The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of having set the country 20 years backward.
Wike levelled the accusation at the inauguration of the Rivers State Government Safe Home project in Port Harcourt.
The inauguration that was performed by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, in Borikiri.
Wike therefore urged Nigerians to be more careful in who they entrust with the responsibility of governing Nigeria.
He said this was particularly because it is only States controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party that are preoccupied with the provision of dividend of democracy.
He said: “The other people (APC) are only fighting themselves about direct primaries and indirect primaries.
“We (PDP) are busy about delivering dividends of democracy.
“You can see the difference is clear.
“Your Excellency, I’m happy that you’re the one who has come because you’ve invited me severally to Akwa Ibom State to commission projects.
“I’m happy and I want to say to everybody that PDP governors are doing very, very well.
“So, we must be careful of dealing with those who are not serious.
“A party that is not serious, that has set our country 20 years back.
“We must be very very careful.”
Wike equally charged governments to make the wellbeing of the most vulnerable their priority.
He said: “We are only interested in constructing roads.
“We are only interested in constructing schools, hospitals and the rest of it.
“But one important aspect that government forgets is the less privileged, the vulnerable.
“We do not think that we owe them that duty to also protect them.
“It is key that every government should take this as a special project.”
Wike equally spoke on the assault of the male, saying the society only focuses on women when the issue of violence comes up.
He as such advised that the services of the Safe Home should also be available to male victims of violence and not women alone.
He said: “So, let us not think that it is only for women.
“It is also for young boys who are also assaulted so that they can also have some psychological debriefing.”
Speaking, Emmanuel noted that Wike has blended ideas and creativity with available financial resources to achieve his landmark infrastructural development, while also catering to the needs of the vulnerable in the State.
He agreed with Wike that governments get busy with infrastructural development, capital projects, thinking about the economic prosperity of their various states and often forget the downtrodden and those who need help much more.
He said: “Port Harcourt is one place that if I miss coming in six months, by the time I come back, I would have seen a lot of changes.
“When you want to know a State that is forward moving, forward looking, that has a lot to deliver, that has a governor that’s forward thinking, such a State, whenever you go there, you don’t lack seeing construction sites.
“There is no single time you come to Rivers that you won’t see a construction site where people are working.
“And then, people will be talking of unemployment.
“Find out on one site and see how many youths are employed.
“How many people they are catering for.
“So, it’s just how to jump start the economy and get things working.
“So, trust me, PDP can manage the Federal Government and jumpstart the economy very well.”
On what the Safe Home project is all about the Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Inemi Aguma, said there is no facility like the centre in Nigeria.
Aguma pointed out that the centre is a one-stop facility that provides victims of domestic violence with access to justice, shelter, medical reference and prepares them for reintegration into the society.
According to her, the inauguration of the Rivers State Government Safe Home, as an unrivalled facility in the country, again demonstrates that the Wike administration provides for all sections of the society.
She said: “The facility provides the much needed institutional and administrative support for the Rivers State Child Rights Law 2009 and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2020.
“A holistic centre to provide infrastructure for children in need of protective custody and persons who have suffered violence especially domestic violence.
“Your Excellency, you have taken the lead in the provision of social welfare infrastructure in Nigeria as no State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has a safety net of this magnitude, providing in one complex: justice, shelter, counselling, legal aid and aftercare.”
Aguma said the facility is a two-storey administrative building, two-Storey Safe Home building, an ensuite Safe Home block and service building with two courtrooms, offices for Judge’s Legal Assistant and Secretary, creche, family friendly witness and waiting room.
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