GOVERNOR WIKE’S TOUGH ROAD AHEAD – EMI IYALLA

GOVERNOR WIKE’S TOUGH ROAD AHEAD – EMI IYALLA

HE ASKED FOR THE VOTES, HE GOT IT.

This is not the best of time to be the governor of Rivers State. An empty bank account with so many problems attached, a disgruntled brother ready to bring him down, a politically alert young population, and impatient voters have all greeted Mr Wike to his new office. All apprehensive of every move he makes, an opposition waiting to pounce on his policy flaws, amidst a terribly divided state.

The challenge on Mr Wike’s table is so much that, he can spend the next four years feeling overwhelmed than actually governing. This won’t be the case we hope; at least he has given us good reasons to have hope on his leadership.

A TIRELESS RUNNER

To get results, Mr Wike has to work tirelessly, inclusively and freely. He has to maintain a well-focused developmental programme that will for a start, put food on as many Rivers tables as possible, send as many young people to school as he can and ensure a well-run state health care system while allowing engineers and builders work and maintain our roads. These are minimal requirements and at a minimum will require a judicious use of the limited fund, time and goodwill at his disposal.

THE HOVERERS

As usual, the committee of contractors that often hover around government houses with worthless papers will surround him. Some will use people he respects to submit those papers. This is expected and it is expected more at this point than later, just as he will have a lot of praise singers gather their drums around him to congratulate him. If he can get it right at this point, his ride towards a well-oiled state will be bright.

STUBBORNLY WIKE

Mr Wike must maintain his stubbornness and live by his words. He has promised Rivers people that proper procurement and contract bidding procedures will be followed; he should not be coerced to flounder on this. This is one areas past administrations have missed it. They reward political associates who lack capacity to carry out projects, thereby missing deadlines or delivering substandard results if they do at all. This can be avoided if Mr Governor can make it clear once again, to friends and foes alike that he intends to build a lasting legacy and not necessarily to indulge them with public funds.

DEVELOPMENT BEYOND CONSTRUCTION

The governor should as a matter of urgency, follow a holistic developmental agenda that incorporates a touch on all aspect of human development, both in policies and in deeds - One that encourages all areas of government to pursue a common agenda. He might want to look at:

A HEALTHY ECONOMY

Economic Development with special focus on Commerce and Industries establishment: Manufacturing, small and medium scale enterprises should be a good start.

TRAINED POPULACE

Human Capital Development with strong focus on educating young people, giving skills and validations to some, retraining workers, and more.

HEALTHY PEOPLE

Health Care delivery - having more doctors per population and more equipped hospitals and health care centres should be a goal for this administration. A good start will be the retaining of the already employed doctors, removing the incompetents and backdoor entrants.

INTERNET AND MOVEMENT

Infrastructure Development will need sharp attention and resources. Information and Communication Technology (provision of city wide cheap and accessible internet access), Transportation (with eyes on Water, Road, rail and air) should be strongly considered. A state airline might not be out of place.

LIGHT UP THE STATE

Power: Governor Wike should spend his new office working on generating and distributing as much power as he can manage, with eyes on alternative energy. As a state, we can take the lead in the adoption of solar systems; the government might want to take advantage of the relationship his immediate past predecessor has developed with some Chinese engineering companies.

GIVE THEM HOUSES

Housing: in the modern day, housing should no longer be a luxury. Same vigour that is being expended in the building of roads should be extended to housing. The government should adopt a housing policy that allows Rivers sons and daughters the chance to afford homes.

This will not give them a stronger sense of belonging; it will create a more vibrant state and create jobs for the youths as the project is implemented. The problem will not be money, the government can partner with private property developers.

LET THE FARMERS WORK

Agriculture: former president Goodluck laid a solid foundation in agriculture, the governor should consolidate on it. There’s a lot to gain from agriculture, not just food security and income for government, a good number of youths can be engaged gainfully with jobs in the sector.

THE CHIEFS SHOULD REMAIN SO

The governor’s position on our traditional institution is heart-warming. He has taken a position that gives our traditional touch bearers the chance to maintain the dignity of their institution by taking neutral positions on partisan politics. This good, he should follow it up with the policies he suggested on radio.

TRASH FOR MONEY: RECYCLE

Environment: Good thing the filths are being carted away. The governor might want to follow a waste management policy that relies more on recycling than dumping. He might want to discuss with experts in this area and look for investors in waste management and recycling.

SECURE THE STATE

Mr Wike needs to maintain law and order in the state. This might later turn out to be one of his biggest challenge, following the very tense, although quiet, oil politics and the Niger delta struggle that will regain huge if not brutal momentum – a disaster in the waiting if not well handled at the federal level; and given the fact that state governors don’t have absolute control on security machineries. For this at least, we can only rely on his good relationship with most stakeholders in the Niger Delta (activists, chiefs, youth leaders, etc.) He has demonstrated, in principle and not necessarily in deed that he has a better understanding of the situation than his immediate predecessor. He should prepare for the worse while he hopes for the best, for a start he can draw on the expertise of former commissioners of police and service men that have succeeded in maintaining a demonstrable level of security in the state. Their advice will be most useful at this point. The best time to prepare for war is before the war.

KEEP THEM BUSY

Many youths need to be kept busy. The state institutions of higher learning should be made to expand its doors to take in more youths. There are various strategies that can be used to achieve this, including opening up more campuses, specialist training centres, youth engagement centres, skills development centres, etc. And such programmes expanded to high volatile areas such as the riverine areas.

LET BUSINESSES SPRING UP

On another hand, industries must be encouraged. With an averagely better educated young population (compared to the start of the last administration), government can partner with as many private businesses as possible to build industries. This will, as expected keep another set of youths busy.

The production of consumable and non-consumable product and services will be a good starting point. Functional and sustainable manufacturing industries should be setup, preferably through a government–private partnership.

The setting up of micro, medium and large scale industries will help the state’s economy stabilise and stay free from the federal’s shaky allocation.

They will provide jobs and livelihood for the people. How this can be done has been the subject of many books. - A quick reminder that, every government has several sources of revenue.

Unfortunately, in Rivers State, we limit our focus to just about two. We should explore more avenues.

A THANKLESS JOB

Governance is a thankless job. Mr Wike asked for it, and thankfully he got it. He should use it to make a difference.

Source: Trulynigeria