22nd May, 2017.

THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR
RIVERS STATE
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
PORT HARCOURT.






Congratulations on your second year in office and the Golden Jubilee celebrations marking the creation of the old Rivers State. I join all Rivers people to salute the vision, courage and doggedness of our founding fathers. I pay special tribute to all past leaders of our dear state and all others who have contributed in one way or another to bring us to our current state of development.

Mr. Governor, I know a few praise singers, the same ones who praise every person in power, will misrepresent my intentions by this letter and will advise you accordingly. However, for the sake of Rivers people, Rivers State and posterity I am guided to place my thoughts about the state of Rivers State on record. That way, if you do not succeed as Governor, it will not be for lack of honest counsel or helpful ideas.

Let there be no doubt. At the last general elections, I put myself forward to serve our dear state. I believed and still believe that Rivers has enormous potentials which can only be realized if we could sustain a track record of good governance. I believe that our people do not deserve any less than quality living guaranteed by selfless and visionary leadership. I also used to think that was your motivation when you ran for the office of Governor since we both served and learnt under one ‘master’. But, after two years of your being in the saddle, I am sure several other Rivers people are in doubt if that was your real motivation or it was simply the quest for power for its own sake. There have been suggestions, going by your actions in the office of governor, of poor judgment and crass ignorance but I have always defended you that you needed time to understand the aspirations of the average rivers man and woman.

MONEY SHARING AS PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT

Recall that we chatted severally on the kind of future Rivers State deserves when we were both privileged to serve in the Rt. Hon. Amaechi’s government. We both agreed then that Rt. Hon. Amaechi’s passion for development of Rivers State was unassailable. I recall a particular day in between our usual weekly Executive Council meetings in October, 2010 when you told me that development projects do not endear a government to the people or win elections, that ‘money sharing’ does. At that time I did not give deep meaning to it beyond the ordinary. You repeated this to me and others at College of Arts and Science field on 5th March, 2011 during the second term campaign of Governor Amaechi. With benefit of hindsight I am worried about your real intentions for running for the office of Governor. My concern and that of other Rivers people are exacerbated by the fact that two years going, few policies, if any have been articulated by your government beyond erratic, cunning, and contradictory pronouncements which suggest you were not just prepared for governance. It appears the past two years have been expended fighting your predecessor and trying to bring down everything and whatever he represents. I do not see how that will contribute to uplifting the lives of Rivers people. Rivers people simply want a conducive environment to go about their business and live quality lives. Our people want to move forward, not look back endlessly.

FEAR, DEATH & INSECURITY EVERYWHERE

Let me draw your attention to few issues you may not consider important but which truly matter to our people. Rivers State and Rivers people are known for peace. It is unfortunate that some mindless politicians who are now your key advisers introduced politics of violence in our state many years ago, you however elevated it to an art while running for office. The truth is too clear for all to see. Today in Rivers State, no week passes without tens of cases of kidnap, tens of our people killed in cult related, criminal activity-associated or politically motivated circumstances. Heads of human beings are routinely chopped off, displayed on major roads in a manner worse than what we see with ISIS and Boko Haram. Nationally our State has occupied for almost 18 months consistently, the unenviable position of the state with the highest number of kidnapping and cult related killings. You can check the records with Nigerian Police. By virtue of Freedom of Information Act you can access this record. Only a mindless government can fold its arms and watch this level of needless waste of human lives. It is utterly disheartening. People in our state live daily in fear. Governor, you should not allow this. It has gone on for too long. If it is our 50th birthday gift then it is a Greek gift that our people do not deserve. Peace, security and order in Rivers State should be your number one priority. Every other development agenda should rest on this. It is patronizing, sickening and offensive when few persons around you who have sold their conscience for money try to deceive you by saying Rivers State is the most peaceful and secure State in Nigeria. Please do not believe them. Do what is right. If you are not patronizing these criminals, then fight and eradicate violent crime in our State. Our economy is gone because people do not feel safe living and doing business in what was once a haven of peace.

