Onyinye in Igbo language means gift in English. The equivalent of the word in Yoruba is èbùn. In the culture of the two languages, people give their children ‹gift› as names, and in most cases as found in both languages, ‹gift› comes as an affix of the word ‹gift›. So, in Igbo we have Onyinyechi – Gift from God or God›s gift. In Yoruba, it is mostly Ebunolu or Ebunoluwa which, taking “Olu” and Oluwa to mean the Supreme Being, means the same thing as in the Igbo language.
In 1980, a song by Patty Obasi which he titled Onyinye Mamiwater (Nwa Mama Iwota) became a street anthem in the South East and South South of Nigeria. It is a gospel song that spoke to the various kinds of characters one could assume which might lead one to unwanted ends as preached against by Christianity. One of such characters was to become Nwa Mama Iwota (the child of mamiwota – mermaid), which Patty Obasi said was a gift from the dark underworld. The song places the dark underworld to mean the same thing as the dark underwater. So, you could either be a gift from Mamiwater or you could have brought yourself as Mamiwater as a gift to the undiscerning receiver. Both are dangerous to the spiritual and social life of the receiving party. Both gifts, either from an emissary of Mamiwater or the mamiwater makes itself available – are an affliction.
In the song, Patty Obasi said it is “Weta isi bia were isi, Onyinye Mamiwater.” Mamiwater’s is a gift in which you’re to deposit a head for a head – a kind of exchange of lives. He therefore warns that you must properly and thoroughly examine who you are following.
The governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fabara, received Onyinye Mamiwater last year. He got it well-packaged from his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. Perhaps, it could also be that this predecessor of his is the true Mamiwater in the life of Governor Fubara. He was lost in the blitz of the governorship campaigns and was unable to see why not, even if it looked too good to be true. His ascension to the enviable position of Governor of Rivers State has turned to Onyinye Mamiwater in the eyes of many. With what he has been subjected to since he was enthroned on May 29, 2023, it is doubtful if Fubara himself would still see his position as enviable. It appears that he has donated his own head to be able to receive the gift of another head. Or, what exactly do Wike and all the people after Fubara want from him? This Mamiwater might not believe in the principle of leaving the ropes when you bequeath a ram to the gods, but should they not consider the people of the state whom we believe Fubara represents?
To a great extent, the political crisis in Rivers State has been seen as a mere tiff between Governor Fabara and his boss, Nyesom Wike. In actual fact, it is basically not beyond that when properly analysed even though it is also way beyond just that. One of the interesting oxymoronic derivatives of the Rivers saga is that, as observed by James Allen, it is both a dream and a reality in which “the oak sleeps in an acorn.” Fubara didn’t betray the oak he was when he was on the same plane with Wike, while on the other hand, Wike too didn’t dream of the oak in the acorn he was carrying easily about. So, it is either the all-knowing Wike misjudged Fubara and played into his boy’s hands or it is an end-game for the erstwhile strong man.
Wike was ubiquitous both in his influence and his speeches. And, on the many issues for which he has been called names, Wike was almost garrulous. He had said so much that he is no longer trusted. He spoke about APC. He spoke about PDP. He spoke about godfathers and godfatherism. He spoke about taking appointment as minister after his governorship. He spoke about political and sundry leaders of the state… He spoke about nearly everything. And everything he spoke against he is doing and in brazen fashion. His wisdom is in using his extensive foot soldiers and the courts. Wike is still sprawling over his side of the House of Assembly and they are oblivious of the people of the state as they fight tooth and nail. The question now is: is it the impact of the APC on Wike or the pangs of the PDP that are affecting him and his supporters? We remember that Wike didn’t start out like this.
Fubara must find a means through which he would ease or reduce the pressure being mounted on him from everywhere. He is under pressure to unfurl and wield his powers as a governor. That is what a large swathe of the people wants, that he should ‘unleash the dragon’. A few voices have even pointedly called that Governor Fubara should demolish property belonging to some of his assailants “to send a message”. At the same time, he is also under pressure to maintain a delicate balance in the midst of it all while being drawn from all sides to do something. Fubara is not a man to be envied at this time. It was even being whispered aloud at a point in the early days of the entire drama, that he told some elders and political leaders of the state that he was ready to resign and abandon the government house. The elders hushed the thoughts out of his head and heart, it was also loudly whispered. Further, the Rivers State seniors gave him the assurances of their support and also gave him persuasive conviction that a man who is wary of tribulations or death cannot possibly take a title which belongs to his father’s homestead.
He must have to disentangle the ropes around him and find a means to balance the ship of Rivers State. Discerning Nigerians know where the troublous rope is drawn from. There is no doubting the belief of the Yoruba that a rope cannot be so long as to have no source. People with their eyes so relaxed as to see their noses can obviously infer that this rope is from the powers that be. His real detractors and brutal assailants are not completely in Rivers State, they are not the expectant Rivers people. They are those whose palm kernel had been cracked by the gods. They are vehemently kindling the fire not to cook for the Rivers people but to cook their own next political meals. They are the blacksmith who has found the spot he would insistently hammer on for an expected end.
He however must not think he has Onyinye Mamiwater because he cannot give the state with its 8 million people away just like that for a transient position. It should always be about the people of the Rivers State and what they truly deserve in terms of service delivery. No state with so much resources and one which is undoubtedly the hydro-carbon headquarters of Nigeria, should suffer so much at the hands of unfeeling foragers and political traders.
Like Patty Obasi has advised, we must indeed examine whom we are following so as not to end up as Mamiwater or its gift.
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