My
beloved people of Rivers State
It
is with great humility and gratitude to God Almighty, who makes all things well
that I address you today. I feel so humbled, blessed and grateful to God, whose
holy hands in my life and the trust you have in me, provided the opportunity
for me to serve as your Governor for the next four years. Let me on behalf of
the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency, Dr. Mrs. Ipalibo Harry Banigo express our
deep appreciation to you all for bestowing this great honour and responsibility
on us.
2.
Rivers State has been rescued and reclaimed. It is a new day in our history, a
new dawn to repair and restore our dear State to the path of sanity. I invite
you all to the table of brotherhood for the new beginning. I reiterate my
declaration that in the election there were no losers and winners. Rather,
Rivers State was the winner and so we are all winners.
3.
During the campaigns, we visited several communities in all the local
government areas. We met with thousands of people including civil servants,
teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, traders, market women, the business
community, pensioners and the unemployed. We were shocked by the level of
despair, anguish, frustration, pains and worries on the faces of all those we
met.
4.
We noticed that so many people were worried about the pervasive poverty in the
land and the hardship they and their families were going through. So many
parents were worried about the future of their children against the backdrop of
failing public education and the lack of decent jobs for school leavers. People
raised concerns about the continuous violence, crime and insecurity in our
neighbourhoods. Above all, people were worried about the systemic failure of
governance and lack of service delivery. The more the people expected their
difficulties to be ameliorated, the more the government betrayed their trust
and exacerbated their sufferings.
5.
Friends, let us be frank to ourselves. Today, Rivers State is at the
crossroads. The economy is in shambles and retrogressing by the day. Poverty is
pervasive. The rate of unemployment remains a nightmare to our youths. Workers
and pensioners salaries are months in arrears unpaid. The menaces of crimes
continue to unsettle peace and security of lives, property and businesses.
Infrastructure is seriously broken; healthcare and water services are abysmal,
while public education continues to fall below desirable outcomes.
6.
No doubt, Rivers State has just been relieved of the most decadent case of
maladministration in our history – an administration that mindlessly borrowed
and frittered public resources on wasteful projects, sold our valuable assets
at underpriced rates to fronts and cronies and left the State financially
crippled with a heavy debt burden.
7.
For four years my predecessor ruled over us with the mindset of a dictator and
promoted impunity to levels unimaginable. For as long as he presided, all his
actions and inactions were prodded by obsessive lust for power actuated by a
self-indulgent messianic gusto. That is why up to this moment he has refused to
get reconciled to the reality of the new political order and the resounding
rejection by Rivers people of everything he symbolizes.
8.
In his desperation to sabotage our vision, he refused to consent to a smooth
transition and mischievously left us to wallow in the dark. He prevented us
from accessing even the most elementary ceremonial facilities in his custody.
It was so bad that we had to travel to Ondo State to acquire the open police
parade vehicle as well as buy our own machines for the escort riders. Having
vowed without any just cause never to allow the manifestation of today’s
glorious reality, he fruitlessly executed various sadistic schemes to scuttle
our inauguration. In the last one week alone he sought in vain to procure
spurious court orders from the Federal High Court in Owerre, Lagos, Port Harcourt,
Abuja and Kano to prevent today’s swearing-in ceremony and plunge the State
into chaos and senseless political crisis. What a wanton display of ungodly
hatred and impunity!
9.
As you know, every democratic government rests on a tripod. Good governance
principles always dictate the supremacy of the rule of law as well as the
equality, autonomy and interdependence of the Executive, the Legislature and
the Judiciary. Never is any one arm of government permitted to dominate,
castrate or undermine the dignity, powers and relevance of the other arms.
10.
Unfortunately, these hallowed principles of democracy and good governance meant
nothing to my predecessor in office who, despite being the direct beneficiary
of the rule of law, became its greatest betrayer with imperious rascality. At
the last count, no public institution, including the State’s House of Assembly,
the State’s Judiciary, the Civil Service and the Traditional rulers was spared
from the Governor’s crass abuse of powers.
11.
For four years our dear Rivers State was denied the electoral services of the
State House of Assembly. For reasons of self-preservation the Assembly was
sharply divided and the Governor’s lackeys exchanged their dignity for wraps of
rotten porridge from Government House. They repudiated their responsibilities,
put the Assembly complex under lock and key and preferred to operate from
Government House under the influence and control of the godfather to the
detriment of effective legislative duties and oversights.
