By Blessing Wikina
It is February 2026, and the only images the Rivers State House of Assembly offers the public are visuals of defections, choreographed choruses, and live-streamed political drama.
Beyond the optics of a deeply troubling impeachment episode, nothing substantive has emerged from the Assembly. No bills. No debates. No evidence of lawmaking. One is compelled to ask: apart from impeachment theatrics, is there not a single lawmaker capable of actually doing the work of legislation?
Only days ago, news reports were filled with the President’s assent to an Act unbundling electricity from the Exclusive Legislative List—opening the door for states to design and manage their own electricity governance frameworks. This is a historic shift, one that demands serious legislative engagement at the state level: laws, policies, and regulatory structures to make participation viable.
If Rivers lawmakers are unable—or unwilling—to think along these lines, then one must ask plainly: what, exactly, is their duty?
The people did not elect representatives to form choirs or sing choruses on their behalf. Rivers State already has choristers in every village. What it needs are legislators. Legislative responsibility comes with a feedback mechanism—consultations, town halls, stakeholder engagements—yet there is no record of such meetings in wards or constituencies across the state.
Recently, social media was awash with photographs of these same lawmakers in London on a “study tour” of the British Parliament, barely days after the state of emergency was lifted. One wonders: when will the lessons from that foreign excursion be downloaded for public benefit?
Or are we to believe the persistent rumours in the public domain—that the Assembly is being remotely controlled, dictated to, and influenced by forces outside the hallowed chamber?
For the avoidance of doubt, this is not an attempt to absolve or indict external actors. Those in Abuja and Port Harcourt are visibly carrying out their responsibilities. We read the reports. We hear the news. We see governance in motion.
The unanswered question remains: what will this Assembly be remembered for?
As the hymn asks, “What would you be remembered for?” This is not an attack, but a critique—offered in the hope of redirection. For as a Metaphysical poet once warned: “What can please many, and please for so long, shall be nothing but representation of a general nature.”
Rivers State deserves more than optics. It deserves an Assembly that is present, purposeful, and accountable.
— Blessing Wikina wrote from Port Harcourt, Rivers State
