Governor Wike puts developmental strides on the front burner

He insists that as a lawyer, the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and unhindered justice delivery are paramount to his administration. When Governor Nyesom Wike assumed office in 2015, he also pledged to embark on comprehensive urban renewal. This includes instituting projects that will transform the urban areas by improving the environment and infrastructure, thereby enhancing the quality of life and provision of social services. The following are excerpts on some thoughts His Excellency shared with Lillian Okenwa

You have been nicknamed “Mr Project”, Your Excellency. Could you tell us about some of them?

One of the key pledges I made to Rivers people when I assumed office in 2015, was to embark on comprehensive urban renewal as well as actualize the age-long yearnings of the indigenes and residents of the local government areas to be able to connect and access the rest of the State by tarred roads and durable bridges. Five years into our tenure, the urban renewal programme in the capital city and the interconnectivity across the length and breadth of the State is progressing.

 It is important that when you are given an opportunity to serve, you leave behind legacies that will make people to remember you are the one that provided a lot of infrastructure that enhanced economic activities. With prudent management of scarce resources, we have been able to achieve so much. Despite the economic downturn, we are not giving excuses but delivering on our promises. As far as I am concerned, from 2015 to 2023, I want to be remembered by the quality of projects I provided for my people Commissioning of Chokocho-Igbo-Etche-Umu-Echem-Ozuzu road by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

We will continue to do what we are supposed to do for the people of Rivers State and being a lawyer, the judiciary is also part of my constituency so I will continue to support them in the best way that we can.

You are an administrator, a political scientist, a lawyer and many more. How does your training as a lawyer distinguish your style of governance from that of your colleagues who are non-lawyers?

You see, you cannot talk about governance without talking about the rule of law. It is important as a governor, and luckily for me as a lawyer, to adhere to the tenets of the rule of law. It is key to the running of any government. When people talk about governance, accountability and transparency; you cannot talk about all these things without adhering to the tenets of rule of law. My training as a lawyer gives me that background. You must follow the due process. You must adhere to the principle of rule of law. It is the backbone of getting to the core of democracy.

And that brings us to the way you dealt with insecurity; kidnappings and cultism. How did you do it?

Well, it is not a one-man show. It had to do with the collective efforts of every stakeholder: the security agencies, the people. And if the people are not with you, it will be difficult for you to try to curb the issue of insecurity. For instance, if the security agencies are not willing to fight insecurity, it will be difficult, because the governor is not a security personnel. Mine is to give them the necessary logistics to see that they curb these miscreants to the point that they would know that the state is not comfort- able for their illegal businesses to thrive. That is what our security agencies are doing.

“Well, it is not a one-man show. It had to do with the collective efforts of every stakeholder: the security agencies, the people. And if the people are not with you, it will be difficult for you to try to curb the issue of insecurity”

So, what we did was to sit down with security agencies, and said, look, how do you feel that today, for instance, you are the commis- sioner of police, the director of SSS, a garrison commander and you are in a state where there is so much insecurity, how would you think that people would say you did well, because that is part of your own scorecard. It is important that we must work together; collaborate and synergize in order to see that we achieve result. But what people do not understand is that when politics comes into it, we begin to have problems. But I can tell you that after the 2019 elections, the security agencies in the state have been working with us. The synergy is so tight now, and that is why we are achieving tremendous gains in the state, if not it would be difficult. It is not a one man show; it is not about me being governor. It is the collective ideas being put together by the security  council in the state. In other words, they say two good heads are better than one. We have collectively achieved so much in Rivers State.

Why did you study law?

 I had wanted to study law because of family problems. From the kind of litigations my family had, when I went to court in those days and saw the way lawyers argued, I picked interest in law. But it was not possible for me to get admission then so, I went on to study Political Science. After that, I felt Law is the profession I needed to get into as a tool to change society. Today, I’m not practicing Law, but it has helped me. I’m using that background to see how I can contribute to society.

What motivated you to join politics?

 Politics has to do with service to mankind. People will criticize those in govern- ment; saying they are not doing well; that elected officials are not doing well. If you know that they are not doing well, what contribution can you make?

 What difference can you make?

So, some of us have taken up the duty to make a difference. My aim of going into politics is that passion to serve society.

Do you ever relax?

 It is very difficult to answer but I will try. I do relax when my wife is around. With all due respect, she tries to make me relax with my children. I won’t lie to you; it is difficult. She says, ‘Look, you need to relax, unwind.’ So, I try to do that especially when we go on holidays with the children or even when they are back home from school. I can take three days off during the weekends.

So, you actually find time for family?

 Oh yes. It is very important. What is government or politics if you cannot sit down with your family to relax and discuss with them? Then you have a problem. After office, there must be home. If you don’t do that, by the time you come back home, you would discover that there is no more home. I always make sure that I’m in touch with my family; my wife and children, and communicating with them. And when I’m home, sometimes we can lie on the same bed and play.

Your wife is a judge. Did you set out to marry a legal practitioner?

 I cannot say that I wanted to marry a lawyer. But you see, God has a way of designing His own things. My wife and I were in the same Law class. I came back from the Youth Service after my first degree and I met her. From there, it clicked and we went to law school together. In fact, you may not believe that my room was 202 in Lagos Law School and hers was 204. I thank God the journey has been so wonderful. I am not one of those who would say, there is no problem or hiccup. No. We are human. But it is a lovely marriage and I have no regrets. We were in the same class at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology but we were not talking to each other until final year. That was when everything clicked.