Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Monday presented what could be termed a six-year score card to the people of Rivers State. The event took place at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt.
While rendering his account of stewardship to the people, Wike said his administration had ushered Rivers into an era of unprecedented development in the 23 local government areas of the state.
Wike said with commitment to purposeful and prudent management of available resources, his administration, in the past six years, had drastically changed the developmental trajectory of the state for the better.
The governor said the newly inaugurated Rivers Cassava Processing Company by his administration and the cassava value chain would be used to create wealth, income and jobs for Rivers’ teeming youths willing to take to the business of agriculture.
He explained that since 2015, his administration had delivered over 1,000 kilometres of Trunk-A roads; embarked on construction of phase one of the trans-Kalabari Road, simultaneous construction of 10 arterial flyovers, with three already inaugurated and connected the ancient coastal community of Opobo to the rest of the state and the country by a tarred road.
The administration, according to him, also transformed not less than 18 major single lane roads to dual carriageways with streetlights, pedestrian walkways and covered drains, while conversion of Ahoada-Omoku, and Egbema Omoku roads into dual carriageways was also underway.
The governor said his government reclaimed vast swathes of sand-filled land for some of the coastal communities, including Abalama, Bakana, and Kula to advance their development and also started the sand-filling of 55 and 42 hectares of reclaimed land for Abonnema/Obonnoma and Okrika communities, respectively.
In the education sector, the governor said his administration provided over 1,200 classrooms and nearly 14,000 desks to over 200 primary and junior secondary schools, including the reconstruction, furnishing and equipping of several secondary schools with modern classrooms, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities, staff quarters and paved interconnecting road networks.
“As a result of the concrete and targeted interventions, the education system is becoming more and more effective and qualitative in the state with enrolment and transition rates of over 98 per cent, while over 80 per cent have consistently recorded five credits and above pass rates, including Mathematics and English in the West African School Senior Certificate Examination (WASCE) since 2015.”
In the health sector, Wike said his government inaugurated the 132-bed Mother and Child Specialist Hospital, established the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, rebuilt and upgraded the Government House Specialist Clinic, renovated existing primary health centres and general hospitals, and built some new primary health care centres for under-served communities.
The father of the day, and former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, who unveiled the 536-page Compendium containing records of Wike’s achievements in office, said he felt satisfied with the success records of his political son in office
