06/09/2026
What happened in Rivers State yesterday should concern us beyond the usual Wike-Amaechi political rivalry because it raises a deeper question about what happens when political power loses its sense of limits.
There is nothing unusual about Wike and Amaechi being political enemies. Politics is competition, and politicians will fight fiercely for influence and power. But there are moments when political competition should give way to something more fundamental: humanity. Yesterday was supposed to be one of those moments, because Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi was being laid to rest in Ubima.
Reports that security restrictions affected access to the burial, with the Rivers ADC alleging that they were deliberately designed to frustrate attendance, should be properly investigated and established. But even beyond that controversy, the reported decision to use a political reception on the same day to remind Nigerians that Amaechi cannot defeat Wike in 2027 raises an uncomfortable question: has political rivalry become so consuming that even death cannot temporarily suspend it?
The real issue here is not whether Wike is politically stronger than Amaechi. It is whether power should ever become so confident that every boundary begins to look negotiable. A functioning democracy is not defined only by the ability of powerful people to defeat their opponents; it is also defined by the restraints they recognise even when they have the power to ignore them.
And this is where President Tinubu cannot completely separate himself from the matter. Wike's influence today exists within a political ecosystem that includes the confidence and protection he enjoys from the presidency. Political alliances are legitimate, but political usefulness cannot become a substitute for institutional restraint. If the allegations are false, they should be transparently disproved. If they are true, they should have consequences.
I have disagreed with Amaechi politically, just as I have disagreed with Wike on many issues. None of that changes the principle. If Wike were burying his mother, he would deserve the same dignity. If Atiku, Peter Obi or President Tinubu were mourning, the same principle should apply.
Political opponents can be defeated, criticised and challenged, but they should never become so dehumanised that even their grief becomes another arena for political warfare.
The real measure of political power is not how far it can reach, but whether the person who possesses it still understands where it should stop. Mr President, that is the line you must be willing to draw.
