…Calls for his Removal a Sign of Detractors Desperation
Following the ongoing #EndHungerandBadGovernance protest in Nigeria which started on August 1, the home of Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of FCT was targeted by hoodlums acting the script of their political masterminds under the guise of protest to raze down the edifice in similar fashion as being recorded in Northern Nigeria.
However, the presence of the security services did much to avert the planned carnage aimed at shaming the FCT Minister while scoring cheap political points.
For the avoidance of doubt, Wike is neither the incumbent governor of Rivers State nor a sitting member of the national assembly as he served his two terms of 4 years each successfully without any group or groups calling for his head and became the first Rivers governor to hand over to a successor seamlessly. It is not rocket science that such was his fate but the evidence abound.
Wike’s emergence as FCT Minister in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led APC government where he is making mark in governance and leadership today is nothing short of reward for good public service delivery courtesy of the numerous projects he started and completed during his time as governor which gave him the title Mr. Project .
It is quite ridiculously appalling , that rather than gather as protesters to ask your elected representatives in government what they are doing with the people’s commonwealth especially at a time when allocations accruing to States from the Federal Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) has seen increase in threefold, calculated attempt is made to disparage the efforts and services of a man who has paid his dues and is off on national assignment. This leaves us with the question- who is the face behind the protest in Rivers State? Your guess is as good as mine.
You will recall that under the watch of E. N Wike every local government experienced infrastructural development even though his blueprint was to restore the glory of Port Harcourt as the Garden City, an agenda to vanquished hunger as youths were engaged on the project. The peace recorded during his time in the exalted office wooed foreign investors to the State and that increased the IGR of the State which stabilized the activities of government without going cap in hand to beg the federal government for support of any kind being an opposition state .
Since the protest as claimed by the protesters is about bad governance, shouldn’t they focus their energies on questioning the management of public funds by incumbent governors if the people are experiencing bad governance today or are they not aware that these governors since the removal of fuel subsidy are now receiving more than 59% increase in allocations to their various States which is meant to cushion the effects of the economic policies of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government?
In the FCT where Wike is the Minister, he has rolled back insecurity which was previously rampaging the Capital City before his emergence. Youths in the FCT today are enjoying different kinds of empowerment programs which is still running. He has completed abandoned projects, started new ones, and is taking projects beyond the Abuja metropolis into the Area Councils thereby enforcing and enhancing pro-people developments.
Today, people can see very vividly and testify to the value Wike has brought to the FCT. In fact, existing records shows that Wike has already accomplished and achieved in 1 year what no previous FCT Minister did in their entire period in office.
These achievements by Wike has already decimated the ploy of his detractors and reduced their abrasive steps towards replacing him as the FCT Minister to a mere wishful thinking that is dead on arrival .
In Rivers State he was MR Project, in the FCT today he is called “the StayBoy”. Wike has greatly impacted the FCT through various projects as he continues to uphold the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, thus daily renewing the hopes of the people. Wike will remain FCT Minister and Nigeria will be great again.
Let’s hold our State governors and other elected representatives accountable for our woes. They are all jointly responsible for the failure leading to the hardship we all experience as Nigerians in Nigeria today. Only when we demand accountability from the right persons shall we get it right.
Written By Hon. Sam Atasia Oburu
National Chairman Renewed Hope Agenda ; The Way Forward RHATWF