DON’T get it twisted, Hurricane Nyesom Wike, generally believed to be in the eye of the storm at the moment, deserves much more than he is getting from all his political allies, colleagues and even the mainstream media. As for the media chiefs, I wonder why none considered Wike as the “Man of the Year’ last month when they allocated that value.
That may have been due to the level of our media development. If the stormy petrel, Wike were to be an American, ‘TIME’ might have considered him as an undisputable genius of our time. After all, ‘TIME’ has been unapologetic in their criterion despite their changes from ‘Man of the Year’ through ‘Woman of the Year’ to ‘Person of the Year’.
The criterion for the ‘Person of the Year’ has remained the same. ‘It is the individual who, for good or for ill, exerted the greatest influence on the year’s events’. According to the ‘TIME’s editors, readers have always had a problem with the “or ill” part of the formulation. They tend to see the designation as an honour, forgetting that it is an impartial news judgment. The key is impact, not merit. That was why outrage greeted the choice of Adolf Hitler as ‘TIME’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1938.
Readers were even more upset by the choice of Iran’s Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1980 after his radical Islamist followers overpowered the United States Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. In one of the most impassioned outpourings in the magazine’s history, nearly 5, 000 readers sent letters about the Khomeini cover, 84% of them, negative. “It may be that the ‘Person of the Year’ can never please everyone nor should it…”, according to an editor’s note on ‘TIME’s ‘Inside The Red Border: A history of our world, told through the pages of TIME magazine”.
I have a dream that we will get there one day when the hurly burly of too many illiterates of the 21st century in our milieu is over; when the battle for the soul of Nigeria is lost and won.
I think in politics at the moment in Africa’s most populous nation, there is none like Wike. He is brilliant, foxy, resourceful, bold, resilient, recklessly restless, sleepless, focused, passionate, carelessly loyal (to his causes and principals). Doubtless, he is a genius of all times (GOAT) who should have been nominated even as a ‘Political Tactician of the Decade’. Besides, a newspaper or news magazine should have celebrated the Rivers State’s strong man as a ‘Lion of the Tribe of Ikwerre.’
And here is why:
In the annals of Nigerian politics, few figures have generated as much fascination and controversy as Politician Nyesom Wike. The former Rivers State Governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has cultivated an aura of invincibility, leaving many to wonder if he’s indeed an untouchable genius or just a master of political jujitsu. I believe he should be honoured as the ‘Table Shaker of the Year’ by even the governing party APC now denigrating him as a troubler of the Party. The man has been their genius, their earth shaker who has threatened to lay down his life for their survival till 2031.
Wike’s garrulous nature has become the stuff of legend. His verbal judo has disarmed opponents, leaving them stumbling for words. From fiery speeches to calculated put-downs, he wields political language like a scalpel, cutting down critics with precision. His track record of destroying opposition is impressive. Few have dared to challenge him and emerged unscathed.
Wike’s political machinery is a well-oiled engine, crushing dissent with ease. His ability to manage and penetrate the judiciary, or at least get favourable judgments, has raised not a few eyebrows and admiration of the powerful. Yes, court rulings most times curiously align with his interests.
Governor Fubara’s intimidation is a case study in Wike’s modus operandi. The Rivers State Governor’s struggles against Wike’s influence are an open secret. Wike’s grip on Abuja’s road construction, land administration and allocation has sparked whispers of a modern-day land baron. Who dares challenge his authority? Only the men in uniform have somewhat attempted that. The fiery man can’t easily forget his fiendish encounter with one Naval Officer, Lt. Yerima.
Yet, amidst the chaos, Wike’s genius shines and dominates discussion points across platforms. He navigates Nigeria’s complex web of power with finesse, always staying steps ahead. His political longevity is a testament to his adaptability and resourcefulness.
Is Wike an untouchable genius? May be. But at what cost? His tactics have left scars, raising questions about Nigeria’s democratic health. As we continue to shape the narrative, one thing’s certain: Nyesom Wike is a force to be reckoned with. His principal trusts him even if nobody else does. He remains the chief executive of the federation’s ‘Man Friday’.
Insiders at the Presidential Villa have confirmed several times to inquirers outside that the President would not like to entertain any complaints and lamentation about the artful politician even the National Assembly leaders and members have forgotten to oversee. The President is said to be telling all petitioners about Wike: “Leave him alone. He is working. He is an achiever. Can’t you see the roads in Abuja? The 1999 Constitution as amended makes the National Assembly the legislature for Abuja.
