…Urged to Rally Round Gov. Amaechi
The Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and member representing Khana Constituency 11, Hon. Leyii Kwanee has assured the Ogonis of clinching the 2015 governorship of the State if only they could sustain their support for Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, at this critical period of the political situation in the State.
Speaking while receiving a delegation of the National Association of Ogoni Media Workers ( NAOMEW) led by its President,Mr. Joe Visangha, in his office in Port Harcourt, the Deputy Speaker said that there was nothing wrong for the Ogonis to aspire to rule the State as such has eluded them in the past.
He said that Governor Amaechi was disposed to giving favourable attention to the the aspiration of the Ogonis and appealed to them not to allow the opposition to the governor to infiltrate into Ogoni land.
“Governor Amaechi has worked tirelessly for the Ogoni people. So, I want to enjoin all Ogonis and even you as Ogoni media workers to give your support to the governor because if we are talking of an Ogoni man becoming governor in 2015, if we don’t give sufficient support to the man who is there now, then there is no hope for us”.
He described the governor as a worthy son of Rivers State who has performed so well not only in Ogoni but the entire Rivers State and should not be abandoned at this critical time adding that with the Rivers people solidly behind the governor no plot hatched anywhere no matter how sacred would not materialize.
Responding further to the address of the group of neglect at the federal level, the Deputy speaker said that the lack of federal presence will be tabled through their representatives at the national level adding that the Ogonis deserved appropriate attention now that a South-South citizen is the President of Nigeria and promised to ensure a concerted effort with the representatives of the Ogonis at the national Assembly to push their case.
The Deputy Speaker who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Exchange and Mentorship Programme of the Pan-African Parliament, promised to collaborate with the group to ensure that peace reign in Ogoni land.
He said that the crisis in the area over the years is disturbing and that peaceful steps must be taken to ensure the resolution of every flash point in the area and urged the group as Journalists to assist in this regard.
” Everyday you will hear of crisis in K-dere, crisis in B-dere, crisis in kaani. All over Ogoni, there is no place that there is peace. So, if we don’t put our house in order how can we position ourselves to demand for the UNEP report implementation”, he said.
Ealier in his address, the President said that they were in the Deputy Speaker’s office to congratulate him on his election as the Deputy Speaker as well as intimate him of some of the issues that have continued to concern them as an association as they affect Ogoni.
The president listed the issues to include among others the UNEP Report, neglect at the federal level, abandonement of the Bodo-Bonny road, intra and inter communal crisis, Bodo West oil field on the map of Ogu/Bolo and Bonny Local Government Area, ceding away some part of Ogoni land,continued ecological and environmental degradation and its attendant health hazards.
The highpoint of the visit was the decoration of the Deputy Speaker with a badge as the grand patron of the Association.