Deepening Democracy In Rivers

Hitherto, May 29 every year is usually celebrated as Nigeria’s Democracy Day before President Muhammadu Buhari’s dispensation recently changed the date to June 12 for reasons associated to the death of Chief Moshood Abiola, and his fellow compatriots who fought and died for the enthronement of civil rule in the country after prolonged successive military administrations spanning over three decades of post independence Nigeria.
As usual, the Federal Government has already declared today as a public holiday to commemorate the epoch-making event which will usher in another chapter in the nation’s political history as the President and governors are expected to take oath of office and oath of allegiance for another four-year stewardship.
As expected, the President and governors will be inaugurated at the federal and state levels, and thereafter, they will make national and state broadcast to chart a new course of their policy thrust, mission and vision of their tenure in the four years ahead, (2019 to 2023).
President Buhari and Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, though elected on different political platforms, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, however, have one thing in common-both are coasting home for their second term in office.
In essence, the two political gladiators’ policies and programmes will largely be to consolidate on their achievements in their first tenure. History, therefore, beckons on the leaders to stamp their names on gold by leaving their footprints on the sands of time.
In Rivers State, for instance, where Governor Wike oversees, posterity will for sure judge him right as he has strived to put smiles on the faces of Rivers people who gave him their mandate in 2015 and re-affirmed it in 2019, despite daunting opposition and insecurity challenges.
Like Ceasar’s wife, Wike lived above board, surpassing his predecessors’ achievements since the inception of Rivers State on May 27, 1967, when the then Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) decreed the existence of 19 states, including Rivers, following agitations by minorities over marginalisation in the Nigerian project.
So, as The Tide congratulates Governor Wike on this auspicious occasion, we strongly believe that it will be another platform and opportunity to prove his critics wrong that the success and achievements during his first tenure were not a fluke or accidental but a deliberate and conscious master plan encapsulated in his NEW Rivers philosophy.
Beyond all odds, the governor is expected to consolidate on his legacies in the past four years and bring to the front burner some of the sectors that were either not touched or partially addressed due to obvious constraints.
Happily enough, Wike has proclaimed in several fora that his priority in the years ahead will majorly focus on agriculture, security, education, employment generation, among other infrastructural initiatives that will take Rivers State to the next level.
While we acknowledge his giant strides in massive road development in the three senatorial zones of the state, particularly in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor, Andoni/Opobo Unity Road, Sakpenwa-Bori Road, Omoku-Egbema dualisation project, Elelenwo-Akpajo Road, among others, we implore the governor to strive to open up the rural areas through internal and access roads to ensure smooth human and agricultural products transit from rural dwellers to urban centres.
It is, indeed, on record that the governor built new specialist hospitals in each of the three senatorial zones which are on the verge of completion, renovated several general hospitals, constructed Mother and Child specialist hospital, among other health facilities, to boost healthcare delivery in the state. In the education sector, a new polytechnic, the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, the Rivers State University (RSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt also received substantial budgetary allocations and grants which resulted to full accreditation of courses in these tertiary institutions.
Perhaps, it is against these lofty and visionary developmental achievements that the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo nicknamed the Governor “Mr Project” in affirmation of Wike’s unprecedented successes recorded in his first term in office.
Wike’s inauguration today therefore provides another ample opportunity for stock-taking and retrospection in his quest to foster a new Rivers State predicated on unity, peace, order and cohesion. Gladly, he has extended the olive branch to the opposition to join the state government in ushering in a new state of our collective dream and aspirations as enunciated by the founding fathers.
As our democratic experience comes alive again today, we put our political leaders on the crucible of history and posterity and to earnestly invite all stakeholders to the Rivers project to put behind them their political and individual interest aside by taking a mental stroll through our tortuous history in the hands of major ethnic blocs. Our leaders should and must therefore complement Wike’s efforts, as, according to our sages, it takes two hands to clap”.
Rivers interest must be paramount always. There cannot be a better state for the present and future generations than our own dear Rivers State.
At the risk of sounding immodest, we implore all to sheathe their swords, come together and make the state a better place for all. Governments come and go, Rivers State remains our God-given endowment.
Rivers people, irrespective of their political affiliation and differences must resist the temptation of playing to the gallery in Abuja in order to massage the ego of their political mentors and associates. The process of re-uniting our people must start now. There can be no better time.