From Blessing Ibunge, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Barr Nyesom Wike has declared that his greatest achievement since he took over office in 2015, is the elimination of the upland/riverine dichotomy which plagued the state in the past.
The Governor who stated this during an interview with the organisers of Zik Leadership Prize Award, said that his administration has been able to promote unity for the overall development of the state.
He said: ‘First of all, you remember that the founding fathers of this state maintained that Rivers state should be seen as a place or land of opportunity where people will have to achieve their potentials in life. In this state before, all you see, all you hear is tribalism; that you are from the upland, you are from the riverine and so people were not doing things as if we are one Rivers.
“So, we believe that, one way we must achieve, if we see ourselves as one and once that is done, then we have moved to the next step. So today, our concern is that issue of upland/riverine is no longer necessary. We see ourselves as one Rivers state and it is necessary because of the projects and programmes we are carrying out in all the local government areas in the state. So the issue of upland/riverine differences is relegated to the background.
“There are projects going on every where in the state and if you don’t do that people will begin to say of favouritism against each other that we are this, we are that, and vice versa. Therefore, the issue is to bring everybody together.”
Governor Wike noted that Rivers State has made tremendous progress in the last three years because project execution has been prioritised.
“We have to move and that is why today, most people are beginning to have hope and they are happy also that Rivers state is moving, it is no longer stagnated as it used to be. We have moved from point A to point B.
“Our concern is to make sure that we use the economic potentials of the state for the greater interest of our people by turning around what we have from what we use to have.”, he said.
The governor said that his administration is committed to making sure that Rivers state takes her rightful position in the comity of states in the country.
He said a trip round the states of Nigeria under the present dispensation reveals that Rivers State under his watch is one of the leading centres of rapid growth.
Governor Wike said that he inherited a collapsed infrastructure and damaged governance structure, hence the decision to prioritise projects execution for optimum output.
He stated that achievements in governance can only be made possible by commitment and passion, and not just the experience of the office holder.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike is among nine prominent Nigerians who have won the 2017 Zik Prize Award. Governor Wike emerged the winner of the Zik Prize in Good Governance.
We've eliminated Upland/Riverine dichotomy – Wike
