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By Joel Anekwe
Convener of the Unity House Foundation, UHF, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Kingsley Wenenda Wali, has blamed the intractable crisis within the state chapter on the ego and selfish interest of major leaders of the party.
He also noted the absence of bigwigs in the party who are bold enough to speak the truth to the warring parties, as well as the presence of highly factionalised and compromised youths as part of the problem.
Rivers State chapter of the APC has been embroiled in an intractable crisis since 2018, which situation robbed the party of participation in the 2019 general elections.
However, despite the huge losses incurred, major characters in the crisis, the minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is a former governor of the state, and Sen. Magnus Abe, as well as their supporters, have refused to allow peace to reign in the party.
Wali, who made the assertion during an interaction with members of the new executive of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Rivers State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, led by Amaechi Okonkwo, in Port Harcourt, regretted that the APC in Rivers has lost so much to the crisis, while members of party are tired of the endless fighting and bickering.
“We that are their friends and followers are losing so much to the fight. For instance, I have known Amaechi since, and we are like brothers, while Magnus was my roommate in school. I cannot abandon any of them as my friends because of the political fight between the two. But like others in my shoes, it has been at a great cost. APC was not on the ballot in 2019. So, no member contested election because of the crisis.”
On the solution to the political fight, he said, “When political squabble has descended to the level of ego, it’s difficult to get solution from mediation, unless those involved cast aside ego and agree to talk. The question is who will be the first to stoop to cast aside his ego? Two of them seem to have issues to quarrel about.”
He said Amaechi and Abe accused each other of betrayal and their private family matters have been dragged into the crisis.
The APC chieftain who is also a lawyer, but prefers being regarded as a journalist because of his undying passion for journalism, also pointed out that similar issues of ego and dragging of private family life into partisan politics are also the obstacles to cordial relationship between Governor Nyesom Wike and his predecessor and former boss, Amaechi.
On whether there are no father-figures in the state that can mediate, he regretted that those who would have intervened have queued behind Amaechi, Wike, or Abe because they are benefiting from their strained relationship.
“None of the Rivers State elders would want the taps supplying them benefits from to the protracted political fights among their three prominent sons to dry up. People, who are eating, don’t talk”.
Wali therefore, challenged media practitioners to go back to their watchdog role in the society. He insisted the Nigeria has remained the way it is because the media abdicated its responsibility in addition to the apparent docility of members of the society.
He pointed out that the issue of soot and pollution of the atmosphere that is putting the health of the people of state in danger has not received enough publicity from the media.
“We are daily inhaling cancerous particles from soot every day. Soot does not discriminate against any political party you belong. All of us are inhaling into our organs foreign particles that will shorten our life span if urgent steps are not taken to curb the sources.