by Mike Odiegwu
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Nyesom Wike, has advised Nigerians to reject the coalition and its platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) describing its new leaders as naysayers and unpatriotic.
Wike said the coalition was only interested in grabbing power from President, Bola Tinubu, despite all of them having no records of achievement in the various past positions.
He said Tinubu on assumption of office took some painful but necessary decisions that would eventually turnaround the country for good insisting that some intoads had been made.
Wike spoke at the university’s 35th Combined Convocation and 50th Anniversary of the University of Port Harcourt shortly after the institution decorated him with Honorary Doctor of Science degree in Political Science.
To further honour the Minister, the university named its Convocation Arena, which was built by Wike in 2024 after him.
The arena was officially inaugurated by the Rivere Sole Administrator, Ibok Ibas as part of activities of the university’s 35 Combined Convocation and 50th Anniversary.
The University also conferred on the Adamawa Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri an honorary doctoral degree
The Minister observed that members of the coalition were preoccupied with peddling lies and hate against Tinubu and his government.
But he said some of the policies of the administration had started yielding fruits citing the steady drop in the price of fuel and others.
Wike said: through his Renewed Hope Agenda he has with the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund among other remarkable initiatives starting the dramatic transformation of tertiary education landscape in such a way that soon no willing child will be denied access to qualify education because of economic hardship.
”Our country is undoubtedly on the path of positive ascendency and very soon the impact will be visible even ro the blind and obvious even to the cynically minded”.
Addressing the coalition, he said: “We must resist the purveyors of lies, hate and division who seek to destroy our country.
“These men and women who coalesce under the banner of so called Coalition and propelling a division of grandeur and perpetual fight for relevance and political power.
“If you interrogate their profiles will find that they have been in office for almost all their lives. Yet they have nothing concrete to show of their achievements in building an enduring nation
” In only two years of this administration they are congregating and aerigating to destroy rather than build and rather than reconstruct our hithero battered country for which most of them have been active dramatis personae in the willful destruction of our politics and economy which they painfully orchectrated in their respective tenure in office.
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“We know these naysayers and you are enjoyed to reject them and their unpatriotic drum beats of division and failed propaganda”.
The FCT Minister said his support for the University of Port Harcourt both as Governor and a Minister, was borne out of the positive influence the federal institution had on him as an alumnus.
Wike said: “It is in the light of the foregoing that I have always strongly believed that every alumnus should give back to the university as a mark of pure gratitude.
“This also explains why I freely give to this institution whenever I have had the opportunity to so do”.
Wike recalled that throughout his duty tours, he had always referred to himself as a happy alumnus of the UNIPORT insisting that all his positive gestures were a deliberate pursuit of commitment to gratitude for a university he said gave him a lot.
He said: “To this extent, you would recall that even though this university was established in 1975 as a conventional university, there was no Law faculty in this university.
“So when I became a Minister of State (for) Education, I saw it as an opportunity that we must have a faculty of law.
“I’m glad that the Vice-Chancellor said it here today that today, we have a Faculty of Law. I did not only end at that; I said there must be a befitting faculty of Law building, and I insisted, and today, we have that faculty of Law,” the former Rivers State Governor stated.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, recalled that the first convocation of the university in 1982, was held in the old arena.
He said: “We are proud today, to celebrate the 35th convocation in our 50th year of existence in this fantastic edifice, built two years ago by Rivers Government during Wike’s administration,” he said.
In his remarks, Ibas lauded the contribution of Wike to the development of the institution saying that the conception and construction of the arena under Wike’s stewardship, reflected his enduring legacy in infrastructural and educational development.
He said: “The ultra-modern convocation arena, now proudly inaugurated, is a testament to what is possible when vision is aligned with commitment. Your Excellency, we honour your foresight.
“This arena, both in design and purpose, is not only a venue for convocation, it is also a sanctuary where dreams are validated; where academic journeys culminate in triumphs; and where future leaders will be publicly honoured.
“It will involve policy dialogues, innovation exhibitions and ceremonies that shaped the character and capacities of generations to come,” he said.
Ibas said that the edifice was symbolic, adding that it represented continuity and a bridge between legacy of excellence and the promise of tomorrow.
