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| Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike |
The Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF) has described the recent claims by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that some persons were planning to impose an emergence rule in the state as diversionary.
Wike insisted that some Abuja-based politicians were behind the alleged plot and would do anything to achieve their aim.
But RIVLEAF in a statement signed by its Director, Communications, Onyeche Peters, described the claims of the governor as funny and disturbing “especially as the same governor severally boasted that he was beyond the reproach of the Federal Government and, could do and undo as he so wished”.
He said at every little opportunity, Wike threatened the Federal Government with all manner of underhand tactics and innuendoes, pontificating like a man that killed a game and conquered all.
“It is, therefore, shocking that the same governor is now suddenly afraid of the monster he has been nurturing and feeding with lies, propaganda and blackmail. He is now like a man, who kills with the sword but shivers at the sight of another person carrying sword.
“We urge Governor Wike to abandon this diversionary tactics that lead to nowhere and focus on policies and activities that will ensure a well-coordinated approach to tackling the rampaging coronavirus, which his administration has sadly mismanaged.
“Since the first reported case of coronavirus in the state, he has struggled to have a decent campaign, with so many confusing signals, actions, statements and policies all coming from the governor himself,” he said.
Peters claimed that Wike became laughing stock across the world following the demolition of two hotels in Eleme, arrest of oil workers, careless handling of violations and unnecessary statements coming from him and his commissioner for information.
He said: “Since the governor announced lockdown in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government areas, there have been no concrete and coherent plans from Governor Wike going forward; nothing come out as we say in local parlance.
“He is quick to accuse others of playing politics with the Covid-19 situation but he is the greatest culprit of politicizing everything, hence so little has been achieved in terms of mass mobilization of the people and support from all relevant quarters.
“Governor Wike should forget imaginary Abuja-based politicians and self-induced fear of state of emergency but should rather roll up his sleeves and constitute a think-thank that can give him solid admonitions on better methods going forward.
“If the governor lacks the guile, finesse and temperament required to handle critical situations like this, he can as well allow his Deputy, Dr. Ipalibo Banigo, a well-qualified medical doctor by every measurement to lead the team and brief him regularly. This is the only discerning thing to do and not looking for ways of diverting attention from his ineptitude and lack of direction that belie the office he occupies”.
But the Special Adviser to the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Soibi Max-Alalibo, said RIVLEAF outburst was part of the grand plan to frustrate the efforts being made by the state government to check the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “Although it is not a surprise that RIVLEAF, supposedly a pressure group has always announced itself as a purveyor of ill-contrived negative information, its latest attempt to dismiss a genuine alarm raised by the Rivers State Government regarding a foreseen buildup to a declaration of state of emergency in the state, has further exposed the membership of the organisation as persons with cowardly and sychophantic intentions.
“At a time like this, when the whole world is still baffled over the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only exposed even the hitherto world super powers in all spheres of their existence, but has so made it clear that everyone must be involved in order to check the pandemic, all RIVLEAF has to offer is an attempt to discredit the world acclaimed efforts of the Rivers State Government under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Wike to ensure that the coronavirus does not get to the stage of Community transmission in the State.
“It is indeed an irony of faith, that people who say they’re a pressure group do not actually know what it means to be a pressure group. They do not know, for instance, that one key role of a pressure group in the development of a society is to provide specialised and expert information to the government and explain government policies to the understanding and benefit of the general public. Thus they are an important link between the government and the people”.
Alalibo said instead of the group to address in cogent terms the issue at stake, all it did was to raise irrelevant issues to cause rift between the governor and the President.
He said: “This statement in itself is a confirmation of the Governor’s proclamation of a plot to declare a state of emergency in the state, for reasons that have to do with Wike being seen as somebody who must be dealt with. The question is, for what reason?
“The most clear answer to this question is that from the point he started preparing to be the Governor of Rivers State, through his first tenure, and about a year into his second tenure, Governor Nyesom Wike accepted the peculiarities of Rivers State in the present State of affairs in the country, and had adjusted to the point of being able to provide good governance to Rivers people as minimally as possible in the face of unrelenting and determined efforts to frustrate him.
To say the least, Governor Wike has been setting the pace in steps taken to contain the coronavirus across Nigeria: amongst others, he was the first to set up an Inter Ministerial COVID-19 Committee, the first to set up a palliatives committee, first to declare border lockdown among others.
“If the membership of RIVLEAF are truly of Rivers origin, and have the State at heart, they should be in a better position to appreciate the kind of development the state has recorded in the last five years.
“Therefore, seeking to foment trouble where there’s none, such as between the Governor and his Deputy, Dr Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, is a wasteful venture. This is because Rivers people have come to know what the interest of RIVLEAF is, and it has nothing to do with the overall interest of Rivers people.”
