Open Letter To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
His Excellency
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Through: The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, AIG (Rtd.), mni
URGENT NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMIC RISK: THE ESCALATING RIVERS STATE CRISIS
The struggle for power between the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, and the governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, is fueling anxiety and uncertainty across the oil‑rich Niger Delta state. This crisis is no longer ambiguous. The aggressor is clear. Minister of the FCT, Barr. Nyesom Wike, is the principal destabilising force, and his unchecked interference is pushing a strategic state towards chaos, which would lead to disruption of the production activities supply chain in the oil and gas sector, the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. Such disruption comes with attendant effects on the global supply system and would worsen the fragile security in the country which Mr. President and the government of the United States are partnering to improve.
Mr. President, this is not politics as usual. It is a dangerous abuse of federal power that threatens peace, governance, and the stability of Nigeria’s most critical oil and gas corridor. If Rivers is destabilised, national revenue, investor confidence, and economic recovery will be distorted.
In the emerging scenario, the international community will not sit idle and allow this ugly political event to further weaken the already frail global economy, which the national security apparatuses are not oblivious about.
Sir, it is pertinent to reiterate that the Nigerian economy will undoubtedly experience a disaster if the President does not rein in on Wike, whose current claim to fame is being an appointee in the President’s cabinet with which he has lost regard for and to anyone, irrespective of the person’s past and present status. You have both the authority and the responsibility to do so.
Also, it is important to note that the Governor of the State, His Excellency, Siminalayi Fubara, can not claim to be faultless in the ongoing imbroglio.
Should the President and Commander-in-Chief deem it necessary to implore the Governor to honour the spirit and letter of the agreement reached before the lifting of the State of Emergency, it must be done within a framework that restores lasting peace and institutional stability. There should be no victor and no vanquished. The overriding objective must be a genuine reset that disengages Rivers State from the suffocating grip of godfatherism and both written and unwritten political pacts, allowing governance to proceed free of coercion, intimidation, and personal control.
In the interest of the nation, the President must act presidential, fairly, and justly to save APC Party from PDP sickness; the presidency and our beloved Rivers State from sleepless moments leading to the all-important 2027.
Your quick intervention to call all the principal actors order, including the members of the State Assembly, would assuage the already tense and escalating situation.
It is never too late to do the needful, your Excellency.
Accept my esteemed regards,
O. Tamuno Hercules, PhD+
Professor, Development Economics and Global Intelligence & Security Management.
Cc: The National Security Council, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Former Heads of State and President, Federal Republic of Nigeria:
1. Gen. (Pastor) Yakubu Dan-Yumma Jack Gowon, GCFR, PhD
2. Gen. Olusegun O.A Obasanjo, GCFR, PhD
3. Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, GCFR
4. Gen. Abdulsalaam Abubakar, GCFR
5. Dr. Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan, GCFR.
