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Tag: Magnus Abe

  • No matter the condition, I won’t leave APC – Abe

    The senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has declared that he will remain a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and will never abandon the party for whatever reasons.

    Even as he reiterate his unflinching support and commitment to President Muhammadu Buhari stating that he will do whatever it takes to ensure that APC will win in 2019 in Rivers State.

    Abe, who spoke during an interactive session at a one day dialogue and reception program organized by Network of Youth and Student Leaders in Rivers state in his honour in Port Harcourt said, people need to understand that the main dynamics of social cohesion in the state favours the APC.

    The senator said, “Let me say it clearly without any iota of doubt; I am a member of the All Progressives Congress and I will remain a member of the All Progressives Congress. No matter what happens, I will not leave my party, the All Progressives Congress”.

    “But, people need to understand certain things. In this state, the main dynamics of our social cohesion is in favour of our party. Rivers State is ours for the taking; everybody who knows the story of our state knows that APC should be able to take the state. But to do that, we have to be one party”.

    “We cannot be in a party where the Minister of Transportation, with all due respect, have stated clearly that what he is running now is his own faction and certain people do not belong to that faction. That if he is removing leaders, he is removing leaders because they are not part of his own group, not because they are not members of the APC”.

    “Now, if all of us are in the APC and one group is this way and another group is the other way, where will the party meet to take the state? We have a State Executive Committee of the party, the Chairman should call a meeting of the State Executive Committee of the party so that members from all the factions can meet and discuss the way forward.”

    Abe, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA, informed the youths that Amaechi, Peterside and other leaders of the party, especially, the party Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya and Chief Emeka Bekee, respectively as well as Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, were not their problems.

    He said, “On the issue of attacks and counter-attacks on social media, honestly, I have said severally and I want to say it here to all of you young people that how you address people even when you disagree with them is not a sign of courage. It is a reflection of your upbringing. Anywhere that I go and talk to people, I am very conscious of the fact that when I leave there, people are going to review what I said. They are going to look at it in the context of who Senator Abe is. I am the son of my father and my father was a priest of the Anglican Church”.

    “So, sometimes, it takes courage to stand in front of people to say things that are mean and hurtful and sometimes, it takes more courage to sit down quietly and refuse to say things that are mean and hurtful. I think it makes you a better person. Love is the greatest blow you can give to anyone; you will always win when you have a good heart”.

    “So, I have never supported attacks on anybody in any form. I am not even happy when people attack people on the basis that they are defending me or that I was attacked. You know today, anybody with a phone and with data on the phone is an authority. There is nobody who can stand here and control what other people will say”.

    “But for me as a member of my party, the All Progressives Congress, I want to use this opportunity to appeal to those youths who are members of the APC, please, do not attack any of our leaders. Don’t attack Rotimi Amaechi on social media, don’t attack Dakuku Peterside no matter what he says, don’t attack Davies Ikanya, don’t attack Dumu Lulu-Briggs, don’t attack Emeka Bekee; they are not your problems”.

    “If you have issues that you want to articulate and you are not satisfied with the way people are doing things, say so to them politely, respectfully. But a lot of things I see contain no idea whatsoever and will not help in moving the party forward in anyway. A divided house can win no battles. We must be very careful; some of the persons who are doing things to divide the house may not be interested in the success of the house because at the end of the day, if we don’t succeed, we will suffer for it.”

    He urged Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike who has talked repeatedly about putting the interest of Rivers State first, to walk the talk by creating an atmosphere in which there can be free, fair and credible elections in the state.

    Addressing the issue of jobs and opportunities for the youths the senator said, “Rivers State is where it is today but the state can be somewhere else. We can chart a different direction, we can create more than what we are creating. We can focus on jobs, we can focus on opportunities and we can do that by creating an atmosphere in which investment and opportunities can thrive in Rivers State. These things are not magic; other people have achieved it.

    “I have said before and I want to say here, that one of the things we must get in Rivers State is that we must pick leaders who will concentrate on our state. You know when we have a leader whose attention is outside the state, he wants to control Abuja, he wants to control Nigeria, the state suffers. We need a leader that will focus on the challenges facing Rivers State.”

