The Inter-ethnic Network for Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, INCRA, is deeply saddened over Gov. Wike's recent disgraceful and opprobrious appearance at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London.
We are certain that the Management of Chatham House must have rued its decision to grant the Governor an invitation to appear on its platform against our advice. The Governor effectively succeeded in desecrating the hallowed temple of the globally acclaimed Chatham House by grossly deviating from the issue of discuss to political exhibitionism and disparagement of his benefactor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi and the Buhari-led Federal Government in rare show of eccentricity.
The Chatham House debacle is both injurious to the reputation of the Rivers State and the Nigerian nation at large. As concerned citizens and stakeholders in the Rivers project, we are compelled by a sense of responsibility and patriotism to correct many of the Governor's faux pas in the course of delivering his speech.
The Governor claimed the federal government has not undertaken any new project in the State for the last two decades. This claim is shocking and we wonder why the Governor opted to be economical with the truth and facts of the matter. The University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, one of the biggest health facilities in the State was built by the Obasanjo-led federal government. Thereafter, the Late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua came on board, established the Ministry of Niger Delta and granted amnesty to the Niger Delta militants within 2 years before his demise. Rivers State benefited immensely from both programmes as it was the hotbed of ravaging militant activities.
The next 6 years were under the Jonathan-led federal government which scored the least in terms of undertaking any project in Rivers State and the entire Niger Delta. Being a major stakeholder in the Jonathan government, the Governor has inadvertently implicated himself.
Whereas within just 2 years of the present Buhari-led federal government, a number of developmental projects have been embarked on in Rivers State and the Niger Delta. The implementation of the UNEP report in Ogoni land, the Bonny-Bodo road flagoff, the reconstruction of the East-West road, the on-going railway project expected to link Rivers State to other parts of the country, and several other projects which the Jonathan-led government could not undertake for lack of political will.
The federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari has meaningfully engaged several citizens of Rivers State through the ongoing N-power scheme which trains and pay participants monthly. Rivers State is among the States with the highest number of participants and it is on record that Wike's Obio/Akpor LGA contributed the highest number of participants from Rivers State. Beyond that, the federal government under President Buhari has also given employment to Rivers indigenes through the Nigerian Ports Authority, National Railway Corporation, NIMASA and others all under the Ministry of Transportation headed by Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi.
It is an indisputable fact that the Rivers State Government under Gov. Wike has recieved all the necessary financial support it needs to succeed from the federal government. Rivers State ranks top amongst States with the highest share of the statutory monthly allocation and all other funds shared amongst the States of the federation by the federal government. For instance, the federal government has released the first and second tranches of the Paris Club refund of which Rivers State received the highest amounts running into hundreds of billions of Naira. We wonder how the Governor can positively effect any meaningful and sustainable development without a budget. May we be reminded that budget is a fiscal instrument recognised by law and as such, it is criminal to run a government without a budget.
We consider it the height of self-delusion for the Governor to assert that the immediate former Governor of Rivers State and the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, did not pursue the development of the State during his tenure. The Governor's claim is both diversionary and misleading. It is visible to the blind and every unbiased individual that the Amaechi-led government in the State massively pursued sustainable development of the State and recorded gigantic success in every sector of governance. For the avoidance of doubt and purposes of emphasis, we have taken the liberty to enumerate a few of the stellar and sterling achievements of the Amaechi-led government in Rivers State:
i) Agriculture : Establishment of the Songhai farm- an integration of livestock, Aquaculture, Agro-tourism and general Agro-research, Banana Plantation, Fish farms in Buguma, Andoni, Ubima and Opobo with a total production capacity of 5000 tons annually and several others.
ii) Education : Revitalisation of the three tiers of education. Built over 450 Model Primary Schools with state-of-the-art facilities, several world class secondary schools with full boarding facilities and staff quarters, upgrade and revival of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology now Rivers State University, upgrade of facilities in the Rivers State Polythecnic, Bori and others.
iii) Health: Built 250 primary Healthcare Centres with standard facilities and equipments in several communities across the 23 LGAs, renovation of Bodo General Hospital, construction of medical centre in RSUST, Dental Hospital at Garrison, New Niger Hospital in Diobu and others.
iv) Infrastructure : The achievement of the Amaechi-led government in this area is innumerable. Several roads, housing projects, urban development drive like the Greater Port-Harcourt City projects, sports facilities, bridges, land reclamation projects and several others.
iv) Employment/Human Capital Development: The Amaechi-led government provided several employment for thousands of Rivers indigenes and non-indigenes including the employment of over 400 medical and health workers, 13,200 teachers, over 3000 workers in the Agricultural sector and several others.
Through the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA, the Amaechi-led government granted foreign scholarship to over 1072 Rivers youths, several local scholarship, sponsorship of 93 first-degree ICT graduates and 49 post graduate scholars to Singapore, sponsorship of over 90 Rivers youths on Overseas Technical Training Scheme, OTTS, in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNITAR, and several others.
The Wike-led government has practically failed to deliver any meaningful and sustainable development commensurate with the huge resources and funds at his disposal in any sector of governance. It is glaring that the only sector where Gov. Wike has made inroads and has achieved commendably is the "Pull Down Amaechi" sector. We can comfortable score him above 100 percent in this area of endeavour.
Consequently, we urge him to create a ministry for the "Defamation of Amaechi" and appoint a Commissioner accordingly to drive this cardinal agenda of his government.
We challenge the Governor to name any sector of the government where his footprints have been sufficiently stamped. There is absolutely nothing on ground for which the Governor will be remembered for when he is eventually thrown out of the Brick House in 2019. This should be a call for sober reflection for the Governor.
The Governor's manifest mania for foreign validation is sickening. Once again, he is reminded that only the electorates will save him from the looming electoral woes that awaits him in 2019 and not international endorsements which he desperately seeks at all costs even if it means paying through his nose at the expense of the taxpayers.
We advice the Governor to quit traversing the West seeking political favours and sympathy to advance his Vice Presidential ambition and come back home and work. We would expect him to replicate same magic he performed in 2015 elections in 2019 when credible and fair elections would be conducted.
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