HIS EXCELLENCY NYESOM EZENWO WIKE’S ADDRESS AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE SIX YEARS PROGRESS REPORT TO MARK THE 2ND YEAR OF THE GOVERNOR’S SECOND TENURE ON MONDAY, JULY 12, 2021

Protocol

As you know, our government was first inaugurated on the 29th of May 2015 with a four years’ mandate. When it ended, we sought for and got a renewal in 2019 to continue in office for a second and final term.

2. The 29th of May 2021 therefore marked two historic milestones in our government. First, it marked the 2nd anniversary of our second term in office and second, it also meant that we have been in office for six consecutive years.

3. First of all, I wish to thank God Almighty for the grace to lead our State for the last six years and the strength, wisdom and enablement to deliver our vision of progress and transformation to the good people of Rivers State in the midst of very daunting challenges.

4. For us, our duty is to govern, and govern well. But it is for the people to judge whether we have done well or not taking all the circumstances into consideration.

5. That is why we have gathered our people to, yet again,present to you our account of stewardship for the last six years.

6. Let me therefore welcome and thank you all for honouring our invitation to this important accountability event as I proceed with my presentation.

7. Precisely six weeks ago, we kick-started the celebration of the second anniversary of our second term in office with the flagging-off and commissioning of new and completed projects.

8. For 40 days, we traversed the length and breadth of the State to either commission or flag-off various development projects cutting across different socio-economic sectors, including roads, bridges, education, healthcare, housing, social welfare, sports and rural development.

9. The entire nation was witness to this phenomenal harvest of projects in Rivers State as the sounds and sights of the happy and grateful beneficiary institutions, communities and people were beamed on live telecasts.

10. You may wish to recall that this is rather the third phase of the series of project commissioning events that our government has carried out since late December 2020.

11. Before you, or shortly to be distribute to you, is a compendium of 536 pages, which captures the fundamental achievements of our administration in the last six years in road infrastructure, rural development, economic progress, education, healthcare, housing, administration of justice, security, agriculture, social welfare, sports, as well as culture and tourism.

12. Going through this compendium you will see, with facts and evidence, the claims and assertions on what we have delivered in practical terms to advance the progress of our State and wellbeing of our people in the last six years.

13. From the very beginning we stated that the mission of our administration was to mobilize and deploy all available resources to build a State that works for everyone; a State that every Rivers person and residents can all be proud of and be happy to live and raise their children.

14. We reaffirmed this commitment during our second inauguration and further pledged to continue to build on the foundations already laid to make our State a land of peace, justice and development.

15. We promised to continue to grow our economy, expand our revenue base and create viable economic opportunities for everyone to explore for the benefit of everyone and to the exclusion of no one.

16. We promised to continue to deliver on our equitable development agenda that guarantees the spread of public goods and services, including quality socio-economic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, health and education facilities to all parts of the State.

17. We also promised to continue to advance theprogress of our rural communities with modern internal roads and other social amenities to spur their economic viability and stem the rural-urban drift.

18. We also promised to deliver some specific important roads and projects, including the long awaited trans-Kalabari road and the Ogoni – Andoni – Opobo unity road.

19. We further promised to continue to transform and elevate the infrastructural status of our capital city, Port Harcourt and the adjourning territories with our urban renewal programme and make Rivers State one of the preferred business and leisure destinations in Africa.

20. We also promised to continue with our responsibility to build a virile judicial system,support the security agencies to protect lives and property and make Rivers State more safe, convenient and welcoming for residents, investors and tourists.

21. It is six years into our journey of renewal, transformation and consolidation; a journey to build a new Rivers State with a better life and future for the present and generations unborn, and we are very proud with what we have so far accomplished.

22. Recall that we came into office at a time the national economy was and is still in turmoil with much reduced revenues accruing to the State governments.

23. You also know that we inherited a State with visibly decrepit infrastructure, litany of abandoned projects coupled with a hopeless economic and security situation as businesses were closing shops in their numbers.

24. Everyone knew that Rivers State, prior to our administration in 2015,was asphyxiated and in urgent need for the restorative oxygen of rehabilitation, reconstruction and renewal.

