OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF RIVERS STATE
By: Dstg. Comr. Williams Ibinabo.
Your Excellency, Ama-Opusenibo Sir Siminalayi Fubara GSSRS,
I would like to begin by congratulating you on your successful one year in office as the Governor of Rivers State and your exceptional leadership and service to the good people of Rivers State. This past year , has undeniably come with inevitable challenges. Nonetheless, I commend you for the good work you have done as well as the phenomenal innovations, peace, and maturity you have shown even in the face of adversity.
I have had the rare opportunity of meeting you once during the festive period at Opobo in the year 2022 and have been a beneficiary of your benevolence even without you knowing me. Just by hearing the name Nkoro, you wholeheartedly supported the Nkoro Sports Festival maiden edition. Today, that singular action has given life to the organization and the organizers (Gleaming Nkoro), and I watched closely as you related with ordinary people with so much kindness, love, compassion, and respect. I could tell from a distance how much of a good man you are, a man with good intentions.
I admit that some of the decisions you have made in the past as a leader regarding certain pressing issues in Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area should have been handled differently, with an open mind and without sentiment. Nevertheless, I would like to kindly APPEAL to you to lend me your listening ears, sir.
I strongly believe that leaders should only be elected based on the content of their character, competence, credibility, track records, and their level of integrity. I equally believe that leaders should be elected based on merit and not emotions, as emotions are subject to change.
Over the past twelve months, we have watched political crises erupt in your administration as a form of distraction to make you lose focus on delivering good governance to Rivers people. I have also witnessed firsthand how some people have faced harassment, violence, intimidation, and threats for supporting you and standing up for the truth.
I would like to hereby make a passionate PLEA to you, Your Excellency, Sir. As you begin second phase of your human developmental projects, just one year in office, you achieved milestones and impacted positively in the lives of your people. In your one-year in office celebration remarks as the Governor of Rivers State, at the town hall meeting and presentation of your ONE-YEAR SCORECARD AT OBI WALI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE ON WEDNESDAY, 29TH MAY 2024, you pointed out your achievements. I would love to quote some sections of your speech verbatim. In paragraphs 24-27, you highlighted some of your achievements in the educational sector. In paragraphs 31-32, you also highlighted some of your achievements in the healthcare sector. You said:
Education Delivery
- At inception, we inherited several uncompleted secondary schools’ reconstruction and other projects. assumption of office, we quickly released funds to complete these schools and deliver them for public use.
- To this end, we made final payments of N701,943,233.05 for the completion and delivery of Community Secondary School, Rumuepirikom; N355,682,471.99 for Kalabari National College; N329,330,552.25 for Government Comprehensive Secondary School Borokiri; N379,793,277.60 for Government Secondary School, Eneka; N461,973,829.38 for Government Secondary School, Emohua; N134,600,000.00 for Comprehensive Secondary School, Alesa-Eleme; N1,142,279,618.17 for Community Secondary School, Koroma, Tai; N1,863,213,093.13 for Government Comprehensive School, Okarki; N585,084,678.80 for Government Secondary School, Ataba; and N2,092,313,561.19 for Government Girls Secondary School, Ahoada.
- We also released N193,785,313 for the reconstruction of Community Secondary School, Kunusha; N1,500,000,000.00 for the reconstruction of Okrika Grammar School; N612,632,677.94 for the furnishing of the University of Port Harcourt Convocation Arena; and N700,000,000.00 for the twin hostel projects at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School.
- We released N1,902,334,833.33 as matching funds for the Universal Basic Education Board for the provision of infrastructure, including the rehabilitation of basic education schools. It is noteworthy that the State’s Universal Basic Education Board has used funds released to rehabilitate over 50 basic education schools across the State.
Healthcare Delivery
- Health is wealth, and our commitment to advancing the health, safety, and well-being of all residents cannot be overemphasized. It is for this reason that we made healthcare delivery a priority focus of our administration and deployed funds towards realizing this fundamental objective.
- Shortly after we came into office, we commissioned the Kelsy Harrison Memorial Hospital and the Dental, Maxillofacial, ENT, and Ophthalmology hospital for public use. We spent the sums of N179,000,000.00 and N112,957,619.13 respectively to provide repairs, materials, and solar electricity installations before commissioning.
I also deeply appreciate you for the electrification project you graciously gave to the good people of Opobo-Nkoro LGA, your own LGA, which other neighboring Local Government Areas benefited from, and the ongoing Opobo ring road and continuation of reclamation of land in Opobo, and most recently Rivers State Executive Council has deliberated and approved construction of Kalaibiama/Epellema road etc. May God continue to bless you for us, Ama-Opu Sir.
By observation and research, I found out that you are a good student of history. PLEASE, Sir, permit me to take you back to the 90s. Before now, in the 19th century to early 20s, Comprehensive High School Nkoro was one of the best boarding secondary schools in Rivers State. It had full science laboratory equipment, standard hostels, and staff apartments. Students in neighboring states attended Comprehensive High School Nkoro, but today, the reverse is the case. This same school has produced people of influence and affluence, all calibers of men in Nigeria and the world, and captains of industries, etc. But today, weeds have taken over the school premises. Nkoro once had a standard general hospital that was highly functional, but today the rest is history. Even the primary healthcare center that was built by a former Governor of Rivers State has been dilapidated, and the community town hall has become the current primary healthcare center.
Your Excellency, Sir, please permit me to use this medium to call your attention to some of the government projects that need urgent attention and some of the developmental projects I feel my people, the good people of Nkoro, also need:
- Renovation of Comprehensive High School Nkoro.
- Total rehabilitation of Nkoro General Hospital/renovation of modern primary healthcare building.
- Continuation of the second phase of the dredging and piling (embankment) of Nkoro waterfront to save us from flooding and erosion.
- Reclamation of land in Nkoro II, as “Ijaw people” need lands for development.
- Nkoro internal roads, which we do not even have any of good standard.
- Renovation of Iwo-Ama Nkoro power house.
- Building of Olom-Nkoro Community town hall.
- Aya-ama Nkoro II potable drinking water project.
Conclusively,
Your Excellency, Sir, Ama-Opusenibo of Opobo Kingdom, Sir Siminalayi Fubara GSSRS, I also know that you, being a good student of history, is aware that since the creation of Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area in 1996, till date, your Ijaw brothers and Nkoro sons or daughters have never attained the highest office in our Local Government Area as the elected Executive Chairperson of the Council. Your Excellency, Sir, I appeal to your conscience and pray God to use you as the Executive Governor of Rivers State to also give the opportunity to an Nkoro son or daughter to become the next Executive Chairperson in Opobo-Nkoro LGA, for the sake of posterity and equality in your leadership, the same way God used the former Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Chief E.N. Wike, Esq., to favor us from Opobo-Nkoro LGA to succeed him. I also want to use this medium to call on other well-meaning IJAW LEADERS in Rivers Ijaw extraction to join me and APPEAL to our God-sent Joshua, who is the Governor of Rivers State, to grant my kind appeal.
Thank you, Ama-Opusenibo, Your Excellency Sir Siminalayi Fubara GSSRS, for your kind attention. I look forward to your favorable response and actions.
Please be assured of my kind regards and best wishes.
Distg. Comr. Williams, Ibinabo C.
Concerned son of the soil (Nkoro Kirika Kingdom)
Writing from Ancient Nkoro Kingdom
[email protected]
08/06/2024
