By Louis Achi
Democracy would lose its defining egalitarianism if it foreclosed the free expression of viewpoints by its adherents – including often churlish perspectives by forces that seek to diminish and divide. Against this backdrop, public communicators who through discipline and intellectual honesty have achieved that delicate, firm balance between viewpoints that enlighten and lift society and contrived commentary that distorts, diminishes and stunts, should be appreciated.
On March 28, 2022, Farooq Kperogi, US-based Nigerian professor, former editor, media scholar and newspaper columnist moved his ‘sniper’s’ cross-hair on Governor of Rivers State who recently proclaimed his intension to contest Africa’s most powerful presidency currently tenuously occupied by Muhammadu Buhari. Wike’s declaration had sent shockwaves through the polity and unsettled many politicians and stakeholders have been navigating on quirky assumptions.
Kperogi had on his twitter handle (@farooqkperogi) written on presidents who’ll make him renounce Nigeria and his Nigerian citizenship. Of critical interest to this writer is that the former Daily Trust newspaper journalist mentioned Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as one.
More specifically, Kperogi attacked Governor Wike as “a vicious, perpetually drunk, psychotic pocket tyrant who has missed his calling as a comedian, a sick comedian. Any country that deems such a person worthy of being a president deserves its fate.” This curious, toxic and utterly puzzling blitzkrieg on one of the very few governors, who have boldly redefined governance and courage in a country on the verge of destruction, provokes close interrogation.
Kperogi who hails from Okuta, Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State had worked as a researcher at the Presidential Research and Communications Unit in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and taught journalism at Ahmadu Bello University and Kaduna Polytechnic. He is a full professor of journalism and emerging media at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, United States. This background would appear to position him at an intellectual level where sentiment takes a sharp second place to reason and cold logic.
Targeting a personality who has demonstrated cutting-edge governance nous and top-draw courage in adversity is extreme miscommunication from a fellow who markets himself as a communication guru.
Significantly, some 48 hours before his toxic vituperation against the Rivers State governor, a very vicious and one of the most daring attacks happened when bandits invaded the Kaduna International Airport on March 26, killing an official and ratcheting up fear in the North and Nigeria at large. What is the connection? With the kind of impactful leadership provided by Gov. Wike in Rivers State, even with emplaced unitarist constitutional constraints, then under a Wike presidency, such criminal terrorism and absolute nonsense could not be possible.
After the Kaduna Airport caper, Nigerian citizens were stranded on Tuesday, as bandits targeted Tsafe-Yankara road and Kaduna-Abuja highway while Kperogi was tweeting probably over hamburger and good coffee. Sporadic gunshots forced drivers and commuters to stop as they awaited the so-called intervention of government forces.
This attack occurred barely 24 hours after an Abuja-Kaduna bound train was bombed with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by bandits with several killed and many abducted. This vicious vermin can only understand vicious counter-measures. Beyond rhetoric and summoning of meetings, what has the current Commander-in-Chief done?
A President Wike would have reacted with such informed and focussed severity that would have consumed both the bandits (terrorists) and presiding security agency heads. Such consequential and rfesolute leadership would ensure that such depredations would hardly repeat themselves. That is leadership which Wike exemplifies with his records as governor over seven years. Kperogi should read up. Research is an intellectual’s key tool.
It is doubtful if any future president would be more comical than Olusegun Obasanjo who was one of the most effective and courageous former Nigerian presidents. Wike’s direct action and uncluttered approach to governance is what is needed to break the backbone of Nigeria’s current tragedy – not dithering, rhetoric and hand wringing.
Like a good sniper schooled in the deadly art of delivering sudden death, Kperogi struck Governor Wike with high-calibre literary-political bullets meant to end a perceived new journey. Unlike a skulking sniper who shoots from hiding, he shot from twitter. But clearly Kperogi has badly misread his target. This apparent hatchet project remains puzzling. It is conceivable that the “vicious” environment that forced him offshore has compelled him to view reality from “vicious” lens.