ABANDONMENT OF NOBLE EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND LEGACY

Mr. Governor, if security is too intricate for you to understand and handle, I do not understand your challenge with education. As you know, no modern society can survive, thrive or maintain a reasonable level of development without investing in the future of the youths which is anchored in quality education. Under your watch, Mr. Governor, our educational standing is a sham. You withdrew hundreds of students who were mostly in their final year abroad on Rivers State scholarship back home for no just cause. Mr. Governor, between 2011 and 2015, by UNESCO rating relying on statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, we remained among top five States by youth literacy. However by 2016 statistics, given by the same UNESCO, we have gone down drastically. This should worry you. We have also dropped in both public primary school and secondary school enrolment respectively. You chose to abandon the over 500 modern primary schools your predecessor built and equipped. The same goes for world class secondary schools he initiated, five of which he completed. I hear you say the model secondary school is too expensive to run; you may have to compare the cost of ignorance and illiterate society to the opportunity cost of running these quality schools. Our tertiary institutions in just two years are now shadows of themselves. This aversion for education will be our greatest undoing if we keep quiet.

NEGLECT OF HEALTHCARE

My dear Governor, I am sure you are conversant with the adage that health is wealth. Even the “pleasure park”, which is your new fantasy that you take every visitor to and the roads built by your predecessors you are overlaying will serve no one if we do not have health. Some of your associates who do not like the face of former Governor Amaechi admit that he did a bold transformation in the health sector. You may not like your predecessors face but you owe Rivers people a responsibility to care for their health and wellbeing. The abandonment of over 105 world class functional primary health care centres, the maxilo-facial burns centre at Garrison, Aba Road; Kelsey Harrison Ultra-Modern Hospital at Mile 1 axis, amongst several other health facilities built by your predecessor and the free medical care for the aged, under five year olds and pensioners policy he put in place cannot be a legacy you will be proud of. The innovative policy on subsidized medical bill for residents and civil servants on the contributory health scheme you abolished without providing an alternative leaves a sour taste. Those who advised you to destroy these legacy health projects and policies do not mean well for you and do not have the interests of Rivers people at heart. No amount of photo celebration can substitute for the health and wellbeing of the ordinary people of Rivers State. The man on the street who hitherto benefitted from these health facility and policies know better than any lie he will be told.

My Dear Governor, have you bothered to call for the infant and maternal mortality statistics of Rivers State in the past 12 months? The numbers are embarrassing. My sincere advice is that you pay attention to the health status of Rivers people. To be a statesman requires living above petty sentiments for the greater interest of the greatest number of people in Rivers State.

NEGLECT OF THE RURAL AREAS

Dear Governor, if there is one area you have gone against your oath of office it is the neglect of the rural communities, or in your own language ‘the rural Local Government Areas’. Many Rivers people are not disappointed because ab initio you had no plans to develop the rural areas so we did not have expectations in this area. A revered monarch in our state captured it succinctly when he said rivers rural economy is dead. “Young people now flee. There is no integrated farming to employ them. Cottage industries are all dead”. Mr. Governor, you are on oath to govern all of Rivers State and not two urban Local Government Areas.

I am sure you know as all Rivers people do, why the rural economy collapsed. Dear Governor, you neglected agriculture which has the potential to create jobs, reduce poverty and spur growth. This neglect of agriculture combined with insecurity has robbed Rivers State of growth in the rural areas. The Songhai farm in Tai Local Government Area started by your predecessor which was a model farm settlement employing hundreds of Rivers people is now a shadow of itself. The same applies to the Banana project in Khana/Tai Local Government Area conceptualized and started by your predecessor, fish farm projects in Asaritoru, Andoni, Opobo-Nkoro and Ikwerre Local Government Areas have all been abandoned. The same fate affected the rice farm and cocoa farm projects. No new estates have been added to Risonpalm and the resuscitation of Delta Rubber Company has been abandoned. To say the agricultural sector is comatose is an understatement.

The development of rural infrastructure, which is an enabler to boost economic activities, is not in your radar. My dear Governor, it is easy to see the nexus between the collapse of the “rural economy of Rivers State” and heightened criminality. Economic transformation of Rivers State leveraging on the productive sector of agriculture and cottage industries is critical. Please Mr. Governor let the revival of Rivers State economy through infrastructural development, agriculture and well guided diversification be the real Golden Jubilee Celebration in honour of the spirit of our founding fathers. We were once competing neck and neck with Lagos State in terms of infrastructure development, size of GDP, household income and attraction of investment but today Lagos has become a model state we can only wish and hope to be like.

