Jokes apart, I am a fan of Nyesom Wike, the current Governor of Rivers State. He is a visionary and a revolutionary. He is also bold and sincere! Like Rauf Aregbesola, the amiable former Governor of Osun State, Wike has capacity and a bias for action. He is also a listener’s delight!
The governor is a role model for how to be a good leader, especially when matters involving politics in a terrain like ours come to the fore. A man with a big tent and a sterner stuff, Wike speaks truth to power without fearing any foe or minding whose ox is gored. He is one leader who will neither suffer fools gladly nor cower at the sight of imminent danger!
Over the years, Wike has demonstrated that politics is not a game for the lily-livered or the tight-fisted. Rather, it is a survivalist game – an interest-driven one at that – for the brave and the kind-hearted. Only recently, the governor again demonstrated this essential attribute when he appointed no fewer than 200,000 Special Assistants on Political Unit Affairs (herein referred to as vote soldiers) and charged them to “help the state retain its prime position in the comity of states.”