Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, has warned the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, over the reported killings of Igbo people in Obigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, noting that he [Wike] would regret his actions in the future.
Gani Adams said this during an interview while commenting on the circumstances around the EndSARS protests, Lekki killings and Obigbo massacre.
He faulted Wike on why he blamed members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the violence that erupted in Obigbo during the #EndSARS protest.
Adams also reminded the governor that, the same uprising that erupted in Rivers State, also happened in several States in the South, adding that the governors managed it without using executive power.
He said, “I think the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has come out to debunk it that he didn’t give any instruction to the army. However, my take on the earlier statement credited to the governor where he said he’s giving executive law to proscribe IPOB.
“I must say I disagree with that. I must advise the governor that he should be careful. He should look beyond as governor of Rivers State, one day; he will finish that tenure and will be aspiring to have a national position.
“If there is crisis in your state, don’t use every force in your power to descend on that crisis and you don’t act as a military. He should remember that he is a civilian governor in Rivers State; he should not talk as if he’s talking to the opposition. Orders are very sensitive on how you handle issues with diplomacy. And to make sure as a leader you weather the storm.
“Even if the Federal Government called IPOB a terrorist group; it’s not in your power to say you will insert the law to call them terrorist in your own state because there’s a slight difference between the Igbo and the Rivers people.
“I understand during the state creation, part of Igbo land was cut to join Rivers State.
“When you build enmity between the major tribe it will count on you as a politician.
“Maybe in 2023 after his tenure he would want to be a president or vice president and you want to go and campaign in the Southeast, they will remember what you did to their own brothers.
“Even though not all the Igbo share the ideology of IPOB, but they won’t be happy when you instigate or instruct Nigerian army to kill their sons and daughters. But he has come out to debunk it.
“He knows the implication. But he said one thing that he won’t care of future ambition; he has to protect his own state. But he should understand that same issues that happened in Rivers, happened in Ebonyi, almost all the states in the South, in the aftermath of killing in Lekki, turned to violence and most of the governors managed it without using executive power.
“Even within the crisis of the EndSARS, there was crisis between the Yoruba and Hausa, but the Lagos State government and the security agencies managed it so that there won’t be two crises at the same time.
“I don’t see him managing that issue very well. He should talk less, on the crisis in the media. He should allow his commissioner for information to talk on his behalf. If you notice the statement has boomeranged you can debunk it as a governor.
“That’s why a government has different ways of communication, when he tests the waters with the statement and the statement did not go down well with the people, he should now come out as the principal to debunk it and say something in a diplomatically way that will not cause tension.
“I will appeal to him that the issues in Oyigbo should be managed very well. This is race that are business people, scattered in different places in Nigeria. What happened in Oyigbo can cause a reflection of interest of the Igbo all over the world today and we don’t want something like that to happen in future.”
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting, Obinwannem News
