Excerpts from Gov Nyesom Wike’s address at the civic reception organised in his honour by the people of Kalabari ethnic nationality on Saturday 5th February 2022, at Abalama in Asari-Toru LGA.
I have never promised anybody that he will be governor after me.
If you are waiting for me to say that I will give power to kalabari, you’re wasting your time, because I will not say it. If you want to take back your chieftaincy title you can come and take it.
Everybody has the chance of becoming the governor of Rivers State but you must have the capacity to stand to fight for it.
Don’t wait for anybody to dash you, nobody dashed me, I fought for it.
When I wanted to be governor, I came out and fought for it, I fought a sitting governor and I said let heaven fall, I will be governor and I am governor today with your support.
Anybody that will be governor of Rivers State must be prepared to face the army and police.
You remember when they brought military to fight us, did I run and leave you ? I didn’t, I stood my ground.
I stood firm, and with your support we defeated them.
So, anybody that wants to be governor must stand firm.
I thank those who stood by me when I wanted to be governor, I respect late O.B Lulu Briggs , he supported me very well in 2015, these are the kind of people we must honour, and his son Dumo is my friend, I have told him to choose between politics and traditional stool because once I recognize him he cannot play politics again (jokingly).
We will honour Prof Nimi Briggs because he has represented the state well, even though the people he is working with didn’t recognize him, we will recognize him because to us, everything is not about politics.
Like I told Ogoni people when they honoured me, you must stop destroying each other because of the governorship of Rivers State.
Kalabari people, you must put yourselves together and stop bringing yourselves down.
You have been aspiring to be governor since 1999 but you can’t get it by fighting yourselves.
You must stop destroying yourselves; because someone is close to me you want to destroy the person, some of you say you don’t like David Briggs, that he is fighting your people, you say you don’t like Tammy Danagogo, all na lie lie, the day we were flagging off law school just because I said George Kelly was doing well in his job as SA on special projects, the next thing they started fighting him, kalabari you must put your house in order and stop bringing each other down.
Anybody that wants to be Governor should prepare himself for it, you must stop being selfish about it, it can be anybody.
If I say my deputy will become governor won’t you like it ? you don’t have to say that because she is a woman, no, you have to support yourselves.
Like in the Niger Delta, all the states must support each other because we are one , that’s how we in Rivers State must also support each other.
Don’t say it must be me…
— Excerpts from Gov Nyesom Wike’s address at the civic reception organised in his honour by the people of Kalabari ethnic nationality on Saturday 5th February 2022, at Abalama in Asari-Toru LGA