But they have never invited and cannot invite the genius for questioning even when there were reports that the International Conference Centre built in 1990 with N240 million was renovated with N39 billion in 2025. Who are they in National Assembly to invite the genius of all times to even defend allegations that he has allocated many plots of land to himself and family members in Abuja? That is why those who know the genius and his affinity with the State House can only be sorry for those who are openly campaigning for Wike’s removal. The complex genius knows himself. He is confident that the plot by party members to remove him will be as difficult as forcing a stream to flow uphill.
The APC leaders criticism of Wike seems curiously contradictory, given their previous praise of his political prowess. However, the party’s concerns likely stem from his recent actions, which appear to be undermining their interests in Rivers State where this same Wike knows he can also make ungovernable for the same government.
Supreme intelligence on Niger Delta politics who understand the times and season in Rivers are aware that Wike knows he is untouchable as an organic table shaker, a crisis merchant in the oil-rich region where many militant leaders remain extremely loyal to him.
Wike appears uncontrollable now because he knows his influence in Rivers State is significant, and his support for President Tinubu doesn’t necessarily translate to loyalty to the APC. In fact, Wike knows why he has openly opposed Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s re-election bid, now creating tension within the party.
The genius has challenged the party, not the President he says he can’t abandon. His loyalists in the State Assembly the Governor said never welcomed him since his return, have begun impeachment proceedings against the Governor and his deputy. What if the proceedings go through? The untouchable genius, a lawyer, had ingeniously taken care of the ‘welfare and even security’ of judicial officers at all levels long before he was appointed minister. Yet nobody challenged him.
APC’s wailing leaders should note that the gadfly in Abuja who has ‘relocated’ to his political base is an artful dodger. So, let us borrow from the brilliance of Chinua Achebe, to deconstruct him so that they can manage their expectation about him.
The Nyesom Wike you underrate as a simpleton is actually very clever. He came into politics quietly and peaceably with his strange strategy and all of you are amused at what you call his foolishness and you allowed him to allocate values to you in Abuja where he has also impressed the President as ‘Mr. Project’. He has deftly assisted the President to consolidate welfare of judicial officers the same president earlier approved 300% increase in wages for.
Your industrious genius who hasn’t addressed welfare and housing deficit of FCT civil servants has been building retirement estates for judicial officers. The impetuous minister who hasn’t visited the University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University) on behalf of the President, the Visitor, to assess the housing needs of Staff and Students has taken 70% of their land. But the same Minister has promised to build many hostels for Law School Students in Abuja.
This same Minister you don’t understand is generally believed to be handling all these projects that capital projects of the Judiciary perhaps through the Justice Ministry should statutorily address all because of safe landing for ‘Project 2027’. This same Wike who is generally believed to have deployed resources to weaken the ranks of the main opposition parties for the ruling party to have a landslide victory in 2027 is the man party leaders want the president to dump pronto because of Rivers State fire the same minister set off!
It should be noted that the same minister who used the resources of the same Rivers State to take five PDP Governors round the world just to create political problems for the then presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar so that APC candidate could win is the person you want the President to dump just like that?
I doff my hat for the untouchable genius who knows how to handle even the media, strategically more than other political leaders of our time. The Wike the party leaders don’t understand doesn’t bribe editors and news managers to promote himself and his projects. He buys all the pages and spaces he needs to advertise and promote his projects and sends his messages. The genius knows about Marshall McLuhan’s dictum: ‘the medium is the message’. He knows how to capture the television power without begging: he buys sometimes six-hours airtime of many television stations.
These can run into hundreds of millions of naira of pubic funds no institution will audit. That way, Wike the genius has been able to manage critical media coverage of his newsworthy policies, politics and projects. Not many editorial boards of print and electronic media can successfully table topics that would lead to even public interest editorials and commentaries as that indiscretion can prevent robust income from FCT Minister. That is how the tricky genius has been able to manage the media to ‘cover up’ oddities, systemic rots around him instead of covering them.
And so the president’s ability to address Wike’s actions without consequences for the 2027 re-election can’t be predictable. The strong man’s grip on Rivers State politics and his loyal following has made him a powerful figure party leaders have to negotiate with.
The Wike you don’t know, knows his values in the presidential household. He knows the powers that be know that throwing him out, as party leaders are demanding, could have unintended consequences for his unfinished projects for 2027.
And so I think the man should be hailed as a dangerous but untouchable genius, an asset for “Project 2027” the President may not like to boot out of his already chaotic presidency.
- Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sunday. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.