The governor, said that friendship in politics, irrespective of political party affiliation would help to grow the nation’s democracy and engender development.
Speaking in Port Harcourt on Wednesday during a lecture/symposium in honour of the late Hon. Ovunda Nsirim, the governor said friendship and reconciliation in politics would help to reduce political tension in the state.
He noted that the late Nsirim in his practice of politics entrenched the tenets of mentorship, friendship and reconciliation within the political framework.
He said: “For me, I don’t know of any politician in Rivers State who will say that he did not benefit from the Late Hon. Ovunda Nsirim, one way or the other.
“As a person, he was my brother and political mentor. Ovunda was a bundle of talent. Politically, he was a strategist. I learnt a lot from him”.
The governor said the passage of Ovunda Nsirim was unfortunate, pointing out that his death at this time was shocking.
He said: “Ovunda Nsirim was not just an Ikwerre man. He was a complete Rivers man. I have lost a brother, I have lost a mentor “.
In his remarks, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Okey Wali (SAN ) noted that Nsirim stood for mentorship in life and the political space.
Chairman of the occasion, Senator Ben Birabi said that the late Ovunda Nsirim was a politician with an ideology. He called for the reinvention of mentorship in the state.
Delivering the keynote address, Professor Sam Egwu in his paper titled ‘Political Mentorship and the Leadership Question in Nigeria’, said: “There must be recognition that building the future requires a conscious investment in the development of the human resource and capacity of the society, which constitutes the driving force of development “.
Egwu added: “There is an urgent need to transform our politics by building strong democratic institutions that will enable citizens and society to account and to foster a sense of service “.
The lecture /symposium in honour of Nsirim was attended by his political friends from all the political divides.
