As the news continues to pop up about a plan by the Rivers State Governor Chief Nyesom Wike to execute road projects worth N4bn in Benue State, the Rivers State Chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has maintained a studied silence believing that it was an episode taken from Hephaestus: a Greek Mythology Circus Tale that will soon come to an end.
The above is contained in a statement signed by APC’s Spokesman, Mr Chris Finebone wherein he said, “Despite our initial dismissal of the story as mere comic relief from the governor’s deep bag of tragic jokes, it soon became clear that Governor Wike actually made the revelation in an exclusive interview with a newspaper that, not too long ago, named him their Man of the Year – an award that reminds us that the famous Time Magazine named the dictator, Hitler Man of the Year on the eve of World War II in 1938.
So also was Stalin given the award twice by Time Magazine in1939 and 1942.” The statement reads: “A day or so later, the governor of Benue State, Gov. Samuel Ortom speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Terver Akase made a comprehensive response to the fatal comedy by Gov. Wike, giving him a thorough dressing down. “Assuming that the good people of Rivers State have had enough of Wike’s theatre of the absurd, the APC declined to throw itself into the ring for the sake of saving the people yet another distraction and needless embarrassment.
“Surprisingly to the APC, the governor has continued with his gory market square dance to the unending shame and embarrassment of the good people of Rivers State. “The APC is dismayed that a governor (just like any other) facing the present crunchy economic times has embarked on making expensive jokes that suggest that Rivers State has overcome her own infrastructural, educational, health and other glaring developmental deficiencies as to go offering road projects to other states of the nation.
“In a twist of fate, just as Gov. Wike disparaged and taunted Gov. Ortom for not being able to pay striking pensioners, the next day pensioners in Rivers State who are owed up to 8 months pensions marched to the Port Harcourt Government House. They were joined by suffering staff of Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency whose months of outstanding salaries we have lost count of.
“In Rivers State, many ongoing projects are begging for completion. The governor has since withdrawn Rivers youths on overseas scholarships; the state-of-the-arts modern secondary schools started by his predecessor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi have been closed down and abandoned. Many of the primary schools have been overgrown by weeds and have become homes for reptiles.
All you see are superficial and deceitful projects that cannot stand the test of time. Yet Rivers State ranks amongst Nigeria’s most indebted states under less than two years of the Wike administration. Yet the governor thinks he is better off than his Benue State counterpart.
“The APC wishes to apologise to Gov. Samuel Ortom and the good people of Benue State for the undeserved insults from Gov Nyesom Wike. We re-iterate that the Rivers State governor is not near the example of who true Rivers people are. The tragedy that afflicted him on the people has become too well-known to Nigerians. But we take solace that God will surely heal Rivers people of this affliction much sooner than later.”
