Gov Wike's 2nd year anniversary: Why we celebrate ---Obuah

*Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

(Nigeria) For over one month running, the airwaves have been replete and the national dailies inundated with stories and news of all kinds about Rivers State, the Treasure Base of Nigeria.

The state has also paid host to a number of dignitaries from within and outside Nigeria within the period under review that minds are agitated to ask varying questions bordering on the need for the bravado.

But the Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Felix Obuah believes all the celebrations and sundry activities are worth the cost in all ramifications.

According to the state party Chairman and strong ally of the Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, the month of May this year is not just an ordinary month to Rivers people because it's symbolic in many respects.

Besides standing out among others as the month Nigeria transited to a Democratic rule after many years of military dictatorship (May 29th), it also marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of Rivers State.

But most importantly, Obuah noted, May, precisely 29th, is exactly two years Rivers State had a political rebirth with the coming on board of the administration of Wike.

Same day, according to him, an emerging political Czar and incumbent governor, Chibuike Amaechi was unseated and sent packing for allegedly misrepresenting the State in pursuit of personal interests.

Two years after this historic take-over of the reins of power by Wike, it has been one developmental project or the other which has endeared him to the Rivers people having affected all strata of the people with his novel programmes.

According to Obuah, there is a marked difference between the Rivers of today under the indefatigable and visionary leadership of Governor Wike and the Rivers State of yesterdays.

Itemizing Wike's milestone achievements, the State PDP Boss said the first challenge anybody commissioned to take inventory of Wike's achievement is to know how and where to begin to count the blessings and democratic dividends that have accrued to the state courtesy of Governor Wike.

But suffice to say that under the Wike administration, Port Harcourt, the state capital has regained its Garden Status with a network of roads linking all the streets and roads in a manner that befits a State capital and metropolis.

To complement that desire, the State Waste Management Agency, RIWAMA, moribund prior to  Wike's coming was readily revived and a seasoned administrator and pragmatist, in the person of Obuah himself appointed as sole administrator.

Since then, there have been no dull moments as the erstwhile health and sanitation officers of the Agency are on the streets 24 hours to ensure that all dirt and wastes are properly disposed off and the resultant effects are there for all eyes to see and appreciate.

To complement the efforts of RIWAMA, another agency, Roads Maintenance and Rehabilitation was equally resurrected and restructured, to ensure that potholes on all roads and streets of Port Harcourt were a thing of the past.

This has paid off in no small measure that driving round the city of Port Harcourt and many other cities in the State no longer poses danger and has correspondingly reduced the rate of road accidents in the State.

While this agency ensures steadily repair of bad roads across the State, the Ministry of Works is put under constant watch of His Excellency to ensure that new roads, bridges and waterways are constructed to ease the sufferings of commuters and rural people coming to the main city for their business.

In the area of education, the Wike administration has left no one in doubt that education remains a priority as far as developmental projects are concerned.

In a practical demonstration of his love and concern for qualitative education for Rivers people, Governor Wike no sooner had he assumed office than he embarked on massive reconstruction of dilapidated former boarding schools and colleges across the nooks and crannies of the State, with a view to providing a conducive studying environment to students.

At tertiary level, the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology has been enlarged and renamed Rivers State University through the instrumentality of the State Legislature with a new befitting world class faculty of law while the State-owned Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) has been given a face-lift and almost all its academic programmes accredited by the Nigerian Universities Commission and other relevant commissions.

Other sectors that have massively benefitted from Wike include the health and judiciary.

Presently, the State-owned Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, BMH, that was comatose upon Wike's assumption of office is now a citadel and referral centre in the country with the state-of-the-art facilities to ensure qualitative healthcare service delivery in the tertiary healthcare for the good people of Rivers State and her neighbours.

The primary and secondary healthcare sectors are not also left out as all the non-functional health centres across the State have been restructured, reactivated and are currently on and functioning with resident doctors stationed in each of them.

In the judiciary sector, the Wike administration has played critical roles in repositioning the judiciary after her years of turbulence.

It will be recalled that before Wike mounted the leadership saddle of the state, the courts were under lock and key slammed by the previous regime which accounted for the death of so many innocent souls who suffocated in police cells and prisons due to 'no courts' to hear their cases.

Not limiting his vision for an independent and impartial judiciary and to ensure that judicial officers and judges carry out their functions with minimum stress and maximum comfort, Wike has extended his developmental strides to both the state High Court, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and even the Court of Appeal with modern edifices housing both judges dress rooms and providing more capacity carrying court rooms with adequate and functioning electronic devices to aid recording etc.

To crown all these, the Wike administration has put in place a number of youth empowerment and skills acquisition programmes to enhance the employability of Rivers youths and turned them away from criminal activities, thus re-enforcing the law cautioning all companies operating in the State to give preference to Rivers indigenes in their employments.

Also worthy of special mention is Wike's concerted efforts in ensuring there is peace and security of lives and property in every part of the state.

In this regard, the State government under Wike has ensured and supported sufficiently the efforts of all arms of security agencies in the State – the Police, Navy, Army etc by donating patrol vehicles and other logistics for effective surveillance across the State.

Still bent on distinguishing himself from those before him, Governor Wike is the first in the Guinness Book of Records among his peers as a State government to build an Ecumenical Centre for Christians in Port Harcourt, the State Capital, and to resurrect the rapidly dwindling social life and hospitality business in the State has just completed and commissioned a multi-million naira Pleasure Park in Port Harcourt  in the light of the several opportunities available for investors in the State whose patronage is a sine-qua-non for development.

Obuah's words: “We celebrate to thank God and appreciate Governor Wike for fulfilling his campaign promises and exceeding all expectations in a manner that has confounded our political opponents and the opposition, through construction of various projects across the State providing facilities that encourage sustainable peace as well as conducive environment for business and social life to thrive in the state.”