Amaechi’s Administration Is Transparent

Q: Governor Chibuike Amaechi is  one year in office. What is your assessment?
A: Although the pace of development is relatively slow, I can tell you without sentiment that there has been a steady growth and development of infrastructure. Many illegal structures have been demolished in the capital city in the quest to return the lost glory and aesthetics of Rivers State. That action has its own human problems. Those who lost their properties because they built ignorantly with the connivance of the past government, have they been compensated? This is because you don’t just set up a structure of two or three-storey building without tacit support from the approving authorities. But X-raying the Governor is better done with focus on various ministries. In the area of road construction, the job done by the Rivers State Roads Rehabilitation Committee thus far is not one that can stand the test of time. Even Governor Amaechi acknowledged that much. What they have done is not in any way commensurate to the N2billion take-off grant. So, we expected something better. We also have the problem with drainage. The excuse that was given was that the illegal structures blocked the drainages. Now, over 70 per cent of the illegal structures are no longer there. But after downpours people living in Artillery, Oyingbo and Rumumasi cannot go home because of the flood at Artillery.

Q: What do you have to say about transportation?   
A: In the area of transportation, the government is still at the drawing table, nothing much is happening in that aspect. I remember that early this year, there was a summit on transportation. But nothing much has come out of it.There has not been any implementation thus far. If you look at the health sector, I will give his administration a pass mark. He has done well. A mega hospital is being built. That hospital when completed, will handle practically all ailments and there will not be any need for any patient to travel abroad for treatment. We don’t expect it to be completed in days but the pace of construction is quite impressive.  One other area is that of potable water supply. The situation has not really changed. From the grapevine, I understand that the Governor is in constant touch with experts and they are negotiating. We believe that the negotiation is taking too long.We ought to have seen the tap flowing by now.

Under security, Rivers State was the hotbed of hostilities in terms of kidnapping. But today, it has been drastically reduced. A credit would be given to the Governor and the service chiefs who have all put heads together to ensure that there is sanity in the state. It is a commendable effort. I commend the Governor particularly, because his government provided the necessary logistics to the Joint Task Force and other security agencies to effectively combat criminality. The determined effort of the Governor has had a great impact on the stemming of criminality in the state. I give him above 70 per cent. On education, the state executive council has just approved the award of contracts for the building secondary schools in the state with state-of-the-art facilities. He had earlier declared a state emergency in that sector. If a state emergency was declared, it shows how bad the situation really is. We expect to see the structures by November. We recall that it was one of the reasons for the almost N100billion supplementary budget. We are expecting not just any structure but great structures that would meet UNESCO standard.

In the power sector, despite the billions of Naira spent by the previous administration on the independent power project nothing has changed as generators are being burnt 24 hours for seven days a week. It is gladdening to know that the state power project is going on; there is expansion of the Trans Amadi gas turbine project. But compared to the previous administration, I award this administration 20 per cent. Nothing has really changed and that is draining us. We expected an improvement as constant power supply is vital to private entrepreneurship which a cardinal principle of the Governor Amaechi’s administration. The lack of power is a serious drain on our pockets, especially for those of us who must run our generators.

Q: In your assessment, how has Gov. Amaechi’s Public Private Partnership, PPP, impacted on the people of the state?
A: I can tell you right away that there is a cash squeeze right now in the state. This is because the governor said that he was not going to “share the money”(laughs). That is number one. Another is that he has said government is not going to fund any project directly, especially now that there is a general belief that government money is everybody’s money and, therefore, free money. But the case is now different because there is a radical departure from this paradigm. Having said this, every project in Rivers State is PPP. This includes the hospital and the project handled by Silverbird Entertainment and so on. This means that the government only provides the land and investors fund the project. That means that the Rivers State government is supposed to have more money. But what we expect the government to do is to ensure that at least, 30 to 40 per cent of the workforce are indigenes. The same also applies to supply.That is one sure means of empowering our people. The truth is that most Rivers people are so impoverished that they don’t have the kind of money to fund these gigantic projects.
Q: Are you aware that, as a policy of empowering Rivers people, about 90 per cent of the contracts are awarded to Rivers people, and for any contract awarded, 20 per cent is local content?
A: I am aware, that is why I said at least 30 to 40 per cent. To me, 20 per cent is too small.