…says we must do it to protect our farms, people
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike on Wednesday said he would forward the ban on open grazing to the state House of Assembly in order to give it a legal backing.
He said doing so is necessary so that Rivers people can be protected from killer herdsmen.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Kevin Ebiri, Wike spoke during the inauguration of the Isaiah Odoli/Omerelu Streets in New GRA Phase 1 in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.
The governor said, “You can’t go to the farm anymore, those who rear cattle, they’ll not allow your crops to grow. Let me say clearly, now that the House of Assembly has come back, we have to submit the bill on Anti-Open Grazing as we agreed in the Southern Governors Forum.
“So, that everybody must understand it, it’s clear, without any hesitation, we must do it to protect our farms, to protect our women, to protect our youths so that nobody will go and kill them.”
Wike said that those who felt the All Progressives Congress was a better alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party and voted PDP out for APC in 2015 must be regretting their action and the deplorable state of Nigeria under APC’s administration.
“The exchange rate has now gotten to N510 to a dollar. When they took over, it was N150 to a dollar. They said they’ll give employment. Do we have employment today? Are your children employed?” He asked.
Further saying that Nigeria is now on life support and requires prayers from well-meaning Nigerians in order to salvage the county, Wike said:
“Since APC came into power, you can now see what Nigeria has turned to. Each day you wake up, you hear people are being killed. If you watch television and read the news in newspapers, you will hear so and so number are killed or kidnapped in so and so state.
“That is not what I thought all of us needed. The country is on oxygen (life support). Nobody knows what will happen next. As we are today, Nigeria is in dire need of help. Nigeria needs prayers; to our mothers and sisters, you must kneel down and pray to God to salvage this country.”
He reiterated that the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government was yet to do anything in Rivers State, saying that the federal government’s claim of jointly executing the Bonny-Bodo Road was untrue.
Wike said, “The only thing they are arguing now is that they are doing Bodo-Bonny Road. No, with due respect, that’s not correct. That road was supposed to be done by NLNG and the federal government. NLNG brought their N60 billion, the federal government did not bring any Kobo.
“Now, they are trying to use the tax that NLNG is supposed to pay to do the road. The tax would have been shared from the federation account and part of the money would have come to Rivers State. So, the federal government cannot say that they’re the ones doing Bonny-Bodo Road. All of us are jointly doing the road.”
The governor that all the roads in the Old and New GRAs had been rehabilitated under the Urban Renewal Programme of his government except the Orugbum Crescent in the new GRA.
A former Senate President, David Mark, while Inaugurating the road project, told Rivers people that they are very lucky to have a governor who fulfils promises made and provides infrastructure with a human touch.
Mark said, “All the year-round, you are bringing people to come and commission project here, like me.
“Now, you have a governor who has fulfilled his promises and done beyond his promises.
“The difference between him and just providing infrastructure is very clear. He provides his own with a human face. There’s humility in what he’s doing.
“If you get up today and say Rivers State, this is where we are going, everybody will follow. If you go round Rivers State – and I’m sure all of you know this – and they say who is the leader of politics, they will tell you it is your governor.”