Mr Project: How Governor Wike Became Biggest Rivers Politician
It is common knowledge that the true masters in any endeavour do not care for the limelight—they just do their thing and move. This is just as true in the Rivers State of today: the mysteries of Governor Nyesom Wike’s last two years in office are being unravelled one after the other, and his people are not holding back their praises.
Governor Nyesom Wike recently gave an account of his activities in office for the last 24 months. Pressured by voices within and outside the State to do this, Wike was forced to toot his horns. Not unexpectedly, the account collapsed the floor from under the feet of Wike’s detractors, giving them nothing to stand on against him.
The present-day set of Nigerian
Governors is something else. Each has been rechristened with a moniker that fits their accomplishments. Governor Wike of Rivers State has one of the best of these titles, and for a good reason. When folks delightfully call out Mr Project, it is Governor Wike they expect to respond.
Analysts have concluded that Wike is on the list of the top five Governors in Nigeria and likely the first three in the history of Rivers State Governors. No other Rivers Governor has paid as much attention to grassroots development as Wike has. No other has managed to balance the nearly boundless resources of the State with the truly boundless demands of the people, culminating in a crescendo of satisfactory sighs.
Wike’s projects in these last two years encompass all aspects of the Rivers economy: development of basic and social infrastructures, education, tourism, transport, you name it. What’s more, Wike has unclasped the weight of unfinished projects from the necks of Rivers people, and the projects that have gone from abandoned to finished are there for all to see.
To be sure, it still is not all sweet and rosy in Rivers State. But what Wike has done is surpass those that came before him, and in half tenure, repair the image of a lazy or idle State Governor with his good works.