2027 Guber Race: Ogoni Must Learn From Past Experiences -Abe

Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Senator Magnus Abe, has appealed to the people of Ogoni in Rivers State to learn from their past experiences as they affect the state governorship race.

Abe spoke yesterday in Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland during a meeting of the Ogoni apex socio-cultural organisation, KAGOTE. He said it was impossible for the people of the area alone to produce next governor of the state.

He insisted that despite the fact that an Ogoni son is contesting the 2027 governorship election, his support is for Kingsley Chinda of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu.

“Lastly, we should talk about politics because I am a politician. The other day I said I will support O.K. Chinda for governor and a lot of people were angry because they felt that I should have said I will support an Ogoni person. It is not the support of any one person that will make anybody a governor.

“But Ogoni as a tribe, as a people, we must have a plan that will move us forward. I contested for governor, I didn’t just contest, in politics, I shook the ground. I fought from my party, I fought everywhere and I have the experience.

“Today, I can tell my people, that is not how the things is done. Everybody is free to support whoever it pleases him to support. For me, I am supporting Tinubu and O.K. Chinda and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is my party. Above all, let us learn from our past experiences,” he said.

Abe, who is also former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, stated that apart from quality education, the people of Ogoni need job opportunities to enable them lift the area from poverty.

The NUPRC chairman said: “First is to say to our people that progress, prosperity is not accident. There is no society that you have gone to, that have moved from Point A to Point B and it just happened like that. It does not just happen. It takes planning, it takes commitment, it takes strategy, it takes sacrifice for people to move forward. Fighting, abusing ourselves, running ourselves down is not a strategy. If anything, it is strategy for failure.

“What does Ogoni need? We need education, quality education. The kind of public education that has made it possible for a Senator Abe who was a son of a pastor that was earning N94:00 a month, to stand before you today and stand before the whole of Nigeria. I am a product of quality public education. That is the first thing Ogoni needs.

“What again do we need? We need opportunities, jobs. What do jobs do? Imagine, if we have several job opportunities across Ogoniland, these shootings, these problems, these inadequacies, these restlessness of our youths will be a thing of the past.

“How do we get that kind of situation going in Ogoni? Solution which I have developed severally. What Ogoni is sitting on is oil and gas. I the world all over, you use what you have to develop what you need. The thing that Ogoni has is oil and gas.

“All of us have agreed that it is the fastest opportunity to take Ogoni out of poverty. But every time we talk about oil and gas, everybody begins to fight; youths fight, communities fight and everybody fighting. If we keep fighting, how could we progress?”