Former representative of Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has said Old Boys’ Associations can help restore lost values of the society.
Abe disclosed this while speaking on the sidelines of the general meeting of the 1981 Set of the Akpor Grammar School Ozuoba Old Boys’ Associations (AGSOOBA) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
He said: “It is a thing of great joy for friends to gather after 41 years to break bread together. What I think is important now is that we should show the younger generation an example of what Nigeria was like at a time when tribe and religion did not matter.
“What mattered was love, togetherness and friendship, which those people have maintained over the year when there was peace, when there was respect for one another. I think that is the legacy we want to bequeath to the younger generation.
“So, our gathering today is to remind ourselves and remind Rivers people of the kind of Rivers State we grew up in when we didn’t know who was Ikwerre, who was Ogoni, who was Kalabari; we were all one and one together.
“There was peace, there was unity and there was progress. I think associations like this, gatherings like this should help to remind Rivers people of the kind of State we can have and we used to have.”
Abe, who said the association was embarking on construction of new structures in the school, advised the younger generation to know that an atmosphere of peace, unity, love and cooperation was achievable.
The Senator said: “For us as Old Boys, we are trying to build a new school. We are already mobilizing for that purpose so that we can give the younger ones coming behind a better opportunity that we had during our time.
“I think that effort has gone far but we have challenges and constraints because resources are scarce. But, we are committed to leaving a legacy for the coming generation. We will continue to do what we can to push in that direction.
“My message to the younger ones is that in an atmosphere where there is peace, where there is unity, where there is love, where there is cooperation, anything is achievable. But, without that understanding, without fairness, without justice, without equity, without love, nothing can be achieved.
“These principles and values are not what we just say, they are things we must practice and we have gathered here today to practice unity, peace and love.
Earlier, President of the 1981 Set of the Akpor Grammar School Old Boys’ Association, Chief Asuru Ogbuka, said the meeting afforded them the opportunity to see themselves more than 41 years after leaving secondary school.
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