The former lawmaker representing the Rivers South-East senatorial district, Senator Magnus Abe has said that the godfather syndrome among youths in the state has not allowed the society to thrive as it should.
Abe, who spoke at an interactive session with Rivers youths and young entrepreneurs in Port Harcourt on Saturday, advised the Youths to take advantage of opportunities around to better themselves and the state rather than relying on godfathers for their success.
In an example, he explained that he preferred to sleep under a bridge and work hard in achieving excellence than rely on friends and acquaintances for help.
He noted that nothing would be difficult for them to achieve if they prioritised those qualities, urging them to change their approach and adopt the culture of hard work and determination.
The former lawmaker, who is still consulting towards contesting the 2023 Rivers State governorship, also acknowledged that he was part of the success and the mistakes in governance experienced by the state.
According to him, it would be a mere pretence for him or anyone else aspiring to say he has all the answers to all challenges facing the state.
“It’s a pretence to say I have all the answers to whatever challenges our state is facing. Or to pretend that somehow I am not part of whatever may have been the mistakes or issues of our states in the past.
“I am part of whatever success we have had in Rivers state because I have been in Rivers politics at least from 1998 or so. I am also part of whatever failures we may have had.
“But in course of whatever success or failure we have put together, we have also acquired experience. We have better ideas. We know the things that will not work and can’t work.”
Speaking further, he noted that it is wrong to clamour for the displacement of old politicians, maintaining that “somebody starting afresh would have to know what people already know should not be known.”
He said, “So, going forward, we must do things differently from the way we have done them before. If we continue to do things the way we have always done them, don’t be surprised that we will get exact same results that our actions have always produced.”