     

  • Sen. Abe commends Ogoni people for supporting FG’s cleanup project

    Sen. Magnus Abe on Thursday commended the Ogoni people in Rivers for embracing the cleanup of their neighbourhood by the Federal Government.

    Abe, lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial Zone in the Senate, gave the commendation in a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Parry Benson, in Port Harcourt.

    He expressed gratitude to the people of Ogoni for their steadfastness and commitment in the struggle for a fair and just country during the 2018 Ogoni Day.

    “I want to congratulate the Ogoni people for their steadfastness, resilience, courage and commitment in the struggle for a fair and just country where all citizens can live meaningful lives,” he said.

    Abe also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for its commitment towards the environmental cleaning exercise.

    “I congratulate President Buhari for the commitment that led to the cleanup of Ogoniland and the progress made so far. It is a realisation of one of the cardinal objectives of the Ogoni struggle.

    “As we go forward, let us use this day of celebration to remember those who lost their lives because of the struggle.

    “Let us also use it as a day of hope; we should think well and celebrate what we have achieved; we should then prepare for better victories ahead.
    “I am happy that today, our people and people from all other parts of the country came together to celebrate,’’ he said.

     

  • Abe calls on committee on Ogoni cleanup to present its report in three weeks

    Sen. Magnus Abe, representing Rivers South-East Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, has called on the committee on Ogoni cleanup to present its report in three weeks.

    Abe made the call in a statement signed by his Spokesman, Parry Benson, and made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

    He had met with leaders of the Ogoni ethnic nationality to discuss issues affecting resumption of oil exploration in the area and the ongoing clean-up exercise.

    Abe said that the committee on oil exploration, headed by Professor Ben Naanen and other five representatives which included MOSOP and KAGOTE, among others, were mandated to come up with the position of the Ogonis on the issue of oil exploration.

    The Senator said that the committee, made up of Ogoni representatives on the Board and Governing Council of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), was mandated to meet with the Minister of the Environment and to update the people on the financial releases and progress on the Ogoni clean-up exercise.

    “On the issue of the clean-up, the representatives of the Ogoni people who are part of the structure of HYPREP were also mandated to meet with the Minister of the Environment.”

    The committee is “to give us a clear update on the situation of the clean-up, particularly as it relates to the finances that has to do with what has been done as far as the clean-up project is concerned and that also will be reported back in three weeks.

    “The Ogoni people are not against discussing the issue that has to do with that, but we are concerned that it be done in an organised peaceful and reasonable manner so that the interest of the community is properly factored in.

    “The committee should meet and a report presented to everybody in three weeks,” he said.

    Abe said that the committee on the clean-up exercise included two members of the board of trustees, Chief Bebe Okpabe and Dr Peter Medee; three members of the governing council, Legborsi Pygbara, Professor Ben Naanen and Professor Roselyn Konya.

    He stressed that their report was being expected in three weeks.

     

  • There will be no minute silence – Sen Magnus Abe

    By Senator Magnus Abe,

    I feel pained that I was not physically present at the first ever memorial lecture in honour of my late friend and brother Ken Atsuwete Esq.

    In the murder of Ken, evil made a powerful, and poignant statement that it has power over us and it can terminate our live, cut short our dreams, grind us to dust , and silence us at will.

    In the senseless murder of Ken Asuwete and so many others across our country, that message has been sent loud , clear and unequivocal, that those who have the guns and are prepared to use them, have the ultimate power over us, and in this society they can silence us and crush any vision of which they do not approve. In the murder of Ken they reloaded their message and fired it again: “Try us and see. We will silence you forever and nothing will happen”. And indeed, nothing has happened.

    Sadly our recent history in Rivers State is loaded with proof. From Monday Eleanya, Vincent Eebee, etc., I can go on ad infinitum to name men and women, some prominent and some not so prominent in the eyes of society but no less loved, missed, and mourned by those who knew and loved them. Their voices in the eyes of their muderers forever silent, and nothing has happened.

