As the 2015 governorship race gathers momentum in Rivers State. A cross section of the people have endorsed the demand by the Ogoni ethnic nationality to produce a successor to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
This was the outcome of a live radio phone-in programme centered on Ogoni governorship in 2015 which featured the President, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara.
In their contributions to the programme monitored in Port Harcourt. 99.9% of the callers supported the Ogonis, describing their demand as genuine and legitimate while 10% opted for the Kalabaris in the Rivers West Senatorial District that produced Governor Peter Odili in 1999.
The participants noted with dismay, that the people have over the years faced high proportion of neglect, injustice and degradation to their environment and economic wellbeing, lamenting that even the UNEP report that placed them as endangered species has not been reacted to practically.
“But for the intervention of Governor Amaechi”, callers particularly from Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, Bonny, Oyigbo, Abua/Odual and neighboring Bayelsa State observed that the Ogonis would have lost confidence in the Rivers and Nigeria projects, which to them could be responsible for the quest
for an Ogoni State but for their patience and peaceful disposition.
They said it was right time other parts of the state give Ogoni people chance to produce a governor, pointing out that such opportunity will give them a sense of belonging in a state where they are one of the majority ethnic groups.
The callers advised political parties for the 2015 Rivers gubernatorial election to feature only Ogonis, as was the case with Ikwerre in 2007, insisting that supporting the Ogonis will further the quest for justice among groups in the state. .
MOSOP President, Saro Pyagbara had during the programme said Ogonis were prepared to produce the next governor and called on other parts of the state to give them the needed support like
they gave others in the past.
“It is our time to be considered for the governorship position; Rivers State is divided into three senatorial zones. Now, Rivers West has gotten it, Rivers East has gotten it. Now, is the turn of Rivers South-East. We are saying under this zonal arrangement, two zones have produced, why don’t you want the other zone to produce? He queried.
Pyagbara stated that “the clamour for the creation of Bori State by the people of Rivers South-East Senatorial District will not stop the people of Ogoni ethnic nationality from demanding to produce the next governor of Rivers State” and urged the Ogonis and all Rivers citizens of goodwill to be united in the demand for justice.
The MOSOP president said “the case for Ogoni governorship seat within Rivers State will not stop the call for creation of Bori State, adding that; “it is time for Ogoni people to produce a governor either of Rivers State or of a Bori State.” ####
