30 Youth Groups in R/S Endorse Dakuku for House of Reps

…Say they need him in Abuja more than his constituency needs him

Even as the groundswell of approval and endorsement for Warisenibo Dakuku Peterside in his quest to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives gather momentum, a coalition of 30 youth groups under the aegis of Rivers Youth Alliance has declared support for Peterside's transformation from being a politician at the state level to becoming a political stalwart at the national level.

The group led by prominent youth leaders, Messrs. Victor Briggs and Gbarato Bridakara (Chairman and Secretary respectively) made the declaration in Port Harcourt recently while on a courtesy call on the aspirant who is the serving Commissioner for Works in the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration in Rivers State.

The group extolled the exemplary achievements of Hon. Peterside especially in matters bothering on the welfare of youths in the State.

The group said: “We find the efforts of Dakuku Peterside to positively impact on the lives of youths of Rivers State as unprecedented because no other politician at his level, now or in the past, has done so much to better the lot of the average youth in the state.”

Stressing further, the group said that, “Hon. Dakuku Peterside is a huge asset to the youths of Rivers State and that is why we are saying that we the youths of Rivers State need him even more than his constituency needs him. We need him in Abuja so that he will use his connections and network to attract programmes and projects that will positively affect the lives of every youth in the State and not just the people of his constituency. We know he can do it because he has done it before.”

On some of the ways Peterside impacted on Rivers youths in the past, the group recalled that in the past 3 years as Commissioner for Works in Rivers State, Hon Dakuku Peterside made personal sacrifices to ensure that needy youths in the State got succour especially when in dire strait.

“Every time we were in problem and approached him as our last hope, he would deny himself his earnings as a Commissioner just to solve our problems. Few people, if any, have done this before; Dakuku is a jewel for the teeming youths of Rivers State,” the group declared.

On their expectations from the aspirant when he emerges as a member of the House of Representatives, the group said: “We believe that Hon. Dakuku Peterside will continue to be a shining light and beacon of hope to all youths of Rivers State because he will now be able to attract Federal Government attention to the plight of teeming youths of Rivers State. We know that Dakuku will deploy his innate talents and experience to attract dividend of democracy from the Federal Government at Abuja to our youths.”

The group deplored the dwindling resources accruing to the state at the moment, blaming it for the inability of government to embark on some programmes that should benefit the people especially the youth.

The Rivers Youth Alliance pledged the support of the group for Peterside and stated that they would not rest until the aspirant emerges as a member of the House of Representatives for Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency come 2011.

Chris Finebone
Spokesman & Chairman,
Publicity Sub-Committee