    At ken Atsuwete’s memorial lecture I was ably represented by my friend and brother, another erudite and learned gentleman Worgu Boms Esq, the lecture was delivered by my dear sister Ibim seminatari. There is no word I could possibly add to what Boms said on my behalf. The only thing I would have done which I could not in good conscience have asked Boms to do on my behalf was the decision I made that if I was at that event I would not observe any minute of silence.

    I would rather observe a minute of speaking my mind. A minute when I would have said publicly those things that people seem to believe that we should never say. I would have protested by my conduct that silence has no place in the memory of a brother who lost his life because he refused to be silent in the face of evil.

    If Ken had agreed to observe silence perhaps he will be alive today. When you have decided to speak in a country where having an “unapproved ” opinion can set you against the powers that be , observing even a minute of silence can seem like an act of surrender, and to whom do we surrender, and why?

    Sometimes it is difficult to say who hurts us the most. Is it your enemies who terminate your life, cut short your dreams, and try to grind you to dust or your friends who insist on your silence even in death or try to force your voice to sing only an approved tune as a condition for friendship?

    If you can’t say what you think, or if you must think one thing and say something else in order to please men, then who are you? And if men are only pleased when you hide your true self from them, by saying only what they want to hear, then, who are they?

    That is the question that everyone must answer in the mirror before his God. It was the same question that Socrates was forced to answer when Crito in good conscience offered him the option to escape from prison and death, Socrates asked Crito : ” will you then flee from well ordered cities and virtuous men? And is existence worth having on these terms ——- or will you go to them without shame and talk to them Socrates?

    And what shall you say to them? What you say here about virtue, and justice and laws and institutions being the best of things amongst men? Surely not —– Will there be no one to remind you that in your old age you were not ashamed to violate the most sacred laws out of a miserable desire for a little more life? —- These dear Crito are the voices I seem to hear murmuring in my ears like the sound of a flute in the ears of a mystic”.

    Socrates like Ken chose to stay true to himself. I think of Ken, I think of all the other voices that are forever silent. We betray them if we loose our voice, we kill them a second time if allow evil to prevail. There can be no moment of silence while this state continues to bleed, we will neither keep quiet nor sing any pre-approved tune. We will speak our mind clearly, calmly but persistently. We will not say yes when clearly the answer is No.

    Yes, they killed Ken Atsuwete, yes, they cut short his life, but no, his voice can still be heard strong and defiant in our own determination to speak our mind.

    It was the determination to be Ken Atsuwete that kept Ken going even when it was clear that his life was in danger. In times of great trials and great temptation every one of us must listen to that voice that mummers to the heart. We not only die but we kill our society when we keep silence in the face of evil, wether we do it out of fear of our enemies or ” respect ” for our friends, the end result is the same. Silence.

    And silence even for a minute can be dangerous to a society in grave danger.
    By gathering in Ken’s memory to speak, indeed by speaking up when you need to, you make the point that as long as you are alive, a voice against oppression, a voice against evil shall be heard because you are here . When finally you die as Ken has died, you can Rest In Peace in the knowledge that you are part of an unbroken chain across the centuries of men and women who chose honour at any cost over silence at any benefit.

    That is the decision that I have made and I hope you will make too. The certainty of the ultimate triumph of good over evil lie in the number that take the stand. Make no mistake good has always triumphed over evil, just as Atsuwete in the end will triumph over his enemies, and his voice will ring out loud and clear in this land.

    While we remember Ken and mourn him, we must also remember the promises we made to his family, and we must find the voice to confront the evil in our society that has made this possible . There will be no minute of silence in the face of oppression. Our tears are not enough, our voices must be heard.

    Sen. Magnus Abe

  • Rivers APC crisis: No amount of intimidation will make me leave APC – Sen. Abe

    Rivers APC crisis: No amount of intimidation will make me leave APC – Sen. Abe

    Senator Magnus Abe, representing Rivers South East constituency in the National Assembly has vowed that nobody can push him and his supporters out of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State.

    He said they would remain and fight impunity and ensure that there is an internal democracy where party members are allowed to freely choose who leads and represents them.

    Senator Abe advised those who are nursing the feelings that he and his loyalists would be blackmailed or frustrated out of the party to perish the thought because he is going nowhere despite the trials he has been through.

