Rivers APC Replies Rivers PDP on Wike’s alleged Reconstruction of 175 Public Schools, Imaginary APC Decampees

…Described the Statements As Clownish, Unfortunate And Exhibition Of Ignorance

By Faus Nwaorgu

The Rivers State Chapter of the All Pro­gressives Con­gress (APC) in a statement issued on Thursday in Port Harcourt described the statement credited to Mr. Felix Obuah the Rivers State PDP commending Governor Wike for a fraudulent attempt to dupe Rivers State people by claiming to embark upon reconstruction of nonexistent 175 public schools as most unfortunate.

The party said in the statement signed by the Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya that PDP statement is nothing but demonstration of falsehood aimed at misleading the public in PDP characteristic style.

The party reiterated that Wike is a disaster so far the governance of Rivers State is concerned. Instead of building on the legacies of his mentor, benefactor and predecessor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, he prefers to destroy all that Amaechi suffered to build for a better and greater Rivers State. Wike in his drive to destroy the educational sector of Rivers State has stopped the scholarship of over 2,000 students both within and outside Nigeria initiated by the administration of Amaechi for reasons only known to him. He stopped the payment of the salaries of over 13,000 teachers employed by the Amaechi’s administration because as he claims some of these Teachers are Ibos.

The party noted with sadness that Mr. Obuah can’t claim that he doesn’t know that Wike has stopped paying the salaries of Teachers in Rivers State for the past six months after closing over 100 public schools in the State that he feels belong to APC supporters or associates. Obuah and his fellow clowns in PDP forgot so soon that Governor Wike in demonstration of his disdain for improvement of education sector in Rivers State abandoned the model schools built by Amaechi’s administration. What has Wike not done to prove that he is a total disaster in the politics of Rivers State?

Obuah and some of his misguided fellows spewing falsehoods in Rivers State and adoption of lies, forgery and blackmail as means of governance forgot so soon that Governor Wike for reasons best known to him refused to use the modern schools constructed by Amaechi which was rated as the best in the country so that he can resort to reconstruct imaginary schools that are nowhere in existence so that he can dupe and misuse the public funds without any budgetary provision.

For Obuah to claim ignorance of some of the feats particularly on the area of education by the erstwhile Governor of Rivers State and incumbent Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotoimi Amaechi, is to us exhibition and public showcase of ignorance and attempt to mis-present facts before the public.

The party sympathises with Mr. Felix Obuah who have decided to blackmail the Wike’s administration by making worthless statements and deliberately turning the garden city of Port Harcourt to CITY of Dustbin and garbage in his capacity as the Chairman of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) that resulted to the recent over-flooding in Rivers State but we can assure him that nemesis will soon capture up with him and all those that have turned our State to Rivers of Blood.

In thesame vein, the party dismissed the claims that some APC members decamped to the dying PDP from Ndoni, Ogba/Egbema Local Government as no member of our party can take the suicidal step of joining a party that turned our State into Rivers of Blood and is on its way out from the Brick House come 2019. This claim, the party said, indicates that Obuah needs both spiritual and medical help.

For avoidance of doubt, let us catalogue some of the feats of Amaechi in education during his administration described in some quarters as the golden period of Rivers State:- “Amaechi’s feat in the educational sector of Rivers State is never in doubt as it was based on his feats that Rivers State beat ten other great cities that included Oxford in England and Moscow in Russia and was crowned the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2014 — a feat Wike cannot achieve in his entire life. For Amaechi to have achieved this against all the odds placed on his path by the then PDP Government at the centre proves that Amaechi is a visionary and focused leader whose back Wike can never see throughout his lifetime,” Rivers APC said.

The party counselled Mr. Felix Obuha and his fellow clowns in PDP to read an extract from Amaechi’s last speech as Rivers State Governor in May 28, 2015 and hide their shameless faces in the mud thereafter: “Education is one the strongest areas of focus by this Administration. Under our watch these last seven years, our educational system witnessed transformation in infrastructure and service delivery. Although constrained by the reduction of our revenue by more than half, our administration is proud of undeniable successes in our educational sector such as infrastructure revolution: Building and equipping over 311 world class primary schools and five model secondary schools; The retraining and recertification of teachers with the involvement of the British Council in Port Harcourt; Total elimination of strikes and disruptions by takeover of payment of salaries of primary school teachers amounting to about N2bn per month; Recruitment of 13,210 teachers; Establishment of the Quality Assurance Agency; Introduction of Free Education up to secondary school level; Abolition of all fees in schools; Annual oversees scholarships in strategic branches of knowledge; Establishment of skills acquisition institutions to draw attention to self-employment and entrepreneurship; and above all, the outsourcing of management of schools in the state.

“The icing on the cake perhaps is the transformation of the UST from 79th to best state university in Nigeria and 12th over all best. There is also the establishment of a university of education.

“As part of the Administration’s deliberate academic growth policy, we sent our children to schools overseas, while working on improving our facilities in the state. Back home, we sent others to rated secondary schools and universities. We are proud of our achievements in the education sector; and are equally proud of our children who proved that given conducive locale, they could compete with the world’s best and brightest. We have given over 3,000 scholarships to our deserving children within and outside the country. Even with mounting pressure and competing interests made the education of our children a priority as indeed it should be. N800,000 ( Eight hundred million Naira) has been released to the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency in this light to enable it pay down some of its obligations to our scholars.”