Pa Abraham Adesanya, it was, who argued that not all that is legal is expedient. No one can argue against the right of a Nigerian president to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country where the government has reason to suspect clear and present threats to public order and security. In recently declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears to have met this minimum constitutional requirement. Thought in truth, in a democracy, the framing of the powers to declare an emergency are clearly biased in favour of the president – for obvious reasons. In this case, President Tinubu indicated an escalation in the incidence of pipeline vandalism (despite considerable doubt as to what really happened to the pipeline in question) and a festering political crisis in Rivers State as justifications for his action. Crises of any sort occur along a continuum from their nascency to when they become acute. And so, while there may be…