Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has said if elected governor in 2023, his administration will take decisions that will be in the best interest of the people of the state.
Abe disclosed this during an award ceremony tagged: ‘Ogoni Arise’ held in his honour by the Ogoni Liberation Initiative in Bori, headquarters of Khana local government area of the state.
He said: “Let me say this for everybody to hear; we need to build our state. We can’t build the state by trying to keep any group down.
“When you try to keep anybody down, you must stay on the group to hold the other person down and so you too you are down.
“But, when you are struggling to lift people up, you stand and as you stand, you help to lift others and so you too you are lifted in the process of raising people.
“What Rivers State needs is a community where we will lift one another, where we will break down all our boundaries, where we will take decisions in the best interest of the state, not for any personal purposes or interest.”
The SDP governorship candidate said under his administration, the state will be open for businesses to operate, adding that ethnicity or state of origin would not count.
Abe said: “If somebody wants to do business, we don’t have to start asking what we get, where is he from, where is he locating the business and then the one that does not suit you personally you try to pull the person down.
“People come here they want to set up business, they are trying to see government officials for weeks and months, they cannot access any help from government officials.
“I was in government and I saw it happen again and again and again. There is an Ogoni son who wanted to set up a business and he brought the people, all they wanted was to see the governor and hear from him.
“We tried and tried and tried, the governor simply had no time and the people went back, and they went back with that business. We will not allow that happen again,” he maintained.
Earlier, Dr. Douglas Fabeke, Facilitator of Ogoni Liberation Initiative stated that the group which has over thirty-five thousand membership across the six kingdoms of Ogoni has been keenly following the political profile of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe.
Dr. Fabeke said the group have realized that he (Abe) has the institutional memory and the capacity to turn around the fortunes of the Ogoni people and Rivers state at large.
“We have been watching your profile and have seen you as a father and a son that we can be proud of. I am under daily threat because I speak the truth. I
“I want to also let you know that you will be the next governor of Rivers State. God is going to empower you to put away the evils committed against the Ogoni people in this state.
“I have always stood for what I believe and what I’m fighting for, and I think that with your intimidating political profile and the way you have fought, we need to identify with you and join you to fight for the success of your governorship ambition and with God on our side, we shall win.”
Continuing, he said, “Ogoni people have been sold, there are so many things that we need to tell you when you become governor, I am also preparing a document we have written to give to you to act upon.
” I know you are going to be the governor of Rivers state.
“The mandate God has given to you is to see how you can liberate this land so that industries can come in.
“We may not need money because some of us are highly connected to global investors, all we need is that approval for us to go ahead; the political will because you see all of them that are standing here are enough.
“Moreso, now that our eyes are focused on our believe, we have a man who is ready to stand and if he is ready to stand, we must take a step and change the stories and that is why we are here.
“We have decided to take a step and follow you, I’m not a party man, I’m doing the mandate of liberation. When the time for party comes,we will give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar.
” I will not act against this conscience because I know the number of people that have been killed on this land. The God that we serve will crown you because you have fought to give us hope and we are going to follow you”.
Fabeke further explained that they were out to identify with Senator Abe’s aspiration and for the political liberation of the Ogoni people.
“We are going to fight and bring back the glory of Ogoni land. I know that if you are there you will not allow anybody to touch Fabeke because until Ogoni becomes Dubai I will not stop.
“Today we recognize you as the political icon of the year.”
