Together, We Can Take Back Our State Let me begin by expressing my warmest and deepest gratitude to everyone who supported my gubernatorial campaign. Although we did not achieve our goal, I am proud of our campaign and what we achieved together. We made a good case for our people and were it not for the manipulation of the process by those who hate Urhobo, we would have succeeded. Since that eventful night of December 8, I have been inundated with calls and entreaties on the way forward. Some asking, what are you going to do now? What are we going to do? What is the way forward? My brother, Chief Great Ogboru, whom I respect so much for his doggedness in the fight to bring change to Delta state called to invite me to join forces with him to finish the governorship race on the platform of the Labour Party. He also graciously offered me the senatorial ticket of the Labour Party. I also had a meeting with another of my brother, Olorogun Otega Emerhor on what is the best option for the Urhobo nation and Delta state. Our people have waited with bated breath for me to make a decision. The expectations and the anxieties are understandable because our political future and the future of the Urhobo nation and Delta state rest on what we decide to do. Initially, I was tempted to choose the option of doing nothing. But the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that doing nothing was no option at all. That would have amounted to waving the white flag to those who despise us. This is a battle that must be fought and I choose my fights carefully. I have never surrendered and I am not going to do that now. Freeing Delta state and honouring the Urhobo nation is a fight I have chosen to fight and I will not stop until the mission is accomplished. Those who think they own Delta state must be told in clear terms that the state belongs to Deltans. Those who say Urhobo dont matter must be made to understand that we are vital and they cannot win without our votes. While those who conspired against us in the PDP primaries must be told that no matter how hard they try to frustrate us, we will not give up. I will not sit down and watch the Urhobo people being humiliated when I believe I can do something to put an end to it. The outcome of the primaries isnt exactly what I planned. But the progress we seek is unyielding. Our dream of a better society must not die. And as Winston Churchill of Great Britain once said if we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future. Today our concern must be about the future. So, to all those who stood by me throughout the campaign, I pledge to continue to stand with you everywhere and in every way I can, to continue to fight for what we believe in. I entered the governorship race because I believe in what Delta state can be. And until Delta state becomes what it can be, you will always find me ready and willing to stand up to fight for its future. Its a future of jobs for the mass of unemployed citizens of Delta State, its a future of security for all, its a future of expanded and modernised infrastructure, its a future of a transparent, open and accountable government, its a future of better schools and hospitals for our people, its a future of a diversified economy that is not powered by generators, its a future of equal opportunity, its a future of shared prosperity. The PDP turned its back on us and ignored our demographic strength and our electoral value. So lets embrace those who recognised and appreciate our value in line with the Uvwiamuge Declaration. As an adherent of this declaration, who stood to benefit from it had I won, it was not difficult for me to take the decision to support Great Ogborus gubernatorial aspiration on the platform of the Labour Party. It is the only viable option for the majority ethnic group to seek the governorship of Delta state after eight years of marginalisation. For me, I could only have chosen the Labour Party which is friendly to President Goodluck Jonathan whom I strongly believe deserve a second term. I also cannot not in good conscience support APC in Delta State because those who conspired and worked against us in the PDP primaries did so partly because they want to take advantage of the Uvwiamuge Declaration to oust President Goodluck Jonathan and I cannot be part of that evil plot. Supporting Great Ogboru is just not the best way but indeed the only way available to us to continue our fight to free Delta state and build a state of our dream. Ogboru and I share the same ideals and values of a progressive society; and I strongly believe that Ogboru will add value to governance of Delta state in a way that I would have. So today, I endorse him and throw my full support behind his campaign. I call on all my supporters to channel all their energy, passion, strength and do all they can to help elect Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru the next governor of Delta state. I implore all of you to work as hard for Great Ogboru as you would have done for me. Today I also wish to formally confirm my candidature to represent the good people of Delta Central Senatorial District as their Senator in the 8th National Assembly. I am running for the Senate in the overall interest of the Urhobo nation. I appreciate that many will have legitimate questions regarding this decision but I want to assure all that it wasnt an easy one to make. At moments like this, the tendency is high to lapse into self-blame, and hasty but untested judgments that could lead to grievous error. I consulted widely, including the leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). In my quiet moments, I took myself to task to consider the motives of the people asking me to run for the Senate seat. Ultimately, I concluded that their call was altruistic as it is based on the need to have effective and quality representation of my people in the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian Senate. I heed the call in part because in the absence of a credible alternative, the Urhobos who have resolved to vote against the candidates of the PDP in all elections except the presidency would have ended up voting for the candidate of the APC which would have hurt the interest of Mr President. I enter the race with a clear understanding of what needs to be done to end the pains and agonies of the Urhobo nation. The challenge before us is enormous. Unwittingly or not, it is no secret that the Urhobos have been side-lined and marginalised politically and economically. I am committed to reversing this trend. I offer my deep knowledge of the politics of Nigeria, political expertise, experience and connections to help Urhobo out of the present political situation. This is not a self-serving mission. It is a mission to rescue Urhobo and Delta state from the claws of a few, who think they own Delta state. Delta state PDP has let us down and we refuse to be part of an arrangement that will continually foist unfettered humiliation on the Urhobo people. The Labour Party - as fate now has it – provides the best opportunity for our people to break away from the yoke of oppressive and unresponsive government. We are going to contest this senatorial and governorship election on the platform of the Labour Party and we are going to win. We will win because people power will ultimately defeat godfather power in the general election. We know they will try to manipulate or rig as they always do because that is the only way they can win but we will stop them. And thereafter have, as the former president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln said a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Let us all join hands irrespective of our party affiliation to free our state. Together, we can take back our state and bring about economic liberation, equal opportunity for all and development of the state we all love. We remain true to this cause and its sanctity should unite us. From the very beginning, through the rough and tumbles of the campaign, the media offered us great support. I want to register my gratitude to them, but also urge them not to drop the ball in ensuring that this new window of opportunity to serve my people as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria while also providing all the arsenals to propel the greatest change agent in Delta state, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru to a glorious shore of victory in 2015. Thank you. Happy New Year and God bless you. Signed: Aruviere Martin Egharhevwa For: Directorate of Media & Strategy Ovie Omo-Agege Campaign Organisation, Ughelli Delta State.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 00:49:52 +0000
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