When the south comes under emergency rule.

Immediately following the closed door meeting between president Buhari and governor Wike of Rivers State, there is growing apprehension in many quarters that the presidency is planning to place not only Rivers, but perhaps the entire southern states under emergency rule. For discerning observers, this is another inelegant way of lording over the region by placing it under APC control from the back door.

While no details were issued after the meeting, persons familiar with it say Buhari had issued a warning to that effect if politically motivated killings in the state do not abet. However, many find it curious about the president’s resolve if it is true. Many wonder what is a more dangerous a breach of security than the Fulani herdsmen going from pogrom to pogrom, from one community to another, or the cases of political motivated killings in Rivers which don’t come anywhere close to the scorched earth destruction of life and property in the wake of the marauding Fulani klansmen.

Only yesterday did governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson sound the alarm about a stratagem by the APC unfolding in the Niger Delta. Governor Dickson accused chieftains of the APC of trying to contrive a scenario in the region so it could be used as the perfect storm to declare the region under emergency. It is very likely Buhari’s closed door meeting with governor Wike is a precusor of things to come. Everyday, it is becoming clearer that Buhari, backed by the APC is desperate to have the region caged one way or the other.

The above narrative may be waved off as mere conjecture. But popular wisdom say there is no fire without smoke. And it is very likely the APC is trying to stoke that fire right in the very region that holds together the pulsating heart of Nigeria. So far, governor Nissom Wike is hard pressed divulging what transpired between him and the president. But that has not stopped to heighten the speculations.

Ebi B Asain.

For long, no one in southern Nigeria can miss the war drums that have been tolling in the distance. Remember what one senator from the north who said it was better to kill 10 million people in the Niger Delta to save Nigeria. Recall how Buhari himself has promised to bomb the Avengers out of this world? These are no accidental gaffes by leading members of the northern establishment. Elsewhere, many think the marauding Fulani herdsmen fits the agenda to cage the whole of the south. Historians cannot forgot how Othman Danfodio’s dream to make an estate out of the south still resonates within the northern governors forum and the entire core north.

However, the above cocktail is fraught with dire consequences which in themselves could spell doom for the corporate existence of Nigeria. First, as the Avengers have shown over the past few days, the south is sick and tired, tired and sick of playing dead each time it is provoked by the powers that be. Besides the Avengers who are equally as deadly, there is the likelihood of other guerilla groups fanning out all over the Niger Delta. These guerilla groups will be made up of freedom fighters who feel they have nothing to loose and everything to gain to finally brave the elements and face the invading forces. These emerging groups are no less lethal. They will be backed by experience, knowledge of the history of their long marginalisation, dogged determination and the fireball will to defend their ancestrial land. It is not very often that an invading military force has overpowered the will of the oppressed without violating standard norms and committing crimes against humamity. As the shenanigans and intrigues unfold in the Niger Delta, the UN, EU, America and the rest of the world will be watching. Happy hunger games!