Good Governance Tour’ll Promote Healthy Rivalry …Rivers Set For Stakeholders Forum’Morrow – Amaechi

Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, has dismissed speculations that the on-going good governance tour by the Federal Ministry of Information and some Non-Governmental Organisations will strain relationships among governors.

Rather than causing division, he held that it would promote healthy rivalry among state governors, while cautioning on the need to base assessments on available resources to the various states.

Rt Hon Amaechi made the observation while receiving the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr Labaran Maku in Government House yesterday in Port Harcourt.

Governor Amaechi remarked that, “your visit will benefit Rivers people and Nigerians. What you have achieved with this visit is that people are now beginning to do something for people to see.”

He believed that the tour will showcase development in all the states, while thanking President Jonathan for commencing work on the East-West Road.

Amaechi who used the visit to dispel having any query with the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godsday Orubebe, remarked that with the commencement of work on the federal road, the region will be transformed.

Intimating the Minister of the numerous projects embarked upon by his administration, Governor Amaechi said the state  was gradually expanding into agriculture sector, as a way of decentralizing the revenue base.

Amaechi asserted that virtually all sectors had been touched by his administration with emphasis to raise power to 715 megawatts in the next two years, “we are the only state with transmission line of about 80 per cent”.

On health, the governor stated that about 120 health centres had been built and manned with medical doctors. He noted that the state was also building a large fish farm in Buguma capable of producing 900 tonnes of fish yearly.

The fish farms he disclosed would be sited in four locations at Opobo, Ubima and Andoni.

Currently, he noted that the Songhai farm is the largest in the world with about 600 hectares of farm land, while drawing attention of the minister to the  Monorail project, which he assured would commence operations in September.

Speaking earlier, Mr Labran Maku infomed the governor that the tour is not partisan and political, but geared towards bringing to light developments in various states.

So far, he opined that the programme had attracted positive reactions from the citizens, adding that the citizens now speak to their leaders directly and get answer.

Apart from touring states projects, he said, the group would also beam light on local governments, including those done by the private sector, because government has created the environment in the process of development.

In Rivers State, he stated that the Federal Government had commenced expansion of the airport, building Onne Port 4 with the construction of two independent power projects.

Meanwhile, as the Good Governance Tour Team berths in Rivers State, stakeholders and citizens in the state are ready for the high point of the programme slated for Saturday.

The team led by the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr Labaran Maku, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs), including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), is on a three-day visit to assess and tour projects embarked upon by the government.

But Mr Maku who paid a courtesy visit to Governor Amaechi, yesterday said the team would also inspect projects done by local councils since all tiers of government work together.

Shortly after the courtesy visit yesterday, Mr Maku and his team made up of about 100 journalists both local and national, commenced a tour of projects which include the  Prof Kelsey Harrison Hospital, the Cancer Centre at University of Port Harcourt, Dental & Maxillo Facial Hospital.

The team will continue its tour of projects today with a visit to Songhai farm at Tai, the Gas Power Turbine at Afam, New Model Secondary Schools Eleme and Banana farm at Ogoni.

On Saturday, an open forum is billed to hold at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre and the citizenry are expect to engage the team on the various programme and projects of government and how to improve governance

Minister of Information and Communications, Mr Labaran Maku(right), with Governor Chibuike Amaechi (middle) and Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Emmanuel Chinda left), at the fish farm in Buguma, during the Good Governance Team’s tour of projects in Rivers State, yesterday. Photo; Chris Monayanga