According to evolutionary biology, Homo Sapiens belong to the herd animals’ group which need leaders to safely move the herd and ensure their survival. Zebras and buffaloes for instance need herd leaders in the wild. This is evolutionary science and not hocus-pocus. The leaders that emerge are the toughest of the breed. As an intellectual, chubby-cheeked Kperogi now resident in a secure country should ordinarily appreciate this fact better than most. Today, Nigeria is almost worse than a jungle and needs a very tough leader which Wike best exemplifies.
At a critical juncture in the convoluted socio-political evolution of the Nigerian state, what should be the focus of the nation’s intellectual class? Amidst contrived chaos, economic nightmare, unending bloodletting, human misery and extreme governance deficits that continue to define Nigeria’s democracy, many are wont to lose faith in the polity. This may be understandable. But history shows that mere loss of faith, a pathway to surrender is taking the easy course.
The path of courage is to interrogate the policies, concepts, leadership vision or visionlessness and socio-political triggers that generate regression using reasoned, temperate logic and candour. Next is to offer alternative vision of sustainable strategies to resolve extant human development and socio-economic challenges. This is the path Kperogi should have kept to.
Kperogi should have tracked the governance trajectory of Wike over the past seven years and objectively evaluated its impact. Using any development parameters, he ought to have measured specific transformational governance deliveries by the Wike-led administration in Rivers State and anchored any criticisms on that. Spouting unreasoned, emotional insult and attacking Governor would certainly not elevate Kperogi career or earn him any plaudits.
Tagging a man who has sternly and effectively held fort as his state’s chief executive officer for almost eight years and who had recently signalled his interest in running for president, as a pocket tyrant and drunk, is deliberate mischief and rabid anti-intellectualism unbecoming of a scholar.
Wike has held forth in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s darkest hour and moved to revamp its flagging spirit. He notably compelled the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to review its gratuitous assumptions and to ponder its clearly endangered future.
Being Rivers State governor for two terms and former minister amongst other positions for almost eight years give Gov. Nyesom Wike is in a very strong position ahead 2023 calculations. The reactions that have trailed his entry into the presidential race speak to the overt alarm within the ranks of those who have been holding the country down. Tough and focussed, he is certainly the poster boy of the opposition PDP.
A renowned lawyer with a distinguished career, Wike set sail with a legitimate vision: “To build a state that is truly united, secure and prosperous with boundless opportunities for everyone who lives in it to peacefully pursue their goals and realize their full potentials in dignity and happiness.” On the surface, this appeared a tough call. Indeed, it was and has indisputably brought out the best in him.
Since his assumption of office on May 29, 2015, as the sixth democratically elected governor of Rivers State, Wike has leaned on his large vision of life and totally devoted himself to the well-being of his people and the total transformation of the state. This is informed by a deep belief that what affects Rivers State, affects his strategic region and Nigeria – for good or ill.
On 14 critical governance fronts, Wike has indeed redefined what governance ought to mean in a human development-hungry milieu, in a third world country. Some of the sectors under reference include: Agriculture, Citizen Engagement, Economy, Land Administration Reforms, Education, Environmental Protection, Healthcare, Housing Development, Judiciary, Road/Transportation Infrastructure, Power, Security, Water and Waste Management.
Specific development data often glossed over by many of his peers affirm the passion, sincerity, focus and discipline of the man, especially coming on board at a critical period in the history of the state and major changes on the political chess board of the nation.
Kperogi should know that boxing in the political fray comes with collateral dangers – especially if it is anchored on jejune instead of genuine conviction. After all, according to Dennis Brutus the South African protest poet, “Writers must not live a lie.”
In the spirit of a true intellectual which he claims, Kperogi of necessity needs to reflect on these and tender a revised position immediately because he goofed on Wike.
*Achi, development journalist and former Associate Editor of THISDAY newspaper, writes from Abuja