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Wike Has Changed The Face Of Governance -Nsirim
Only few public men in Nigeria entrusted with the responsibility of government image making exhude implicit confidence in their onerous assignment. One of such men is Pastor Paulinus Nsirim who currently sits atop the Rivers State Ministry of Information and Communications as Commissioner.
A seasoned journalist, notable astute public relations practitioner and veteran task master, Nsirim dares to be different, actively running a critical government ministry effectively, away from the suffocating tradition of inefficiency and ineffectiveness which had most times been the hallmark of some government ministries.
Making good his solid reputation as a turn-around prime information and issues manager with Midas touch, the debonair former Chief Press Secretary to two former Military Administrators and a former Governor in the state, former Director and ex-Permanent Secretary in the Information and Communications, Ministry, among many others has been breathing life into ideas, shoving complacency for sheer pragmatism since assuming office as Commissioner.
With the see-it-all monumental achievements of the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration in the state, Nsirim, perhaps out of sheer modesty, will still tell anyone who cares to listen that the #OurStateOurResponsibility advocacy campaign is on course and that there is no magic behind the new face of governance in Rivers State.
In this encounter with the Group News Editor, Victor Tew, the energetic Commissioner insists that Wike has confounded critics and the opposition and has prudently managed the state’s resources to the maximum benefit of Rivers people through massive infrastructural development of the state in the past six years, among others.
Excerpts.
Could you please throw more light on your Ministry’s advocacy campaign, #OurStateOur Responsibility, rolled out last week?
In 2019, this ministry came out with this campaign because we observed that Rivers State was being demarketed and under-reported.
The giant strides of Rivers State Governor, Chief (Barrister) Nyesom Ezenwo Wike was being played down by detractors of the state. And as part of our public enlightenment programme as a Ministry, we decided to change that narrative by embarking on a tour of federal establishments, para-military organisations, faith-based organisations, the media and all the major stakeholder groups, telling them that since you are doing business here without any encumbrance, you are not supposed to join our detractors to demarket us.
We have made them to understand that we have a shared responsibility to protect. Like what anyone can see in the last six years, Governor Nyesom Wike has changed the face of governance in the state. We have seen infrastructural revolution; we have seen proactive political leadership because we have seen the right leadership, the right infrastructure.
Why is your ministry embarking on this advocacy campaign again?
We also found out that all the major stakeholders who bought into this campaign decided to support us. Infact, the support of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria was overwhelming. They printed over 100 stickers for this campaign. So that is where we were until last week when we now rolled out the second phase of this campaign.
Under this, we have to introduce essay competition. After that, we are going to go into singing competition. When we finish that, we are going to go into skits competition. After that, we are going to round off with film competition.
All these competitions are being organised to get citizens participation in this campaign, to feel the pulse of the people. It would also serve for us as feedback on what has happened in the state.
And we believe that by the time we finish this advocacy campaign, all the propaganda and demarketing of the state would be drastically minimised and people will begin to see the good work that His Excellency is doing.
As a ministry, we are very excited to be part of what His Excellency is doing in this state. If you go to road infrastructure, agriculture, sports development, water resources, even the welfare of the less privileged, you will be marvelled. you will be marvelled. For the first time, a rehabilitation centre has been built where vagrants, lunatics, and all those who are on the streets now have a safe place they can call home. You need to visit that place. You will now realise the fact that this is a people-oriented government.
Where is the Rehabilitation Centre located?
It is located at Iriebe. They have hostels for inmates. They also have an ICT centre and a clinic that is one of the best around. So His Excellency is a man of the people because so many governments have come and gone.
Given the multi-faceted nature of the centre, how is it going to be effectively managed?
Of course, the state government could not have built a place like that without proper management on ground. The centre has an effective management. In fact, there is a skills acquisition centre there too. So the manpower to run the rehabilitation centre is fully on ground even before it was commissioned.
What is the age bracket for the essay competition under the second phase of #OurStateOurResponsibility advocacy campaign?
The age bracket is from 16 to 25 years. We want to catch them young. They are the future leaders. They would be the ones to drive the message in the years to come.
How are you constituting the panel of Judges for the competition?
Well, it is a stakeholder thing. All those who have the relevant skills for the prosecution of this programme have been enlisted. They will all participate to give it the professional touch that it deserves.
Critics are saying that all the efforts of your ministry at changing the negative perceptions about the state are mere publicity stunts for the Wike-led administration. How would you react to this?
