Rivers State Governor Siminialayi Fubara yesterday said he has conquered the political challenges confronting his administration and the state.
Urging the people not to worry about future events, the governor who spoke in Khan Local Government and Ogoni, said the agents of destruction had failed.
Fubara, who led former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Uche Seconds, to inaugurate 14km Bori internal roads, said he would intensify the infrastructural development of the state.
Last week, the Court of Appeal set aside the judgement of a Federal High Court that Rivers State cannot receive its statutory allocations from the Federation Account.
The governor said: “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 don’t know or seen. Not this one,. it is this, we have already conquered it”.
Fubara, who said he cannot abandon the senatorial district, lamented that some people in the area being used as agents of destruction.
“So, I feel sorry and pity for those of you who have decided to be agents of destruction, especially from this senatorial District. Ask yourself, if they loved you, why didn’t they better your lives before?”
Describing Khana as the political headquarters of the senatorial district, the governor said he had insisted that the internal road project shoukd be completed.
Fubara added: “It is not about who started it, it is about the interest of the Khana people and 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 about 13.985km, which is approximately 14 kilometers, covering 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 of it. Why are we doing this? We are talking about love for your people. It is not about love because there is something that you are looking for, then, you sugarcoat bitterness”.
Fubara said stakeholders should join hands to develop Bori, saying that the ancient town was among the three districts established during the colonial era.
He said: “I want to assure you that we are not limiting our development of this senatorial district, Bori in particular, to only roads. We will give you good hospitals. We will rehabilitate the schools as raised here and we will try our best to bring cottage industries to this place.
“That is the only way Bori will be developed. When there is employment, that is when there will be rapid development in Bori and we must do it together”.
Fubara appealed to Ogoni and Khana people to shun tribalism and embrace other people.
He lamented that the polytechnic in the area would have lost its glory, but for the efforts of the management.
He said: “The truth about it is because of the way we are living with strangers and we must change that attitude. We must be accommodating. It is only when strangers come into your place that development will come.”
“You can’t develop on your own. People must come, live with you and you accommodate them so that development will come. Please, I am appealing to you, you must learn to accommodate strangers so that we can develop Bori. I am not a stranger. I am from Zakpor. So, it is not about me”.
The governor thanked the people for supporting him, urging them to continue to have trust in his administration.
He said his administration would ensure that the on-going zonal hospital projects in Bori would be the first to be commissioned in few months to resolve the issues of healthcare.
Fubara added: “My appeal to you is to work peacefully with everyone and that is the only way we can bring more development to this place.”
The governor said he chose Secondus to inaugurate the project because he understood politics.
Fubara recalled that many of them started life in the area in the 70s after the civil war, adding that his father and uncle spent their working years in Bori.
He said: “There is nobody in this senatorial district that did not pass through this place and we must join hands to make sure that we improve Bori and Bori should be another place people will be yearning to live, not only Port Harcourt City”.
Secondus said God made all the leaders and wondered why some persons were behaving as if they fell from heaven.
In apparent reference to Nyesom Wike, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Secondus said some people had forgotten how they rose to political stardom.
He said: “Those who are shouting in Abuja, how were they made? It was God. Some of us, and the leaders seated here today that made it possible. God first, because we do not want to take God’s glory.
“I can recall during my thanksgiving service, immediately after I was made national chairman, he said it clearly, outside God, it was my humble self and other leaders who made it possible. Today, when he speaks, either in Abuja or here, it appears as if he fell from heaven”.
Secondus described Fubara as a humble man of few words, who also has respect for elders.
He said: “I can tell you, the test of a leader is when you find yourself in confusion and frustration, yet come out of it with even greater faith. Like Governor Fubara, you will see the real leader of the people. He is not a man who seeks accolades. We have seen him.
“Those of us who are leaders and elders can see the change in our state. Even the traditional rulers can confirm that they are no longer harassed, and there are no longer toxic situations for commissioners and permanent secretaries
“Do not worry. Power comes from God. The same way God gave it to him through us, God has given it to you. From what we are seeing, you will excel. One thing that is important in the Ten Commandments is, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. You are spreading that part of the Ten Commandments across our state. You love everybody. You respect leaders and elders, and all we can do is pray for you”.
Secondus added: “It is almost a miracle and wonderful to see this facelift—something we have been yearning for over decades. Today, it has come true. The governor of Rivers State, with his policy of urban renewal, has taken seriously the fact that we can no longer carry the tag of a one-city state. Therefore, Bori is on its way to becoming a modern city in Nigeria very soon.
“By the time the Eleme Junction-Onne section of the East-West Road is completed, the journey from Bori to Port-Harcourt should take about 20 minutes. We will be able to comfortably stay in Bori and go to work in Port Harcourt”.
The Commissioner for Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi, said 23 internal roads were reconstructed.
He said the roads covered different locations such as Kenule Street, Mkpe Street, Mgbor Street,Agaba Street, Benson Street, Winners Street, Muna Street, Bue Street, Zobari Street, Yokana Street, Salvation Street, Ndonake Street, Faithway, Zami, Polytechnic road, Sigalo close, Back of Police Station Street, RTC road, Taaba road, Kaani road, Bank road, Campus road and Ken Poly Management Campus road.
He added: “All these roads put together were built and the total length is 13.985 kilometers, 10,000 kilometers of drains, and in all the roads we have basic specifications of 150mm of stone base, 50mm of binder course and 50 mm of wearing course.”
