Mixed feelings in Rivers as state of emergency declared Oil firms, multinationals send direct workers to work from home

Rivers State was on Tuesday night in a rober reflection as mixed reactions trailed President Bola Tinubu’s broadcast and declaration of state of emergency.

Those spoken to BusinessDay in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital were full of exclamations without any official response.

The streets and relaxation centres were silent and moody as while business organisations, men and women were calling newsmen to advise them on whether to cancel engagements and meetings.

Efforts to reach the governor to get his farewell message to the people was unsuccessful.

Read also: Tinubu appoints Ibas as administrator amid state of emergency in Rivers

Oil workers and captains of industry were said to be reaching each other to know what to do before morning.

Email messages were already flying around, asking workers to work from home until things get clear by the next day, Wednesday.

The political camps loyal to suspended Governor Sim Fubara were silent and sad.

But, the political caucus loyal to Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister, were subtly joyous since they were victorious with the declaration of the state of emergency.

Some of them were sending emojis of victory and happiness to their associates.

The neutrals were the ones dejected and fuming. They said the battle was between Governor Fubara and Wike, the Minister, but that only the governor was scathed in the broadcast.

They said Wike was an open opponent in the confrontation and had been directly mentioned in all the crises in which he was a direct combatant.

A source said Wike even visited Rivers State at the weekend where he made direct statements appearing to have given a nod to the impeachment, and that the lawmakers were always openly flying to Abuja and from there to the House of Assembly, sitting.

Many said the attacks appeared stage-managed to convince the Presidency that Rivers State had become ungovernable.

They opined that such veils could have easily been unveiled by security operatives to give the President proper briefing.

Some other persons said some States in the North were overdue for state of emergency but Rivers was singled out.

Read also: Full speech: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers, suspends Fubara, others for six months

In his late reaction, Darlington Nwauju, the publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recognised by the courts, said the country is adrift; “We have never had it so bad, quoting what Tinubu published on May 17, 2013, by Wale Odunsi.”

He further quoted thus: “The present scenario playing out in the country reminds one of the classical cases of a mediocre craftsman who continually blames the tools of his trade for his serial failure, but refuses to look at his pitiable state with a view to adjusting.”