Group Wants Ogoniland to Produce Governor in 2023

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

A non-governmental organisation under the aegis of Concerned Ogoni Leaders has urged Ogoni political leaders to work together to have the next Rivers State governor come from the land.

Also, former Senator representing Rivers South-East senatorial district at the National Assembly, Magnus Abe, has appealed to former Senator Bennett Birabi to treat his fellow Ogoni people with respect and avoid going to the public space to cast them down.

The Convener of the group, Dr. Lelonu Nwibubasa, made the call yesterday in a meeting held in Port Harcourt.

Nwibubasa, who was a former state Commissioner for Empowerment and Employment Generation, said it was the constitutional right of every Rivers citizen to vie for the office of the governor of the state irrespective of his ethnicity.

He noted that: “The state Governor, Nyesom Wike, advised political leaders in the state during our visit to him on his birthday that they should declare their interest to contest for the office of the state governor in 2023, as democrat cannot be expected to impose any candidate base on ethnic consideration on others.

“Our governor has demonstrated palpable and verifiable evidence of productive friendship and love for the Ogoni people like no other; the landmark project of the construction of the dualised Saakpenwa Bori Kono Road is a testament amid plethora of others.

“Our duty, therefore, as patriotic Ogoni people is to take our best products to the political arena of choice, rally the support of others and advance compelling reasons for these leaders to be given the chance to maintain and promote the enduring legacies of Wike.

“Our political leaders who have showed strong interest in contesting in the 2023 governorship election are men of character and courage; let us give them our support; let all men that are available transmit their abilities to the one that is capable, only then shall we not be politically vulnerable in 2023.”

Meanwhile, Senator Abe has maintained that what Ogoni needs now is a goodwill from Rivers people across the spectrum, therefore, “our words and actions should promote friendship and love across board, within and outside Ogoni, if we really want the integration of the Ogoni people.”

The senator, who made the appeal in a statement posted on his official Facebook page titled: ‘We Are Not Minions’, said: “When we do that, we give credibility to those who see disunity in Ogoni as our biggest challenge.”

The senator stated that the derogatory reference to other Ogoni people by one of their own is too painful to ignore, and wondered why Senator Birabi would describe Ogoni people who served in the state government or support the governors as “minions”.

He argued that although the Ogoni people are looking for something because they have been marginalised in the politics of Rivers State, “we cannot look for something at the cost of our reputation.”

The statement read in parts: “My attention has been drawn to a public statement issued by Senator Bennett Birabi on the marginalisation of the Ogoni people in the politics of Rivers State.

“I want to use this opportunity to publicly appeal to the senator to treat his fellow Ogoni people with respect; it is only then that he can reasonably expect others to follow his own example. Ogoni has been marginalised and traumatised, but let us do more to help ourselves heal our own wounds.”