The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, has described the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a man whose vision is to place Nigeria on the path of true federalism.
Nsirim, who said this when he appeared as guest on a live radio programme in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday, as part of the ministry’s second phase advocacy campaign programme, #OurStateOurResponsibility, emphasised that Wike has remained the face of democracy in Nigeria today.
“The point I would want every Rivers person to understand first is, today we have a Governor Wike, a visionary leader beyond Rivers State and beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“What you have seen with the VAT issue just clearly shows that we have a man at this time in history who has taken it upon himself to right the wrongs and place Nigeria on the path of true federalism,” he said.
He said the second phase of the campaign would encompass issues evolving around the developmental strides of Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration in the areas of infrastructure, healthcare delivery, education, agriculture, rehabilitation of the less privileged, security architecture and sports.
“Remember, and I like making this point because people need to know where we are coming from. In 2015, this man was told they would see where he would see money to pay salaries and do projects.
“He inherited four months’ unpaid salaries. He inherited five months’ pension arrears. This was the only administration in Nigeria that did not get a handover note from the previous administration, but look at where we are. We are in a place of glory.
“Development here has entered a golden era. I also make the point that because Governor Wike is a people-oriented governor, even the less privileged feels the impact of his administration. The Rehabilitation Centre we have at Iriebe today is the best in the country”, Nsirim said.
The commissioner said that the governor would always welcome constructive criticism from the public, and would treat them legitimately but regretted that some of the criticisms, which he said, emanate from the vocal minority, were armchair criticisms.
He emphasised that the ultimate desire of the governor was to make Rivers State the destination of choice.
He said the second phase of the #OurStateOurResponsibility campaign would, therefore, focus on enlisting citizens’ participation in the policies and programmes of government.
“The second phase is now citizens’ participation. We have done advocacy, let us feel the pulse of the people. How much have they internalised the message. So, we are starting first with essay competition and the target group is between 16 and 25 years.
“We really want to feel the pulse of the younger people because those are the leaders of tomorrow. Then we have a team song competition.
“We want to develop a team song for the campaign and the skit competition. That too we want to use to get everybody involved. The grand finale will be the film competition,” he said.
He said winners of the competitions would have prizes, consolation prizes and would be celebrated as the face of the ministry’s #OurStateOurResponsibility campaign.
He said the competition would also be used to set the right values in place for people to begin to showcase merit, hardwork and integrity in society.