Governor Wike at the Centre during his visit to Benue State
WHY WIKE’S N200 MILLION DONATION TO BENUE IDP IS NOT A DISSERVICE TO RIVERS PEOPLE
By Chikaodiri Orochi, Lagos No matter the level of conviction in the hearts of the All Progressive Congress (APC), I beg to disagree with them that Governor Nyesom Wike’s cash donation to the distressed people of Benue state is a disservice to Rivers people.
The APC seems to think that it is better to stash monies in safes or bury them underground or load monies idly in buildings and banks and allow them to rot away than to put monies in productive things. By the way, what has the government done with monies they claim have been retrieved from looters? For instance, the money from the Lagos building and others from former boss of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The government seem to enjoy looking at idle monies. This is counter-productive. Monies should be deployed to gainful use.
The N200 million cash donation by Wike is not bigger than monies sitting idle in banks and safes while the economy and the people are suffering.
Prayer we offer every morning is that never again shall what happened in Benue at the beginning of this year happen in any other part of the country. It is nightmarish to watch a brother or sister or father, mother or uncle being slaughtered right in your presence. More than a hundred persons were slaughtered in this form in Benue and their homes and farms burnt down by the invaders. No one would like to be a victim of such circumstance. But it happened to a people and the Federal Government did not even send a delegation to express sympathy let alone donating clothing or food items to the people.
Then a state governor did muscled out N200 million to help and the same government is raising an eye-brow.
I would rather judge Wike’s action as heroic and healthy for our national development and collective existence, an example the ruling APC have failed to show, an example worthy of emulation. For APC to criticise this action shows the height of selfishness and lack of empathy that has characterised the ruling APC. It shows their lack of readiness to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians in Benue state. It demonstrates to the world that APC is not people oriented party. The APC claimed that “whereas victims of killings and criminality in various parts of Rivers State are licking their wounds and wondering where help will come from, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has gone to visit and donate N200 million of Rivers State to victims of killings in Benue State.”
The golden rule states that you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Normally we interpret the golden rule as telling us how to act. But in practice, it goes beyond that, its greater role may be psychological, alerting us to everyday selfishness and self-absorption, and the consequences of our failure to consider and impact others. The rule reminds us also that we are peers to others who deserve comparable consideration. It suggests a general orientation toward others, an outlook for seeing our relations with them. At the least, it warns us against impacting others negatively, showing no care and lack of concern or empathy and against treating others’ interests as secondary. The golden rule is an egalitarian message. Only when it’s applied across various cultures can it become a truly revolutionary message and Governor Nyesom Wike as far as I am concerned is already leading the revolutionary battle. Only when this rule is made a centrepiece of social interaction, can there be sustainable growth and development in Nigeria. Herdsmen will stop killing their host communities when they learn this rule. Backlashers will stop backlashing when they learn this golden rule. Equity, fairness, equal rights and justice shall be achieved only when this rule is made a centrepiece for social interactions across Nigeria.
That said, many will argue just like the APC that Charity begins at home. But that is a misconception. When people say “Charity begins at home’ they very often mean you should look after your own kids, family and own circle first and only then can you be kind to other people, that is not the original meaning of the proverb. The original meaning is that charity begins in the home – that is to say kids learn charity in the home, and charity entails obeying the golden rule. What makes a life worth living can be summed up in one answer – the good life is the life lived for others. It’s a life lived according to this fundamental moral principle; that we should treat other people the way we would like to be treated ourselves. That we should put other people’s happiness ahead of our own and not just only pursue our own happiness. It is a tradition that I think is in all of us (except perhaps the APC). In Africa, It has certainly been culturally transmitted and some schools of thoughts are now suggesting it might have even been genetically transmitted. Governor Wike has shown brotherly love to the people of Benue and should be commended, he has shown selflessness which is the hallmark of true leadership.
Whereas the Governor should be commended for his act of heroism, he should more so look inwards in his state to address all issues that needed to be addressed. He should do one without neglecting the other. I challenge all other state governors to reciprocate this kind gesture to the people of Rivers State. I am convinced that this lack of empathy and concern when something happens to a particular people in a particular region in the country is not the right way to go, if we must build a strong and prosperous nation.
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