12.
For the same reasons of self-preservation, the outgone administration
deliberately contrived a needless succession crisis in the State’s judiciary
and instigated an irrational strike among the staff of the Judiciary to
completely dislocate the judicial system. And as he had wished, our courts have
remained closed to litigants, lawyers and the public with the attendant pains
and inconveniences since June 2014 till this day.
13.
Not done with his destructive agenda, the former Governor descended on our
traditional institutions. He deliberately bastardized and desecrated our
time-honoured traditional institutions by the wanton balkanization of a number
of such stools as it suited his ego. This was especially so with our royal
fathers who maintained the dignity, prestige and decorum demanded of their
exalted thrones. Never in the history of our dear State had our traditional
institutions been subjected to undue politicization and contemptuous treatment.
14.
I commend you all on the pains you have had to bear and the inconveniences you
have had to endure while the macabre dance lasted from a truly bitter ruler on
an imaginary vengeance mission. But the good news is that it is over! It is
indeed over. I salute the warriors of our struggle who made today possible. I
alone, should not and cannot earn the credit. Never! It is our collective
victory.
15.
Congratulations again my dear people of Rivers State. Let the freedom bells
ring! Let the people shout for joy. Let them leap and sing to God, who heard
our cries and today impunity and tyranny have been put to rout. The
vicissitudes of the old ignoble order have come to pass. Only the remnants
remain. For our elders say: “The fire wood dies, but the ashes bear its
memory”. We shall send the ashes to the dustbin of history. But, let me
admonish like the philosophers would say: ``eternal vigilance is the prize of
liberty!’’ We must be on guard to ensure proper cleansing of the Augean Stable!
16.
But this we promise. Never again, shall our people and our land be subjected to
destruction and waste by those we mistook, perhaps, for builders. They failed
us. They took away our mandate, pilfered our resources and, like the prodigal
son, wasted them with strangers. Thank God and providence. With the resilience
of our people we have recovered our land for the good of all.
17.
As we reiterated at several fora during the campaigns, our blueprint is an
agenda of hope. We pledged to offer a New Rives Vision based on a new thinking.
Our goal is to make Rivers State a land of peace and prosperity with boundless
opportunities and possibilities – a place where no one is left behind because
of his or her station and everyone who works hard can achieve his or her life’s
dreams. Please be assured that we are committed to actualizing our vision and
mission already in the public domain.
18.
Now that we have become victorious and have arrived at the home ward end of our
beautiful water-side, it is time to work, to erect landmarks of progress and
prosperity. Yes, it is time to deconstruct, reconstruct, rehabilitate and
restore the damage inflicted on our common wealth.
19.
Now is the time for us to rebuild. To rebuild our State; to rebuild our
educational and health institutions; to rebuild our occupations and to rebuild
our infrastructure. It is time to provide new opportunities to maximally touch
the lives of our people. It is time to restore hope.
20.
For us, the problems and challenges that any government is confronted will also
define the kind of solutions advanced in their resolution. We appreciate that
these are difficult times. But we are confident about the brightness of our
future which begins today. The enormous natural and human resources, including
oil and gas deposits, vast arable land, rich biodiversity and water resources,
two sea ports, an international airport, two refineries, a petrochemical plant,
a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) company, a fertilizer company, numerous oil and
gas companies and activities, a dynamic population and vibrant labour force,
remain solid development sign posts on which to hinge our march of progress.
21.
Indeed, God has blessed us with all that a State can ever need to develop and
prosper together as one people. The missing link however, especially in the
last few years, arose from the absence of effective leadership to give
purposeful direction, deploy resources optimally and galvanize the populace
with the right policies to achieve our collective objectives and aspirations.
22.
Therefore, a major significance of today’s historic event is the opportunity to
break the spectre of misrule and win the battle for a better Rivers State.
Accordingly, we call on every one of us, and in particular, our workforce in
the civil and public service to get ready to work with patriotic spirit,
commitment, devotion to duty and honesty to restore dignity to our state and
our public institutions battered and demoralized. And as a government we humbly
request and oblige you to hold us accountable for the following in the next
four years:
23.
We shall return power to the people as we conduct our common affairs with the
fear of God and ensure that everyone is equal and accountable before the law.
Our government will certainly be that of the people, for the people and by the
people. Under our watch, the principle of separation of powers shall be
operative. Equality and mutual respect for the constitutional status, powers
and functions shall prevail among the three arms of government.
