Rivers: Governorship aspirant wants to build N15bn mini-secretariats

Gabriel Pidomson, a management expert who wants to govern Rivers State from May 2015 says his first action would be to vote N15billion to build five mini-secretariats in five different locations outside Port Harcourt to reduce pressure on the Garden City.

Pidomson says he will also build small scale gas turbines in the 23 local councils of the oil-rich state to create what he called a state power grid to power the new mini-secretariats.

Pidomson, the secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in the brief stint of Celestine Omehia, and state lawmaker in the Rivers State House of Assembly (2003 to 2007), announced his aspiration at the Correspondents Forum of the NUJ in Port Harcourt. He said every effort would be made to decongest the garden city and allow traffic to flow once again.

Pidomson, an Ogoni, vehemently said it was not true that the former minister of state for education, Nyesom Wike, had been endorsed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, and the presidency, saying people must not be deceived.

He said the president had advised the ministers to be free to return to his cabinet, saying it meant that Mr. President was aware that some of them would not succeed in their elective ambitions.

On Wike still, Pidomson said it would be unacceptable for an Ikwerre man to succeed an Ikwerre man, fearing it could destabilise the state. “The struggle is also for the Ikwerre because if they enjoy 16 years as governor, if other ethnic groups get the power, it would take almost 60 years for another Ikwerre person to get it, if ever,” he said.

He added: “I will not step down for anybody. I will run this race to the end to make a point. If nothing else, I will vote for myself at the PDP primaries. I could not have coughed out N11m to pick the guber form if I felt anybody had been endorsed”.

On decentralising government presence to other locations in the state, the aspirant said he would build 10 storey towers at about N3billion each in five locations and post out the commissioners and their directors there.

“What is Ministry of Agriculture doing in Port Harcourt? They will have to move to places such as Etche and cause development there. There will be a secretariat of 200 offices, government quarters, other facilities, power, etc. This is how the state would develop faster”.

He said: “But make no mistake, there is hope for Rivers State. The first and most solemn obligation of the governor is to keep the state strong and safe for all and sundry, improve education, provide infrastructure, and an environment that stimulates economic activities. Rivers State cannot feed the nation and personal ambitions unless we have a leader that can first make the state strong by building strong institutions.

“It is our ability to take care of our own at home that gives us the strength to stand up for what we believe around the country. That is why am offering myself today to do that job. I am offering myself for public scrutiny because I believe I have what it takes to untangle the complexities of Rivers State, with a view to Reform, Reconstruct, provide Prosperity and Peace in the State”.

Pidomson went on: “As governor, I will work to preserve and create jobs, build new cities, invest in world-class healthcare, step-up funding for education, embark on sustainable rural infrastructure development, electricity, water supply in our homes, housing, and clean environment. I will not preside over a state where people are spending more hours on the job, spending less time with their children, bringing home a smaller pay-cheque to pay more for health care and housing and education. Where only the rich can send their children to good schools, while the poor are left to fend for themselves. The state is headed in the wrong direction fast, slipping behind, losing our way…and all we have out of Government House – The Brick House- is status quo paralysis. No vision, no action. Just neglect, selfishness, and division”.

He said for over 20 years, an uncaring cabal had tried to divide the state; “ethnic group against ethnic group – so we get mad at each other and not at them. They want us to look at each other across a ethnic divide so we do not turn and look to the Brick House and ask, why are all of our incomes going down, why are all of us losing jobs? Why is it that the state’s infrastructure is mostly in a state of disrepair, why are we losing our future? For over 20 years, we are told to hope, because they will restore, we are told there will be change, but we see none. Public schools are bankrupt, crime rate has increased, we cannot boast of water running in homes in Port Harcourt; not to talk of the local areas. It is obvious that the government in power is telling us that the problems of Rivers people are not their problem. They washed their hands off responsibility for the economy and education and health care and social policy”. 

Ignatius Chukwu