Rivers state governor Siminalayi Fubara recently, has described the political crisis rocking Rivers State as a devil’s advocate. He said that this has accorded him the platform to remain focused in governance despite the daunting distractions since the inception of his administration. The governor of Rivers state in a statement said that the pressure mounted by the political crisis has been weathered sufficiently which has giving way for his administration to provide focused leadership and governance to the people of the State. He gave this information when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Port Harcourt, last weekend. This committee is led by it’s Chairman, Hon. Mike Etaba. Governor Fubara who made reference to a blockbuster movie, “Devil’s Advocate”, gave explanation on how the pressure from the unwarranted political crisis served as an enabler to strengthen his commitment to service which is now impacting lives positively.
Governor Fubara pointed out on Friday that one way his Administration has improved the socio-economic dynamics of the state is the empowerment of about 3,066 Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) when he flagged-off the N4billion single digit loan scheme in conjunction with the Bank of Industry (BOI) Limited. According to him, he said, that is touching the lives of our people and that it is not supporting them for selfish reasons. He continued by saying that, “We will not oppress anybody. We will not force anybody against their will. We will not intimidate anybody, because intimidation has a time it expires. When the time of intimidation expires, even as recorded of Pharaoh in the Bible, who intimidated the children of Israel, but it got to a time that the intimidation no longer worked. “Any bad thing that has a beginning, will have an end. That is why I said we don’t have any problem. We have put that crisis behind us. We are looking ahead.”
In a statement also, Governor Fubara reiterated that Rivers State is peaceful and that it takes a peaceful leader to bring about such aura of peace to the State and its people. He went on to tell his guests to dismiss the negative social media reports that tended to portray the state as a place immersed in uncontrollable violence, and juxtapose it with what they have personally witnessed so that they can be better ambassadors of the state. He continued also by saying that, “Leadership and respect in leadership is not earned by force. It is your style that brings respect and love. And what we are doing is to respect our people, and in turn, our people are giving us that support for leadership. So, I am happy that you are here, and when you go back, tell others your own side of the story: that Rivers State is moving forward. Forget about what you see in the social media, there is progress everywhere here. There is light everywhere.”
