The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has said his administration will ensure a robust business environment to stimulate economic growth and the creation of jobs in the state in 2021.
He said this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri.
He also reiterated his administration’s agenda towards the sustenance of peace and security, education, affordable healthcare, fixing the infrastructural deficit, driving better economic growth and social progress for the State.
He said, “Today, we express our gratitude to God and our people not only for the opportunity to serve but also for the achievements we have recorded, which now forms the foundations for our drive towards greater levels of development, economic growth, better life and secured future for our people.
“But, we also concede to the fact that there’s much more to be done to realize the Rivers State of our dreams: a progressive State with fabulous infrastructures, quality education, affordable healthcare and boundless economic opportunities for all who live in it.
“We will, therefore, continue in 2021 to focus on the fundamental task of creating a new Rivers State through prudent, efficient and transparent management of available resources.
“Essentially, we shall continue to upgrade and expand educational infrastructure and services across all levels of the education system.
“There is no better guarantee for the future progress of our State and the nation than to ensure that every child has the realistic access to the transformational light of education and skills acquisition.
“We shall also continue to prioritize healthcare delivery and ensure that everyone has access to affordable primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare services.”
Wike noted that the mismanagement of the national economy, coronavirus pandemic, escalated insecurity, corruption and socio-political tensions made the year 2020 a challenging one.
He said the challenges made life horrible for millions of struggling families who had to deal with dwindling revenues, rising inflation, poverty and unemployment.
He said his administration has positioned its development agenda and efforts at building a financially responsible and socially equitable State.
“Accordingly, 2020 also proved to be a very busy and eventful year for our State, especially in project execution and delivery of social services to our people.
“As customary, we initiated and completed a record number of development projects with tremendous socioeconomic impact while several others, including the multi-billion Naira flyovers, received reasonable funding and construction attention in 2020.”
He said the Mother and Child hospital, the Real Madrid Academy new buildings, and the Okoro-Nu-Odo flyover will be inaugurated on January 4, 2021.
Others, according to him, are the Sakpewa – Bori dual carriageway, the Abonnema ring road, the 10-kilometer Bolo internal roads, and the Eteo – Sime – Nowan – Kira road.
He said, “We also wish to restate our commitment to recruiting 5000 youths into the State’s public service in 2021 to reduce the unemployment rate and give the beneficiaries a new ease of life.”
Reminding citizens that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, WIke advised them to adhere to the existing protocols to protect themselves.
“It is necessary to remind everyone of our responsibility to adhere strictly to the existing protocols on compulsory wearing of face masks, maintenance of social distancing, avoiding large gatherings and the regular use of hand sanitizers so that we can reasonably prevent the rate of transmission and avoid needless deaths from the disease,” he said.
He expressed displeasure at the disregard for the ban on street trading, the creation of illegal motor parks, erection of illegal kiosks along the streets and other public spaces.
“Apart from constituting a public nuisance, these activities and structures obstruct traffic flow and pose serious threats to public safety and security to the extent no responsible government can tolerate.
“With the grace period over, therefore, we have no other option than to order immediate clampdown and put a final stop to these illegal operations from the 4th of January 2021,” he said.
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