PDP Rivers State, A Walking Sepulchre by  joe Korka-Waadah

Perhaps we need to flip back our memories tersely to give us a succinct glimpse of how blossoming our society was   shortly before Nyesom Wike came on the scene as governor of River state in 2015.  There is no question, time separates us and tends to eat our memory. But a conscientious study of history unites us with them in deep, emphatic, and relevant ways.

Wike met a history making, vibrant Rivers state that was the cynosure of all eyes. Nigerians were proud of their Garden City. It was a state they could relate to and see themselves in. A place that was palatable, humorous, and lively. It was vibrant, the people had hopes, dreams, and were living lives remarkably like anywhere on planet earth.

It was utterly an amazing State that was on the rise; a beacon of real hope for many.  It is impossible to gainsay the importance of good education in todays competitive marketplace. The reason Rotimi Amaechi as governor of Rivers state ensured that students mostly from under privileged families who were rich and sound upstairs had the rare prospect of studying in some of the best institutions in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. A vivid and wholesome example of positive and uplifting leadership.

Today, people are astonished. In wonder, they look at the eagerness demonstrated by the Wike administration in terms of demolishing worthwhile legacies. They wonder how Wike and his administration have managed to look us in the eye, eyeball to eyeball while trying to dismantle or possibly collapse every worthy infrastructure erected by his predecessor.

It has been more or less painful for me because those were achievements that promoted and brought the State international attention.  The state-of-the-art primary schools, hospitals, and health centers built across the twenty-three local government area of the State. Port Harcourt even became a reading capital.

Doctors for the first time worked in our health centres which were equipped with surgical theaters. Until Wike rolled back the hands of the clock, the morbidity and mortality rate traceable to women and children were effectively managed in State which took up the burden of truly offering free education, complete with free meals, free uniforms and sandals, free books and their instructional aides.

Where are these signposts of a progressive State? What has Wike done with them? Unfortunately, they have been subsumed by weeds of different species and left to rot. What a travesty of governance!

Rivers people have been able just barely to tolerate and accommodate Wike’s government. They have stayed humble, acted responsibly and shown kindness to their oppressors in the hope that they would have rethink.

The predominant view that spans across every spectrum of our society is that Wike has become somewhat dubious about his capacity for leadership. The man has been simply enveloped by a dictatorial which gives him the impression that he owns Rivers State and everything there is. So, he wakes up in the morning and fritters away our commonwealth, abuses our elders monarchs while sitting down only to bow his head in reverence to their contemporaries in other lands while standing.

What will Wike be remembered for when he steps aside? What will the people think of him?

I tend to believe like many others that his eight years would be remembered for the hardships he caused Rivers people. The trauma and grief of the Wike years with certainly be etched in our memory.

The good news is that his party is collapsing under him as most of his people are beginning to see through the veil and questioning the wisdom behind following a man whose only interest and so-called developmental stride is erecting miniature overpasses that are not interchanges. We have seen him act ss if the State revolves around Port Harcourt and his native Obio/Akpor.

Like Trump, he lied his way into office by giving the people false hope. Little wonder the support he enjoys among Rivers people is depleting while  his approval rating is experiencing a steep downward plunge of late.

This may not be unconnected with the reason behind the decision of his dependable lieutenants to  retrace their steps back to the APC, the party of the future under the visionary leadership of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

I tend to wonder why folks do not question the deplorable level that our dear state is sinking into due to the bungling inept leadership of Wike. I wonder what Wike thinks, watching as I have,  as astute politicians  with hundreds of their followers suddenly defect, their likeness for him thrown into the thrash can.

Some of those who have turned their backs to Wike include:

Dr. John Bazia, former member of the House of Assembly/Commissioner in Wike’s government with is supporters;

Chief Michael West, former Commissioner for Transport/Gubernatorial Candidate who left with his supporters;

Rt. Hon. Chisom Dike representing Oyigbo/Tai/Eleme Fed. Constituency and thousands of his supporters;

Rt. Hon. Ephraim Nwuzi representing Etche/Omuma Fed, Constituency and thousands of his supporters;

Hon. Chris Mba, former member, Rivers state House of Assembly and hundreds of others, including a former council Chairman.

The norm in Rivers state politics has always been that people decamp to a governing party or government in power. In this case, these men and women did the exact opposite, by saying they have had enough on their way to the APC.

Political parties by their very nature are awesome. They are vehicles that take men to the corridors of power. They have visions of their own and claim they have a social contract with the people.

But when their leaders become soaked in cruelty, are surrounded by acts of indecency and wickedness and cultivate a propensity to do evil, then the need arises for a complete revocation of the trust ivested on such platforms and their leadership.

Out here, we are gladdened by the shift that is, taking place at home as sensible persons move away from Wike. We congratulate all have had the boldness to move out of a decaying party.

In taking a walk to a party led by a worthy son, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, a man who early in life developed a burning hatred for corruption, oppression, and a passionate attachment to the principle of self-determination even as a college student at the university of Port Harcourt, they have shown promise.

Amaechi, to us who reside in the diaspora, is a transformative leader who has acquired a stern moral code that would tolerate no compromise with wrongdoing.

Let us applaud the bold step taken by these folks.  It is an uncommon display of uncommon boldness. They truly deserve our commendation for their endeavor which is as noble as it is novel.

* Joe Korka-Waadah CFRE, APR, ANIPR studies at the Clayton H. Graduate School of Political Management-Carleton University Ontario, Canada.

 

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