We live in very strange times in Rivers State; says Zenith Labour Party Governorship Candidate

Rt Hon. Leyii Kwanee, is the former Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, in the seventh Assembly while Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was Governor of the State.

Excerpts of the exclusive interview:

The Platform:- Your excellency, People would ask who is Honorable Leyii Kwanee?
Rt. Hon. Kwanee:- I think Honorable Leyii Kwanee is a familiar face in Rivers political class. Honorable Leyii Kwanee has been around politically in the last 20 years. He should be a talk of the town and on the lips of every politician. We came in here shortly after Ndo’s death and we were inaugurated March 2000/2002 and in 2003 we had another shot again full time to 2007. There was a short break until we returned again in 2011/2015 were we became the Deputy Speaker.
I think legislatively speaking, the deputy Speakership days were our best of times in parliament and we look back to it and reminisce all about it and wish it could have lasted longer but nothing good will always last forever.

The Platform:- As former Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly would you say that companies operating along the East-West road have failed in their Corporate Social responsibilities, considering the state of the section of East-West road where their operational Base are located?

Rt. Hon. Kwanee :- it’s not only the companies ! The Federal Government has failed, the State and Local Government have failed. So, collectively they all failed. And I should also shift some of this blame to the citizens around that locality because they have not been able to stand up to their rights. And you cannot see a road that houses companies worth over several million of dollars. With companies operating in your locality with all of these monies by way of taxes, State and Federal Government are collecting everyday and people are losing their lives. We have lost our sense of morality and value for human life, because it has come to a point where ordinary Local Government should be able to arrange a protest to shut down the road if there is failure so that government can wake up, and that informs why we are networking with other NGO’S and Civil Society organizations to see that the 21 days ultimatum is achieved. Right in our faces we saw people lose their lives helplessly for no crime of theirs only that they were using a road that government ordinarily supposed to have made motorable.So if you talk of companies failing, what is the primary responsibility of any government? Is it not first constitutionally, the protection of life? So if life matters or is of any significance to even the State government I think they should have done a good fix of that less than 10km road, because it is for Rivers citizens. Is it not?!. And besides that is the gateway into this state of Port-Harcourt that it should be so abandoned and neglected so there is failure on every part.There is failure on the citizens because constitutionally they have the right to protest if government at all levels have failed to live up to what they are supposed to do. So it’s not just about the companies failing in their social corporate responsibilities.

The Platform: You appear to be the Dark Horse in the Rivers Governorship race. Why are you in the race? Rt. Hon. Leyii Kwanee:- Wow!, if you should use the word Dark Horse, I think Honorable Kwanee, I’ll consider myself a Golden Horse. If there is anything like that, because I am shining brighter. You know my identity cannot be hidden and whenever you go for any fight or go for whatever, you must have your strategy.
Coming at the point, keeping everything low is also part of our strategy. As at today everybody is talking of who Honorable Leyii Kwanee is. With Zenith Labour Party, where is he coming from? But nobody remembers those that have been ahead of me. You know as someone that is spiritually very sound, prayerfully we look at this scenario and like I have stated in so many forums, that we live in very strange times in Rivers State.
You can see all those other political parties that were ahead of me, they have ended up in Court because the times are very strange. so like the children of Isaka we were very sensitive and we were applying wisdom to see that we don’t run into some traps set by PDP and their cohorts who are afraid of contest, afraid of competition, they are afraid of allowing democracy to have its way. Thank you.