Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers says his administration is committed to liberating Rivers people from bad governance and oppression.

Mr Fubara made the statement on Saturday at a thanksgiving rally organised by the SIMplified Movement at Ibaka, Okirika Local Government Area. The pro-Fubara group organised the event to mark the governor’s victory at the Supreme Court.

Mr Fubara, who spoke through Awajinombek Abiante, the member representing the Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro federal constituency in the House of Representatives, said Rivers people had been oppressed for a long time.

”A reggae artiste named Lucky Dube once sang about the imprisonment of the mind; that song mirrors our pathetic situation in Rivers state today,” said the governor.

Mr Fubara recalled that a report released during the week indicated the “decay and shortage” of teachers. He blamed the past administration for attempting to “imprison” the minds of state residents.

”This reported decay and shortage of teachers did not happen in the last 10 months of my administration; it is an accumulation of neglect.

”They decided not to build schools because they want to imprison the minds of our people, to make us blind in loyalty and unable to ask questions,” he said.

Mr Fubara said his government had already begun efforts to revive the education sector by renovating schools and recruiting more teachers.

”It is for this sake that this government has come to guarantee liberty and break the chains that have held us bound,” he said.

The governor said his administration had commenced the rehabilitation of Okirika Grammar School to provide a sound learning ground for the area’s people.

He said that his administration would listen to the Rivers people’s yearnings and take action without making a big deal about it.

Also speaking at the event, Anderson Allison, an APC member representing Okirika/Ogu/Bolo federal constituency in the House of Representatives, said prominent politicians and the elite class in Rivers supported Mr Fubara due to his integrity and commitment to the state’s service.

”The governor has been in office for just 10 months and has already achieved a lot without resorting to abuse; this is how a leader should behave,” he said.

(NAN)