(By Udems)
It was Albert Einstein who said that “Nothing happens untill something moves”. To move something, we must think like men of action, and act like a men of thought. This is because the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation; the hand is the cutting edge of the mind. As Russell C. Taylor puts it, “Being willing is not enough; we must do”.
These best explain Governor Wike of Rivers State. He is a colossal man of action. He is not the type who waits to believe in action before acting; he’s the one who acts as he breathes. He understands that the true test of a real leader lies in action.
In August 2020, Governor Wike visited Nigerian Law School, Yenagoa Campus, Bayelsa State, and publicly promised to build two student hostels and a 1,500-student-capacity Lecture Auditorium for the Campus. (See:”Wike To Build Two Hostels, 1500-Seater Hall At Nigerian Law School Yenagoa” August 29, 2020: <https://independent.ng/wike-to-build-two-hostels-1500-seater-hall-at-nigerian-law-school-yenagoa/>)
Prolific writer Lailah Gifty Akita said, “hope is the assurance of the promise, the belief that the promised will be fulfilled”, True to his words, news has just emerged that “His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Governor of Rivers State, shall on Friday, June 4, 2021, visit [Nigerian Law School, Yenagoa] Campus to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of the projects he promised last year”. Promise kept! How many Nigerian politicians keep their promises? Wike is a keeper of promises, a lover of the judiciary, of the legal profession and especially of legal education.
Apart from then Gov. Shekarau of Kano State, Gov. Shema of Katsina, Gov. Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, and a couple of others, Governor Wike is the one who has taken legal education, the judiciary and the legal profession the most seriously. Governor Wike has done noble in the Bayelsa Campus of the Law School. May God give Nigeira more people like Nyesom Wike who would care about the progress of legal education in Nigeria. If 5 more Governors could be like Governor Wike of Rivers State, legal education and the legal profession would be the best for it. Education is everyone’s responsibility; this Wike knows. One of the best and easiest ways to bring development and civilization to a country is to start by developing its education system and sector.
This commentator had this to say (in 2017) about education: “…education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change your country and the world… an investment in education pays the greatest dividend….. education is not the filling of the pail; it is the lighting of a fire. Good and quality education replaces an empty mind with an open mind… a country without good and quality education is bereft of good life…education is not just a preparation for life; it is life itself. ”A nation without a good education and education system possesses no soul!” (See: “A Nation`s Journey To True Greatness: What Nigerians Must Copy In the Americans” by Sylvester Udemezue on May 29, 2017 <https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/amp/news/251732/a-nations-journey-to-true-greatness-what-nigerians-must-co.html>).
Your Excellency, you’re welcome to Yenagoa today, June 04, 2021. Come in peace and go in peace. And as you have recognized the need to develop legal education and remembered the Nigerian Law School in particular, may God give you higher leadership positions to enable you do more in more places in the interest of humanity. A man of valor. Rise higher to do more!
Procedamus in pace, Your Excellency!
Best wishes sir.
Respectfully,
Sylvester “udems” Udemezue.
(04/June/2021)