    “If I was a politician who runs whenever anybody shouts, I won’t be here. I am one of those who struggled to build this party in the state. No amount of intimidation or “magomago” will make me leave the party. At the end, it is the people who will decide their leaders.

    We are members of one party, whatever we do, we must struggle and protect our party,” Abe said

    On his part, Chidi Wihioka, a member representing Ikwerre/Emohua federal constituency, said what happened yesterday was that the leaders of the party sent to conduct the non-elective Congress were holed up in Novotel hotel in Port Harcourt writing the results while party supporters were waiting at the party secretariat and different local government areas for materials for the congress.

    Barry Mbigi, representing Tai-Eleme-Oyigbo federal constituency expressed disappointment because “the other faction (Amaechi) was afraid of a healthy contest and they are afraid that in the 23 LGAs we are more popular and on ground. So, they decided to sit in a hotel and write results they will send to Abuja. This is why we are protesting. As a result, the Congress didn’t hold.

    Sensing that there will be a breakdown of law and other, the Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, stepped in and brokered peace between the two factions.

  • No plans to defect from APC to contest guber election – Senator Abe

    No plans to defect from APC to contest guber election – Senator Abe

    Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has vowed not to leave the All Progressive Congress, APC, despite insinuations from some quarters that he intends to achieve his gubernatorial ambition through another party.

    Senator Abe who represents Rivers South East Senatorial District, at the National Assembly, affirmed that no matter the perceived challenges that may crop up in furtherance of his willingness to contest the 2019 governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he will not defect from the party as being rumored by some persons.

    “I am the biggest investment in the politics of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Nigeria”

    Abe who made this known during his thank you visit to Gokana Local Government Area, as part of his efforts to commend the people of Rivers South East Senatorial District for returning him in the re-run election held on Dec. 10, said he is the biggest investment in the politics of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Nigeria and there is nothing that will make him leave the APC.
    The Senate Committee chairman on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in reacting to some issues plaguing the party said, one gets to a point in life when what happens to him no longer becomes an issue but at that point, it is what happens around him that becomes more important.
    “We are trying to make the party better by supporting our leader, the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, so that the party can move forward and will not relent in our efforts; and by the grace of the Almighty God that we serve, the right thing will be done.

     

    “Let me use the opportunity of this visit to address some issues in our great party, the APC in Rivers State and to say clearly for the record that there are no members of the party, including myself, that is disputing the leadership of my friend, the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. We are not disputing with him who is the leader of the party. He is the leader and will continue to be the leader of our party in Rivers State.”

     

    Speaking further Senator Abe said, some people are saying that his ambition to become governor of Rivers State in 2019 is the problem in the party. While others are claiming that they have asked him (Abe) to wait and build the party but he has refused to wait. Therefore, he is the one scattering the party because of his desire to be governor.

    “I stand in front of my people, here, today, and declare that I don’t tell lies. I am not a liar. The story that I am scattering the party in the state because of my governorship ambition is not true. The problem is simple. We have heard some people saying all elected members of the party got their tickets because Amaechi endorsed them, therefore, everyone who has an ambition should wait until he endorses him or her.”
    “The arguments some people are putting forward are that any person who would not wait for the leader, (Amaechi), to endorse him or select him, or her, to anoint him, or her, or who is saying something different is a bad person; or, a bad member of the party; the person should be removed, or suspended from the party; or the person should leave the party on his own volition. Some of us, who feel that stopping some persons from aspiring to become what they want to become is an infringement on their fundamental human rights, are saying no.

    “Yes. We agree that it was the leader who gave us tickets and that the leader has always pointed to people and such persons have gone to contest elections; but we also know that politics is dynamic; and that our APC offers change. How do we convince the people of Rivers State that we, too, can change?”
    “And some people said no! It is not that the leader will not have a say; it is not that the leader will not have a say in the selection of candidates vying for election under the auspices of the party; but some people felt the party should allow interested members and aspirants to make their inputs. And some members turned that position to be a move against the leader of the party. And that anyone who says anything contrary to anything said by the leader of the party is anti-party or worse still, fighting Rotimi Amaechi. For me, I think that position is wrong. It is undemocratic and totally against the change mantra of the APC.”