24.
By the grace of God, and as an initial step towards restoring its autonomy, I
shall on Monday, June 1 2015, proclaim the opening of the 8th Session of the
Rivers State House of Assembly in its proper location and venue to enable our
elected legislators to perform their law-making and oversight functions. Under
my watch, never will the Rivers State House of Assembly be subjected to sitting
at Government House or any other improper venue in utter disregard of its
autonomy.
25.
Similarly, in furtherance to our pledge to restore the independence of our
judiciary and enhance justice delivery in the State, we will guarantee full
financial autonomy to the judiciary by ensuring that its funds are captured as
first line charges in subsequent budgets of the State. We shall also prioritize
the welfare of judicial officers, including enabling judges to retain their
residential accommodation upon retirement for life.
26.
We had severally condemned the prolonged absence of a State Chief Judge and
closure of our courts and promised that these issues will not remain unresolved
beyond a day after today. Therefore, in fulfillment of our promise to reopen
our courts and restore normalcy to the State’s judiciary, I hereby, in exercise
of my powers under section 271(4) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, appoint
the most senior High Court Judge in Rivers State Judiciary, the Honourable
Justice Daisy Okocha as the Acting Chief Judge of Rivers State. Her Lordship
will be sworn-in on Monday 1st June 2015, after which she will be required to
immediately terminate the dark moments of our ignoble judicial history by
reopening the courts for business. Under our watch, never again will the doors
to justice be deliberately and punitively shut against the people of Rivers
State.
27.
In the same vein, I hereby, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me by
section 281 (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as
amended, appoint the Honourable Justice Christy Gabriel-Nwankwo, as the Acting
President of the Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal following the
indefinite suspension by the National Judicial Council (NJC) of the holder of
that office. Justice Christy will also be sworn-in on Monday 1st June 2015.
28.
Nigeria is a democracy and people are free to hold and express divergent views
and opinions as well as to form trade unions for the purpose of collective
bargaining without the fear or pain of any harm. As a government we shall not
violate or tolerate the violation of the democratic and constitutional rights
of Rivers State workers by any authority, be it public or private.
29.
In consequence therefore and in exercise of the powers vested in me as Visitor,
I hereby direct the management of the Rivers State University of Science and
Technology to immediately recall and reinstate to their duty posts with all
their rights and privileges restored, all the academic staff of the University,
who were purportedly disengaged from service on account of their membership of
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and participating in a
legitimate strike action called by the union.
30.
Let us at this point specially congratulate our traditional rulers on the noble
role they have played in promoting the dignity and sanctity of our sacred
traditional institutions and for wisely guiding our people to maintain the
peace throughout the campaigns. We specially appreciate those of you, our royal
fathers, who remained calm, unruffled and fearless despite provocations and
attempts to unjustifiably balkanize and diminish your domains. We assure you
all that our government shall revisit the issues thrown up by the recent
appalling amendments to the State’s Chieftaincy Laws and ensure that justice, prestige
and respect is restored to our natural rulers.
31.
As a government, we shall be workers’ friendly. We acknowledge the public and
civil service as the engine rooms of development and our duty to enhance their
wellbeing for greater productivity. Against this background, we shall give
priority to prompt payment of workers’ salaries and other entitlements; clear
the backlog of salary arrears unduly owed and ensure regular merit-based
promotions. We are committed to restoring the pride of the civil and public
service through value re-orientation, exposure to regular training and
meaningful motivation for efficient and effective service delivery.
32.
Our collective quest for a prosperous future depends on making Rivers State
economically strong and self-reliant. To realize this basic objective, we shall
develop and implement an economic development blueprint that leverages on our
strengths to make Rivers State the industrial hub of Nigeria in oil and gas,
agriculture, maritime and tourism businesses.
33.
Additionally, we shall promote investment in partnership with private investors
for the utilization of our large reserves of kaolin, silica-sand for the
ceramic industry; explore opportunities in wood processing and energize
participation in large scale commercial farming, agro-allied business ventures
and the promotion of a green economy.
34.
No doubt, Rivers State has the geographical advantage and resource endowments
to attract serious investors in order to diversify the economy of the State. We
will therefore deliberately create the enabling environment to attract local
and foreign investors into Rivers State by tackling the challenges of multiple
taxation, irregular power supply and insecurity.
35.
