Dr. Ombo F. Isokrari, an Ijaw leader of Kalabari extraction and member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees since 1998, was the first Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria, NAFCON. The former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, speaks with OKAFOR OFIEBOR on Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s one year in office
Q: Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has spent one year in office as Governor of Rivers State. What is your assessment of his administration so far?
A: Governor Amaechi is of the grassroots, having spent all his life in the state. He knows the people and their peculiar problems. He is a humble person and respects elders. And so, everything about his governance hinges on his deep concern for the overall interest of the people. Since he came on board as the Governor, he has done everything that is humanly possible for the improvement of the life of the people. If you go round the state, from street to street you will see a lot of work being done to expand the roads by removing illegal encroachments and building them properly. This is a bold attempt to restore the state to what its founding fathers wanted it to be.
Q: Which area would you have liked his administration to pursue with vigour?
A: As of last year, all the basic infrastructures in the state had collapsed; with such, any new government had a problem. The most urgent aspect are roads, because they have totally collapsed. That, too, the administration is tackling headlong. The contractors handling the road projects have all been mobilised by the state government to show commitment. Even at that, Amaechi’s government made it a deliberate policy that more than 90 per cent of the contractors are indigenes of Rivers State. In the health sector, unlike before, health centres are being established in all the local government areas of the state. A 1,000-room mega hospital is also being built. So also is a women’s specialist hospital in the pipeline. There is nothing that needed to be done that is not being done. Nothing has been exempted. For the first time in last nine years, a scholarship board has been established to handle the issue of students’ scholarship. In the last eight months, the funds given to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology have exceeded what was given to the institution in the last eight years. I can say that authoritatively because in the last eight years, I was the Pro-Chancellor for three years. So, all sectors, including road, health and education are receiving attention. Even the area of power supply is being tackled. For instance, last week two generators of 1000KVA each were donated to my local government area to supply power. For the past eight years we had no power supply and we are the heart of Ijaw land. Everything is being done to supply power to the area.
Q: Despite the foundation being laid by the Amaechi administration, he is being criticised for not doing enough to reconcile with aggrieved political opponents. As a member of the Board of Trustees of PDP, what efforts have you made to reconcile him with his opponents?
A: Amaechi’s government has thrown its doors open for anybody interested in participating in his government to come on board. People responded, even those who belong to other political parties are now part of his government. Some prominent members of Action Congress, AC, are members of his cabinet. And the former Chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Uche Secondus has embraced the Amaechi’s government in the interest of the state. Amaechi supported him and today he is a national officer of the party in Abuja. However, you cannot force anybody who has made up his mind not to take part in the administration; there is nothing you can do to bring them in.
sunny esho
31 October 2008 17:41I am sick and tired of media barrage on how good,transparent,messianic bla bla bla,rotimi amechi of river-state is.Its so curious that this payed write ups and other forms of advert are coming on the heels of allegation of fraud in quantum proportions in the state under rotimis watch.Its also worth-while noting the taciturn if not lukewarm attitude of the state government that instead of addressing the scandal headlong,concentrate effort in singing rotimi amechis achievements to drown calls for unearthing the source of this fraud.The strongest word from the state government on this fraud is that its state judiciary would handle the matter which to me in the least is cheap and thus i would not be suprised if the state government goes to say the money´s milked from its account into an at best annonymous accounts are legitimate.In nigeria wonders will never end.