    “I am the biggest investment in the politics of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Nigeria”.

    Speaking on the resolve of the people of Ogoni to produce the governor of Rivers State in 2019, having been denied the opportunity in the past 50 years that the state was created, Senator Abe insisted that it was time for the Ogonis to produce the next governor of the state.
    “Today, I don’t have to apologise for being an Ogoni son. I love my country, Nigeria. I am a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I love my country. I support my country, but if I was not from here, Ogoni, I will not be a Nigerian. It has been 50 years since Rivers State was created and nobody of Ogoni extraction has been governor, deputy governor or Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. And some are saying that it doesn’t matter. I stand here today, to tell Rivers people that it, indeed, matters and we have no apologies to offer to anybody.”

     

    “I hear that the PDP caucus in Ogoni has endorsed Governor Nyesom Wike that is their opinion. I also hear that the APC caucus has said that they have an opinion on the governor’s position, too. But the people of Ogoni also have their opinion and that opinion is that there must be justice in Rivers State.”
    “So, today, I want to use this opportunity to thank everybody. I don’t have problem with anybody. And anybody who knows me knows that I have reached a level, and even before I got to this level I could look anyone in the eyes and tell them the truth. At this stage of my life, I do not have to lie to anyone, or my people to achieve anything. Truth must remain the standard by which our actions are judged.”

     

     

  • Senator Abe promises Senate, Sickle Cell Anaemia group partnership

    Senator Abe promises Senate, Sickle Cell Anaemia group partnership

    The senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has promised to spearhead sickle cell awareness campaign and the group’s collaboration with the Senate.
    Senator Abe who was speaking at a symposium to mark the World Sickle Cell Awareness Day 2017, said he would facilitate the Senate committee on Health to work in conjunction with the Association with a view to creating a legislative platform and framework for intensive national awareness as well as legal control in attitude and behavior regarding sickle cell disease in the country.

    The forum was organized by Sickle Cell Interactive and Management Association in Collaboration with Sickle Cell Support Society of Nigeria and Action Against Sickle Cell, in Port Harcourt.

    The only APC senator from Rivers state speaking further said this was necessary if the plights of sicklers are to be alleviated and the critical condition stemmed.
    Senator Abe, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), narrated a pathetic account of news of the horror of sickle cell disease in many homes in Nigeria and urged all stakeholders to form a synergy aimed at addressing issues of sickle cell in Nigeria and beyond.
    He commended the organizer, Ifeoma Ifejika, who, earlier, also in her speech had commended Senator Abe for agreeing to work with the association to partner with the Senate to provide legislative support to stem many issues arising from sickle cell anaemia in Nigeria

  • Rivers Re-run: Ogoni people solidly behind me, Senator Abe declares

    Rivers Re-run: Ogoni people solidly behind me, Senator Abe declares

    …Vows not to benefit personally from cleanup project

    Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Rivers South East Senatorial District in the legislative re-run elections, has said that the Ogoni people are more united than ever behind him.

    Speaking at a media chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Abe said the Ogoni repose implicit confidence in him as their candidate that will deliver their expectations through the instrumentality of the Senate.

    “I am surprised to hear this. I have been in politics close to 20 years; I have actually never seen the Ogoni people united than they are now. So, when you say divide, I don’t know how this election has divided the people of Ogoni. I would rather say that this election has united the people of Ogoni in a way that they have never been united before in recent times. When you say people are divided, you presupposes that there is some measure of equality in the division. That will amount to a division. But when more than 90 percent of the people are saying something, that to me is not a division. There are people who are being paid where they are and they have an obligation to say certain things. And we all recognise that they are saying that because they don’t have a choice. They have to say that. How would you gauge the opinion of a people is by listening to those voices that have no obligation to say one thing or the other. I, as a member of APC, I have an obligation to defend my party and so also do the PDP members from Ogoni. But you need to hear the non politicians who have no stake one way or the other. It is from their opinion that you will know if Ogoni is divided. I would say rather that I have never seen the Ogoni people more united behind an idea. I have never seen the Ogoni people more united about their determination to elect somebody of their own choice to represent them this time around”.

