Governor of Rivers, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared he would not be fighting his detractors in the state saying that to do so would be to waste energy.
His statement is coming barely 24 hours after Samuel Anosike, one of the 23 local government Chairmen loyal to Wike stated that he would not leave office on June 17, when the tenure of the local government chairmen expires.
He was widely reported to have dared anyone to try and remove him then.
But Gov Fubara, while flagging off the construction of Okania-Ogbogoro Road project at Ogbogoro Town, in Obio/Akpor Local on Friday, asserted that he was only interested in setting a higher standard of leadership in the state and not on fighting anyone.
He stated that he only wanted to set a new bar in improving the quality of life and socio-economic status of Rivers people.
He observed that though there were determined overtures by detractors who were bent on distracting his administration from set goals with unproductive fights, fighting back would be a waste of energy.
Gov. Fubara insisted that he would rather rechannel every energy into delivering good governance, implementing people-centric policies, executing sustainable impact projects and ensuring that dividends of democracy, wealth were constantly delivered to the people.
“I have only one request, that request is to ask you to continue to conduct yourselves peacefully in the face of all the assaults. They want us to miss our goal, they want to distract us”.
“If we fight with them, we will be wasting our energy. So, what we need to do is to continue to do that thing which we have promised our people.
“Our style will be to set a standard that will be above them so that when they come, they will see what we are doing. Everybody will be seeing it that it is about the people, and they will say ‘but they are working for the people’. So, that will be our style of leadership”.
He insisted that the Okania-Ogbogoro Road project would not end at the stage of flag off but would be completed and inaugurated in the next five months.
According to him, what is important for members of the benefitting communities and their leaders is to give the contractor the necessary support without any act of sabotage to deliver the project on schedule.
He said, “At the end of the day, the project belongs to you. It is a project that brings about a better and conducive environment for you and your children.
“On the part of the contractor: support constituted authority. Dialogue with the leaders of this area so that your work will also go on smoothly,” the Governor added.
Governor Fubara further said: “I know a lot of people are wondering why did we decide to think of this particular road now?
“We are already embarking on a very big project in this state, which is the Port Harcourt Ring Road, and a lot of our people are suffering because of the ongoing construction work on the Ring Road. There is pressure on the direct access areas used by the people.
“Most of these roads, this one in particular, is a road that will take off some pressure from the main route that we are familiar with, and we thought it wise that it will be proper for us to fix this road at this time,” he explained.
He explained: “Fixing this road will improve the economy of the people living here. It will also improve the security status of this environment. So, we are thinking, not just for ourselves, but also thinking for the good and wonderful people of our State.
“So, I want to say: support us so that we will continue to deliver on our promises. I want to say: stand with us, we will not fail you.
“I want to also thank you, the Akpor people, for your support before, during and after our election. It’s an opportunity for me to return that thank to you, and what we are doing today is to tell you that we appreciate your support.”
Providing the description of the project, the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Works, Engr. Atemea Briggs, explained that the road was initially awarded by the immediate past administration in April, 2017, but abandoned it in March, 2020, after preliminary works, leaving the unprotected road bed, shoulders and short stretches of drainages already achieved to collapse.
Engr Briggs stated that Governor Fubara took the initiative of re-awarding the road to another contractor in order to solve protracted difficulties the people who live and work in the axis have experienced.
He said, “This 5.0 Km long road cuts across Okania community through Ogbogoro community, and connects the Port Harcourt Ring Road project that is also under construction. The road is 10 meters wide with a drainage length of 2.5km.
“It was awarded to CCECC Nigeria Limited on April 22, 2024, at the cost of N6.7billion, and 40 percent of the contract value, amounting to N2.69billion, has been paid to the contractor as mobilisation fee. The project is expected to be completed in five months.”
Engr Briggs said the project demonstrates the priority the administration of Governor Fubara places on the welfare of the people of Rivers State, who shall be the greatest beneficiaries of the road, when delivered.
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