Nigeria, March 24 -- When Nigeria's President Tinubu declared a state of emergency on oil-rich Rivers State last week, the issue took over every waking minute of Nigerians at home and abroad.

Someday, historians are going to make a meal of the various views, declarations and subterfuges at play. By the time the true story of what transpired is fully told, most, if not all the dramatis personae, would have been long dead. What will outlive them is the verdict of history.

But that is still, hopefully, a long way ahead. There is another state of emergency which has been begging to be declared for quite a while. It has festered because the attitude of those in government seemed to indicate that the monster would die a natural death if left ...