    Senator Abe said he was overwhelmed by the expression of love, support and encouragement by the ordinary Ogoni people anywhere he went to in course of the rally.

    He gave an instance where he privately went on a jogging just to keep fit in Gokana Local Government Area and on sighting him, the people trooped out from all surrounding villages and turned that private exercise to a huge rally.

    “My scholarship scheme, which I introduced the last time is one of the reasons why several people including members of the PDP today are working for me and decamping in droves because they were in their houses and their children came to tell them that Senator Abe was paying their fees and they don’t know Senator Abe, they are PDP members. Simply because we did it strictly on merit, those that won, won whether they were in APC or PDP. The water that we have in different communities around the place, people of all parties are drinking it. The light that we did, people from of all parties are benefiting from it. Everything that we have done have benefited the people of Nigeria who are in our district including non indigenes”.

    On the Ogoni Cleanup, Senator Abe said the project was on course as the necessary structures had been put in place while the process of effective funding was being articulated, perfected and expected.

    “Nobody can say not much has happened after the launch. A lot has happened. The board of trustees and governing council have been set up. Advert has been placed for the project manager. Thousands of people applied, their names screened. A committee was set up to look at the various aspects of the report and provide a frame work for the implementation of the report. The board of trustees has met. The governing council has also met and all these things are in place. The funds are being expected and the necessary framework for getting the funds and putting them into use are being done”.

    Abe said he had been in touch with the various government agencies concerned with the UNEP report implementation on personal relationship, stressing that if elected he would then fast track the project on official basis as the representative of his people.

    “If by the grace of God, I am elected, which is clear to everybody who has been studying the political landscape that I will be next Saturday, part of what I will be able to do is that at that point I now have an official basis to interact with those who are doing this thing as the Senator representing the area. It is no longer Magnus Abe leveraging on personal relationship that I have built in the course of my career to be able to talk to people, I am now talking officially on behalf of the people. I can ask question officially on their behalf. I think that that will make a very big difference as far as the implementation of this report is concern”.

    He noted that he (Abe) was doing that in the interest of his marginalized people, pointing out that when he was not given the gubernatorial mandate for the state that he chose to present the UNEP report for the interest of his people than other monetary gains.

    He stated that he had vowed that he would not personally benefit from the Ogoni clean up as a sacrifice for his people and to enable him be vocal and straight forward in cause of the project implementation.

    “I want to put it on record that I am the only politician from Ogoni that have promised privately or publicly that I will not benefit personally from the implementation of the report. I am not going to ask Mr B to take something and turn around in the night and go and collect. People who know me, know that I am a man of my words and what I have said is what I will do. So, I want to keep myself above board because if I have nothing to gain, then I can tell everybody the truth and I believe that that is the kind of messenger that the Ogoni people want to send on an errand at this time”.

    The former Secretary to Rivers State Government took a swipe on a statement credited to Gov. Nyesom Wike where he said that Olaka Nwogu was his boy he could send on errands, stating that he himself was different as only his people could send him on an errand.

    “Gov. Wike said that Olaka Nwogu is his boy. He is somebody that he can send a message and he will just go but that is not the kind of representative that our people want. He should go and say that to the person who will represent him in his own district. In our own district, the people want to choose who they would send. They want to choose the message that they will give to me. They don’t want Wike to give me a message to go and carry on their behalf. That is not democracy. So, I think it is very important to my people and to the people of Rivers South East Senatorial District that I am elected because I will carry their message and not the message of any external power”.

    Senator Abe said he and his party are concerned about peaceful election in the state unlike Gov. Wike and the PDP, and to this end will respond not fire for fire but water for fire in the interest of the state.

    “I don’t believe in the principle of fire- for-fire. Those who are old know fire don’t put out fire. What puts out fire is water. So, I have always believed in water-for-fire. I think that what we need to do is to tell the people who are bringing fire that fire will not solve the problems of our society and two years of fire has clearly not solved the problems of our society. What we need now is how to put out all the fire that are being ignited all over the place and the kind of water that will do it is that the federal government that has the responsibility of securing the lives of Nigerians should provide adequate security for the people of Rivers State so that they can come out and cast their votes in an atmosphere that is devoid of violence”.