PENSIONERS ARE STARVING TO DEATH

More worrisome My Dear Governor is the way you have treated our pensioners and state civil servants. I have often asked myself if you do not intend to get old someday. You owe pensioners and civil servants endlessly with impunity and often deceitfully create the excuse of biometrics. One lesson which those with a sense of history will tell you is that no amount of stealing from the commonwealth will guarantee a secure and happy old age. It is only an honest life anchored on faith in the Almighty God can secure our happiness and fulfilment at old age.

DISRESPECT FOR TRADITIONAL RULERS AND APPROPRIATING LOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNDS

The same treatment you mete out to any traditional ruler whom you perceive disagrees with your governance style. You dethrone traditional rulers at the slightest provocation. I hear you are threatening just any and every traditional ruler to acquiesce to you. It will definitely hurt you on the long run. Please treat our Pensioners and traditional rulers with respect and honour. Let them have their wages whenever it is due for there is dignity in LABOUR. The degree of disdain to which you hold elder statesmen and former leaders of Rivers State shows you do not have any sense of history. Without a sense of history it is hypocritical to celebrate the sweat and sacrifice of our founding fathers.

Dear Governor, another area of concern is how you openly expropriate local government fund for political and selfish reasons. Civil servants at the LGA level now scornfully make fun of this. The minimum expectation of our people is that you put in place a framework for LGAs to deliver effective and efficient service and infrastructural development based on prudent management of resources.

GOVERNANCE WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY

Another area of critical concern is the total lack of openness and accountability in the government led by your good self. Till the time of writing this letter. No rivers man or woman has seen copies of 2016 and 2017 approved budget of Rivers state. No Rivers man knows how much the state gets from federally allocated revenue nor internally generated revenue. Our debt profile is embarrassing, never seen before in our state. Nobody can put a cost to the projects you claim you are executing or the projects of your predecessor which were at different stages of completion which you are now commissioning and claiming credit for. The most basic thing our people are used to which they demand from your government is transparency, honesty and accountability. Open the books, Mr. Governor, because the resources belong to the people of Rivers State.

One last point, people are arguing openly whether there is anything worth celebrating in Rivers State under your watch. Others insist that what we should be celebrating now is the original Rivers State created 50 years ago, not the one leftover after the excision of Bayelsa State. Whichever it is, I believe that our people have our 50 years of statehood to celebrate. I sincerely believe it affords us the opportunity to reflect on why it has been most challenging achieving the dreams of our founding fathers. And to do self introspection on why we are crawling as a state when our contemporaries are literally running. But let this celebration not be a diversion jamboree from the serial failures of the last two years. Mr. Governor if you continue along your present wrong path, you may end up betraying the labours of the illustrious fathers of Rives State and posterity will not be kind to you. I hope and pray not. I wish you well.



Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside

RIVERS@50; LEST WE CELEBRATE OUR DECLINE:

Lamentations of a loser and a drunkard.

Thank you Dakuku. This mistake and disaster forced on us shall be corrected.

Lol

Dakuku this your advice no be here o. You dae curse am join. APC dae attack GEJ for federal. Him dae attack amaechi for state and you dae complain. Abi you no see am?

Honestly I strongly feel DAKUKU has spoken my mind as regards my governor, I like the point where he referred to the PLEASURE PARK as Wike's fantasy, that's the real truth, how can a man rather than. Building on the foundation amaechi laid on health, education and agriculture, decide to go blind on it? How can a governor be so unrepentantly opaque to Accountability in project cost, during Amaechi's tenure Rivers people knew the cost of projects being embarked on, and Amaechi's projects had a direct bearing on the lives of the people than what Wike is doing. How can u build a pleasure park and there is no Amusement unit to it, no Mary go rounds, electronic car race etc, all u have for kids who should be the primary beneficiary is a mere regular Swing, that even all Nursery Schools have.. Nice one DAKUKU, we missed you been governor, but 2019 ain't far..

If you don't like my view... Come get me 08146487020

You are so on point Dr Peterside, especially as pertains to insecurity and abandonment of legacies of his predecessor.I see no reason why the primary Health Centers and model schools should be allowed to rot away.
One thing you can not take away from Wike is his doggedness in road construction but then na only road we go chop?

I thot this fellow was appointed a federal DG. How many other DGs dabble into state politics like this? He should concentrate on doing a good job