Rivers State Governor,\u00a0 Nyesom Wike, has again been charged to buckle
\nhis belt and fight insecurity in the state against rising killings and
\nrelocation of businesses, or, decline taking another Oath of Office on
\nMay 29, 2019.<\/p>\n
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
\nAgency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, who handed down the challenge
\non Monday, in reaction to the deteriorating security the situation in
\nthe state argued that as a state governor, Wike’s primary duty is to
\nsecure the lives and property of the people, without which citing of
\ninfrastructure and any other corollary of development would amount to
\nzero.<\/p>\n
Peterside lamented that gradually, Rivers State was becoming a ghost
\nstate and a cemetery where terror runs riot round the clock and people
\nlive and move in daily fear of either kidnapper, dare-devil armed
\nrobbers, or marauding cultists who kill and beheaded at will.<\/p>\n
“Life, in Rivers State, has become a sort of jackpot as residents who
\nwake up in the morning are not sure of living to see another night, just
\nas those who eventually make it to the night are uncertain they would
\nsee the next morning. When such residents manage to snatch a morsel of
\nsleep, they wake up amid the horrors of severed heads, decapitated
\nbodies, and trails of blood. To Rivers residents, day and night have
\nboth become emblems of terror. In Wike’s Rivers State, people are killed
\nwhile waiting for or driving in traffic, on the streets, while watching
\na game of soccer and at homes. Both the poor and wealthy live in fear of
\neach other.<\/p>\n
The NIMASA Director General said that latest figures emerging from the
\nstate are both frightening and capable of permanently shutting out
\nRivers State from the list of potential business destinations for
\ninvestors. He countered Gov. Wike over his recent claims that
\nInternational Oil Companies, OICs, operating in the state were
\nresponsible for the killings and kidnappings in the state, saying that
\nthe governor was only trying to play smart like the proverbial ostrich.<\/p>\n
He insisted that insecurity had prospered in the state to the extent
\nGov. Wike had patronised it and its direct perpetrators.<\/p>\n
“Insecurity has been this lucrative for the direct actors because Mr.
\nGovernor has patronised and pampered its primary and passive
\nperpetrators. Wike knew that though keeping those violent structures
\nfrom 2015, when he first contested for the governorship, to 2019, when
\nhe sought re-election, would build for him a charred and bloody
\nboulevard to return to the Office of Governor of Rivers State, yet he
\ncared less to the cost it would impose on the people. Rather than
\nprotect Rivers State, as he swore to do on 29th May 2015, Wike chose to
\nprotect his gluttonous quest for public office. Like his mentor, Emperor
\nNero, Wike partied and gulped drums of champagne while Rivers burnt.<\/p>\n
Peterside questioned whether the Rivers State Governor still had a
\nconscience and wondered how he slept night after night as reports of
\nfresh killings, hordes of kidnapping emerged on a daily basis.\u00a0 “Just
\nlike every sane citizen of Rivers State would ponder, I’m at a loss how
\nMr. Wike slept night after night when he received reports of daily
\nkillings and hordes of kidnappings that occurred in the state.<\/p>\n
Only on Sunday, reports emerged of mass murder of innocent natives of
\nKono-Bo-ue, a community in Khana local government, and by Monday
\nmorning, a community leader said it had risen to twenty. On Monday
\nmorning, also, reports come that on Sunday night, about 2 persons were
\nkilled in Isiodu, Emohua local government, which were exclusive of the
\nhorror that the short Ndele-Ahoada stretch of the East-West road has
\nbecome to locals and general road users. A few weeks ago, a bus-load of
\ncommuters heading to Abua, in Abua-Odual local government area, had the
\npassengers kidnapped even the bus driver was killed in cold blood. About
\ntwo days later, a bus conveying early bird travelers to Warri, Delta
\nState, suffered a similar fate in the hands of armed kidnappers. The
\ndriver was also murdered in the presence of the passages. Those are
\nfewer instances of reported cases as there were possibly many, many
\nunreported such incidents.<\/p>\n
While condoning with affected families,\u00a0 Peterside was of the opinion
\nthat it does not require rocket science to rail-in the patrons, actors,
\nand beneficiaries of the crime industry in Rivers State.\u00a0 “All that is
\nneeded is the political will on the part of\u00a0 Mr. Wike, to repent and
\nturn the heat on the crime chefs and their dining tables. No doubt, the
\ngreater population of Rivers natives and residents, actually fed-up with
\nthe situation, are ready to lend support to terminate this sinister
\nbusiness. There is no doubt that national security agencies are also
\nready to provide the necessary support to the state government but are
\nonly waiting on Wike to take the lead”, Peterside added.<\/p>\n
He warned that unless urgent actions were taken by Gov. Wike, more
\nbusinesses would wound up to seek a secure environment. According to the
\nNIMASA Chief, Rivers State has maintained a ridiculous pole position on
\nthe national scale of poverty rating and misery index amidst huge inflow
\nof national and local revenue under Wike. He regretted that the case of
\nthe state has become like that of the “Ancient Mariner” who lamented
\n“Water, water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink”, making it a
\nby-word in the comity of modern states.<\/p>\n
He advised Wike to learn to separate politics from governance which he
\nadded, is what Rivers State needs right now. “Wike had shown that the
\ngovernorship office was bigger than his capacity. His first four years
\nas governor are just enough for the trial-and-error jamboree he
\nsubjected the state to. I doubt that Rivers people will have the
\npatience for another four years of circuit dance in the hands of Wike.
\nSince the office is bigger than his capacity, Wike should call for help,
\nand there are Rivers sons and daughters, eager to lend a hand for the
\ngrowth of the state. Otherwise, Wike should reject taking another Oath
\nof Office on May 29, 2019, which will be an honourable way to save his
\nchequered legacy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rivers State Governor,\u00a0 Nyesom Wike, has again been charged to buckle his belt and fight insecurity in the state against rising killings and relocation of businesses, or, decline taking another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n