It was August 23, 1939. That night, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, and his German counterpart, Joachim von Ribbentrop, put pen to paper and shook hands to cease hostilities for the foreseeable future.
You see, in the late 1930s, Europe was a powder keg of tension, and two of the most prominent players in the game, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, were eyeing each other warily.
The tremors that would later erupt into World War II were intensifying and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was like a handshake between two warring gang leaders who needed a moment to catch their breath.
Despite being ideologically at odds – Germany with its fascist dictatorship under Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union with Mussolini Stalin’s brand of communism – they decided to play it cool for a bit. It was a non-aggression treaty, which on paper meant, “I won’t attack you if you don’t attack me.”
But the plot thickens.
Secretly, they agreed to divide Eastern Europe like a pie, with Poland as the first slice. It was not just a promise not to fight; it was a backroom deal that decided the fates of entire nations without asking them. Imagine someone shaving your head in your absence. This secret clause was like a hidden level in a game where the real action happens.
For a while, it worked. Germany kicked off WWII by invading Poland a week later on September 1, 1939, and the Soviet Union quickly followed by taking the eastern part of the country.
Here’s the kicker: Hitler never intended to keep his word. Less than two years later, he launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, tearing up the pact. Historians agree that the move would eventually contribute to his downfall.
Unlike its 1648 counterpart, the Peace of Westphalia – which ended Europe’s 30-year war and established the concepts of state sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations – the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact shows how fickle some treaties can be, especially those resting on faulty foundations.
While some treaties are based on a genuine will by parties to resolve a conflict, others are temporary alignments of interest, making them inherently unstable and uneasy.
A truce
Fast-forward to 84 years later, the major figures in the Rivers State political crisis assembled at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa for talks. They include Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his political godfather, Nyesome Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; the Deputy Governor, Prof Ngozi Odu; and a former governor of the state, Peter Odili, among others. Their meeting that Monday was at the behest of President Bola Tinubu.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, were also seated for the late-night discussion.
A threat
Hours earlier, the President inaugurated the board of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, asking members to get to work and deliver at an elite level as he would not tolerate non-performance.
He also warned that conduct suggesting a sense of entitlement would not be tolerated, saying, “…you could be suddenly dissolved if there is no sustained excellence in performance.”
A truce…continued
Although Fubara and his team arrived around 5pm, the meeting only began two hours later when Wike and his team arrived at the State House.
When I spotted the influx of Rivers delegates that evening, I knew it would be another long day within those white walls. That’s not to say I am not used to such abrupt meetings stretching into the night. The President met the Ondo State stakeholders only three weeks earlier to resolve the crisis between the governor and his deputy.
Such meetings mean journalists covering the Villa will not go home until the outcome is known. And so, as I had done on many other nights, I made peace with my fate and drafted two short stories ahead.
The first headline read, ‘Rivers crisis: Wike, Fubara reach truce after meeting Tinubu’. The second read, ‘Rivers crisis: Talks jinxed as parties stage walkout’. There were more headlines, including one where the stakeholders ‘exchanged blows’. Don’t blame me. It’s not the wait that matters. It’s what you do while waiting.
At some minutes past 9pm, the sound of vehicular movement at the forecourt told me that the meeting must be over. “So soon? I’m lucky!” I thought.
The outcome of that meeting was an eight-point directive signed by Fubara, Ordu, Wike; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule; the Peoples Democratic Party Chairman in Rivers State, Aaron Chukwuemeka; and the state’s All Progressives Congress Chairman, Tony Okocha.
The details are no longer news. The directive read in part, “All matters instituted in the courts by the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Fubara, and his team, in respect of the political crisis in Rivers State, shall be withdrawn immediately.
“All impeachment proceedings initiated against the governor of Rivers State by the Rivers State House of Assembly should be dropped immediately.”