PUNCH - Nigerians
have besieged various YouTube channels to catch a glimpse of what
transpired on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly when the
lawmakers were embroiled in a fight.
Five members of the House opposed to
Governor Rotimi Amaechi had engaged about 13 of their colleagues in a
fight shortly after the pro-governor lawmakers resisted their move to
impeach the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree.
In the mayhem, the Leader of the House, Mr. Chidi Lloyd; Michael Chinda and Martins Amahule sustained serious injuries.
As at the time of filing this report,
three major video clips of the incident had gone viral on YouTube with
many users of the social network sharing the video on their respective
channels.
On the YouTube channel of SaharaTV, for instance, the video had attracted over 43,000 views when our correspondent visited.
On another YouTube channel belonging to
Israel Ibeleme, 6,777 people had viewed the video, with many of them
describing the development as shameful and embarrassing in the comments
they dropped after watching it.
Many of them stressed that it was
unfortunate that the lawmakers were fighting over personal interests
adding that it would have been a lot better, if the energy wasted in the
brawl had been channeled into fighting for the progress and development
of the country.
On the YouTube channel of SaharaTV, one
Michael Eseigbe, who observed one of the lawmakers shouting “Arrow
Mates”, described him as a cultist.
According to him, the chant he screamed was a slang expression used by a cult group known as “Supreme Viking confraternity.”
Eseigbe said, “Did any one hear the
lawmaker screaming Arrow Mates? That is the chant of a cult group known
as the “Supreme Viking confraternity” and we call him a honourable
member?
“This is why we will never achieve
anything in this country when power have been given to cultists who
terrorised their mates back in school and have now brought that wayward
life to bear on our socio-political sphere. What a travesty!’’
Another visitor to the YouTube channel,
with the name Besty Large, called for the immediate removal of those
lawmakers chanting the slogan. Large adds, “It’s a big disgrace to note
that a Nigerian lawmaker will be chanting ‘Aro Mate.” If this man
shouting that slogan is not brought to book, that means there is no law
in Nigeria. He is promoting cult activities. How can a cult member fight
for justice?
“This man must be removed as a lawmaker.
It’s a big shame and disgrace to a system of government in the country.
The man is a member of the Viking confratanity). They are the ones who
use Aro mate. The laws of the land forbid members of the legislature and
executive arm from belonging to any cult group.’’
But as many Nigerians condemned the
lawmakers for the brawl, others called on Nigerians to vote for
responsible politicians to pilot the affairs of various arms and tiers
of government.
A visitor to one of the YouTube
channels, who identified himself simply as Magic, said it was not enough
to condemn the act but that the ultimate power belongs to the
electorate to vote irresponsible leaders out of office.
Magic stated, “We come here to condemn
this shameful act but by next election we would not come out and vote
for the right people. It’s high time we rose up to our civic duties of
voting for the right people.
“It’s about time we took our rights to
vote seriously so that we do not face such embarrassments again. If not,
this will just be a tip of the iceberg.’’
Corroborating Magic’s position, another
commentator, Mayaki, encouraged youths to come out enmasse and contest
elective positions to bring about change in the Nigerian polity.
PUNCH
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