Is Rivers Ready For A New Breed?

Rivers State, over the years, has had a crisis of leadership and every rightthinking Rivers person knows it’s time to move away from the norm. The state is blessed with considerable human and material resources with efficient and dynamic leadership the only missing link.

The outland Rivers is characterised by indices of poverty, from lack of basic infrastructure to poor health and educational facilities.

The current governor of Rivers State, who used to be a local government chairman, could do more. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Rivers under Wike, in the first half of 2018, attracted capital importation less than smaller states like Abia that has little or no resources compared to Rivers’ oil. Also, internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state has continued to stagnate over the years.

What is more, the insecurity in the state is worrisome. It signals to the international and local community that the state is not safe for business. It is hard for businesses to thrive when there is no guarantee of security of lives and property.

A stable and peaceful environment has to exist before businesses come. For development and businesses to be viable in any state, the security must be ensured. This is not the case in Rivers State today.

One can deduce, from the above, that the honcho at the moment is finding it difficult to think, not to talk of designing policies to drive coherent decision making. There is a crisis of confidence in the leadership of the state. In short, going by these, there’s no disputing the fact that Rivers needs a new breed at the helm. The people of the state can do better with choosing its leaders. There is a surge of incredibly smart people from Rivers, building conglomerates and showing radical pace of innovation. But alas, when one looks at the men leading Rivers today, one sees only ritual, plenty of politics, and little progress.

Today, what Rivers state needs, is a leader who is a policymaker and can respond quickly to challenges while adopting an integrated approach when choosing solutions. A leader with a long-term empirical plan. A leader who will prioritize social justice and well-being of the people.