In a new spirit of bipartisan exchange
of ideas among State governors, Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has
described his Rivers State counterpart and Chairman of Nigerian Governors’
Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as an icon based on his giant
developmental strides in Rivers State. Senator Ajimobi was elected under the
platform of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), while Governor
Amaechi is a prominent member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
Ajimobi spoke to journalists at the end
of his two-day official visit to Rivers State with his wife, Chief (Mrs.)
Florence Ajimobi, Tuesday night. He was also accompanied by some members of his
cabinet.
He said he was in the state to do peer
review and comparative analysis between his State and Rivers State.
“I came here(Rivers) to meet a brother
and the chairman of our governors’ forum as a friend and a brother. Secondly,
I’m doing what you call peer review, comparative analysis, see what is
happening in Port Harcourt and Rivers State vis a vis Oyo state. Having been
here now, I’ve seen a lot and I think without sounding patronizing, I think the
governor here, Governor Amaechi is a blessing to Port Harcourt, to Rivers State
in terms of his achievements, in terms of his commitment, in terms of his
patriotism. I think he’s an icon from what I have seen. I’ve gone round to see
your farming, the agriculture, a lot has been achieved and it has a multiplier
effect on the economy of the area in terms of employment, income generation and
reducing poverty, reducing thuggery, vandalism and all the associated nuances
of low economy”.
He commended Governor Amaechi for his
achievements in the power, health, education and other sectors.
“I’ve been to where you are producing
electricity and with what I’ve seen there, Port Harcourt is quite lucky with
about a requirement of about 500 megawatts of power. At least to date they(the
power plants) are producing almost 540 or something megawatts and compared to
our(Oyo) own where we require about 480 megawatts. We are not producing (power)
and hardly do we get up to 200 megawatts from the national grid. So in terms of
energy, in terms of agriculture and of course to cap it all is the
infrastructural development. I was here couple of years ago but what I see now
is a completely new state to me”.
According to him, the model secondary
schools in Rivers state are as good as universities, noting that the schools
would not be found anywhere else in the country.
“I saw the primary schools, the new
model secondary schools would easily pass for a university. I don’t know of any
secondary school that looks like this in Nigeria. In terms of sciences, ICT and
in terms of the ambience of the environment, the school is very conducive for
learning and children produced here will definitely do well. I’ve also been to
the health facilities and Amaechi is really doing a lot, in fact it’s
free health care services and you can see that the people are happy. It’s
something that everybody should try to emulate. All in all, I think it’s a lot
that’s been done here in Rivers State, it’s a lot and I’m glad I came”.
He revealed he would replicate the
projects which he said are complementary.
“I think the first one I would love to
take back is the health projects. But you can’t separate all the projects and
developmental efforts of Governor Amaechi, you can take them as being
complementary to each other. Health sector very nice, education very nice,
agric wonderful, infrastructure fantastic, so I wouldn’t want to take anyone
back except to take all of them back”, he said.
While in the state, Governor Ajimobi
was taken round by his Rivers State counterpart to see several projects
including the world-class Kelsey Harrison hospital, the ultra modern Dental and
Maxillofacial hospital, model primary and secondary schools, Songhai farm,
health centres, the 22,000-hectare banana plantation, the Port Harcourt
monorail, road projects, the new stadium, Greater Port Harcourt city and the
Afam Power plant.
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