Magnus Abe, the immediate-past representative of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly has said that all he asks of is for good leadership and internal democracy in the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
This is as the party cancelled its scheduled congresses following an order of the Rivers State High Court.
The Senator, however, said he does not harbor grudges against any member of the party as bitterness towards someone is a sign of failure.
He said, “I believe that inspiring people and motivating them to reach within themselves and not to focus on anyone else will give them the will to examine themselves, and their leadership in the arrears in which action or inaction can be reviewed, and improved.
” This model of leadership is difficult and tasking and cannot provide you with docile followers who will do whatever you say, but it provides you with committed associates who understand exactly what is at stake.
“They cannot blame you or blame anyone else because they understand exactly where they are going and why it is important to go there, and they know it is their responsibility to get there.
Leadership which emphasizes individual responsibility, the Senator said, is tedious and painful but ultimately it stands a chance of achieving what bitterness and scapegoating others will never achieve.
He hinted that such leadership would help move the society in the direction of unity, peace, progress, and prosperity,adding that the must all realize its fallibility, and the fact that no matter how good it may be, it can be better and no matter how well it have done, it can still do better.
Abe stated further that holding bitterness towards another human being is not a genetic inheritance from parents, but something learnt from leaders.
According to him: “For me, I have chosen not to be bitter towards anyone, and not to teach bitterness to anyone. I know that if I teach people that Mr. A is the source of their every failure, and poverty, I will absolve myself and those I teach of all responsibility for whatever challenges and the difficulties that they are going through, then I can be a super leader because I have provided a convenient scapegoat and I can absolve myself from scrutiny responsibility.
“Whether it is the South African leaders telling their people that it is the fault of foreign nationals that they are poor, or white people in the United States saying Mexicans and immigrants are coming to steal their country, the end result is always the same: bitterness, violence, misery, failure and more poverty.
“In my world, bitterness towards anyone is a sign of failure; it means you admit that the other person had the power to make your life. No one has that power over my life.
” So rather than tell my supporters of all the miseries, humiliations and attack that have been my lot in the APC, the party that we put our lives on the line to birth in Rivers State, rather than tell them about the oppression I am facing at the hands of the friend for whose sake I wept on the floor of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I tell them that their live is their responsibility and that no man can alter their destiny. It is our responsibility to identify what we want, where we need to be, and how we can get there. I tell them to come and let us move mountains if need be.
“We will enjoy our journey, as challenging as it may be and we will not just travel hopefully, but we will get there. I don’t know your destination, but I know that the ultimate objective of bitterness is violence, and no amount of violence can help you if you do not know where you are going.”
