The former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside has called out the Wike-led administration for negligence towards the affairs of Rivers people, particularly, with the terrible flooding being experienced in the state.
Reacting to the flooding being experienced in several parts of the state, Peterside on Wednesday, blamed Governor Wike for not paying attention to early warning signals from Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
While highlighting the incompetence of the state’s relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), which he said, could be a result of lack of necessary funds to function optimally, enjoined the governor to urgently reactivate the drainage master plan put in place and initiated by his predecessor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi in 2015, but was abandoned by Wike for political reasons.
“Former Gov. Chibuike Amaechi’s administration had put in place a drainage master plan for the city of Port Harcourt.
“It was already being executed before he left office in 2015 but was, however, abandoned by Wike for political reasons,” he alleged.
Peterside decried the hardship faced by residents of the state as a result of the flooding, and the lack of response on the part of the government, who he said, chose to put the blame on the people who are already suffering from a lack of economic empowerment rather than itself.
He, however, enjoined the governor to urgently reactivate the drainage master plan put in place and initiated by his predecessor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi in 2015, but was abandoned by Wike for political reasons.
“Former Gov. Chibuike Amaechi’s administration had put in place a drainage master plan for the city of Port Harcourt.
“It was already being executed before he left office in 2015 but was, however, abandoned by Wike for political reasons,” he alleged.
According to him, “Our people are traumatized, a lot of persons are displaced, we have lost several goods and properties estimated at over
N3bn, social and economic life has been disrupted because the state government slept off, our people are suffering.
“The governor awards projects from his office without going through the due process and the very important Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA), which has unfortunately led to pain and agony by the people.
“It is even more shocking that the state government is yet to respond, even if half-heartedly to the cries of the people but has chosen to blame everybody other than itself. A responsive government should by now be engaging and looking for ways out of the crisis.
“Port Harcourt has never had it this bad and it can only mean that the state’s relevant ministries, departments, and agencies are either
incompetent in carrying out their duties or have been starved of necessary funds to function optimally.”
He further urged Governor Wike to immediately engage relevant agencies that can optimize emergency situations likely to be experienced due to adverse rainfall.
“With heavy rains expected in coming weeks as predicted by NIMET, it will only be natural that the Rivers state government immediately activate the moribund emergency management agency that can react swiftly to serious situations and arrest whatever difficulty the people may be facing.
“This is the time for the state government to show compassion rather than grandstanding and looking for who to blame for its own ineptitude and maladministration. Our people deserve better than this and it is the responsibility of the government to provide solutions,” he stated.