25. But with determination, commitment to purpose and prudent management of available resources, we have drastically changed the development trajectory of the State for the better with many more progress to be delivered before we exit the stage for the next government.

26. Most of you, if not all, will agree with us that fulfilling promises and delivering quality projects is the mind, body and soul of our administration.

27. From the economy to the provision of roads, security, and administration of justice to the provision of education, healthcare, housing, rural development, and in the advancement of sports, social welfare, culture, recreation and tourism, the constant, consistent and recurrent narratives of the last six years under our watch have been unprecedented delivery of projects, transformation and progress.

28. Our economy has not just recovered from regression; it has grown and far more robust, stronger and generating greater revenues for government now than when we came in six years ago.

29. Although the long failing national economy continues to be drag on our own growth prospects and projections, the fiscal policies and measures we have put in place have and will continue to sustain and increase our economy to create more opportunities for business, jobs and empowerment.

30. The Rivers Cassava Processing Company alone is a game changer in the long-subdued potential of making Rivers State the foremost hub in cassava production in Nigeria. We will leverage on this facility as well as the cassava value chain to create wealth, income and jobs for our teaming youths who are willing to take to the business of agriculture.

31. Our performance in the provision of quality infrastructure, especially roads, has generally been described as phenomenal with the echoes being felt, heard and commended everywhere across the nation.

32. With over a thousand kilometres of Trunk-A roads already delivered, no government has increased and improved the State’s road networks and connected as many communities to the State capital and other parts of the State with good quality roads as we have done in the last six years.

33. We will be happy to be contradicted, if any, but it is rather humbling to say that, not even the Federal Government, has embarked on the simultaneous construction of ten arterial flyovers, with three already commissioned, and the others at various stages of completion, to improve connectivity and traffic flow within a record period of two years as our administration has done.

34. Today, we have efficiently reconstructed and regenerated the entire road networks at the Old Government Reservation Area, Amadi Flats and substantial parts of new Government Reservation Area in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas to further improve connectivity, restore environmental sanity and enhance the socio-economic conditions of the population that live and do business in these areas.

35. It is historic that the ancient coastal community of Opobo has been connected to the rest of the State and the country by a tarred road and we are as excited as the good people of Opobo for being the government that ensured this glorious reality in the infrastructure and socio-economic lives of this important and famous community after one and half century of existence, 61 years after Nigeria’s independence and 54 years after the creation of Rivers State.

36. Again, with us, the construction of phase one of the trans-Kalabari road is underway while the remaining portions of the Ogoni-Andoni would soon be completed to connect the coastal communities of Ngo, Ikuru and other towns along that way after decades of impossibility by the previous governments.

37. As at the last count, we have turned and transformed not less than 18 major single lane roads, including Igwuruta – Chokocho road, Saapkenwa – Bori road, Tam David West Boulevard, Rumuokwurishi – Eneka – Igwuruta road, Reumepirikom – Rumuolumeni road, Rebisi – Trans-Amadi – Oginigba road, Justice Iche Nduroad, Eagle Island – Illoabuchi road, Elelenwo – Akpajo road, Birabi road, Emeyal road, Tombia road, Forces Avenue, Olumeni road, Abacha road, and Harley street to dual carriage ways with street lights, pedestrian walkways and covered drains, while the dualization of, Ahoada – Omoku, and Egbema Omoku roads is also underway.

38. Even now, a lot of roads connecting and interconnecting several more communities across the State, including Phase one of the Ahoada – Omoku dual carriage way, the Bori – Kono dual carriage way, the Eastern bypass – Ogbum-nu-Abali dual carriage way, the Ezimgbu dual carriage way, the Tombia Extention dualization, the Woji – Aleto – Alesa road and the Wakama – Ogu – Bolo road, are underway. These roads and many more would be delivered to further expand the State’s existing road networks in the next one year.

39. Similarly, we have continued to step-up investments in the provision of internal roads, jetties, land reclamation, water and shore protection as part of our new development deal for the rural areas across Rivers State.

