I used to be a great fan of Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, who’s now running things in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, until his deception and cunningness were revealed during the 2023 presidential election. Video clips of evidence are still available online where he berated the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressive Congress (APC) government and portrayed the party as a plague that must be avoided at all costs. But today, Wike, like the proverbial dog, is eating his own vomit. He’s now one with the APC government that plunged Nigeria into an economic and insecurity hole in their almost nine years of being in the saddle.
Now, to his subtle intimidation and disrespect for Senator Ireti Kingibe, the Senator representing the FCT in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly. She had during an interview on Channels Television said that Wike had refused to respond to her letters and messages in the wake of extreme insecurity in the FCT.
Since people are being kidnapped in Abuja, including the January 5, 2024 incident where a family of seven including six sisters and their father were adopted, the senator had posited that Wike is new to Abuja, and thus, needed to work with elected lawmakers who understand the terrain better. In the interest of the people, there is nothing wrong or personal, in seeking understanding, cooperation, and mutuality between the executive arm of government (which Wike represents) and the legislative arm (which Kingibe represents). But since common sense is not readily common, her submission was not common to Mr. Wike, who used the opportunity of his infamous media parley to fire back at her by saying that her anger stems from his constant companionship with Philip Aduda, her predecessor in office.
Here is an excerpt from Wike’s lips: “I don’t want to be personal…she’s the Senator for FCT. She went around saying “Oh, oh, Wike is busy scraping roads…I should leave the roads till when the potholes come?”
“Somebody wants to be your friend and you say ‘I don’t want to be your friend. Is it by force?’ The problem is that she wanted to be Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT and the Senate President said, ‘I’m not giving you’.
‘What are you going to do to supervise me? You cannot supervise me. What is her interest, that I must see her? If I have a problem, I’ll go and see her. I don’t have a problem. Nobody can intimidate me”.
But who’s intimidating who? What makes Mr. Wike think and believe that Senator Ireti was seeking his friendship? Apparently, Wike thinks more highly of himself than he ought to. And he said, “I don’t want your friendship”. What an insult! Was Ireti asking Wike to be her boyfriend? The last time I checked, Ireti’s husband, Baba Gana Kingibe was still alive. What then will cause a woman of such influence to be desperate for Wike’s friendship? What arrogance self-overrating! This is a man who made nothing out of his profession as a lawyer until he became a career politician! As a civil engineer, Ireti rocked her industry before joining politics when she was 1990 appointed Special Adviser (SA) to the National Chairman of the now-defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).
It’s an insult, and one of many cases of female gender harassment in Nigeria’s political arena, for Wike to publicly portray distinguished Senator Ireti as being desperate for his friendship, which he (Wike) rejected! If I were Ireti’s husband, I would immediately initiate a legal proceeding against Wike because his careless choice of words and his flippant attitude suggest that his wife is throwing herself at Wike. I am very sure that Wike himself would have taken a more drastic action against anyone who dared defame the character of his wife in such a manner.
Wike’s Political Chess Game Ahead 2027
But beyond the normal, what I see is that Wike is playing the game of Wike. This is a man who loves trouble and takes delight in making political opponents suffer. Do you still remember that as Rivers State governor, Wike used to sing, dance, and taunt members of the APC and all those who disagreed with him? His usual rhythm is: “As e dey pain them e go dey sweet us”! Before then, he had also said that he loves trouble very much and that anyone who goes into trouble with him will have a heart attack. Rotimi Amaechi, his predecessor, nearly had one during the eight-year reign of Emperor Wike in Rivers State. If not strong in heart, his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, may have a heart attack and die in office because of the many troubles of Wike. Although I can’t say that as e dey pain Fubara e dey sweet Wike; because the last time I saw him on television he didn’t seem fresh, neither did he look like a powerbroker with a renewed hope. He loves trouble and cannot have Mr. Peace as a friend.
But Wike should know that several Nigerians know that he’s being smart. He knows what he’s doing; he’s undermining the influence of Senator Ireti Kingibe and despising her by taking his friend who lost an election to her, to official engagements while neglecting Senator Ireti, the true representative of the people of the FCT.
Thankfully, Senator Ireti Kingibe also understands the game of Wike. She’s not a baby. Her husband, Baba Gana Kingibe is a household name in Nigeria’s politics. He was Secretary to the Government of the Federation during the short-lived administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1995, Minister of Internal Affairs from 1995 to 1997, and Minister of Power and Steel from 1997 to 1998. The wife of such a man obviously knows the Game of Wike. More so, she is a younger sister of Ajoke Muhammed, the wife of Murtala Muhammed, a former Nigerian head of state. She’s just being humble and seeking cooperation in the interest of the people who elected her Senator, who refused Philip Aduda, Wike’s friend another term in the Senate.
As a stakeholder in this project of rebuilding this Nigeria ruined by our political elites and the soldiers before them, my message to Emperor Wike is that Wike’s friend, Philip Aduda, should have his own work; because he’s not a government official. Let him go and find his own job, in case he doesn’t have one now. This is the problem of career politicians who don’t have personal work to return to, once they lose an election.
Notably, Wike’s Oga at Aso Rock called all the governors in Nigeria to a Ramadan breakfast meeting and told them to cooperate with him irrespective of their political parties for the benefit of Nigerians. “Charity”, they say “begins at home”. He should be preaching the same message to his boys and girls like Nyesom Wike. He should tell Wike to cooperate and work with Senator Ireti Kingibe, as the duly elected and true representative of the FCT. He should call Wike to order.
My submission is that let not Wike use his public privilege to make friends for personal interest. Let them do their friendship outside official work. Philip Aduda should not be constantly going on official duties with Wike. By doing so, Wike is parading his friend as the representative of the FCT. He’s subtly working towards 2027 by constantly putting Philip Aduda in the spotlight. Wike should not take all of us for a fool, including the journalist who attended his routine media parley where he portrays himself as infallible. Since Jeremiah cannot go to the mountain and Wike being too big to go to the media, the media in need of his vast resources have no choice but to go to Jeremiah. The established media should be careful about how they throw themselves at the mercy of those who are too big to come to their respective media houses. They should be courageous and bold to tell Wike that he is not a true representative of the people of Abuja. He was not voted for. He’s an appointee of Aso Rock. But Senator Ireti Kingibe is the true and real representative of the people. She and Peter Obi defeated the APC squarely in FCT during the 2023 general elections.
I am using this medium to advise and call on Senator Ireti Kingibe to brace up and continue to speak out! She should not allow Wike to sing for her: “As e dey pain them e go dey sweet us”. Since Wike is not a man of peace and has his own agenda ahead of 2027, she should not waste time trying to make him heed common sense. She should use her words and actions to put Wike in the pain side of his song. She should also heed Wike’s call to focus on her oversight of Wike’s work and continue to connect for the good of FCT. Even though she’s in another Committee, there’s no way she will not find at least one senator in the FCT Committee, with whom she can work closely, to ensure Wike works in the interest of the people. Wike cannot claim to love FCT more than Kingibe. Since its inception, all her basic salary has been going to the FCT, just as she pledged when she was campaigning for office. But where is Wike’s salary going?
Nathaniel Akhigbe is a journalist and a media leader.