Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has assured that he will not leave office without completing projects his administration has awarded.
Wike, however, noted that should he leave any, his successor will, in the spirit of continuity, complete them for inauguration.
The governor spoke at the inauguration of the twin buildings housing the Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences and the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, performed by the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Prof. Abba Hassan in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
According to him, “I will not leave any project unfinished. I will make sure all the projects we have started are finished. If they are not finished, maybe at 90 or 95% completion, when my successor, Siminalaye Fubara and Prof. Ngozi Ordu, come, they should use them for their first one hundred days in office projects and commission them.
“This is because they are part of what we are doing. When I say my successor, you know they will win. You know they will win because our report card is there to show what we have done. We are in the period of operation show your report card.”
Speaking further, Wike directed the Commissioner for Special Projects to visit the site for the building of hostels for medical students of the Rivers State University and assess what is required to complete the project in the next two months.
The governor also insisted that the Pathology Department of the university should be ready for inauguration in January 2023.
Performing the inauguration of the project, the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Prof. Abba Hassan commended the governor over his ability to sustain the regular training of over 300 medical and other auxiliary staff.
He said, “Governor Wike has invested satisfactorily in this entire tripod starting with the development of manpower in the health sector, giving a foundation to sustain the investment in the infrastructure and equipment procurement.
“It will also provide opportunity for research and invention. I learned that over 300 medical staff had been trained and are being paid regularly higher than any government, including the federal government. This will certainly help to forestall the cancerous brain drain in this sector.”
Continuing, he said, “I’m privileged to be invited on this occasion to commission one of the projects in health sector among several projects that had been commissioned so far.
“For us in the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria as regulator in training and practice of medicine and dentistry, wish to note with satisfaction the developmental so far done in this sector by your government.
“Healthcare training and services are anchored on a tripod of consisting of personnel, infrastructure, and equipment procurement.”
On his part, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing council of the university, Justice Iche Ndu (rtd) recalled how on the 29th of November 2019, representatives of the National University Commission (NUC) were on resource verification at RSU College of Medical Sciences.
He also thanked the governor for his support that has actualised the requirement needed for full accreditation.