The Executive Director, Institute of Communication Studies, Austin Tam-George has said that the Rivers state government has failed in catering for the wellbeing of the citizens of the state.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Mr Tam-George, who said he is not supporting any party in the Rivers political imbroglio, said that there is a complete absence of good governance in Rivers state.

“There is no sufficient emphasis placed on that, people seem to be interested in the legality of actions and not interested in the failure of good governance which is the primary purpose of government itself,” he said.

He advised that people should be focusing on what can bring good governance in Rivers state because what happens in Rivers has a resonance for what happens elsewhere across the country.

He said Nigerians appear to be obsessed about the right or wrong of people’s actions and no one is concerned about the failure of the Rivers state government.

Mr Tam-George accused Governor Chibuike Amaechi of failing to deliver his election campaign promises of building a new Port Harcourt city and light rail system.

He said, “The Governor has a target of building a new city; Greater Port Harcourt City, he calls it; he has spent, by his own account, over N100 billion to build the new city, as I speak to you not even a shovel has been raised to build the new city.

“There has to be a way of holding people to account and in my sense, the governor has completely lost it.

“What has the governor done after spending N40 billion on mono rails?

He said apart from the governor, all other elected officials must be held to account for their role in the governance of Rivers state.

“We need to make sure that those people who constitutionally have oversight responsibilities over the executive arm of government – the legislature, whether they are five or 27 is immaterial, what the Rivers people deserve is good governance from all levels of government including the governor and all the members of the state assembly,” he said.

According to Mr Tam-George, for the state house of assembly to have met for three months is an indication of government’s failure.

“What baffles me is that there is still some kind of financial allocation to the state because there is no governance happening there,” he said.

He said Nigerians have to go “beyond the mechanics of talking about who is speaker and who is not speaker; who is governor and who is not governor; who is commissioner of police and who is not. What we should ask are what is the achievements of this government so far?

“Amaechi has been in government for almost six years, sufficient time to turn the state around. Rivers state has a budget that is well ahead the budget of Senegal. Senegal has a population of 11.12 million people; Rivers state has a population of just barely 4 million people.

“So a lot of things can be done to bring development and what we see is these kind of frustrating distractions not just by the governor but all levels of government have completely failed the people.