23/01/2023
EVERYONE WHO LIVES, WORKS AND DOES BUSINESS IN RIVERS STATE WILL BE GIVEN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND TREATED FAIRLY
—SENATOR ABE TO IGBO COMMUNITY IN RIVERS STATE
Distinguished Senator Magnus Abe, Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) spoke yesterday at Freedom House, Port Harcourt, after the Igbo community in Rivers State unanimously endorsed him for Governor.
Read below his speech:
What is happening here is unprecedented in the history of politics Rivers State.
Everybody who understands politics in Rivers State understands that the Igbos are a significant block in this state. And anybody with the support of the Igbos is already a front-runner. And because of that, every political group focuses attention on the Igbos And so the igbos have never come together to endorse only one candidate.
This is the first time in the history of politics in this state that the igbo people, Indi-Igbo in Rivers State have come together across party lines, across every divide to endorse one candidate for the governorship of Rivers State and I Magnus Ngei Abe, I am the beneficiary of that grace.
I did not campaign for it. I did not lobby for it. I have not spent a penny. Even the cloth I'm wearing here was provided for me by the igbo people. All I had to do was to come here today and accept your love. That's all I have to do altogether.
This kind of trust, this kind of commitment, this kind of love to a politician in this country where nobody believes anything that any politician says is unprecedented. My prayer today is that Almighty God who holds the future in his hands and knows us even more than we know ourselves, will not allow me to disappoint you.
And let me put it on record that the Igbo people did not ask me for anything. There is no pre-negotiation. All they told me was I should serve the State and see that people are protected so they can do their business. That is the oath that we actually take when we take office. That is all you have asked me to do, that I should abide by the oath of office that I will swear before you all.
Let me assure you, I know and I have said it several times and I think everybody is beginning to believe it now, even with what we are seeing today, that on the 29 of May this year I will be sworn-in as the governor. And I promise you I have neither silver nor gold, but I will uphold the oath of the office of the Governor. Everybody in this state will be treated fairly and justly.
Everybody, regardless of where you come from and who you are, everybody in this state that is ready to work hard and prosper will be given an opportunity in which hard work will yield prosperity. Everybody who lives here, you vote here, you bring up your children here., you have called this place your home, we will build a home together in Rivers State that all of us will be proud of, and most importantly, I think it is important that I say this, there will be no excuses.
I will not come back to stand in front of Rivers people and begin to give excuses why we cannot do what is right and why we cannot make your lives better.
I will not come and tell you that it is because there is no fiscal federalism, that is why we cannot prosper. I will not come and tell you that because there is corruption in Nigeria, that is why we cannot prosper. I will not come and tell you that it is because of any obstacle or opposition or any kind of challenge whatsoever that we will not be able to overcome it and build prosperity in this land. There will be no excuses. whatever the challenges will be. Those challenges will be the reason why we will gather together as Rivers people to give thanks and glory to God, that despite all those challenges, we were still able to work hard, work together and build a land here that all of us will be proud of.
We will not only make Nigerians proud, we will make black people across the world proud. Because we will show to the world that there is nothing that other people can achieve that we cannot achieve here if we try. The only real challenge we have in this country is that rather than come together to look for ideas to overcome the problems and challenges that we face, we spend all our time talking about the problems we have, talking about the reasons why we cannot do things. And while we argue and we bicker, our children are growing older in ignorance. They are growing growing older in unemployment. They are growing older in criminality. We are getting poorer and we are shortchanging one another in every way.
On the 29th of May this year, by the grace of Almighty God, all that will come to an end in Rivers State. I want to assure you that it will not be easy for us to do the things we have said needs to be done. We know that it will be difficult, but we also count on you.
Endorsing me for this position, supporting me the way I know you will support me, voting for me the way I know you will do, is only the beginning. The real battle for creating the kind of life that we used to know here and even better than that will begin after we take the office.
I have told people the story and the example of China that in China, in this our generation, China was one of the poorest countries in the world.
They were so poor that they were forced to introduce the one child policy in China where they decided that because of poverty, nobody should give birth to more than one child. But in this same generation, without much help from the outside, the Chinese people were able to come together and build wealth that is unquestionable. Today, everybody is going to China to borrow money. Everybody is going to China to manufacture goods. The Chinese that couldn't feed themselves when they were less than 900 million people, today they are close to 1.5 billion people. They are not only feeding themselves, they are feeding the world and sending food to us in Nigeria.
We here in Rivers State can do the same. Let us not be taken aback by what is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria will go the way Nigeria will go, but we can set an example here as to what Nigerians can achieve.
We don't need fiscal federalism to count the number of children we have in our classrooms, know their names and know how many teachers that are needed. We don't need fiscal federalism to be able to gather as a people and agree on the amount of taxes that should be paid in our state. We don't need fiscal federalism to be able to discuss with the security agencies and provide security for every Rivers man and woman who is living and residing here in our state to be able to sleep with their two eyes closed and do their business with certainty.
We don't need fiscal federalism for us to have courts that are funded by the state and work in the interests of the people of this state, that dispense justice without interference and will do right to both the rich and the poor.
We don't need fiscal fedralism for us to be able to put our heads and our hearts together, to decide that we will do what is right to one another, lifting each other up when we need to be lifted up. We don't need fiscal federalism to be able to call our children that are doing things that we don't like, that have no means of livelihood and discuss with them, to provide proper opportunities for them to be able to make a living in our land and behave properly so that we can all grow.
There is so much that we, as people with brains, with eyes to see our problems and with hands to work on them, there is so much we can do to build a better life for ourselves in our lifetime.
The one thing I say to all Rivers people is that we must all realize that we have only one life. And if we don't use this our one life properly, live it well, enjoy it well, make money here, eat the money here, play with our children here, watch them grow here, take pride here in what we are able to achieve, then of what use is the life that we have? What use is it?
And everyday, the opportunity to do these things continue to slip us by while we argue and we bicker.
Today, Igbo people have shown an uncommon example of faith and commitment to the society that we want to build here. You have been able to cross your boundaries and differences to come together, to point a direction for the rest of Rivers people. I am indeed very very grateful to you. What you have done here today, will have a great impact on the politics of Rivers State.
Before we wake up tomorrow, people will begin to say this and say that, but like I keep saying, after them run Kitikitikiti, run katakatakataka, the train is still moving the way it is supposed to go. We are moving ahead.
So for me, I am humbled and I am challenged. I have always said to people that we can say what we like, but in terms of capacity, in terms of ability, in terms of the way to do things and the ability to get things right, nobody can take it away from Ndigbo. Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, and what you have done today is another example of that. This is a show of courage. It's a show of determination at a time when here in Rivers State, if I even get up to go and see some chiefs they will say ah they are afraid o, you know there is order 21, there is order 22. Let them not come and demolish my house, come in the night, come through the back door.
But here are Igbos. Courageous, bold, brave. You have taken a position. You have taken a position. You have stated where you stand. If it is good, it is good for us. If it is bad, it is bad for us. That is how men live and this is how men should live. So for me I have nothing in my heart but gratitude. And I want to assure you that as the sun shines and the wind will always blow, by the grace of God everyday we remember today in the future we will remember it with happiness and with love. That is my prayer.
Nobody knows what the future holds but everybody knows who holds the future. It is Almighty God. And therefore it is to him that we must commit this gathering that the outcome of what we have done today will be a blessing to us and to our generations. Because this is something that you have done in good faith and with love. It will return many fold blessings to you and I thank you.
