BEING THE TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF NIGER-DELTA FORUM, BORNO STATE CHAPTER, PRINCE STEPHEN U. A. EBRI, DURING THE SOLIDARITY VISIT TO HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF BORNO STATE, ALH. KASHIM SHETTIMA ON 6TH JUNE, 2014 AT THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, MAIDUGURI PROTOCOL Your Excellency, sir, we are very disturbed people of the Niger Delta region who reside in Borno State. We share your grief and those of every good person in this great State who is directly or indirectly affected by the Boko Haram crisis in the State. We share the sorrows of our schoolgirls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram, we stand by their parents and we are praying very hard that God almighty will set them free. We share the sorrows of all those who have lost their loved ones and we feel the pains of those that suffered injuries and destruction of their communities, houses, shops and other sources of livelihood. Your Excellency, we share the anguish of the Borno State Government for the losses of thousands of citizens, the kidnap of schoolgirls and the destruction of schools, hospitals and other public amenities. We see, we hear, we read and we even know that the Borno State Government is spending billions of its resources in the course of this Boko Haram imbroglio. Naturally the Government is spending on security agencies, spending to support victims and spending to reconstruct communities and public amenities destroyed. These are painful times and the Niger Delta Forum in Borno State feels every bit of these sorrows, tears and blood. Your Excellency, sir, there is one issue that is seriously troubling the minds of every one of us; it is how some of our elders from the Niger Delta that are completely ignorant of the true situation in Borno State are attacking this Government that is doing everything within its powers to address the problem. Sir, we were in Maiduguri when you were sworn in on May 29th, 2011. Sir, in case our elders in the Niger Delta do not know, there are Niger Delta people living in Borno, we are from the Niger Delta but our difference is that we are well informed about the true situation and they are ignorant, they dont know, they dont want to know and we dont think they will ever know. We are not fools or sycophants, we are responsible people that will call a spade a spade. Even before you were sworn-in, Maiduguri was in disarray, people were killed daily, bombs were exploding every where, all of us were living in perpetual fear, young boys were threatening everyone with guns, calling phone numbers to threaten people but today, Your Excellency, you have been able to lead the people of Maiduguri to rise against threats and defend themselves. Today, Maiduguri is an opposite of what it was when you came in. Rather than the fear and citizens imprisonment you met in May 29th 2011, today there is peace, security and freedom in Maiduguri. It was you that led us to the peace through the intervention of God almighty. Even then, Your Excellency sir, it may interest you to know that around 2011 before you came on board, when the situation in the state capital was so bad, many of us went back to our various states, but alas, we were treated like illegal aliens and what we met there was worst than our Boko Haram here, in fact, one can call it Niger-Delta Haram, hence we have fully come back to Maiduguri where we found succor as we continue in our trades and disciplines without any let or hindrance. Your Excellency sir, both the blind and the deaf can see, feel and hear respectively, the transformation taken place in all sectors of the economy of Borno State, despite the insurgency that has bedeviled the state. Your aspirations of bringing back the lost glories of Borno State must surely come to pass as we are all witnessing the rapid trend of development going around the state. Sir, the people of Niger Delta in Borno state want to assure you that we are solidly behind you and we are ready to spread the gospel of your leadership qualities to all parts of the country, on what we are seeing despite the distractions here and there. Of recent, Your Excellency, sir, we are worried so much by some of the utterances of our Niger Delta brothers like Asari Dokubo and his likes. Only yesterday, we read an advertorial sponsored by Chief Edwin Clark on the Newspapers calling for the removal of Governors, saying all manner of things that are absolutely and annoying ignorance. Chief Clark said the Borno State Government is not cooperating with the Federal Government. How can a Government that is using resources to finance security agencies be accused of being uncooperative when we all know that it is the Federal Government that is supposed to fund the security? Certain utterances makes us uncomfortable in a State that the people have been treating us with love and respect. This is a State Government that, on assumption of office, went as far as giving a political appointment to a son of the Niger Delta from Delta State and that son works directly with the Governor under the Governors office. This is a Government that appointed an Igbo man as a cabinet member and that Igbo man is in charge of community relations, that Igbo man has been with Your Excellency for many years. Sir, anytime anybody says something out of his ignorance and without wisdom, we feel very ashamed because all that they say are not the truth of the ground realities in Borno State and some people assume that we, from the Niger Delta, share the hate views of anybody no matter his or her status that goes contrary to the realities on ground in Borno State. We have had enough of those trying to mislead Nigerians and making us unhappy in a place we have been happy for many years. In the light of the foregoing, we the great people of the Niger Delta in Borno State hereby disassociate ourselves from anybody who is not associated with the Governor of Borno State. We are however committed to any meaningful goal of the Niger Delta people which do not compromise the unity, peace and progress of the entity called Nigeria. The people of Niger Delta are reasonable, we are tolerant, we fight but we fight good courses and not to feather the embers of hate. Your Excellency, Sir, the people of Niger Delta are proud of you. Anybody calling for a military administrator is talking out of ignorance of the laws of this country. If those opposed to Gov. Shettima have a military man they wants to make Governor of Borno State, they shouldnt come through the backdoor, they should sponsor that person to retire and contest elections for the Governorship of Borno in 2015 and we will be very happy to send that person letters of commiseration after we successfully and proudly re-elect Governor Kashim Shettima in 2015 to continue his great works of sustaining the peace in Maiduguri and working to attract peace in the entire Borno State. Sir, your impeccable credentials and leadership traits cannot be quantified and finally, we have seen no one else as our governor in 2015 but you. Sir, Carry go! Gone Kone!! Long live the Executive Governor of Borno State! Long live Borno State!! Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!! Thank you all and God bless.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 05:40:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015