Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye SAN.
A legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye SAN. has called for an immediate stop to the political fray between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike in Rivers State over the control of the state.
In a release e-signed by Kalejaye SAN also known as KK, he expressly warned that the ongoing political disagreement between the duo should not be waved away, noncommittally, as a mere rift between two brothers.
He warned that the rift which had already began to gather virulent steam could degenerate further into unmanageable violence, occasioning loss of lives and properties.
According to Kalejaye SAN, the matter should also not be seen as a domestic affair of the people in Rivers State alone as it poses a gross malevolent threat to the nation’s nascent democracy.
Citing an analogy from the nation’s history, the Senior Advocate noted that “the death knell of the first Republic was the fight between Awolowo and Akintola”.
Kalejaye SAN therefore called on people of goodwill and the nation’s leaders to intervene immediately in the matter before it degenerate further into a muddier issue that could no longer be controlled.
Here below is the verbatim text of Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye SAN’s prophetic warning to the nation on the raging Fubara versus Wike imbroglio in Rivers State:
“I have followed the happenings in Rivers with a lot of interest.
Unfortunately, many of us erroneously take it as a fight between brothers that do not concern us. On that, we deceive ourselves .The death knell of the first Republic was the fight between Awolowo and Akintola.
My father told me that the fight originated not because of political power but because of the ego of their wives: Dideolu and Faderera.My father,I guess should know,because he was one of the few political leaders from Ijebuland who risked their lives to follow Akintola. He had to decamp back to the Action Group when his house was about to be burnt and his life under threat! It was a traumatic time for us as children as we had to be relocated to another house in Ilese-Ijebu( specifically our inlaws house,the sebiomos)to prevent us being roasted in case the arsonists came in the night. I have no independent way of verifying this story except what my Dad said!
My dad’s story was: that it was customary for Akintola to go to Oke bola ibadan house of Awolowo every Monday to discuss pending affairs of state. The briefing was usually around 8 am because Awolowo would leave immediately for Lagos at about 10 am, where he was the leader of opposition.
So the particular morning,Faderera, who always insisted that her husband had breakfast before leaving the government lodge,had breakfast served at about 745am. Akintola,dad said was a slow eater, like Awolowo, he must thoroughly chew his food before swallowing. A habit Faderera found rather disconcerting. Faderera always sat facing him while he ate, insisting that Akintola must clean his plate and use his antihypertensive drugs before setting out!
At 815am, Awolowo called the government house to ask if Akintola was on his way. The message was delivered at the breakfast table to Akintola. On hearing the message, Akintola stood up, grabbed his files, and made to dash out to meet his boss. But Faderera would have none of it,she pointed at the half eaten breakfast and the unused drugs and blocked the way.Finish your breakfast and use your drugs,she bellowed to her husband. Kilode gan na,sebi, you are the Premier. Why are you being treated like a house boy. Unless you finish your breakfast, you will not leave this house, she thundered. Reluctantly, Akintola sat down to finish his breakfast and took his drugs. Dad said that by the time he had done, it was about 845am.
If there is anything Awolowo was known for, it was his sense of time. By the time Akintola drove into Awolowo’s okebola residence,the leader was long gone. And there started the rift. One thing led to the other. Awolowo stopped the Monday meetings, and Akintola stopped coming to okebola ibadan residence of the Awolowos.
What do we learn from the above? That what is being treated as a domestic quarrelling in Rivers may consume our democracy.
Our leaders must speak up to stop this descend into the abyss.
We are all warned!”
Asiwaju Kunle Kalejaye SAN.
