Lawmaker Drums Support For Jonathan

A member of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Otobo Noah Opusiri, wants all indigenes of  the state from all walks of life, irrespective of ethnic and regional backgrounds, to rally round President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Timipre Sylva to consolidate the achievments they have made within the short period they have stayed in office.

“According to him, there is need for them to complete what they have started both at the federal and the state levels”.

The country’s independence was predicated on the banner of a strong and unified nation.

Hon. Opusiri, who is the House Committee Chairman on Anti-Corruption stated this while speaking to Assembly Correspondents. He described the successful celebration of Nigeria’s first fifty years of nationhood and fourteen years of the creation of Bay elsa, as homogeneous Ijaw state, as landmark achievements,

The lawmaker, who represents Nembe Constituency III, said the event provided unique opportunity for the youth who never experienced colonialism, adding that whatever the shortcomings of the first five decades may be, the greatest success remains that the nation still remains as one entity and that hope was not yet lost on the people.

He reiterated that the post-civil war slogan “No Victor, No Vanquished”, captured the adding imperative of post-conflict reconciliation among various tribes,  unique that any call for a return to regional political agenda as establishing criteria for leadership in the country, would rather bring an ill-wind fall that would likely threaten stability of the country.

He contended that, in spite of the many challenges such as unemployment, corruption and economic woes, culminating in confusion and frustration among Nigerian youth, the fate of the nation still remains with them and advised that they should either aspire on how to build up the nation to their dream land instead of looking for an opportunity to destory it.

According to him, the task of building Nigeria should not be left in the hands of foreign nations, adding that it was not the responsibility of foreign powers to decide the destiny of  Nigeria, reiterating that the fate of the nation lies in the youths, to create a positive and enduring legacy from the experience of the last fifty years.

He recalled that the independence struggle which commenced about three decades earlier, was pioneered by an Ijaw son, Ernest Ikoli, with other youths from all over the country. While stressing the imperative of peaceful co-existence, he reminded Nigerians how the country was able to overcome the temptation of secession at the time Independence was barely ten years old, when the Civil War began and ended, implying that forty years have passed, since the first  major threat to our national unity was overcome.

He pointed out further that the national imperative of unity should be the core principle in seeking any elective office in the land, saying that Nigeria’s ability to resolve the civil war helped to keep the hope of the founding fathers.