Prior to the last general elections, one of the issues some people, who wanted to provoke sentiment in Rivers State made so much fuss about was the takeover of government by an Ikwerre man from another Ikwerre man. They were uncomfortable with the candidacy of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Wike is from the Obiakpo Local Government Area, in the Ikwerre area of Rivers State, while the immediate past governor and now Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, is from Ikwerre Local Government Area, in the Ikwerre area also. Those who made it an issue said the candidature of Wike and eventual emergence as governor would amount to a brother handing over to another brother and they attempted to persuade the electorate not to vote for the PDP. The campaign failed woefully, as the voters appeared wiser. Wike won the governorship election at the polling booths. He also won in court, with the Supreme Court’s affirmation that he was validly elected.
Events have proved that the campaign against Wike by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Amaechi was not really for equity’s sake or the love for Rivers people. It was owing to personality clash,  selfishness and fear of political oblivion.  Indeed, it was obvious that the APC and its arrowheads knew that with Wike as PDP candidate, it would be difficult for Amaechi’s reign to continue in Rivers. Simply put, it was apparent that only Wike could defeat APC and an incumbent governor, who, in any case, was once his political ally.  This fact was proved in the governorship election, wherein Wike won the majority votes and, therefore, defeated Amaechi’s candidate, Dakuku Peterside. It was also proved at the rerun elections held this year, as the PDP won the majority of state House of Assembly and the House of Representatives seats, in the elections so far conducted. That the PDP won the rerun elections, at a time when the Federal Government is under the APC and Amaechi a minister, only proves one thing: Wike, who is the driving force in Rivers PDP, is not only popular among the people but also has enough clout. It also rubbishes the allegation that  the PDP victory in 2015 came about because the political party controlled the Federal Government, under then President Goodluck Jonathan.
Indeed, facts have shown today that Wike was really on the ground, prior to the last general elections. And that he’s still on the ground at present. When  a politician defeats a candidate sponsored by an incumbent governor it could not be by accident. When a governor pushes through the candidates of his political party in elections, where the Federal Government  is believed to have vested interest, in the African setting, it could not have been a mere luck. With all these feats, I have respect for Wike. Indeed, my respect for him increased two weeks ago, when the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) held its annual conference in Port Harcourt, wherein the Rivers State governor and his works were seen at close quarters.
Yes, my encounter with Wike, and, I guess, other editors’, was an eye opener, to the effect that he is a man not only misunderstood but also a victim of political propaganda. Wike has been presented as a monster, and indeed, a man, who is evil personified. During the last elections, the impression created was that he unleashed armed militants and other gangsters on his political opponents. Stories were told of how armed militants sponsored by the Wike PDP ran riot in Rivers ahead of the elections. Ever since Wike’s assumption of office, Rivers State has also been presented as an unsafe place, where sponsored militants are on loose. And the state government is blamed for it. As it is, when cultists clash, the state government is blamed. When kidnappers snatch a prey, the Rivers State government gets blamed. When militants return to creeks and engage in economic sabotage, Wike’s opponents try to blame him.
In the days prior to the last rerun elections there was tension everywhere in the state. I remember visiting Port Harcourt the Thursday preceding the elections. Nobody living outside Rivers State wanted to be in the state on the Saturday the elections held. But those living in the state did not flee. With the assignment we came to do completed on Thursday and departure scheduled for Friday, a day to the rerun election, some people in our team were quite happy to leave the perceived troubled state. But Wike was vehement in saying that the situation was exaggerated. He did say that those who wanted to takeover power in the state, at all costs, were the ones heating up the polity.   He said that some actions capable of causing violence were being taken by PDP opponents. He pointed to the plan to arrest some PDP members on the eve of the rerun elections, which he said could cause breach of peace, as the people were wont to resist it. For standing against the move to run his party out of town, some people saw him as the trouble maker.
More than one year in office, Wike has not got any respite. However, he has held his ground even in the face of difficulty. From what the editors saw, he has done well, with the available resources. Indeed, from the volume of roads he has reconstructed in Rivers State, in a year, one wonders what the past government did in the number of years in office. If Port Harcourt roads were as terrible as the clips editors saw, before they were reconstructed by the Wike government, the question to be asked: What happened to the billions of naira that Rivers State got as monthly allocation, which I learnt was more than N800 billion?
To be sure, the editors conference gave me the opportunity know Port Harcourt better, to know that the city is just Garden city by mouth, with dilapidated infrastructure. I could not believe that Garden City had such terrible roads, with nerve-racking traffic. I could not believe that a state capital that hosts oil companies could be so congested that movement is almost impossible. Does it mean past government’s did not see gridlock as a problem in Port Harcourt? I shudder that the immediate past government did not know that instead of the egoistic project as the hanging monorail, which gulped over N60 billion without being completed, flyover bridges across Aba Road were more important for the Port Harcourt residents. I believe that Amaechi really has questions to answer.
Wike should continue with the pace he started with. He should put his eyes on the ball and avoid distraction. The only way he would change the narrative about Rivers is to continue with developmental projects. News about good projects will certainly erase the perception that the state is unsafe. Insecurity, in any case, is not peculiar to Rivers State. All cities and states in Nigeria have security challenges. There is kidnapping in Lagos, Abia, Benue, Cross River, Ondo and others. Cultists fight in other cities. Robbers strike in other states. These are challenges of development, which, through collective effort, we can overcome as a nation. They are not Wike’s making.

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