Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has urged Nigerian youths to join politics to decide their fate and make a difference.

Otti gave the advice during Church Service at The Transforming Church (TTC), on Sunday in Abuja.

He explained that every society needs the leadership it deserves, saying: “If you sit back and say politics is for politicians, the politicians will decide everything for you.

“I am challenging all the young people here.

Quoting Psalms 62:11, the governor said that power belongs to God and advised the youths against shying away from power.

“You can make a lot of changes if you have power, and that is what politics will give you to create the changes you want to see in the lives of your people.

“This is because, holding a political office affords people the opportunity to affect the lives of more people than one can imagine,” he said.

Otti said that he left the banking sector in 2014 and joined politics to make a difference by doing things differently.

He said that as the governor of Abia, he could affect the entire population of the state by just one action.

He called on Christians not to pray alone but compliment it with hard work, adding that that way, their dreams and aspirations would come through.

During the sermon, the lead pastor of the church, Rev. Sam Oye, who spoke on the goodness of God, called on Nigerians to keep their faith strong and not to give up on their dreams.

Reading from Psalm 119:68, Oye stressed the need for people to learn how to be good to others.

He thanked the Otti for visiting the church and reiterated the commitment of the church in praying for those in positions of leadership. (NAN)

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdulahi Ganduje, has appealed to leaders of the party in Ondo State to work together for its victory in the Nov. 16 governorship election.

Report says that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is the APC candidate in the election.

Ganduje made the appeal at the South-West APC Governors’ Forum stakeholders meeting on Sunday in Akure.

He said all bigwigs of the party in the region and at the national level were in the state to show their support and commitment for the election.

The APC National Chairman said he was encouraged by the number of party leaders in the state that were present at the meeting, urging them to put all that happened in the primary behind them and support the party’s candidate.

“Our mission is to give you assurance that the party is solidly behind you and all stakeholders at national level are being coordinated so that we have a successful election in Ondo State.

“We are here to motivate, energise and support you that this election and the success in this election is a task that must be done.

“We are expecting 90 per cent in the coming election. Make sure you know those that are supposed to vote in the polling units. We assure you Tinubu is the best leader that we have,” he said.

Also speaking, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State expressed delight for the unity in the party in Ondo State.

Sanwo-Olu commended all the aspirants in the April 20 party’s primary for their sportsmanship, appealing to them to “unite for the victory of APC in the November election.”

The Governor of Ekiti State, Abiodun Oyebanji, urged the stakeholders to work for the success of the party’s candidate as it was the first election that would be held in the region of President BolaTinubu.

Aiyedatiwa in his remarks, appreciated the leaders, assuring them that all the suggestions at the meeting would be addressed.

The Chairman of APC in Ondo State, Mr Ade Adetimehin, said that the party was more united, saying “no faction, no division in Ondo State; we are one.” (NAN)

From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Annkio Briggs, an Environmentalist and Human Rights Activist has taken a swipe at the Niger Delta Governors for their absence at the first Pan- Ijaw Economic Summit organized in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, to address critical issues concerning the Niger Delta Region.

Speaking during the summit, she argued that there was no reason why Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State should not have come or sent a representative to the important event that will reshape the future of the Ijaw nation and where the proposed Blue Economy was discussed.

Recall that Governor Diri, close to five years, has been moving around the world claiming to be looking for investors to invest in the blue economy and even created a ministry of blue economy.

Briggs also maintained that 65 percent of all proceeds gotten from the riverine areas should be given back to the state they were obtained from, saying that the resources are all gotten around the riverine communities.

  Briggs said: “I see no reason why the senators, the house of reps, what on earth can they be doing in Abuja that is more important than   what is being done here today.

“If the politicians fail the children that are yet to be born, I know that they will not include me in the people that they will blame because I’m doing my best. They will blame people like the governors, the senators.

“I see no reason why they won’t be here when the future of Ijaw people is being discussed even Governor Diri is not here and this is not fair.

“There can be no blue economy without the people in riverine areas because that is where the blue economy is, the periwinkle, the Ngolo, the fish and other sea foods.

“Do you know that there are Chinese people coming in here to fish, taking our fish away and they are not paying for it because there is nobody stopping them? The Navy is not stopping them, the state government is not stopping them.

“The waters that we own goes to 200 nautical miles outside of Bayelsa shore and Rivers shore, even Delta shore. Anything you find there belongs to us so when Chinese people come in and they are fishing, they are stealing and our governors and senators see nothing wrong in that happening to our people.

“Our women are now picking periwinkles and Ngolo that are polluted by oil and because they are not doing the right things, we have to do the right thing.

“All we are saying is that we want to control our own resources and pay tax to the federal government.”

“We must make sure that the blue economy, 65 percent of it, belongs to us. And the blue economy, we are now being told that 65 percent of what the government called the blue economy is within the riverine areas therefore, we own the blue economy. 65 percent of that blue economy area, we should have it,” she said.