Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Governors of the South-east yesterday met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House in Abuja and assured him of the support of their region.
The governors were Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Theodore Ahmafule Oji (Abia), Willie Obiano (Anambra) and Martin Elechi (Ebonyi).
Governor Obiano told State House correspondents that they were at the villa to express solidarity to the president.
He said: “The South-east governors came this morning to assure him that we are with him all through the way and that he can count on us.
“The president is a human being and he is under a lot of pressure and some other people are making the work a lot more difficult for him. Instead of supporting him to steer us out of these stormy waters, they are adding kerosene to fire. So, we are here to tell him that we are here supporting him and that he should count on us.”
Obiano also assured that members of Boko Haram would not be able to enter the south-eastern part of the country despite reports of an attempted terror attack at a church in Owerri.
He said: “No, they can’t get there; I can assure you of that. We will not allow that to happen. I can’t tell you in any material details about bombs found or not found.
“All I can assure you is that we are very alert in the South-east and we are watching what is going on. I can assure you that Boko Haram cannot come to the South-east.”
On the erosion ravaging the region, Obiano said, “The World Bank, with the state governments, are working on a lot of erosion sites already.”
He added: “They have expanded the four erosion sites they are working on currently to 12; so they are adding eight more erosion sites.
“I believe that this intervention, which is 50/50 per cent contribution, will go a long way in helping to tackle the erosion sites we have in the state. We are also tackling erosion from the legal point of view. Bush burning will no longer be allowed, so also is cutting roads to lay pipes to houses.
“These are some of the factors that lead to erosion. We want people to do the necessary things that they should do; we want people to stop termination of drainages abruptly. We are putting a law in place to ensure that anybody that violates the law will face the consequences.”