Follow Us on Google
Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Deputy Governor, Ipalibo Harry Banigo, has said the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration is passionate about improving the health status of Rivers people.
The deputy governor said this yesterday, during the meeting of the state’s task force on immunisation at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
According to Banigo, Rivers has been ahead of other states in terms of immunisation since the inception of the administration.
She said: “When we first came in, all the health centres had been shut down with no immunisation for over a year. But, with the pragmatic administration and forthrightness of governor Wike, the health workers came back fully to work, and we’ve been making progress since 2015.”
She expressed the need for all hands to be on deck to tackle tetanus, with a view to completely eliminating it, and frowned at the situation where some mothers deliver their babies at places without properly trained medical attendants.
She said the practice must stop, to prevent mothers and new babies from coming down with tetanus.
The deputy governor expressed gratitude to development partners, the line ministries, media houses, as well as other stakeholders, for the progress so far made by the state’s task force on immunisation.
“I want to thank you for the progress that we’ve made, so far, in our goal to kick out polio permanently out of Rivers State and Nigeria. We’ve made quite some progress and we are going to achieve it by the grace of God. So, we have to stay on course to make sure we achieve it,” she said.
Meanwhile, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Felix Obuah, has expressed delight that almost one week after the victory of governor Wike, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an unprecedented jubilation still pervades the length and breadth of the state.
Obuah, in a statement, yesterday, said the endless jubilation was an evidence of wide acceptability of Wike by the people of the state.
He said the reason the post-election celebration has remained endless was because all efforts of enemies of the state to subvert the will of the people failed woefully.
The state PDP chairman observed that never in the history of the state had there been such singular occasion where all strata of the society, “farmers, market men and women, fishermen, civil servants, pensioners, religious groups and even members of the opposition political parties, have been in one accord rejoicing over an electoral victory.
“How else can a people demonstrate total acceptability of a leader? How else can they express their love for a leader, a man who is passionate about the welfare of the people, a man who has defied every odd to prove that governance is possible? Rivers people have shown that the victory of governor Wike is well deserved,” Obuah declared.
He said the jubilation also underscores the fact that Rivers is indisputably a PDP state.
“What is happening in Rivers State is that governor Wike’s re-election has triggered endless joy for everyone.
“He has touched lives as he used his first tenure to spread developments to every the nook and cranny of the state,” Obuah said.
He charged all and sundry to support the governor to enable him do more for the state in his second term.
