Onyeche Wofurum IGWE
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has reiterated his commitment to peace and the people of the state, emphasizing that there’s no price too big for peace and that he’s willing to follow it to the end.
Fubara made the announcement during a Simplified stakeholders meeting held on Saturday in Port Harcourt, acknowledging the role of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the peace process and the risks he took to facilitate the agreement.
He urged stakeholders to understand that the peace agreement is necessary for the state’s progress and that everyone needs to make sacrifices for it to work.
The governor emphasized that the sacrifice required for total peace would be heavy, but it’s necessary for the state’s progress, appealing to everyone to accept the peace agreement, regardless of their feelings, and to work together to move the state forward.
Fubara assured the stakeholders that he would not abandon them, regardless of the outcome of the peace agreement.
The governor used the analogy of the Tilapia fish to illustrate the need for sacrifice and humility in achieving peace, saying that just as the Tilapia fish needs to hide its head in the mud to grow, stakeholders need to be willing to make sacrifices and compromises to achieve peace and progress in the state.
Fubara highlighted the importance of peace for the state’s progress and development, noting that the crisis between him and Wike had led to the abandonment of several projects and that peace is necessary to move the state forward.
He appealed to stakeholders to accept the peace agreement and work together to ensure its success, emphasizing that the peace agreement is necessary for the state’s progress and that everyone needs to make sacrifices for it to work.
The governor acknowledged that the road to peace would be challenging, but he emphasized the need for stakeholders to work together to achieve it, urging everyone to put aside their differences and focus on the state’s progress and development.
He pleaded with stakeholders to understand the importance of peace and to work together to achieve it, emphasizing that the peace agreement is not just about him or Wike, but about the people of Rivers State and their future.
Here is the full text of his address:
Protocols
I had a meeting with you on the 29th of May, 2025, here, and in that meeting, I did inform you that we are in a peace process. I know — and not just being in the process — I said it’s ongoing.
I called for this meeting to address you formally, for you to have the first-hand information. It’s not the one you are reading in the paper, it’s not the one you are seeing on social media or wherever — you are now hearing from me.
We have fought. I think, in my own assessment and in the assessment of anyone here who is genuine in this struggle, you will know that we have done what we need to do. At this point, if you want to be truthful to yourself, the only solution is peace. I did say that there’s no price that is too big for peace — I meant it, and I’m still ready to follow it to the end.
Nobody can take away the role the FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, played — that’s the truth. Yes, we might have our differences, but nobody here will say he doesn’t know the role he played. Nobody can wish away the risk he took. Yes, at a point we had our differences and if today there’s need for us to settle, please, anyone who genuinely believes in me should understand that it’s the right thing to do.
So, my dear fathers, brothers and sisters, no matter the level of peace that a mediator will arrange, the true peace is the one where both of you are sitting down together to say, “Yes, this is what we want.”
At this point, I’ve met him and we have spoken. You can’t take away the fact that he’s hurt — he’s a human being. I also have my own share of pains too.
If we believe that we are in one family and our interest is to support the President, then what is the issue? If you say you are with us and you believe in me, this is the time for us to show it.
Because it’s not even about me as a person — it’s about the overall interest of the state. In the midst of this crisis between me and the FCT Minister, look at the projects we’ve initiated. Many have been abandoned. We know the progress we would have recorded and the areas that would have been developed. So, there’s need for this peace — that’s the truth.
I can’t abandon you people — that’s one thing I need to say here. This is the time for me to prove to you that I care for you, and I make my commitment here that whichever way it goes, I will not abandon anybody. But the sacrifice that we are going to make for us to achieve this total peace is going to be heavy, and I want everybody to prepare for it.
Without a total reconciliation — which, by the grace of God, the both of us have gotten to — there’s no way we can make progress in this state. There’s no way the President can come in to save the situation. So, I want to appeal to everyone — I have accepted that we must accept this peace, no matter how it looks, no matter how you feel, we must accept it.
In my place, there’s a fish they call Atabala — you call it Tilapia. The native Tilapia doesn’t grow big. The mother Tilapia used to tell the kids that if you want to grow up to my own size, hide your head inside the mud. Every one of us should understand that at this time, we’ve done our best, and what we need now is this peace so that we can grow. I know it’s difficult and heavy, but that’s the true situation.
H.E Sir Siminalayi Fubara GSSRS.
● Governor Of Rivers State
