Dr. Samson Parker served as the Commissioner of Health in the Rotimi Amaechi administration. In this interview, Parker insists that the Amaechi administration laid the foundation for the future of Rivers State. Excerpts:

By Dapo Akinrefon

The Buhari-led administration and other state governments recently celebrated one year in office. Do Rivers State people share in that cheer given the current economic conditions of the people?

The essence of leadership is primarily to create a vision that enables the people to be motivated enough to abide good and bad times.

Therefore, it is my view that we must get down to do more and talk less, when we talk it should be to give our people strength and hope that tomorrow will be a better day. When the current administration at federal level took over, there were clear decline in economic variables, we should expect a period of healing and weaning before that turn of events reverse, that bridging period will come with different experiences for different people, but we must strive to build a society that supports people with their differential needs under such conditions.

In Rivers, can we say there is cause to cheer in terms of development?

The gloomy outlook of the national and indeed the global oil price and the effects on our economy are self-evident. So, for the current government, we must reserve such judgement until such a time as we can truly weigh the decisive indicators, such as the availability of funds, issues of security, law and order, the accessibility of health and distribution of good health equally and equitably in society, financial and geographic access to education, housing, transportation and other basic services for all, opportunities for enhancement of economic capabilities and the ability of people at different levels to generate opportunities for better household income as well as the opportunity to acquire household assets that improves their quality of life, making life more meaningful for them.

The last government in Rivers state did all that it could to lay the foundation for delivering such benefits to the people.

What are your assessments on the current and future expectations for Rivers State?

Expectations border on potentials whether current or future and in that regard Rivers state is one of the states with the highest potentials.

The only way the state cannot be greater than what it is now is if we fail to apply the proper human agency to enhance the derivable from these potentials.

In terms of governance, what will you say most administrations  in Nigeria, at all levels, often fail to do that limit development?

In my view, what has limited our development is the unwillingness to follow the basic expectation of governance. To solve problems having been elected, we need to follow the policy formulation and implementation process and respect the rules of interactions between the people and the state.