The Rivers State Government announced on Tuesday a 20-day line of activities to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration.
The programme, which is dominated by the commissioning of completed road projects and flagging off new ones, will start on Tuesday, May 14, with the commissioning of the Old Bori Road and terminate on Sunday, June 2, with a Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
Chairman of the One-Year Anniversary Planning Committee and Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, announced the programme of activities during a press briefing at his office.
The SSG said 10 projects have been slated for inauguration and flag-off in various local government areas of the state as part of events for the 20-day activities, describing the programme as concise and devoid of undue jamborees and media hype.
He said activities for the celebration would kick off on Tuesday, May 14th, with the commissioning of the Old Bori Road, which, according to him, would provide an alternative route to the Eleme axis of the East-West Road.
Danagogo disclosed that subsequent days would see the inauguration of various infrastructural projects, such as the Andoni section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road, the Elele-Omoku Road, Phase 2 of the Trans-Kalabari Road, the Omoku-Egbema Road, the Okania-Ogbogoro Road, and the Egbeda Internal Roads on the 15th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 24th, and 25th of May 2024, among others.
He explained, “All the projects being commissioned were started by this government except for Emohua-Kalabari Road,” adding that most of them were conceptualised by administrations dating back to the Governor Peter Odili years.
He said, “On May 21, there will be the commissioning of phase 1 of Port Harcourt Electrical Village and the flagging-off of phase 2 of Port Harcourt Electrical Village,” saying that as part of the celebration, the government would also hold an Economic Investment Summit 2024 on May 22 and 23, with a focus on boosting the state’s internally generated revenue, attracting investment, and ensuring job creation.
He went further to say that as part of the anniversary celebrations, May 27th, coinciding with Children’s Day, would be marked by activities for children to be hosted by the governor’s wife, Lady Valerie Fubara, during the day, followed by a state banquet in the evening to commemorate both Fubara’s first year in office and the 57th anniversary of the creation of Rivers State.
Other days of the anniversary celebration, according to him, would feature the launch of a youth development programme on May 28th and an accountability forum on May 29th, where the governor would present his performance scorecard for the past year, with an opportunity for journalists and the public to scrutinise the facts presented.
He explained that May 31 is reserved for the presentation of certificates to certain traditional rulers with pending certificates, followed by evening praise, while June 1 is for the Rivers International Marathon, which the state government hopes to make a regular event to encourage tourism and promote healthy lifestyles.
He explained that the highlight of the commemoration would be the publication of a comprehensive book detailing his administration’s accomplishments, including project costs and specifications, to be distributed during an accountability forum scheduled for May 29th.
He explained that Governor Fubara’s administration is a “calm and quiet revolution,” with a determination for prudent management of resources, noting that only a handful of projects were chosen from various localities.
He said, “We have a very concise programme of activities just to mark the Governor’s first year in office; we have come out with a 20-day programme of events. In his characteristic style of embarking on what we have come to know as a calm and quiet revolution,. He doesn’t want us to embark on an elaborate voyage of celebrations over a long period and spend so much money on fanfare; that is not what this is about.
“He wants us to just do exactly what is crucial and critical to let the people know what the government is doing and the direction of the government. Most of his activities, the focus on the government, the projects embarked upon—everything would be published in a book that would be distributed during the accountability, which is part of the activities that will take place during these first-year activities.
“The book, which is the scorecard, would give you every detail, kobo by kobo, of what the Governor has been doing, which projects he met, at what stage he met them, and how far he has taken them, and everything else that you would want to know that your government is doing.”
“As you can see, we only picked a few projects to indicate to the people that even in your area, something is happening. All the projects that are completed or are being completed will be on the scorecard to be presented by the governor during the Accountability Forum. We feel there is no need to go round on a one-month jamboree of projects; most of them we have completed, and we have put them to use,” he said.
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