WIKE IS NOT WICKED, BUT THESE LANDS ARE NOT HIS

Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, PhD

Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike is a “bad boy”, and he grins from cheek to cheek, the smile coming from the deepest recesses of his heart when you or my former boss and big uncle, Owelle Rochas Okorocha hail him as a bad boy. No doubt, the former Rivers henchman and now FCT hitman relishes the tag of a bad boy or even of a “wicked man”. Many people, his admirers and haters alike, have coined it out of his name. They tell you, Wike is Wiked. I hadn’t read it from anyone else, when I first used that phrase for an article more than seven years ago.

One of Wike’s favourite songs derives from Timaya’s song; “As e dey pain them, e dey sweet us”. Like they say in the streets; Wike likes to pepper his opponents. He works overtime to ensure that his political rivals do not breathe. That is as fair in politics as it is in war; you must defeat your opponent completely, because if you don’t, they will, and they will be happy to see you on the ground, licking your wounds. So, when Wike beats you, he boasts about it, and throws it on your face, that he is the super player. He might not always be, but for the moment of his victory over you, he is.

Wike has won many political battles in recent years. He is arguably one of the most fortunate or maybe, successful politicians in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, having not stayed out of power since 1999. From serving as a local government chairman to becoming Chief of Staff to the governor, to becoming a Minister, then, he became a governor himself, then, became a minister again, while continuing to be governor in proxy in Rivers State. Wike nearly became President, but, according to some people, for expensive aged wines and whiskeys.

This Igbo man that denies his ancestry because of political convenience and his thirst for more power, is arguably, the most powerful and the most untouchable minister in Tinubu’s cabinet, even though he is not even a member of our Party. There are insinuations in powerful places, that Wike runs the APC on behalf of Tinubu and decides who stays and who goes. They also say that the deal to merge the carcass of PDP with the APC had long been signed. This will be brunch for another day.

That Wike is wielding so much influence in an administration run by another political Party might not have been a serious issue for concern, if his influences and excesses were limited to political conspiracies, power plays, horse trading and political sabotage missions. We would have even not felt serious qualms if the choirmaster of Rumuepirikom was just giving out billions of Naira contracts to his cronies and foot soldiers. We might say; “if the job is done, no problems, let his friends enjoy.” But with the air conditioners at the 35 billion Naira renovated Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre, not working, there might be eyebrows raised by conscientious citizens.

The problem we may not be able to ignore is the arbitrariness with which he is allegedly taking over Abuja lands. He is allegedly taking over acres of lands and putting his children’s names to them. Not satisfied, he is also allegedly using his old man’s name to grab some more lands. Where he intends to go with these lands is what no sensible person can explain. One of the best things God did for us is that He made land immovable. If notorious land grabbers can, they would want to relocate all the fertile lands to London, Dubai , New York, Berlin, Paris, etc, where most of them might have been destined to burn their loots and breath their last. But, these lands shall always be here, long after we are long gone.

Wike’s understanding of being wicked or being a bad boy, is in the praiseworthy aspect of it. He likes to own the image of the tough guy, the warlord and the indomitable strategist. When you call him the wicked Wike, he smiles, because he feels that you are praising him for crushing his rivals. But, he is not really that wicked, because if he were, he would have understood that he can’t really own lands. These lands he is grabbing are not necessary, and they will come back to haunt him. If he was really ‘wicked’ he would have known that his enemies are monitoring him closely and keeping records of his excesses, so that they can come after him when the table turns. Surely, we can’t keep the table our way, all the time, that’s nature’s way of ensuring some balance.

I hope, everyone, including the choirmaster of Rumuepirikom and others, desirous of owning the world, understands, that no one would ever own beyond the few feet of soil under which they will be interred. Sometimes, we don’t even own our graves, because if Jesus tarries, trees might rise above the graves of some mighty men or a cesspit might find its space just right where your bones rust.

May good judgement prevail.