Veteran actress Ibinabo Fiberesima has addressed the viral video showing her emotional breakdown amid the ongoing crisis in Rivers State. In an exclusive interview with Saturday Beats, Fiberesima passionately defended her reaction, expressing her deep concern for the residents of the state.
“When I cried yesterday, I don’t even know what came over me. I just saw the tankers, the military personnel, and soldiers carrying guns, and I had a flashback. We can’t go back to where we just came from. People can say whatever they like, but they don’t live here with us. They don’t know the pain we go through,” she explained.
Fiberesima also discussed the leadership dynamics in Rivers, offering her support for Governor Fubara while criticizing those she believes are trying to undermine his administration. “We have so much money in this state, so much.
Now we have a young governor, even younger than I am, and he’s starting to address important issues like humanity, creativity, and health—everything a leader should focus on. But they won’t let him breathe. They keep making accusations against him, but who’s proven any of these things? We just hear rumors, and we here in this region don’t know how to respond through the media.”
She went on to contrast Rivers with Lagos, which she described as an “enabling” environment where people are given opportunities to succeed, unlike in Rivers, where economic and creative freedom is restricted. “In Lagos, it’s an enabling state. You can wake up, do what you want, get support, and people believe in you. You make money. But here, you can’t. We’re struggling to be heard, to say, ‘Let us have peace,’ and they declare a state of emergency.”
Expressing frustration over the deployment of military personnel in the state, Fiberesima questioned the reasoning behind President Tinubu’s declaration, adding, “All these bombings we’re hearing about—suddenly in just a few days, they bombed two places? And now they want to declare a state of emergency? Come on! There was a situation like this in Lagos under Ambode—did they bomb anywhere or throw things at people?”
She further suggested that President Tinubu might have been misinformed about the situation in Rivers, insisting that the Tinubu she knows would not support such actions. “For Tinubu to have made this proclamation, it’s clear that he was fed too many lies. The Tinubu I know, the one I call ‘Papa,’ would never approve of this. He would be happy to see a young man as governor. The only thing I fault my governor for is not coming out to share his side of the story.”
Finally, Fiberesima hinted at a potential political future, expressing that she could no longer stay silent as events unfold. “I’m not a politician, but looking at things now, it feels like I will be. This is too much. Do we all have to run to Lagos to survive? Don’t we have our own homes? I don’t fully understand politics—I’m too emotional—but maybe it’s time for me to get involved.”
