I ‘ll Run An Open Government – Abe

Let me use this opportunity to once again introduce myself to the good people of Rivers State. My name is Magnus Ngei Abe. I was born here in Rivers State in Eleme, Nigeria. I grew up here. My father was a priest of the Anglican Church and my mother was a homemaker. I am married. My wife is here with me tonight and I have four children.
I grew up at a time in Rivers State when all Rivers State was one united happy place; and when it didn’t matter whether your father was rich or poor; where you were or what you come from. Rivers State provided for all our children.
I went to St. Peter’s State School, Yeghe. I went to Boys State School, Okrika. I went to Akpor Grammar School, Ozuoba amongst others. And I graduated from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, then, now Rivers State University and I am a lawyer.
I have served this state in several capacities. I was minority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly. I was Secretary to the Government of Rivers State. I have been a two-term senator that has represented the good people of this state honourably in the Federal Government. I have the experience to be able to help our state through this very difficult time.
We have a state that every child, everybody can call home. But we need to come together and list the most important things we have, to build a home that we can all be proud of. The most important things we have in Rivers State are its people, our environment. And we have the knowledge and the technology that we can use to make this state a home for all Rivers people regardless of where you come from. We can come together here to work together using the ballot as our starting point to build a government that will be able to provide for all Rivers people. Thank you very much.
What steps will you take to reindustrialize Rivers State if elected governor? And what decisions will you take concerning the monorail project?
I have often said and I want to repeat it here that poverty can come naturally but wealth must be created. The first thing we shall do is that we are going to get Rivers State working again. And part of how we are going to do this is that we are going to separate the government, those who supervise our resources, those who superintend our resources from those who have a responsibility to disburse and to also use the resources for the good of Rivers people. So, as governor, I will not be a contractor and nobody working in our government will be a contractor. So, when we say we are going to build things, we are going to build things in a competitive manner, we are going to start by doing the most important thing that we can do at this point, which is first of all to tackle the issue of power. We will do that by working with the power companies to improve the power supply both to individuals and businesses. We are also going to work with the banks to create opportunities for Rivers people to access credit.
We are going to build new industrial estates, using the models that have been used all over the world, which is that we provide the industrial estates with basically everything that is required for the businesses to run. And then we screen businesses that come into these estates to come to operate so that they can have only people who have resources and investments to put in as part of the efforts to reindustrialise.
In putting security in place; tackling the challenges of credit and having a government that is honest in intent and purpose, people will begin to bring their money here to invest.
The fastest way to address poverty in this state is that we have to start by reducing the burden on those who are currently living here in the state. If we improve education and have public schools that can compete with private schools, and parents don’t have to pay the kind of exorbitant fees that they are paying now they will have more confidence in the public school system. That saved money goes back into pockets of parents and they put it into whatever thing they are doing.
If we improve power supply then all money people are spending on diesel, generators and all that goes back into their businesses and into their pockets and immediately they will begin to feel the impact of a better government.
If we make the civil service efficient so that the service actually delivers on the things we want and we employ people, not because we want to give them jobs, but because we want to provide services to Rivers people. For example, in waste disposal, we can build better waste disposal facilities. We can also better traffic management systems; we can bring in a security architecture that engages some of our youths and also give opportunities to those who are currently doing things to be able to work with the government in such a way that government money moves around instead of being kidnapped by a few persons. I believe that once we begin to do these things and money begins to trickle down, the impact of that money in the pockets of individual men and women in the state will have an immediate impact both in the confluence of the citizenry, in the ability of the government to be able to tackle their problems and in their own ability to be able to work hard because their hard work will pay instant returns and dividends.
The current system of multiple taxation, harassment of businesses, harassment of people and all that will be immediately brought under control.
On Multiple Taxation And Creating A Balance Between Improving Internally Generated Revenue and Creating A Better Environment For Businesses.
I think that the most important thing we have to do as a government is to convince the people of Rivers State that their money is being spent efficiently, wisely and in their best interest. People must understand that Nigeria is one of the few states in the world where citizens expect services from the government without knowing how much the services would actually cost or how the money is raised because we all believe that we are selling oil and oil would pay for everything that we want.
I think the first thing we need to do is to open up the books to Rivers people. Let us know exactly how much we have. Let us know exactly how many we are; let us know exactly what we need and then we know the shortfalls that we have; we know the cost of the government. You cannot have a government in which officials of the government are driving the most expensive SUVs on the planet; living in the most luxurious houses and then they are telling you that there is no money for desks in the school, you should come and pay money. There is no money to fix the potholes, you should come and pay money. People will not pay.
The first thing we must do as a government is to open up the government and make the government transparent. And people must see that those of us in the government are the first ones to make the sacrifices that are needed to get the state to move forward. Once we do this, it will not be a problem for us to tell other Rivers people that listen, these are shortfalls we need for education, these are the shortfalls we need for this and this and this is therefore what you have to contribute. That is one.
The second thing is that once we begin to spend money efficiently, money would move around. I was a child in Rivers State and I know that we used to have contractors in different parts of the state who would wake up in the morning, wear their clothes, come to the secretariat, register as Grade A of Grade B contractors and they get jobs from the government without knowing anybody based on open competitive bid. I believe that once the public begins to participate in the government, begin to benefit from the government, it would not be a problem telling Rivers people to pay their fair share.
I also want to say here that some of the projects that we do we do them to please the ego of those in power. It is not based on the needs of Rivers people; it’s not based on the challenges that the society is facing. Once Rivers people begin to see that their money is being spent on things that are important to them and the results are immediate and visible, I believe that every Rivers man and woman will be in a better frame of mind not just to support his own development and his own progress but in the process to support the opportunity that would spread around the state for Rivers people.