CHIEF OPUNABO. D CAPTAIN BRIGGS
A Rivers-born business mogul and politician, Chief Opunabo Dokubo Captain Briggs,has called for a new and progress-centred orientation among Rivers politicians in order to avoid the kind of political misnomer that the state is presently under.
Chief Captain Briggs,one-time chairmanship candidate in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, and now Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) said “the situation in Rivers State today calls for an immediate change in the attitude of politicians and political stakeholders on how we do things”.The change, he insisted,would produce a new generation of politicians that would refocus the political direction of Rivers State.”This new set of politicians would clearly have the interest of the State and not be selfish”.
The business mogul agreed that good politicians are selfless and think of providing an atmosphere for growth and investment to generate employment and job opportunities for the teeming youths in the state,noting that “the current situation in Rivers State presents an opportunity for such a change that could bring in a new crop of politicians that have the interest of the State,with particular reference to business and investment that could be activated for the good of everyone “.This kind of change goes in a new and inclusive direction,the desirable change.
In the past,he continued,Rivers had had administrations that did whatever they thought fit for the State, while the immediate successive ones would operate in an anti-clockwise direction, leading to deep acrimony that end up tearing former friends and brothers apart,taking the State backwards several years in development.
Based on the above,Chief Captain Briggs maintained his position that “the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas ( rtd) as the State’s Sole Administrator on March 18,2025 for six months presented an opportunity for realignment by Rivers political leaders and players for a change in style and to become more progress-oriented for the greater good of the people”.
He, therefore,advised Rivers people across board to embrace the Sole Administrator and help him to create a new political dispensation that will be less acrimonious in the state.
Chief Opunabo Dokubo Captain Briggs appealed to Rivers men and women to resolve o work more closely with the Sole Administrator and fasten the restoration of the democratic institutions in the state.
On what he thinks about the appointment of a non-Rivers man as the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC),the grassroots politician opined that “it happened because the Sole Administrator probably did not find anyone he could trust implicitly in the state because of the distance the very credible men and women of the State gave him”.
On whether Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) has achieved any level of success in the past three months,given the circumstances that brought him, Chief Captain Briggs opined that “three months is too short for anyone to achieve tangible results in the present situation,but I believe that the Sole Administrator is making strong moves behind the scene to resolve the political logjam in the state “.
Seriously,he challenged others who mean well to join the Sole Administrator in the bid to restore normalcy in the state as soon as possible in order to help gain lost grounds in terms of growth and development.