40. Elele-Alimini, Isiokpo, Rumuche, Okochiri, Amadi-Ama, Omoku, Odiokwu Bolo and some others now have a new lease of social and economic life with the internal roads we have provided, while those for Ogbakiri, Omerelu, Okochiri phase 2, Omagwa and Igwuruta are also already underway.

41. The reconstructed Bonny/Bille Waterside and the Okrika, Isaka and Witt and Bush Jetties are some of our interventions in the transport sector serving the social, economic and commuting interests of our people in the riverine communities.

42. Furthermore, we have reclaimed vast swathes of sand-filled land for some of the coastal communities, including Abalama, Bakana, and Kulato advance their development, just as, we have also started the sand filling of 55 and 42 hectares of reclaimed land for Abonnema/Obonnoma and Okrika communities respectively to drive the growth and expansion of these ancient and major communities. Last week Saturday, we further committed the government to sand-fill 25 hectares of land for Ogu community.

43. Also, construction has resumed on the shore protection works at Aze-Azaga, Isukwa, Owikwu, Obiofu and Utu communities in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area to prevent the continuous erosion of their shorelines.

44. The justice sector is another important area that has received special and consistent attention from our government. In the last six years, we have built, furnished and equipped both State and Federal Courts, provided life-long accommodation for all State Judges and enhanced their movements and comfort with new official vehicles as well as built official residences for judges of all Federal Courts in the State.

45. The new Rivers State High Court complex, the new Federal High Court, the New National Industrial Court, the new Court of Appeal complex, and the new judges’ quarters for the State and Federal Courts all testify to what we have structurally achieved for both the State and Federal Judiciaries in Rivers State.

46. We have also automated the case management system, ensured the employment of more Judges and Magistrates and sustained the administrative and financial autonomy of the State’s judiciary.

47. Contrary to the chaos we inherited, there is no doubt that the justice system in Rivers State has been restored and what we have now is a system that meets international standards; a judiciary that is working well in advancing the administration of justice and contributing to the socio-economic progress of our State.

48. Our development agenda also prioritizes the provision and access to quality education and healthcare. This is why funding for education and healthcare delivery have always been next in quantum only to road infrastructure in our annual capital budgets, since 2015.

49. With the increased funding we have provided over 1200 classrooms and nearly 14,000 desks to over 200 primary and junior secondary schools. We have also reconstructed, furnished and equipped several secondary schools with modern classrooms, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities, staff quarters and paved interconnecting road networks.

50. We have continued to implement our free primary and secondary education policy with the payment of WASCE, NECO and JAMB examination fees in public secondary schools as well as stopped the collection of illegal levies by school administrators.

51. As a result of the concrete and targeted interventions, the education system is becoming more and more effective and qualitative in the State with enrollment and transition rates of over 98 per cent, while over 80 per cent have consistently recorded 5 credits and above pass rates, including Mathematics and English in WASCE since 2015.

52. At the tertiary level, we have elevated the structural quality of our tertiary institutions with new faculty, administrative and other buildings, strengthened the governance systems and enhanced staff welfare with the new salary structure.

53. Apart from the College of Medical Sciences, we have also implemented a multi-campus structure for the Rivers State University with the establishment of new campuses at Emohua, Ahoada and Etche Local Government Areas, thereby increasing the carrying capacity of the University and providing more access to quality tertiary education for our children.

54. Equally worthy of note is the approval we have received and our commitment to deliver the Port Harcourt Campus of the Nigerian Law School in the next six months to advance legal education in the State. I wish to reassure you that the Port Harcourt Campus will be the best Law School campus in Nigeria.

55. In the health sector, we are also very pleased with the progress we have made so far. In the last six years, we have built some new primary healthcare centres for under-served communities, renovated some existing primary health centres and general hospitals, commissioned the 132-bed Mother and Child specialist hospital, established the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, built the senior doctors quarters and rebuilt and upgraded the Government House Specialist Clinic, while a junior doctors quarters is also under construction.

56. The five zonal referral hospitals at Degema, Bori, Okehi, Ahoada and Omoku will soon be completed and commissioned for use, while work has started on the total renovation of the Professor Kelson Harrison Specialist Hospital as well as the Dental Maxilo facia Center in Port Harcourt.

