Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday said
President Muhammadu Buhari has an opportunity to address the
demands of the people or put the country “on fire”.
His comment comes two days after the federal government met with
leaders of the South-South region.
At the meeting, the South-South leaders demanded the
restructuring of Nigeria, in line with the principle of true
federalism.
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“We must understand in this country that political leadership is
very key,” Wike said on Thursday during his appearance on Channels
Television’s Sunrise Daily. “Having the political will to implement
what the people want is very serious.
“I don’t want to talk about the issue of distrust or no trust in
government. People have raised such issues, that they don’t think
that nothing will come out of all this dialogue. I don’t agree with
that. I believe that if the president does not do, given the
opportunities he has now, then, he will be putting Nigeria on
fire.”
Governance Not Politics
In an hour-long interview, Mr Wike touched on other issues,
including the over-politicisation of governance in the South-South
region and why Nigeria should implement state policing
structures.
“The problem is that we play politics in everything,” he said,
while responding to a question about concerns raised by Deputy
Senate President and Nigeri-Delta lawmaker, Ovie Omo-Agege.
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Omo-Agege, on Tuesday during the federal government’s meeting
with South-South leaders, had criticised the bloc’s governors for
not consulting with federal representatives from the region before
coming up with their demands.
Governor, Nyesom Wike.
But Wike described the criticism as a politicisation of
governance. He argued that the federal representatives should,
instead, have reached out to the Governors.
“Unfortunately, you have the South-South zone, where you have
PDP governance,” he said. “It is unfortunate. Now, as I speak to
you, I have a Minister . . . he has never one day said ‘what do we
do for the state, look what I’m thinking’.
“So that opportunity has not been there. We are playing
politics, saying these Governors are not members of my party, and
so I don’t need to talk to them. And that’s the problem we have
always had.
“And we have said, that is not correct, politics have come and
gone, we are talking about governance, what affects the people of
Niger-Delta. When the time for politics comes, then everybody will
go your own way.”
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/11/26/buhari-must-listen-to-the-people-or-put-nigeria-on-fire-wike/