The Suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has called on his supporters to accept a peace deal with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, citing the need for progress and development in the state.
The governor made this appeal on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at a meeting with Simplified stakeholders.
Fubara stated that the peace process between him and Wike is ongoing, and he has been working towards a resolution.
“I had a meeting with you on the 28th of May, 2025, here, and in that meeting, I did inform you that we are in a peace process,” he said.
The governor stressed that there is no price too big for peace and that he is willing to make sacrifices for the sake of peace in the state, saying “I did say that there’s no price that is too big for peace — I meant it, and I’m still ready to follow it to the end.”
Also, Fubara emphasized the need for total reconciliation between him and Wike, stating that without it, progress in the state would be impossible.
According to him “Without a total reconciliation — which, by the grace of God, the both of us have gotten to — there’s no way we can make progress in this state,” he said.
The governor highlighted the impact of the crisis on the state’s development projects, stating that many projects have been abandoned due to the crisis.
He said: “Look at the projects we’ve initiated. Many have been abandoned. We know the progress we would have recorded and the areas that would have been developed,” he said.
The governor used an analogy of a fisherman to drive home his point, saying that just as a fish needs to hide its head in the mud to grow, his supporters need to accept the peace deal for the state to move forward.
“In my place, there’s a fish they call Atabala — you call it Tilapia. The native Tilapia doesn’t grow big. The mother Tilapia used to tell the kids that if you want to grow up to my own size, hide your head inside the mud,” he said.
However, Fubara assured his supporters that he will not abandon them, but the sacrifice required for total peace would be heavy, “I want to appeal to everyone — I have accepted that we must accept this peace, no matter how it looks, no matter how you feel, we must accept it,” he said. “I will not abandon anybody… but the sacrifice that we are going to make for us to achieve this total peace is going to be heavy, and I want everybody to prepare for it.”