57. The Rivers State University College of Medical Sciences, the Rivers State Teaching Hospital and the scholarship schemes at the Pamo University for Medical Sciences are veritable vehicles for accelerating the training and production of medical doctors and other health professionals for Rivers State and the country and we are happy with the progress already achieved by these institutions in fulfilling this mission.

58. Julius Berger Nigeria Limited is working assiduously on the five-star Dr. Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, which we have initiated.

59. When completed next year, this highly specialized hospital will attract medical tourists into Rivers State from within and outside the country for the specialized diagnostic, treatment and therapeutic services it would provide.

60. We have also signed the Contributory Health Insurance Law to provide universal health coverage and make healthcare services accessible and affordable in the State for resident that subscribes to the scheme.

61. Sports development continues to be an important factor in our agenda for the empowerment and progress of our youths. In the last six years, we have invested substantial funds to improve the existing sports infrastructure, sustained our professional clubs in the national leagues, ensured that our athletes remain highly competitive in national sports meets, and enabled our youths to develop their sporting talents with various competitions.

62. In addition, the Real Madrid Football Academy, which is the first of its kind in Africa, built to the highest standards of quality and infrastructure, is targeted at advancing the academic and footballing careers and talents of the youths of Rivers State in particular, and Nigeria, in general.

63. We are happy to state that the first set of over 100 students have been admitted through a rigorous competitive process and both academic studies and active football training will soon commence to fulfil the glorious purpose for which it has been set up.

64. In culture and tourism development, we built the Rex Jim Lawson Cultural Centre, the Port Harcourt Pleasure Park, beautified a number of places, including the old Government House buildings and landscapes, as well as hosted a number of major cultural events, including the 20th national cultural festival in Port Harcourt where Rivers State took the first position.

65. These and other measures, including the new road networks and flyovers, security and the congenial business environment are spurring the State’s tourism and recreational sub-sector with the increasing development of new hotels and guest houses, restaurants and fun spots, which are in turn creating associated jobs and business opportunities as well as impacting positively on our internally generated revenues.

66. Lately, we have also focused our attention on the plights of vulnerable people, including children and the mentally challenged whose rights to decent conditions of living have been abused and neglected for so long.

67. Today, we are happy that we have changed that ugly narrative and restored their dignity with the comfortable safe home and rehabilitation facility that we have provided to cater to the health, social and economic wellbeing of all categories of inmates, including victims of gender violence and substance abuse.

68. Above all, the security and stability of Rivers State will continue to be the primary concern of our government, because without which, investors will stay away and life would be difficult for every resident.

69. In the last six years, we have consistently invested and supported the nation’s security agencies with the hard and soft logistics that they need, including patrol vehicles, communication gazettes, bullet-proof vests, armoured tanks and patrol boats to enhance their operational capability and effectiveness.

70. In April this year, we launched the C4i special security outfit, consisting of 400 police officers and 200 officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to enhance the fight against criminality and maintain law and order in the State.

71. This security outfit is in addition to the already existing “Operation Sting” special joint police and military security outfit and the newly launched Rivers State Neighbourhood Security Corps, both of which have been complementing the regular police and other security agencies in bursting crimes in the State with relative success.

72. We will soon pass and introduce the law banning open grazing throughout the State to further strengthen our criminal laws to advance the safety and security of our people from the murderous and destructive activities of herdsmen in line with the recent resolution of the Southern Governors.

73. By and large, we have worked hard and will continue to support the security agencies to fight crimes and keep lives and property safe and secure in our State.

74. While there are still issues no doubt, the fact is that our crime rate relative to other States is low and Rivers State is more stable, secure and safer than it was six years ago.

75. At this point, let me use the liberty of this event to again voice our concerns and draw the attention of Nigerians to the state of the nation, especially the deteriorating economy, the worsening insecurity, the lack of purposeful national leadership and the strangulating hardship being face by ordinary citizens as a direct result of the visible failure and mismanagement of our democracy and diversity by the APC-led Federal Government.

