COVID-19: Rivers people’s lives more important than politics, Okumgba begs Wike to face governance

* Waves off Felix Obuah’s ranting, as a cry of frustration

“A twinge of disenchantment and dire concern to put the records straight has constrained me to react to a malicious press statement, unsuprisingly emanating from the office of the outgoing Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party PDP, Bro. Felix Amaechi Obuah, whose preference for casting aspersions on critics of the ineptitude of the PDP led Rivers State government is far above the fine art of progressive leadership and good governance.”

The South South Zonal Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, David Okumgba, said in a statement released on Friday, April 10, in Port Harcourt., in reaction to the policies of the State government in the fight against the spread of the deadly pandemic.

He noted that ” Ordinarily his bland and unintelligent reaction to the salient issues I raised about Governor Nyesom Wike’s poor and rancid handling of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Rivers State does not deserve my esteemed response, the sorry state of waste management under his lacklustre watch as Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) and alleged romance with notorious cultists (dead and living), is an insight into his true character and personality. Subsequently, i will not magnify him with any further response.

Regrettably, we find ourselves in a clime where prolonged silence is misconstrued for consent, therefore it behooves on me to use this medium of a press conference, to re-convey my earlier thoughts on the developing issues weaved around the COVID-19 saga, believing that when reading comprehension becomes an impossibility, oral understanding may suffice for Mr Obuah and his ilk.

The Faux Pas

The governor of Rivers State cannot feign ignorance on how emergency grants and aids are disbursed and deployed having been privileged to serve as a federal minister in the past, as such his gale criticism against the Federal Government is misplaced. Conventionally, all over the globe, peer review is a norm amongst political office holders and the practice of note-copying is not new to the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) where Wike is a statutory member.

Therefore, comparing notes with states like Delta, Ekiti etc that is successfully handling the scourge, without FG intervention grants is not an odd suggestion.

The primary focus of government in Nigeria is to safeguard lives and properties of her citizenry, therefore the government must not use the guise of COVID-19 lockdown to commit genocide in the state.

Wike’s intent to create civil unrest in the state by inciting the good people of Rivers State against the FG in the false alarm he raised over the unrestricted influx of foreign nationals into the state is an abuse to his membership of the National Council Of States (NCS).

The governor’s frequent recourse to recant on his public utterances; most recent being his newest position on unilateral exclusion of Rivers State from beneficiary states of the FG’s Covid -19 intervention scheme, is not only a sign of incompetence and an affront to the sensibilities of concerned Rivers people but a display of the hollowness that is characteristic of most of the decisions taken by this government in the last five years.

My Position and Prayers

In the view of the foregoing, I wish to state categorically and unequivocally that :

1) I recognize the COVID-19 pandemic as a global threat to human existence and as such stand by the prescribed regulations in line with the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to combat it’s spread.

2) Governor Nyesom Wike’s militant approach without putting in place critical palliative measures like provision of regulated makeshift markets, distribution of precautionary kits, etc to guarantee sustenance and safety of lives during this lockdown is to say the least digging a pit to fill another.

3) Wike’s 5 hours daily temporary re-opening of markets for two (2) days was a complete demonstration of administrative insensitivity as traders had no time to re-stock their goods thereby retailing whatever they had to consumers at shylock prices.This is also a complete rape on the idea of social distancing as the populace were stampeded into distress purchases to beat the deadline.

4) The governor’s defiance to temporarily re-open the popular Slaughter Market — a major abattoir of livestock that feed the smaller markets is to deny Rivers residents of protein during the Easter festivities and beyond. The call of the Governor to arrest butchers trading in the bushes is therefore baseless as people’s cravings for meat cannot suddenly be extinguished on account of the Covid 19 plague. I wish to emphasize that the battle to defeat the coronavirus must be fought alongside the need to guarantee the survival of the human race and particularly the sustenance of the lives of the people of Rivers State.

5) Fiscal irresponsibility and reckless profligacy is what can best describe a Government that cannot account adequately and promptly for monies received from donors and other incentives like the nearly completed 250 bed isolation centre put in place by the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in conjunction with the private sector.

6) That the recent harassment, arrest of two (2) pilots of Caverton Helipcoters and eventual declaration as a persona non grata, on the company by the Government of Rivers State, over trumped-up charges of illegally lifting expatriate staff of oil multinationals into the state, even when they have been issued the necessary clearance permit by the Federal Government and regulatory agencies, corroborates my earlier position that Governor Wike is indeed playing politics by trading off the overall welfare of Rivers people with his obsession for a grant of N10B. It was this assertion of mine in particular that drew the ire of Mr Obuah and unsettles me as I find it incomprehensible as to why a Governor of an oil-rich state would cherish monetary gains over the economic welfare, of the human lives that he is constitutionally empowered to protect and preserve. Mr. Governor, Rivers State is not the only oil producing state in Nigeria!

7) That the 33 man state palliative programme Implementation committee is lopsided with a dominance of the Governor’s party loyalists and not a true representation of all interest groups as claimed by Mr Wike.

The headship of the committee by the newly elected PDP Chairman Amb. Desmond Akawor; a known loyalist and apologist of Mr Wike raises questions on fair and equitable distribution of COVID-19 relief materials across a board of spectrum of Rivers indigenes. Conclusively, I wish to emphatically state that COVID-19 is a serious threat to human existence, and all men of good conscience must collapse varying political, religious and socio-cultural interests in a collective fight against the killer virus.

Mr Wike must also go about this with utmost wisdom. All directives on restrictions must be laced with a human face and sincerity of purpose as people must first stay alive to enjoy sound health. I call on well meaning Rivers residents to continue to support the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria in combating this demonic menace in our society by making useful donations in cash and kind.

In the same vein I wish to appeal to religious leaders to keep interceding for God’s intervention and healing of our land, especially this period of Easter celebration. Lastly, I implore Chief Desmond Akawor, as a former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to place patriotism above party loyalty and step aside.

I thank you all for your rapt attention. Happy Easter celebration.

Long Live Rivers State!

David Okumgba

Zonal Secretary, APC South-South