Dr. Dakuku Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 governorship elections in Rivers state. Today, he is the Director- General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). In this interview with journalists in Lagos, he speaks on development in Rivers state and how violence witnessed during elections in the state can be curbed. TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI brings the excerpts:

What is your general assessment of the Nyesom Wike-led administration?

I believe Governor Wike has done nothing in Rivers . He claims he is doing road projects. How can a governor be celebrating the commissioning of a road of one kilometre? I don’t know if that is what government is all about. Government is beyond that. In terms of providing a conducive environment for businesses to thrive, I don’t think anybody will say we have done well in Rivers. You can do a Google search yourself, the number one state in unemployment in the country today is Rivers state, according to the National Bureau of Statistics report. Why is Rivers state number one? Is it that there are no industries in the state? No. The fact is that industries are leaving the state in droves because government’s main responsibility is to provide a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.

The environment in Rivers state today is not conducive, by reason of insecurity, multiple taxation and reason of government not providing the right policy framework. If you want to secure land today to develop your business in Rivers state, you can be sure that every Tom, Dick and Harry will come and harass you. Under the Rotimi Amaechi administration, things were different.

By my own assessment, the Wike administration has not done well at all since coming to office in May 2015. I don’t know of any particular area that they can say they have done well. I am being honest and frank; I don’t know one area they will say they have done well.

I can start with physical infrastructures; he has done some roads for which I give him credit. He has also completed some roads started by the Amaechi administration but I keep telling him that completion of projects is not bad, but give credit to whom credit is due. There is a road that begins at the end of Peter Odili road which will take you to a place called Apajio. The Amaechi administration built two bridges and one flyover. It was started during my time as Commissioner for Works. Wike came in and just did a resurfacing of the last part of it and he called everybody to come and commission the road without acknowledging the fact that two bridges and a flyover was completed by the previous administration. The least I expected is that ‘Yes, the previous government did the following things, we completed it’. That is the issue I have with him.

How has he fared in terms of security?

In terms of security, the government has done nothing to secure Rivers state. The state is still unsafe as we speak. Ask those who live in Port Harcourt. People feel unsafe every minute. They have played down on reporting things that are going on because I heard that the Police is not providing information again to the media but the security challenge is still there. Families are leaving the state in droves and so, I don’t know in which area they have done well. Is it in the healthcare sector, is it education?

How will you assess him in the judicial sector because it seems all the courts are in the state are now functioning?

In the judiciary, he renovated the Court of Appeal; he didn’t build a new one. That to me is not his primary responsibility. He also renovated the National Industrial Court building which is the responsibility of the federal government. He also built housing estates for doctors but those are primary responsibilities of the federal government. Rivers state courts have issues begging for attention yet he is investing in federal judiciary. That means there must be some vested interests. Our local judicial officers in Rivers don’t have quarters. They are not exposed to the best trainings they can get. That means there is something the governor is up to. Why are you investing in federal judiciary which is not your primary responsibility while the state judiciary is in a bad shape? On my own, I don’t know what area they have done well. Former governor Amaechi used to say that there is no community in Rivers state that was neglected under him. If he didn’t put a school there, he puts a brand new health centre or initiate one project or the other in order to give all communities in the state a sense of belonging. Wike cannot say that at all. But these issues are not reported.

How will you rate him in terms of human capital development?

In terms of human capacity development, former governor Amaechi gave over 2,000 Rivers people scholarships and sent them to different countries around the world. The moment Wike came on board, he brought the ones who have not graduated back. Now the fund to sustain them was about N1b. Recently, he contributed the sum of N500m to a private university. In his budget, he provides about N3b for donation to churches. How does that happen? So, in terms of human capacity development, I don’t know what he has done in that regard. He has discontinued the scholarship scheme started by the Amaechi administration. He said Amaechi was giving scholarships to people to go and study Literature and Amaechi has challenged him that he never gave anybody scholarship to go and study Literature. Let us even assume that he gave scholarships to people to go and study Literature, what is wrong in that? But at least, Wike himself admitted that over 2,000 persons were sent to the UK, US and Canada, with all expenses paid for by the Amaechi administration and this added to our human capital base. Amaechi established a vocational institution; he also established a second university. So, in the area of human capital development, nobody can say Wike has really done anything. If you look at the prime areas in government, apart from completing roads, there is nothing he has done. In terms of providing the right investment climate for people to invest, he has not done anything and that is why businesses are leaving the place in droves. Families are relocating while property prices have nosedived because they have no value. He has failed in the primary responsibility of government which is to provide security and I don’t think anyone can deny that but the media keep presenting the picture that he is doing wonders. Honestly, I don’t think the media has been very fair to Rivers people in terms of the performance of the Wike administration.

As we approach the 2019 election, how do you think we can stem the politics of violence especially in Rivers?

The 2015 election led to a blossom of a new culture of violence in Rivers state. It has been there but it got to a crescendo during the 2015 election. If we must stem the politics of violence, we shouldn’t reward those who benefit from it. All those who are in the House of Assembly and State House right now have benefited from that violence and so it became an incentive to others that if you engage in violence, you can also get elected and if you don’t engage in violence, you cannot be elected. The fact that people engage in politics of violence and succeeded became an incentive and those who did not succeed; it was a disincentive that they were peaceful and orderly. I think INEC, Police and all of us the political actors have a role to play in this area. Until we sit down and tell ourselves the truth, we won’t move forward. As long as we continue to reward violence, that will be an incentive for people to engage in violence. Most of the people who engaged in violence in Rivers got elected. Right now, parties are scrambling to look for militants to put on their ticket.
https://independent.ng/those-who-benefit-from-politics-of-violence-shouldnt-be-rewarded-peterside/

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Dakuku is brilliant! My issue is with his ability to promote himself effectively as a guber aspirant and APC as a party.

Rivers politics is the survival of the fittest..

You can ask ur Boss Ameachi how Wike got to deliver the state for him then..