76. For goodness sake, the nomination and desperation of President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled National Assembly to foist an invalid Ms. Lauretta Onoche on Nigerians as INEC’s national Commissioner is a bad omen for our democracy.

77. By any standards, the most fundamental consideration against the appointment of an electoral umpire in a democracy is the likelihood of bias, which in this case, is heavily weighted against Ms. Onoche, as a notorious and repulsively partisan dye-in-the-wool member of the APC.

78. Despite the flood of protests against her nomination and the general lack of trust in our capacity to remain impartial, it seems the APC-led Senate is determined to confirm her appointment as part of their grand design to rig the 2023 general elections well ahead of time, knowing Nigerians would overwhelmingly reject them in a free, fair and transparent contest managed by a strong and independent election management committee.

79. As a Governor and concerned Nigerian who loves this country so much and wants our democracy to survive, I wish to appeal to Mr. President to, for the sake of his legacy, withdraw Ms. Onoche’s nomination to avoid creating more credibility problems for his INEC and restore confidence in our electoral system.

80. Where Mr. President lacks the courage to so do, then, the National Assembly, which has a responsibility to defend our democracy must endeavour to wake up on the right side of history by rejecting her nomination.

81. A related issue is the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act, reported slated to be laid before the National Assembly on Tuesday July 13. 2021.

82. We commend the House of Representatives for affirming and reassuring Nigerians on its positive provisions in the proposed bill on electronic voting and simultaneous transmission of unit results by electronic means.

83. Everyone who means well for our democracy believes electronic voting and simultaneous transmission of results has the potential to prevent the large-scale rigging of election that has become regular in our electoral system.

84. President Buhari readily attributes his victory in both the 2015 and 2019 polls to the introduction of the novel card reader device by President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration; yet he has been overly reluctant on the need to midwife the birth of a new, transparent, efficient and trustworthy electoral system for the country.

85. Let me therefore warn that we do not need a soothsayer to tell us that to allow the old ways of doing things and much vilified status quo to continue to prevail in our electoral system as recommended by the Senate’s version of the bill would be a complete disservice to the nation and a recipe for disaster for our country.

86. A gain, I hope Mr. President still cares about his legacy and would therefore prevail on the APC-controlled National Assembly to give the nation an Electoral Act with positive provisions on electronic voting and simultaneous transmission of results from the unit level to prevent rigging and guarantee trust, credibility and confidence in our elections.

87. Furthermore, the heightened degree of insecurity across the country and the obvious inability of the Federal Government to tackle this menace continues to be very troubling.

88. Nigerians are in desperate need of relief from the daily incidents of kidnapping and mindless killings across the country by insurgents, herdsmen, bandits and militia groups.

89. The APC-led federal Government must step up and be alive to its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property in all parts of the country or admit its lack of capacity and resign before the country collapses like a pack of badly managed cards on its hands. Enough of the excuses, ineffective actions and buck-passing.

90. In closing, I wish to emphasize that our projects and development footprints are everywhere across the 23 local government areas of the State, and even beyond, testifying to the success of our administration in driving the State’s progress and the delivery of the dividends of democracy to our people.

91. Take it or leave it, the truth is constant. There is no promise we made or project we set out to achieve that we have not fulfilled or delivered.

92. While the judgement is yours to make, we believe that we have lived up to our promise, made the desired difference and brought about the transformational changes that majority of our people had yearned for when you gave us your mandate and trust.

93. The sheer number of audacious projects we have rolled out and executed in the last two years clearly confirms our abiding promise to continue to deliver more development projects for the benefit of our State, our people and the nation until our last day in office.

94. I wish to therefore assure you that there will be no let-up in our commitment and determination to deliver more projects to further consolidate the progress we have achieved in the days, weeks and months ahead.

95. Finally, let me thank you once again for your support, cooperation, understanding and prayer as we continue to work together to build the Rivers State of our dreams and bequeath a legacy of peace, progress and prosperity to us and also to the future generations.

96. On this note, it is my pleasure and honour to formally unveil and present the Six Years Progress Report of our administration to you and return the glory to God Almighty for His grace and enablement.

97. Thank you, and may God bless our dear Rivers State