Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said no state government should use COVID-19 as an excuse not to invest in infrastructural development that will foster economic development and prosperity.
Wike stated this while conducting Senate Chief Whip and former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu on a facility tour of the ultramodern Government House hospital and Administrative building in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Thursday.
Governor Wike in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said the state would not join the league of States that hide under the guise of COVID-19 pandemic to deny their people basic infrastructure like roads which is universally acknowledged as a major contributor to higher economic productivity, growth and trade.
“COVID-19 cannot be an excuse to any government. COVID-19 is a bad thing, but it has come. It will go whether we like it or not. But people will also be alive. Infrastructure must be provided. So, you can’t say because of COVID 19 nothing will be done. At the time COVID 19 ends, what will the people be facing? Lack of basic infrastructure.
“So, because of COVID-19, I am not going to be doing anything? I am not a party to that. I will continue to work whether there is COVID-19 or not?”
The Governor said his administration has been investing in high-quality infrastructure that has positive economic value that can stimulate job creation, boost foreign direct investment in the State.
