A foremost media group in Rivers State, the Inter-ethnic Network for Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, INCRA, strongly faults the conferment of an award of recognition on Gov. Wike by the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award (SCAHSA) group.
SCAHSA, a group under the United Nations is set to honour the Governor with the Global Human Settlement Outstanding Contributions Award, an award conferred on individuals, corporations or government that have recorded salient achievements in areas of urban renewal drives, housing projects and generally on programs geared towards ameliorating the living conditions of the populace.
We are yet to reckon with the rationale for bestowing the award on the Governor in the face of his penetrating aversion towards urban renewal policies and programs. The Wike-led Government practically abandoned all urban development programs initiated by the Amaechi-led government, including the Greater Port Harcourt City project, and has failed to develop a blueprint for a preferred plan.
The Greater Port Harcourt City project, adjudged to be the biggest individual construction project East of the Niger is a massive urban renewal drive covering approximately 190,000 hectares of land spread over seven LGAs with over 11,000 housing units, aimed at decongesting the old Port-Harcourt City and building other satellite Cities in Rivers State to curtail the growing rate of rural-urban drift and enhance better settlement.
It is therefore, ridiculous that SCAHSA is bestowing an award on Gov. Wike for merely building a staff quarters for NNS Pathfinder, the DSS and the groundbreaking for the intended Judges residential quarters on a piece of land that is a subject of litigation, while shying away from major projects that will benefit the generality of the masses. This award is not only misplaced but calls to question the credibility, integrity and transparency of the group.
Clearly, the SCAHSA group are not in tune with the prevailing political reality and activities of government in Rivers State. If they were, they would not hurriedly bestow an award on the Governor. We advice the SCAHSA group to run a reality check subsequently before doling out awards. Awards should reflect visible efforts made in a particular area of recognition based on reality and not on media hype or virtual reality.
We are doubtful of the authenticity of this award, however, while we continue to investigate its veracity, we cannot feign ignorance of the Governor's antics and maneuvres. We are not under any illusions about the high possibility that the award may have come through the instrumentality of some crispy banknotes from the State coffers.
We are aware that the Governor is a maestro in the act of deploying the "appropriate technology" towards achieving any end. A means he has relied upon on several occasions including becoming the Governor of Rivers State.
We therefore, advice the Governor to channel some of these scarce resources being frittered away into more meaningful ventures that will be of immense benefit to the average man on the street. It is worrisome that the Trans-Amadi road which had houses demolished and compensations duly paid by the Amaechi-led administration has taken the Governor almost three years to complete and the staff of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA, are owed 24 months salary. Whereas, he is busy squandering funds that should be paid to the contractors to facilitate work on the road and pay outstanding salaries on trivialities and seeking international and local validation for his Vice Presidential ambition ahead of 2019.
The Governor must realise that the era of electoral rascality and malpractices are gone with 2015, hence, the only validation he should seek now is that of the electorates whom he has abandoned for self-aggrandizement. He may not appreciate the importance of our constructive criticisms on his activities apparently because he is still basking in the intoxication of Remy Martins Loius Xlll vintage cognac. We are confident that he will come to this realisation by 2019 when he is booted out of the Brick House.
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