In growing and managing our economy we will focus on poverty reduction through
job creation and expanding business opportunities for our people. We intend to
achieve this in part, by encouraging Rivers people to participate in both the
upstream and downstream sectors of the Oil and Gas industry and also, through a
strategic engagement drive, ensure that our people benefit from the local
content policy of the oil, gas and maritime industries.
36.
Certainly, agriculture, being the bedrock of human civilization, will receive
priority attention to guarantee food security, stimulate agro allied businesses
and create jobs for our people. Rivers State is endowed with arable land,
aquatic and marine environments, a rich Atlantic Sea Board for fisheries
development. In addition, we shall reform land administration and fast track
the issuance of certificates of occupancy to enhance land acquisition for
agriculture and other commercial and social ventures.
37.
Rivers State is a haven for tourism. Our numerous river courses, forest
reserves, rich biodiversity and beautiful beaches are beckoning on us for full
scale development attention. Consequently, our tourism policy thrust is to
provide a clear plan for the development of tourism, especially eco-tourism in
Rivers State in partnership with the private sector.
38.
This administration envisages a State that should be the knowledge-base of the
nation. To this end, we will give serious attention to the provision of quality
education to all at all levels by improving budgetary allocation to the
education sector. We shall also effectively implement the Universal Basic
Education Scheme and demand total devotion and accountability from our teachers
through effective monitoring and supervision. The era of throwing money at
public education without the desired results is over. We intend to reintroduce
a functional boarding system in public secondary schools and increase funding
for research and innovation in our tertiary institutions. We will also fund a
competitive local and foreign scholarship scheme for brilliant students of
Rivers origin to enhance manpower development in critical areas of local and
national needs.
39.
On healthcare delivery, we are determined to ensure that our people have access
to affordable and quality healthcare. To achieve this objective, we will
adequately rehabilitate, equip and staff all existing General Hospitals and
health centers across the State. As a permanent solution to the challenge of
inadequate manpower, especially medical doctors, in the health sector, we shall
establish and ensure the immediate take-off of a Medical School in the Rivers
State University of Science and Technology.
40.
As your Governor, I will ensure that we build the infrastructure, including
first-class all season roads, bridges, canals, jetties and other mass transit
infrastructure that the State needs to drive socio-economic development.
Specifically, we intend, subject to available funds, prioritize the completion
of all on-going roads projects; construct the trans-Kalabari costal road
network, dualize the Ahoada-Omoku road; Sakpenwa-Bori road; and Oyigbo-Afam
road, among others. We shall also tackle the challenges of urban renewal, road
congestion and traffic gridlock in Port-Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor and other
major population centers in Rivers State.
41.
Our administration will ensure that the fruits of development get to every path
of the State, including the rural areas by implementing an integrated action
plan that takes the entire State into consideration. Already, we have concluded
plans to reticulate pipe-born water to Abonnema, Gokana and Khana communities
within our first 100 days in office. Furthermore, as a deliberate policy of
promoting the growth of more cities in the State, we shall modernize
development infrastructure at Ahoada, Bori and Degema towns to facilitate their
gradual transition to new cities in Rivers State.
42.
We will seek to enhance our prosperity through power supply and energy
security. Until steady power supply is taken for granted, our development
efforts will be in jeopardy and so we will strive to achieve power and energy
security for Rivers State in partnership with the private sector and the
Federal Government as well as ensure the completion of ongoing electrification
projects. As an initial step towards tackling the challenge of irregular power
supply before making fresh investments, we will conduct a forensic audit to
find out the reasons behind the failure of the State to reap maximally from the
huge investments already committed to the power sector by the immediate past
administration. We will also review all issues relating to the secret
privatization and or sale of the government investments in power and other
related projects without due process.
43.
Our women are our wealth. The new vision means empowering women through
concrete and direct initiatives to enable them build strong family values and
play key roles in the development of the State. More importantly, we will work
to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in our society, promote gender
equality and discourage all forms of discrimination against women as deliberate
policies of our administration.
44.
We believe that our youths represent our strength and our future. Our goal is
to develop the youth to realize their full potentials as future leaders who
constitute the critical mass of our human capital asset base. We will create
opportunities for the youth to acquire needs-based vocational training and
lifelong skills that will enable them gainfully fit into the society. Our
Government will partner with the private sector to expose our young ones to the
numerous opportunities provided by Information and Communication Technology
(ICT), the oil and gas industry and entrepreneurship development.
45.
