A former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, has expressed disappointment in the posture of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, even as he urged the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara to push on, regardless of what he is facing in the hands of the minister.
This is coming even as the governor has said that he has already fought and won the battle against his government, but urged Rivers people to bother more about what will happen in the state which they are yet to see, rather than fret over what has already come to pass.
The duo spoke in front of the Kenule Benson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic in Bori Town, venue of the inauguration of 13.985 kilometers Bori internal roads project in Khana Local Government Area, on Tuesday.
He used the opportunity of his presence in Bori to warn Ogoni people against antagonisng strangers in their midst, saying it would be difficult for the town to develop without strangers.
The former PDP chairman who made veiled reference to Wike said: “I can tell you that the test of a leader, is when you find yourself in confusion, in frustration, and you come out of it with faith, even greater faith like Governor Siminalayi Fubara; you will know the real leader of the people. He is not a man who wants all for himself. We have seen him, and for those of us who are leaders and elders, we can see the change in our state, and even the traditional rulers can confirm.
“They will no longer be harassed, there will be no longer any toxic situation were Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries will be harassed. Your Excellency, today, I join you and all the rest of our Khana Local Government and the entire Ogoni and our dear Senatorial District headquarters to thank God on your behalf for what the Lord is doing for you.
“All I can say is ‘Be strong and be courageous’, because you will overcome your enemies. Those who are shouting in Abuja, how were they made? It is God and some of us and the leaders that are seated here today that made it possible. And I can recall during my thanksgiving service immediately I was made National Chairman, he said it clearly, that outside God, it was my humble self and other leaders that made it possible.
“Today, when he speaks, either in Abuja and here in Port Harcourt, he sounds as if he fell from Heaven down. Your Excellency, don’t worry, power comes from God. The same way God gave it to him through us, God has given it to you. And from what we have seen, you will excel because one thing that is important in the Ten Commandments is: ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, and you are spreading that part of the Ten Commandments around our State. You love everybody, you respect the leaders, you respect the elders, and all we have is to pray for you.”
On his part, Fubara promised that his administration will build cottage industries and provide social amenities to create good job opportunities and sources of wealth for the people to promote peace and accelerated development in the state.
He also expressed deep pity for supposed political leaders who, instead of working to advance their communities and the state, have become self-styled reprobate agents of destruction, and wondered why such agents find it difficult to understand the danger they cause themselves in the long-run dancing to the dictates of the same people who once had financial muscle but never pulled them out of the woods.
He said people sugarcoat bitterness they nurse in their hearts in the guise of love and work to undermine any effort of development, and emphasised that genuine love for the people must be expressed and seen to be selfless, sacrificial and consistent in advancing the common good and not gratifying sectional interest.
“My interest for this Senatorial District is genuine. It is not about what I intend to get, but I cannot be separated from this Senatorial District. The success of this Senatorial District is my success. So, I feel sorry and pity for those of you who have decided to be agents of destruction, more especially from this Senatorial District. You ask yourself, if they love you, why didn’t they better your lot before? That is the truth.
“Like I will tell all my supporters, God is our fighter. Don’t bother yourself about what you see today. What you should be worried about is what will happen that you’ve not yet seen. Not this one, if it’s this one, we have already conquered it.
“We did not make anything mistake when we decided that this project must be completed. It is not about who started it; it is about the interest of Khana people. It is about the interest of our Senatorial District. I am happy that I am here to see the inauguration of this project. Like what the Commissioner said, it is approximately 14km. We covered about 23 streets. This is just the first phase of it. I can assure you here that we are going to embark on the second phase.”
Fubara insisted that achieving the planned development of Khana Local Government Area will require the collective efforts of every body, which will transform into the success of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District.
He pointed to the fact that Bori Town was among the three old districts that were established in the past to drive development but was yet to achieve that status of a thriving urban city, and attributed such failure to the inability of successive administrations to muster the needed political will to pursue that development path round the state.
“We must develop this district. I want to assure you that we are not limiting our development of this Senatorial District, Bori Town in particular, to only roads. We will give you good hospitals. We will attend to the school issues, and we will try our best to make sure that we bring cottage industries to this place. That is the only way Bori will develop. When there is employment, that is when development will come rapidly into Bori. And we must do it together,” he said.
He appealed to Bori people in particular, and the entire Ogoni to be accommodating to strangers who live among them and allow them explore opportunities that could foster development, adding, “Our Polytechnic here used to be the best, but today, if not for the effort of the new management, it was going down everyday. The truth about it, is because of the way we are living with our strangers.
“We must change that attitude. We must be accommodating. It is only when strangers come into your place, that is when development will come. You can’t develop on your own. People must come, live with you, and you have to accommodate them.”
