By Tonye Clinton Jaja
This morning I had a WhatsApp telephone conversation with a very senior staff member of the Registry of one of Nigeria’s superior courts.
In a nutshell, he said that between Governor Fubara and His Excellency Wike, he would choose Fubara as a friend even though Fubara is “naive” in terms of politics when compared to Wike. In his words, Fubara’s nativity is “safer” for the development of Rivers State than Wike’s mastery of the political terrain!!!
The said person is an indigene of Rivers State and we were expressing our concerns for Rivers State in the light of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Truly, Fubara is a neophyte within political circles considering that this is his first time to hold an elective office.
Therefore, as a neophyte, due to his naivety, it is understandable that he must have committed some blunders which can be best described as faults. “A fault is defined as: “an unattractive or unsatisfactory feature, especially in a piece of work or in a person’s character.
“my worst fault is impatience”.
Contrasted with the flaws of his opponents, Fubara’s faults are not pre-meditated and calculated to achieve an endgame (to hold onto political power for self-aggrandizement)!!!
Fubara’s faults are at best the results of his response to protect the Commonwealth of Rivers State from the mindless appropriation of a few instead of equitable distribution to the majority of the indigenes of Rivers State.
As evidence of his genuine concern for the economic well-being of Rivers State, within one year of his tenure, he increased the internally generated revenue (IGR) of Rivers State by ₦100,000,000,000 (one hundred billion naira only).
In contrast, his predecessor left Rivers State with a humongous debt profile!!!
He has come under relentless attacks, especially by the use of the machineries of the Nigerian legal system and since he is not a lawyer, he is not often in the best position to determine the best form of response in terms of legal action or strategy!!!
He is learning on the job!!!
His words and actions come from a place of one who is learning to respond to challenges that have no previous precedents in any guidebook!!!
Under the circumstances, Governor Fubara is performing beyond expectation, for him to still be thriving under the circumstances where others would have long since perished!!!
Apart from any human ingenuity on the part of Governor Fubara and his team, there must be some sort of help from “above”!!!
Since his assumption of office in May 2023, he has exceeded the performance of his predecessor within the same time period.
In contrast, in terms of the long-term well-being of Rivers State, we cannot say the same about the intentions and motivations of the antagonists of Governor Fubara.
Theirs is just a power grab, pure and simple that quest to be in control of the levers of political power for the sole purpose of determining “who gets what” of the Commonwealth of Rivers State!!!
This has been their tragic flaw (in contradiction to a fault).
And by definition, a “flaw” is an indelible mark, that cannot be easily removed.
In contrast to a fault, which can be corrected, a flaw is more permanent and deeply ingrained.
A fault is cosmetic on the surface, whereas a flaw is deeper!!!
A fault is a result of weakness but a flaw is as a result of a well-thought plot and a habit of doing things a certain way!!!
Fubara’s fault is that he has NEVER navigated the labyrinth of Nigeria’s legal system from the high court all the way to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
He can up against a protagonist whose CV is characterised by several journeys from the High Court all the way to the Supreme Court of Nigeria (several times)!!!
So Fubara still dey learn work where this protagonist dey!!!!
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS).
