Rivers Politics: Dr Worlu Declares Fubara Needs Allies to Restore Peace in The State
…Says He Can’t Run Govt in Isolation of Others
The Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government of Rivers State, Dr. Gift Worlu, has stated that what is happening in Rivers today is a rainbow coalition of the Renewed Hope family. Dr. Worlu, who is apparently unhappy with the state of governance in Rivers State, affirmed, “Yes, there’s a Renewed Hope family that all of us belong to in our state.”
He made this affirmation in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, insisting that what is available in Rivers State is a coalition of the rainbow of the Renewed Hope family. Using real-life examples, Worlu explained, “You know, in our churches, sometimes you have a particular church having an event and inviting other churches to join them, and they will all come together under what is called the body of Christ.
“We don’t quarrel about it. But when politicians come together in the interest of peace, in the interest of protecting their interests, in the interest of justifying, in our case now, the goodwill that we have enjoyed under the presidency of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu as a state, don’t forget that politics is local; all politics is local.
“Rivers people, we have seen what we have never seen before. The kind of goodwill that we have enjoyed, whether it’s in terms of projects in Rivers State executed by the federal government, whether it’s in terms of appointments of our sons and daughters, whether it’s in terms of the good relationship that we enjoy from the President, we have decided as a people that the time has come for us to keep party aside and work together in the overall interest of our state and the people, and that’s what I mean.
“I’m a member of the PDP, but when it comes to the issue of the election that is coming in 2027, I’m not PDP; I’m for Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. I’m a member of the Renewed Hope family. That’s the point I’m making, and all of us are in that Renewed Hope family, including the Governor, and that’s where the FCT Minister is the leader.
On the crisis rocking the state, he said, “Well, in my place, there’s a saying that when a husband and wife have issues and the matter is brought to the Council of Chiefs, the duty of the Council of Chiefs is to put aside the differences and see how they can bring them together. But ultimately, these two individuals will go to their house, and the Council of Chiefs will go to their own houses.
“It is what the both of them make of what the Council of Chiefs has told them that will tell whether there is peace or not. I talked to you before about poor handling of affairs.
“If you wake up in the morning and you decide to dress in the way you are dressed, it’s your personal matter. Nobody has a right, not even maybe your husband. Maybe he can say, ‘Oh, I like the way you are dressed,’ or ‘I think you should do this,’ but it’s your personal matter.
“But when it has to do with a matter of even what your husband will eat, because it affects him, you need to ask him, ‘Darling, what if I do this or I do that?’ Then when you talk about the state, you know that you cannot decide as you like.
“I also talked to you about the issue of incompetence. We saw the Governor of Delta State defect recently. You saw how that defection happened. We saw which other governor defected. A lot of governors have defected, even Bayelsa State.
“The day he defected, he did so with people. He called people around because it’s not your personal thing. When it happened in Rivers State, what did you see? It was one man standing alone. That’s not leadership, because leadership, as I know it, is said that if you think that you’re a leader and nobody’s following you, you’re just taking a walk.
“So the man has the yam. He has the knife. He’s the governor. He decides how he wants things to be. If he wants peace, he will decide. If he wants war, it’s up to him.
“What he needs to do since he became Governor, since he came back after the emergency rule – of course, he came back and we’re already in office as chairman – we’ve never had a meeting with him. He has never called us. He has never called the Assembly for any meeting. He has not called the elders of the party and the system that he belongs to.
“As chairman of council in my local government, I know who my leaders are. If I want a meeting to hold, I reach out to them. I say, ‘Leader, I think we should do this and that, and there should be a meeting for us to agree on how to move forward.’ That’s how it’s done. It doesn’t make me a leader.
“But I am responsible for what happens in my local government. Of course, you saw the event that we had on Sunday. You saw the crowd there. You saw the enthusiasm of the people. It’s a function of the organic unity of purpose that we have in that local government, all of us working together.
“I have very senior members of the party in my local government, including the FCT Minister, and for every singular action that I take, including coming to this studio, I let them know. If they say, ‘Don’t go,’ I stay back because I believe they probably know more than me; they probably have a better understanding of things than me.
“I can go back later and say, ‘Leader, why did you say that I shouldn’t go?’ And they will explain to me. You have to have a relationship with people.
“But like I told you, a personality that is introverted and – for crying out loud – this is where sometimes I think that there should be science in our politics. You don’t just throw up people; you don’t just allow anybody to become anything.
“We talked about testing people for drug use before we allow them to go into office, then you should also think about the personality of the individual. If somebody is to occupy the office of accountant general and he is not somebody who is talking too much, that is fine.
“But for you to be governor of a state, you must talk because you remembered how Nigerians were saying we have not heard from our leader, we have not heard from the President, because you must talk. It’s not the leader that made any mistake; I’m only talking generally about the way we go about leadership selection.”
When probed further, he said, “Yes, I’m saying that so many other things should be considered. He said this because from a human resources perspective, when you want to hire somebody and I teach this in school, when you want to hire somebody for a job, you look at the person’s technical competence.
“For example, for you to be a journalist, you have your training as a journalist. Then your character is also important. Your height may be considered, and so many other things will be considered.
“The matter in Rivers State is certainly a development. We don’t mind that there is peace, so long as it is anchored on justice and understanding. And when there is finally peace, people should take responsibility for sustaining it, and in this case, the Governor has a very huge responsibility to ensure that there is peace in Rivers State.”
