The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State says the protest in London, Monday, by Rivers students on foreign scholarship was an evil foretold.
The party said it had warned the State Governor, Nyesom Wike that his failure to settle the fees of the students was an invitation to open revolt and embarrassment for the state.
In a statement signed by the State Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, APC said Wike’s outing was a “disaster”.
The party said it was dismayed that Wike ignored their advice to settle the fees of the stranded Rivers students across Europe who were sent abroad in search of the Golden Fleece by the former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA, but later abandoned by the present governor.
“Typical of the proverbial stubborn fly that ends up in the grave with dead body, Gov. Wike and his henchmen flew into London and were beaming with smiles this morning in the Chatham House building but little did they know that Rivers students who had been living as destitutes in London and environs had managed to gather in their numbers and with angry placards besieged the Chatham House building chanting angry songs to the disgrace of the governor, his travel party and Chatham House officials who were stunned at the development today”, Finebone said.
APC said it had enumerated 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.”
It noted that “Worse still, nearly all of the students have long been stopped from attending classes and writing exams in their various universities.”
The statement continued, “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.
Other part of the statement reads: “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 is 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 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.
The 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 as if Rivers State is a state of nitwits.
“Rivers State needs urgent salvation from the hands of a rampaging governor who believes that anything is fair game in politics.”
