Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has described The Sun Governor of the Year 2017 Award as a great recognition, which will serve as a big motivation for his administration to do more in the socio-economic development of the state and people.
The Sun Awards will hold on February 24, 2018 at the Convention Centre of Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, where 22 Nigerians would be honoured for their outstanding achievements.
Speaking in Port Harcourt yesterday when the Management team of The Sun Publishing Limited, led by its Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, Mr Eric Osagie, visited to present a letter notifying him of his emergence as Governor of the Year, Wike said The Sun Awards had proved to be a worthy recognition for people genuinely making the difference.
He said as long as the awards were based on projects delivery, Rivers State would continue to emerge victorious.
Wike stated: “This award will spur us to do more, be much better, to focus and continue to provide the necessary infrastructure for the development of our State.
“If you recollect, last year when you came to present letter notifying us of this award for 2016, I did say if it was on merit, we will keep winning because we are committed to catering to the needs of our people.
“I want to thank you for coming again to present this letter notifying us that we have been chosen for this award. You found out that we have done well. From January next year, before we celebrate our third anniversary or Democracy Day, we will commssion series of projects. We are not tired of working. That is why we are in office.” Governor Wike said the Managing Director of Julius Berger recently expressed surprise at the level of infrastructure development in the state, which he noted was unprecedented.
“That is true. For us, we have no choice than to work and put in our best,” he said.
The governor used the occasion to reiterate his position that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has nothing good to offer Nigerians.
He said the trending directive of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to overhaul SARS had vindicated him that operatives of the police unit were involved in unwholesome activities.
“SARS is being prepared for the rigging of elections in 2019. Time has come for people to resist these people because they cannot kill everyone.
“SARS has not helped in Rivers State. Rather, they perpetrate bad activities. With the sustained activities of SARS, Nigeria is heading for disaster,” he said.
He pointed out that when Rivers State government alerted the nation to the activities of SARS operatives, the authorities disregarded the evidence presented, adding that when the Inspector General of Police deliberately withdrew his security details before rerun elections in the state to give the APC an advantage, nobody said anything.
According to him, when the same thing happened in Anambra State, the Senate woke up to the reality that nobody was safe.
He said: “When the Inspector General of Police took his impunity to Anambra State and withdrew the security details of the Anambra State governor, the Senate quickly intervened because they knew that the acts of lawlessness of the Inspector General of Police was widening and could affect them.”
Earlier, The Sun MD, Osagie, said for the first time in the 15 years history of The Sun Awards, Governor Wike emerged as the first person to win Governor of the Year back-to-back, having also won last year.
He lauded the governor for his developmental strides across the state, saying Wike won the award “for his incessant ground-breaking infrastructural projects across Rivers State.”
Giving insight into some of the landmark achievements considered during The Sun Board of Editors’ meetings on the awards, Osagie noted: “Every zone in Rivers State has been impacted in no small measures. Some of your most visible infrastructure projects included construction and repair of roads across every local government in the state, such as the dualisation of the Rumukwurusi/Eneka/Igwuruta Road, the construction and rehabilitation of the Chokocho/Umuchem/Ozuzu Road and the construction of the second Nkpogu Bridge in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.”
Osagie said apart from projects, Wike had contributed immensely to national discourse without fear or favour.
“Just as you are committed to development, so also has your voice consistently echoed nationally in pursuit of justice and equity.
“It is for these uncommon but silent efforts of your government to improve the quality of life among your people that The Sun has deemed it appropriate to celebrate His Excellency as The Sun Governor of the Year 2017,” he said.