…Say any government that ignores less privileged is doomed to fail.
The Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has commenced efforts to free the streets of the state of persons with mental disability and drug victims.
Wike affirmed this move when he on Friday, inaugurated the Rivers State Rehabilitation Centre, Iriebe in Obio/Apkor Local Government Area, where mental disability and drug victims would be taken care of.
Wike in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said any government that does not take care of the less privileged in the society was bound to fail, stating that his administration places a premium on catering for the needs of people with social, psychological and other forms of disabilities.
He said: “In life like I’ve said, building roads alone is not enough. Building health centres alone is not enough. Building educational facilities alone are not enough.
“Any government that does not take care of the less privileged, that does not take care of those who may not have access to education and health, that government is doom for failure.”
The governor noted that misfortune could befall some people and compelled them into a lifestyle that is not approved by society. According to him, such persons need a well-meaning government to factor them into schemes that will provide them with a future.
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“They might have taken to drugs because of, maybe, our own faults. Some people lack that parental care and have been lured into all kinds of vices. But we blame them.
“However, society must provide for them. Some of them may have been the best if they were in school. Some of them would have been the best if they were working. So, you need to provide a place (Rehab) for them. A place where they can be talked to, be counselled and eventfully come back to life (sanity),” he noted.
Governor Wike commended the Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation and said he is well pleased with the success of her ministry, particularly the edifice being inaugurated.
He approved an N200 million grant to the ministry that would enable it to attend to the daily requirements of the rehabilitation centre.
Meanwhile, performing the inauguration, the former National Assembly representative for Niger South constituency of Niger State, Senator Zaynab A. Kure said Governor Wike is a development minded leader.
Senator Kure spoke of Governor Wike as gender-friendly leadership for having a female deputy and worked amicably with a female while he served as a Minister of State (Education).