Still smarting from the peace deal over the Rivers State political crisis brokered by President Bola Tinubu, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has urged his supporters to gird their loins and prepare for heavy sacrifice in order to sustain the peace deal.
The suspended governor who addressed his core support group, the Simplified Movement on Saturday, said having fought all the way, it was time to seek peace and pay the price for peace.
“I called for this meeting to address you formally, for you to have the first-hand information.
“It’s not the one you are reading in the paper, it’s not the one you are seeing on social media or wherever, you are now hearing from me.
“We have fought. I think, in my own assessment and in the assessment of anyone here who is genuine in this struggle, you will know that we have done what we need to do.
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“At this point, if you want to be truthful to yourself, the only solution is peace. I did say that there’s no price that is too big for peace. I meant it, and I’m still ready to follow it to the end”, he said.
Gov. Fubara acknowledged the central role played by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike in his journey to becoming the governor, emphasising the need to bury all hatchets and paddle in the same boat with the minister for the overall interest of the state.
He said that “nobody can take away the role the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, played, that’s the truth. Yes, we might have our differences, but nobody here will say he doesn’t know the role he played.
“Nobody can wish away the risk he took. Yes, at a point we had our differences and if today there’s need for us to settle, please, anyone who genuinely believes in me should understand that it’s the right thing to do.
“So, my dear fathers, brothers and sisters, no matter the level of peace that a mediator will arrange, the true peace is the one where both of you are sitting down together to say, yes, this is what we want.
“At this point, I’ve met him and we have spoken. You can’t take away the fact that he’s hurt, he’s a human being. I also have my own share of pains too,” Gov. Fubara added.
He stated that time had come for everyone who genuinely believes in him to demonstrate it in concrete terms.
“If we believe that we are in one family and our interest is to support the president, then what is the issue? If you say you are with us and you believe in me, this is the time for us to show it.
“Because it’s not even about me as a person, it’s about the overall interest of the state. In the midst of this crisis between me and the FCT minister, look at the projects we’ve initiated.
“Many have been abandoned. We know the progress we would have recorded and the areas that would have been developed. So, there’s need for this peace. That’s the truth”, the governor maintained.
He vowed that his present commitments would not translate to abandoning them, but they should be ready to travel the road he has chosen.
“I can’t abandon you people, that’s one thing I need to say here. This is the time for me to prove to you that I care for you, and I make my commitment here that whichever way it goes, I will not abandon anybody.
“But, the sacrifice that we are going to make for us to achieve this total peace is going to be heavy, and I want everybody to prepare for it
“Without a total reconciliation, which, by the grace of God, the both of us have gotten to, there’s no way we can make progress in this state. There’s no way the president can come in to save the situation.
“So, I want to appeal to everyone, I have accepted that we must accept this peace, no matter how it looks, no matter how you feel, we must accept it,” he stated.
Waxing philosophical, Gov. Fubara said he had to adopt the survival instinct of a fish specie, Tilapia, by playing safe in order to grow and mature in the face of the prevailing circumstances.
“In my place, there’s a fish they call Atabala, you call it Tilapia. The native Tilapia doesn’t grow big. The mother Tilapia used to tell the kids that if you want to grow up to my own size, hide your head inside the mud.
“Everyone of us should understand that at this time, we’ve done our best, and what we need now is this peace so that we can grow. I know it’s difficult and heavy, but that’s the true situation”, he insisted.
