Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said that no state in Nigeria is poor, provided the respective governors can judiciously make use of resources in their states.
He stated that governors should stop depending on funds from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee but should rather look inwards at the potentials of their states.
Governor Wike further said zoning must be embraced in the country for peace to thrive.
He made this known while delivering a lecture titled “Governance, security and sustainable development in Africa: Nexus, challenges and prospects – the Rivers State experience.”, to the participants of the Executive Intelligence Course 14 of the National Institute for Security Studies in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said, “When people say zoning is unconstitutional, you know what is called equity? Equity brings peace. Let everybody be part of it. The moment you begin to think that this is your own exclusivity, it becomes a crisis.”
“When you begin to deny some people of certain things, that will lead to insecurity and with insecurity, you cannot achieve sustainable development.”
Wike continued, “Take, for example, when the Igbos are crying to say, ‘look, in appointment, you don’t recognise us,’ what is wrong in listening to them?”
“What is wrong in sitting back and saying, ‘look, we are all one; we want this country to be together, for us to achieve sustainable development? If you don’t include them, some of them will begin to believe that they are not part of the system”.
He reiterated that, “No state is poor in this country. It is this over-dependence on the Federal Government that has made some poor. At the end of every month, they send their Accountant-General/Commissioner of Finance for FAAC.”
“Any state that says it is poor is deceiving you by saying that. I keep on telling them, if your state is poor, why do you want to be governor? Your state is poor; you want to run for a second term.”
Wike further advised on the need for a personalised system of government as against the centralised forms of government on the continent.
