The Senator representing Abia South at the National Assembly, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said the Peoples Democratic Party zoning arrangement in Abia was not a recipe for anarchy.
Abaribe was speaking on the occasion of the 10th Synod of the Church of Nigeria, Diocese of Umuahia, held at St. Andrew’s Church, Nsukwe/Amibo Ubakala North Archdeaconry yesterday.
He stated, “The best does not necessarily go through zoning. Sometimes, you can also get it by not going through that means. There is also no place that says that you cannot also get the best through zoning.”
“Our laws are made to suit certain situations and I think that at the time our party made those decisions when we were exiting from the military, it was necessary at that time for us to assuage certain hot feelings at that time. Today they, at the place we find ourselves, must necessarily go for getting the best for us.
“So, it is simply a decision that the people will need to take. What I am advocating today is that we should look at our circumstances, look at what is best for us and I think that today, what is best for us in Abia State is to get the best person that can move us beyond where we are,” he noted.
The Senator, who is aspiring to govern Abia in 2023, further stated that, “All parts and zones in Abia have all led the state; the North, Central and South. Now it is time to zone integrity, capacity, capability and competence because we can no longer continue to do the same thing that we are doing before, which is to do geographical thing and end up having less than stellar type of people to rule Abia. I do not think that the cycle of mediocrity we have had in Abia will continue that way in 2023. It is time for us to make a movement to a new done for Abia State.”
Abaribe, who said he was at the occasion to talk about leadership, noted that, “No society can develop without the proper and appropriate type of leadership. We are talking with the church and we said that the church bears the brunt of bad governance in the society.
“This is because, when you don’t pay workers, they run to the church. When things are difficult for the people, they run to the church. When a woman is unable to feed her family, she runs to the priest. So, at every point, the church must get involved in who becomes the political head of our society.
The federal lawmaker continued, “Abia has become the butt of jokes and derision. The state seems an example of failure in all aspects of governance. The most painful of these criticisms come from citizens of some of the contiguous states that were hitherto behind Abia State in all indices of development both in human and infrastructural development.
“We have had a cycle of mediocrity and that can hardly be the best. Abia can do better than that. Abians must rise up and take back their state and reverse the downward trajectory.”
He added that the state must look out for leaders that were God-fearing, not religious bigots, parochial and fanatics, known for corrupt enrichment, abuse of office, economic wastage of public funds.
2023, he said “is pregnant and replete with great expectations and provides a veritable opportunity for proper leadership recruitment that will right the wrongs of the past and usher in a new dawn in Abia.”
He informed church faithful that Nigeria was in dire straits at the moment, while Abia State was suffering from the same leadership deficit.
“The truth is that our people are in pains, they are in a sorry and confused situation right from Abuja down to Umuahia. The leadership and the led are complicit in some way. The church is always at the receiving end of the troubles of its traumatized congregants,” Abaribe said.
According to him, thinking of Nigeria of today draws a very wicked irony as the country has failed to make use of natural opportunities and endowments available to it, adding that, “Nigeria is paradise converted to hell. Nigeria is epitome of confusion, and God is not the author of confusion.
“So, the desired change must come if we do the right thing in 2023 to usher in the new dawn we crave for.
“Finally what I said to the church is get your PVC. Prayer points will not make the necessary votes, only votes cast by the believers for the right type of persons in our society will change our society for the better,” the senator noted.
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