Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has been commended by the Chairman of Governors’ Mandate Network, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, for taking various drastic measures to ensure that the rampaging Coronavirus pandemic does not spread unfettered in the state.
Onaiwu, who stated this in a statement on Sunday, insisted that despite the hues and cries from some quarters, results showed that the governor’s firm and damning posture to the enforcement of lockdown in Rivers State had largely been effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
Justifying Wike’s clampdowns on defaulters of lockdown in the state, the Governors’ Mandate chair said: “A leader must be able and ready to take tough and difficult decision(s) in the best interest of his people no matter how unpopular it seems.”
He argued that in the final analysis, the buck stops at the table of the governor and only he would bear the success or failure of the management of the disease.
Onaiwu further advised other governors in the South South region, “especially the governor of Edo State which has now become the epicenter of the pandemic in the region, to borrow a leaf from Wike’s methods and move strongly against anyone or any group that may be sabotaging government’s efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19, no matter their status in the society.”
He further stated that a situation where the constituted authorities allowed the people to take the laid down protocols for the management of COVID-19 with levity would not augur well for everyone in the long run.
H”e said: The virus is not discriminatory in its attack.
“Therefore, the leaders and the led must know that health is wealth and not otherwise.
“Hence, the health and wellness of the people must take priority over money making or other human endeavours.”