April 21, (THEWILL)- While on one hand, some others have discovered the importance of mending fences and the benefits of nurturing and sustaining relationships, Nyesom Wike, the minister of Federal Capital Territory is on the other hand busy tearing down relationships it took him decades to build and nurture.
No stranger to controversies, as he seems to find utmost delight to swim in them, it is however surprising to political watchers that the garrulous former governor of Rivers State would consider his relationship with his erstwhile political mentor, Dr Peter Odili, the first democratically elected governor of the state, which he once guarded with his life, fickle enough for him to throw to the dogs over a petty reason. Their father/son relationship has gone frosty.
Before now, Wike openly identified with Odili and always referred to him as his political father, mentor and leader. He never failed to use any opportunity as it presents itself to declare that were it not for Odili and his wife, Retired Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili, he would have amounted to nothing politically. He has even been known to swear that if he ever abandons Odili and his family, God should not make him ‘grow’.
Two years ago when Odili clocked 74, Wike gifted him a multi-million-naira house as a birthday gift. Such was how much he revered the trained medical doctor. But all those affirmations no longer matter to Wike and they may as well dissipate to Wike as long as Siminalayi Fubara who is facing impeachment threats from the state House of Assembly, does not continue as the governor of Rivers state. Apparently, Odili tried several times to intervene and douse the tension between both men. Odili is against any plot to remove Fubara and refused to endorse the impeachment attempt on Fubara by Wike-backed lawmakers.
In reaching out to Wike, Odili had hoped that like a ‘son’, Wike would at least listen and reason with him but Wike remained adamant, hell bent on having his way. Afterall, he figured he had the capacity to, on his own, unseat the governor. In fact, Wike reportedly at some point, stopped picking Odili’s phone calls thus drawing the ire of his political godfather. This prompted Odili to publicly align with Fubara to the detriment of Wike. Odili publicly pronounced Fubara as the political leader of the oil-rich state having secured electoral victory through the ballot and the courts.
By this declaration, he has further worsened Fubara’s frosty relationship with Wike as it is believed that Wike still holds the political leadership and structure of the state. But with Odili’s declaration, a man who is still held in high regard in the state, years after he left office, it may just mean that Wike still lives in fool’s paradise and may not yet know that he is gradually losing grip on the political structure in the state.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
