. He will embark on visible projects. But the ultimate outcome is moral bankruptcy.
The EU and YIAGA Africa’s post-election assessments in the last 10 years have all made a special mention of Rivers. The election monitoring groups have portrayed Rivers as an election-rigging laboratory. In the 2023 elections, they reported many other states, like Imo, copycatting Rivers — learning some dubious schemes from the latter. By the time the second round of elections came in March, the police in many places worked with thugs to snatch ballot boxes and election materials to falsify results and defeat BIVAS. Wike is innocent. He calls himself a man of INTEGRITY. But this kind of go-getting has given Rivers State a bad name. The other day, when he warned INEC to make sure the 2027 elections were free and fair, the entire nation laughed. It was deemed a joke.
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Wike’s wife is a judge. The man loves judges. Everywhere he goes, he provides for them: official houses, cars, etc. It’s legal. They seem to like him too. The former Chief Justice once called him a son of the bench. Despite his rambunctious nature, Wike is a life bencher. Critics say that relationship has done more bad than good to the reputation of the judiciary. In his defence, Wike often suggests that his astute knowledge of the law, rather than a dubious knowledge of the bench, is the reason why he outsmarts his opponents in courts. Whatever it is, this unique capacity to triumph in court makes Wike a political asset in any banana republic.
A few weeks ago, Omoyele Sowore, a rights activist-cum-politician, took Wike on, exposing what he described as a deluge of ill-gotten wealth: a hospital in Port Harcourt; a certain Signature Hotel in Port Harcourt, as a signature of prebendalism and sybaritism; a mall in Port Harcourt; a supermarket chain which, after dominating Port Harcourt, has been assisted in establishing a foothold in Abuja; many choice properties in Florida and the old GRA in Port Harcourt. Wike is innocent of these serious allegations until proved guilty in a competent court.
The jury is still out on whether Wike, the legal luminary, courts the courts more than the media. The man holds more media chats than the president and all the governors combined. Every month, he holds a media chat to discuss everything under the sun, seizing prime time on all major news channels. Yet, every now and then, he goes to TV studios for marathon interviews. When he is not gossiping about confidential matters of his former bosses, he is peacocking and lionising himself. In a country with dull and dour politicians, anyone clowning in the corridors of power — providing national entertainment — has a ready audience. These one-man reality shows, passed around as press conferences, create a farcical impression of popularity. Perhaps it is not too farcical where many are easily impressionable. His lack of cultivation no longer provokes general revulsion. Unfortunately, that’s an asset.
If a politician remains consistently brash, uncouth, and loutish, he puts himself beyond public moral scrutiny. Wike once told a congregation that he told a bishop not to make him a knight because, as a politician, he lived in filthy undertakings. The church clapped. This manipulative self-deprecation makes censoring him a futility. So, Wike can ride his Rolls Royce without compunction. And tell the public that his father was a general manager of many companies — so that it becomes their duty to work out how he got the money to buy a Rolls Royce, even though the only real work he has done all his life is public service.
Recently, Wike went to a conference in Dubai, ostensibly to learn from other mayors on how to improve Abuja. The official delegates he took along for the conference included the chairman of the PDP in Rivers; the chairman of the APC in Rivers; his son, Jordan; his son, Jardin. Against public outrage at this display of wanton profligacy, Wike’s spokesman asked Nigerians to wait for their turn. When Wike holds media chats, he sits on a golden chair like Nebuchadnezzar. He is not scared of flaunting opulence in the faces of the suffering masses. Around Abuja, Wike’s images litter the landscape. These pictures make the city look tacky. Not sure Idi Amin, at the peak of his madness, had time for such self-aggrandising frivolity.
A few weeks ago, Omoyele Sowore, a rights activist-cum-politician, took Wike on, exposing what he described as a deluge of ill-gotten wealth: a hospital in Port Harcourt; a certain Signature Hotel in Port Harcourt, as a signature of prebendalism and sybaritism; a mall in Port Harcourt; a supermarket chain which, after dominating Port Harcourt, has been assisted in establishing a foothold in Abuja; many choice properties in Florida and the old GRA in Port Harcourt. Wike is innocent of these serious allegations until proved guilty in a competent court. But the weight of the allegations should have compelled an open investigation into these properties —particularly because, before he left office as governor, the EFCC had been all over Rivers, publishing details of grand corruption involving the state leadership. But it’s been more than two years since Wike lost his immunity, and the EFCC hasn’t glanced at him. This uncanny ability to survive against the odds makes Wike a political asset in any banana republic.
Of all his attributes, his ability to sabotage his opponents stand out. Fayose once warned Fubara about this. Once Wike latches, he bites to submission. The PDP is almost dead. Critics say he did it for Tinubu, to emasculate the opposition. PDP governors are fleeing the dying party. Some of them whisper that defecting renders Wike impotent against them. They say the death of the PDP is the end of Wike’s mercenary political influence.
Nothing latches on him. Even if they latch, they don’t bite. Allegations are rife about land grabbing in Abuja — the taking away of land from struggling people and gifting them to family members and cronies. He said those who lost their land either had no title at all or had defaulted in paying rents. And once recovered, he was free to give the land to his friends. Nobody holds him to account. When the media gather around him, they come not as watchdogs. The role of the media in coddling and fostering nuisance in government will be studied someday. This suspicious ability to disarm and handcuff the media makes Wike a gem of banana republic politics.
A section of the public thinks Wike likes alcohol more than food. Though he is the only minister they have seen cooking in the kitchen — perhaps the only one who bothered to release pictures to the public. So, he tries to court the public. However, he is the only minister who comes on TV with slurred speech. When he was a governor, he used to talk a lot about 40-year-old whiskeys. When Wike talks, a section of the public sees unfettered courage. Even if this trait is alcohol-assisted, the public, it appears, doesn’t care. They like the image of a strong man. The only problem is that self-serving, manipulative, alcohol-induced courage lacks empathy, sobriety, and vision that produces morally transformative leadership. But in a banana republic where brigandage and opportunism govern politics, any chameleon that roars like a lion will be an asset to his group.
Of all his attributes, his ability to sabotage his opponents stand out. Fayose once warned Fubara about this. Once Wike latches, he bites to submission. The PDP is almost dead. Critics say he did it for Tinubu, to emasculate the opposition. PDP governors are fleeing the dying party. Some of them whisper that defecting renders Wike impotent against them. They say the death of the PDP is the end of Wike’s mercenary political influence.
Tinubu’s respect for Wike is not deep. Not much deeper than that for MC Oluomo. Perhaps Tinubu needs Wike for another two years. Tinubu’s focus is electoral conquest. So, he can swallow Wike’s shenanigans with a straight face. It won’t be too damaging because Nigerians are forgetful, and often votes don’t count. But could Wike be the overripe fruit — juicy, messy, and bound to stain someone? Time will tell. In a republic where empathy is optional and rules are no stronger than suggestions, Wike comes handy for any president. A fixer, the toast of the “strong man” crowd. Posterity will judge. And with Wike, posterity won’t wait long. His bosses always become his political enemies. If Tinubu has any dirty linens in Wike’s custody, they will be washed in public someday. For now, they can eat their juicy cake and have it, while the nation thirsts for transformative leadership.
Ugoji Egbujo writes from Lagos.
