By Cosmas Omegoh
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“A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.” —Friedrich Nietsche
So much attention is on Rivers State at the moment. This is coming on the heels of the man-made crisis currently rocking the oil-rich state.
Equally a lot of attention is being paid to Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas (rtd). Ibas is the sole administrator of Rivers State appointed on March 18, 2025, following the suspension of the democratically elected governor, Siminalayi Fubara, together with the state House of Assembly members.
Many people have been talking about Ibas. They acknowledge him as such a fine gentleman – one who parades hard-to-ignore credentials he earned from the Nigerian Navy, where he rose to the enviable position of Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).
Maybe those who know his worth in gold are still missing him after his retirement in 2021. They probably wish he could return to his position and continue from where the dropped anchor. They must be missing his top-notch services and good disposition. That is why that celebratory cry ‘Ahoy’ in his salute may not be in vain after all.
Any day, Ibas’ chain of names is good music to those who pronounce it in full. If that is handed to music professionals, they will clothe it with such delightful, public-pleasing melody on rendition. It will be such a singable and danceable song.
But all the superlatives swirling around Ibas are nowhere near the reason he is currently in the spotlight. They are not part of why he is glued to the news. Rather, many people are talking about Ibas and his weird will and ways. They are better captured as Acts of Ibas.
No doubt, Ibas is a man on a mission. You should now understand why the klieg light is on him. That is where what is now said and written about him gets interesting. That is why he is on every lip, his matter refusing to go away.
After Ibas’ retirement from the Navy, he probably headed straight for a corner of his closet and began to chill off. He kept enjoying his well-deserved rest. But out from the blues, President Bola Tinubu resurrected, and conscripted him into the new role of sole administrator of the now crisis-ridden Rivers State.
Tinubu had sent the world buzzing with the sacking of Fubara and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. To stamp his imprimatur on his deed, he blamed Fubara for everything he claimed went wrong in the state. He claimed anarchy had already descended in Rivers State and the only way to stop it from further escalating was to weed out Fubara and the legislature.
And as it stands, the propriety or otherwise of Tinubu’s state of emergency in Rivers State and the six-month suspension of Governor Fubara and the House of Assembly members remains for the court to decide.
Having had his way – as always – particularly with the suspension of democratic order, Tinubu handed Ibas a mandate which many people interpreted as two-fold: go and steady the ship of government and governance and protect key economic infrastructure in the state.
Bystanders reasoned that oil, Nigeria’s big-time source of revenue is exceedingly important to the current government. Any disruption to its flow would critically harm its plans. So Ibas had his work cut out by Tinubu. It is such a yeoman’s job.
Probably Ibas never envisaged he would be called up to duty in the manner he was. He never thought such a hefty assignment awaited him. So, he will agree that he is a man on a mission. In six months’ time or so, he would wind down his stay in Rivers State and hand over to a democratically-elected government again.
But those watching Ibas’ steps every inch of the way reason he is proving to be on a different mission after all. They reason that he must have been told to go forth and execute other agenda Nigerians are not aware of. They reason that the decisions he is currently taking are not in tandem with what a man on a brief mission will be doing.
Some Nigerians sorely worried by the swing of things in Rivers State are beginning to believe that things are not adding up with what Ibas is currently doing. They are vehement that he is on an overdrive; he is overreaching himself. They are aghast that in doing what he is doing, Ibas gratuitously gives away hints that he is acting on a well-constructed script by his appointers. That his manner of acting and speaking are not only giving him out, but giving the necessary oxygen to everyone to believe he is in every intent and purpose, his master’s voice.
Already, the Acts of Ibas is having a life of its own, yet he is not acting surreptitiously. His actions are read and understood as ordered, coordinated; and they are out there for all and sundry to see.
Now, here is act one. Ibas recently appointed local government administrators for the 23 councils in the state in a bid to help his administration. This is already raising dust. People are wondering where he is deriving his rights from. They are decisive, saying that he does not have the powers to do that. Some people are asking whether the appointment of sole administrators for the councils is part of Ibas’ mandate. They are asking what will happen in less than six months’ time when the democratically-elected government returns to office. Will the Fubara government sack the appointed LG administrators and conduct a free election? They are wondering whether the Ibas’ action won’t be a recipe for further crisis given the strained relationships in the state, with some describing his action as a deft move to wrest the councils’ structure from Fubara upon his return.
Now, here is act two. Ibas has gone ahead to reconstitute the leadership of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). He has appointed a new helmsman for the agency. Again, this move has elicited more reactions. More questions are being asked regarding what he wants to achieve with that in a short time. Will the governor upon return, sack the new electoral umpire a few months in office which is sure to happen – some people wonder? Does Ibas want to conduct fresh elections into local government offices without the input of the legislature which is on suspension? Won’t all that be a nullity? Questions and questions!
Here is act three. Ibas is reconstituting the boards of various agencies in the state. Some individuals, who are livid with this action, cannot make head or tail out of it. The big question they keep asking is: what does this man want?
So far, there have been voices in support of the Ibas’ drive. They claim that the sole administrator needs to strengthen the government in order to achieve optimum performance while in office.
But those reading between the lines argue that the Rivers’ debacle is a game being played by the government at the centre to capture the soul of the state in 2027. They struggle to establish that what Ibas and the Federal Government are doing is to set the stage for the restoration of full control of the state to the immediate past governor of the state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. That is the unverified conspiracy theory out there.
However, the verdict of those looking at the bigger picture is that the optics of what is going on is not good enough. To them, a dangerous precedence is being set. Their caveat is that the nation might reap whirlwind from the ongoing shenanigan. And perhaps, that may not be long from now.
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