Rivers students who have been living as destitutes in London and environs have besieged the Chatham House building in London as Governor Nyesom Wike appeared there.They chanted angry songs to the dismay of Governor who was there with some of his aides.The angry, protesting students carried placards demanding answers to their problems (see photo above)
Reacting to the development, Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, expressed dismay over the fact that Gov Nyesom Wike ignored its advice to settle the fees of stranded Rivers students across Europe.
APC recalled that the students were sent abroad in search knowledge and skills by the former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA.The students were later abandoned by the present governor.
A statement by Chris Finebone,Rivers APC Publicity Secretary said “We did enumerate the very difficult times many of those students were passing through in foreign lands. While some squat and beg to feed, others live on the streets having been ejected by their residential owners. Worse still, nearly all of the students have long been stopped from attending classes and writing exams in their various universities.
The statement said further that“Sensing that his visit might ignite an uncontrollable reaction from the stranded students, Gov. Wike recently announced his intention to release One million US Dollars to pay the fees of some of the students. We warned that the governor only made the announcement just to avert the looming protests that awaited him in London. Today it came to pass. Angry and famished Rivers youths gathered with various placards to protest their suffering in foreign land occasioned by a governor who obviously understands little about what governance means beyond filling potholes and building himself series of mansions all over Nigeria and recently abroad.
“The debacle today around Chatham House in London was long foretold. The irony of it all is that what manifested today in faraway London was a collective shame to our people. We thought we had had enough until Gov. Wike took from his book of comedy of errors and presented same to a largely English audience today. It was an avoidable exercise if the governor had restricted himself to entertaining Nigerian audience with his usual circus show. It reminds of the good old saying that hardly can a torn petty-coat be successfully concealed for long.
The APC said it was saddened to note that while Gov. Wike went in search of foreign audience for his drama theatre, back home RSSDA officials who did the nitty-gritty to send the students overseas are still wallowing in penury with over 24 months unpaid salaries owed them by the governor. Some hours ago, the party’s spokesman said, the sad news was broken that one of the staff of Greater Port Harcourt had died due to his inability to get medical help because the staff of the Authority are being owed months of unpaid salaries despite that the governor is using the Authority to allocate most plots of land in Port Harcourt to himself and his acolytes.
APC called on prominent Rivers sons and daughters not to keep quiet and allow Gov. Nyesom Wike ride roughshod over the people especially toying with the future of the youths. “Rivers State needs urgent salvation from the hands of a rampaging governor who believes that anything is fair game in politics,” the statement said.