What is the publicity stunt there? You can see for yourself what the Governor is doing in the state. You will see the massive infrastructural development everywhere.
What about the opposition that has been restless and relentless in its criticism of the government’s developmental efforts?
The opposition needs to be restless. I will bring this to the fore. The same opposition that in 2015 could not pay workers salary for four months and pension arrears for nine months.
The same opposition said they will see where Wike would get money to pay workers’ salaries, not to talk of executing projects. Now how far? They are hiding their faces in shame because Wike remains the Governor to beat in this country. In the next few days from now, we would be going to Abuja to receive the Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year Award 2020. In fact, this is the second time we would be receiving the award from Leadership Newspaper. We have also gotten award from Blueprint, Halmark and The Sun Newspapers. Wike is also the Silverbed Extraordinary Man of the Year 2020. And these endorsements by reputable newspapers are not a mere fluke. They should come here and see for themselves. I have taken journalists round the state. I have also taken members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors round the 23 Local Government Areas and they were impressed by what they saw on ground. And mind you, Wike’s contemporaries are saying that they do not have money to execute projects because of Covid-19. Look around Nigeria. Is there anything happening anywhere in the country in terms of concrete development? Rivers State is the centrepiece of development in the country. It has become the reliable index of development in Nigeria because of one man’s ingenuity.
Here is a man who met an empty treasury upon assumption of office in 2015. He was not even given a handover note in 2015. He started from the scratch. Here is a man with a vision, a man who has the backing of God Almighty, a prudent manager of resources.
In a national economy already worsened by the deleterious impact of Covid-19, what is Wike’s magic wand in succeeding where others fail?
Number one, he has God’s mandate to govern this state. We are all witnesses in 2019 when soldiers were brought into the state for elections. In fact, Rivers State was militarised. It has never happened in any part of the country, up to the point that women had to fight soldiers who were snatching ballot boxes at Ogu/Bolo. Despite all these, Wike still won because he is a man of the people. You see, where the people want a man, you cannot fight the choice of the people and the choice of God. This is because he has divine mandate to govern as a result of his love for the people and the state.
Governor Wike is a second-term governor. And what do you find in the second tenure? Looking at our political history in the past 22 years, second term governors hardly do anything for their people. They only begin to pursue personal agenda. But here is a governor who has restated his commitment to serve Rivers people until handover day. And the evidence is there. Go round the 23 Local Government Areas of the state and see for yourselves the massive development. Not too long ago, a colleague called from Lagos asking if there was a road leading to Opobo. I now invited him, offering to personally take him to Opobo. He was confounded.
When the construction of the Opobo road was going on, I took members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors to the site where the President expressed surprise at the level of piling going on inside the water, saying that it was like someone burying money. You need to go there and see. You need to have a heart to serve your people to embark on projects like that. That is why we are saying that Rivers State is blessed to have somebody like Governor Wike.
Now back to the competition. You are so passionate about it. How is it going to impact positively on the ordinary citizen?
This is all about citizen participation in the governance of the state. It would also help us feel the pulse of the people. And the age bracket for the essay competition is 16 to 25 years, but the theme song and others are open to everybody as long as you have what it takes to participate and we are going to focus on what the state government has achieved. The central message of #OurStateOurResponsibility is right there on our banner.
What is your message to the people of the state on this second phase of #OurStateOurResponsibility?
I would like to call on the people of the state to participate actively in what we are doing. And of course, part of the incentives for the competitions is the presentation of plaques to winners. These plaques are like memorabilia that would stay for years to come and people will say that for a particular time in your life, you participated in a thing like this. So, it is beyond essay competition and all that. And in this era when people who merit recognition are being pushed to the background, this is an opportunity for people to showcase their talents. We want to showcase industry; we want to showcase excellence. So, it is a pot pouri of so many things in one because by the time we finish it successfully, participants would have been showcased to the world. It is also a way of discovering talents. You would be surprised that winners might get bigger opportunities from philanthropists and organizations. Those who would do the theme songs are likely to be recognized to also produce for other people. Those who would do the skits would also be recognised by individuals and organisations. Same applies to those who will do the short film.
I remember when I was a director in this ministry, we organised a film competition that was shot at the National Film Festival of that year. Since then I have been in touch with the person who shot it and he has been producing films for Nollywood and others. It was that competition that exposed him to the world. So it is a talent hunt, something that is big. That is why we are calling on Rivers people to participate actively. In the next one year something big would surely come out of this advocacy campaign.
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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