Governor of Rivers state Nyesom Wife has said that President Muhammad Buhari still has time to redeem is image by implementing his promises and turning the country around for better before leaving office.
In an interview with Channels Television Thursday he said,”We must understand in this country that political leadership is very key. Having the political will to implement what the people want is very serious. I don’t want to talk about the issue of distrust or no trust in government. People have raised such issues, that they don’t think that nothing will come out of all this dialogue. I don’t agree with that. I believe that if the president does not do, given the opportunities he has now, then, he will be putting Nigeria on fire.”
Governor Wike, warned of dire consequences, if President Muhammadu Buhari, continues to disregard the feelings of Nigerians, as being voiced out from various parts of the country.
Wike, was speaking against the backdrop of the resolution of leaders of the South South with a committee raised by the President to feel the pulses of Nigerians, at the end of the #EndSARS crisis that rocked the country in October.
The committee, which has been touring different parts of the country to take inventory of the feelings of the people and to explain the side of the central government, is headed by the President’s Chief of Staff (CoS), Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, was hosted in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, where it was handed a set of demands, chief amongst which was the restructuring of the country in line with true federalism.
In an hour-long interview on Thursday morning, Wike told a crew of his host on Channels Television breakfast programme Sunrise Daily, that Buhari could still redeem himself today today if he wished and succeed in turning Nigeria around in the process.
He added: “I am not a pessimist. I don’t believe that because you didn’t do what you agreed to do yesterday, therefore, you will not do what you agree to do today. Even if he (Buhari) has not done what he told Nigerians he would do, he can say, look, I promised Nigerians yesterday, I didn’t do that and that is affecting my integrity and so, for people who know me, I will implement what I have said.
“He may not necessarily implement everything the people may want but let the people see the concrete evidence that under President Buhari, he has been able to implement one, two, three, four demands by the people.
“If he (Buhari) doesn’t take this opportunity now to implement some of these requests, I don’t think it will be very good for Nigerians and for his legacy,” the governor added.
Wike, who also touched on other issues, including what he referred as the over-politicisation of governance in the South-South region and why Nigeria should implement state policing structures, particularly took a swipe at the comments of Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who accused South-South governors of excluding other politicians and leaders in the area in taking critical decisions:
He said: “The problem is that we play politics in everything. Unfortunately, you have the South-South zone, where you have PDP governance. It is unfortunate. Now, as I speak to you, I have a Minister . . . he has never one day said ‘what do we do for the state, look what I’m thinking.’
“So that opportunity has not been there. We are playing politics, saying these Governors are not members of my party, and so I don’t need to talk to them. And that’s the problem we have always had.
“And we have said, that is not correct, politics have come and gone, we are talking about governance, what affects the people of Niger-Delta. When the time for politics comes, then everybody will go your own way.”
Source Whirlwindnews.com