Besides, our new vision acknowledges the importance of sports and recreation to
the socio-economic mobility of youths both within and outside the country. The
global economy today has sports, recreation and tourism as the key pillars of
development. For instance, football, basketball, boxing, athletics, generate
huge revenue and resources for active participants. These activities are youth
based and they would attract the attention of our government to systematically
promote them.
46.
On environmental protection, our mission is to create a responsible management
strategy for the sustainable benefit of the present and succeeding generations.
For us, environmental protection is a task that must be pursued with greater
intensity, direction and clarity of vision because the environment as our
common heritage and the foundation of our existence. In consequence, we will
ensure that all relevant legislations and policies on the environment are
enforced as well as ensure efficient and sustainable management of wastes
through the collaborative efforts of stakeholders.
47.
We will further enter into strategic partnership with the Federal Government,
the oil companies and communities to clean-up polluted communities and
adversely impacted sites throughout the State as well as ensure the protection
of vulnerable shorelines through land reclamation and embankment and,
afforestation through massive tree planting.
48.
Let me also assure you that we will not abandon our responsibility to protect
the weak and lend a helping hand to the needy. To this end, our administration
will provide social safety nets for senior citizens, the elderly and vulnerable
persons to enable them live in comfort and happiness. We will reform the
pension scheme to ensure prompt payment of retirees, as well as provide free
medical services for the aged and children with appropriate age brackets and
improve living conditions in old peoples’ homes, orphanages, and motherless
babies’ homes in collaboration with faith based and voluntary organizations.
49.
Fundamentally, during the campaigns, we also promised to secure our State. No
government is worth any value if it cannot guarantee the security of lives and
property. I assure you that never for a moment will our administration be a
captive of politics, when it comes to public security. We have the political
will to fight, defeat crimes and criminality in Rivers State. There will be
effective coordination, collaboration and synergy with the Federal Government,
the law enforcement agencies and our community leaders in the prosecution of
the war against cultism, kidnapping and armed robbery. We urge our people to
fully co-operate with us in this direction.
50.
My fellow citizens of Rivers State, we told you when we were seeking your
mandate, that our promises are our bond. Once again, our promise to you is
that, we shall work tirelessly to actualize these goals, objectives and
targets. But as human beings, we are not perfect and cannot lay claim to having
all the answers to the problems and challenges confronting us as a State and as
a people. This is why we shall need your wisdom, prayers and support in diverse
ways because working together we can do and achieve much more. We shall also
call on you to make necessary sacrifices so that collectively, we can make
Rivers State the place that we can all be proud of with confidence in the great
possibilities ahead.
51.
At this point, let me also assure our people that our government, and indeed
Rivers State, will not be on a war path with the Federal Government. We will
cooperate and meaningfully engage the Federal Government to develop the
Port-Harcourt International Airport to accommodate additional International
routes and flight frequencies. We also commit to working with the Federal
Government to complete the Bodo – Bonny and other federal roads, as well as
ensure the optimal utilization of the seaports in Port-Harcourt and Onne for
greater commercial and economic progress. We assure you that Rivers State will
not only continue to serve as the Treasure Base of the Nation, but we will also
ensure her beautiful people, will be equal partakers of the resources of the
land.
52.
I cannot savour this day without conveying my personal appreciation and
profound gratitude to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, and
his lovely wife and former First Lady of Nigeria, Her Excellency Dame Dr.
Patience Faka Goodluck Jonathan for the priceless love, tremendous support and
wonderful affection you extended to me and my family in the course of this
venture. The former first family has remained a strong pillar to me in many
ways and I cannot thank you enough. I pray to God to specially bless you for me
now and always. I wish to reaffirm my unflinching loyalty as well as assure our
amiable political leader that if I have the opportunity again, I will firmly
stand by you.
53.
Finally, it is with an eternal sense of love that I express my profound
gratitude to my beloved wife of inestimable value, Justice Suzette, our lovely
children Jordan, Joaquin and Jazmyne for graciously standing by me all through
this difficult and strenuous struggle.
54.
The work begins now! As a sign of our commitment to hit the ground running on
our march to meaningful progress, please join me and the Deputy Governor, Her
Excellency Dr. Mrs. Ipalibo Harry Banigo as we proceed from here to the UTC
junction and two other sites to flag-off the operation zero potholes in Rivers
State project. We wish to assure you that hope has returned and Rivers State
shall once again be the pride of our nation.
55.
Thank you all for coming. Thank you all for your attention and May God
continually bless our Land.
