UPU at 90: Okowa lauds Urhobos’ contribution to Nigeria’s devt.

Delta Governor, Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, on Friday, commended the people of Urhobo for their immense support and contributions to the development of the state and country.

Okowa gave the commendation in his remarks at the 90th Anniversary of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) held at Urhobo Cultural Centre, Uvwiamuge-Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

He said that UPU had, as a socio-cultural group and through its human resources, played remarkable role in the development of the state and Nigeria in the 90 years of its existence.

According to him, UPU has played a major role in the advancement of not just the Urhobo nation but the advancement of Delta and Nigeria.

The governor thanked the leadership of the union for using its relationship with the people to ensure peace and organise them  for purposeful development and being of great assistance to any government in power in the state.

“I know the role the UPU has been playing in helping to build peace in Urhoboland and in trying also to extend hand of friendship to other ethnic groups across the state.

“By the time our people in Delta State relate as one, then you would have helped government to solve its problems because once you have been able to establish peace it becomes much  easier to develop the state,” he said.

Okowa commended traditional rulers in the state for their support, saying “at every point in time I always thank traditional rulers for the role they have played individually and collectively to the growth and development of the state.

“They have always been a strong support behind all the governments of this state but particularly in my time, they have done a lot to help in stabilising government and to ensure that we have been able to live in unity as a people.

“Let me also thank the kings for their support to the UPU which had contributed in making it the oldest ethnic nationality group in Nigeria,” he stated.

He lauded UPU for the honour done to some illustrious sons and daughters, adding that it would help in encouraging others to put in their best in the growth and development of the nation.

He acknowledged the cordial relationship between the Urhobos and their neighbours, and said that a hand of friendship was very important “because he who extends hand of friendship wants to have a friend”.

“I don’t believe that we must fight everything through; sometimes a kind word or a conversation can help you to get to where you want to be,” he said.

He admonished governorship aspirants to exercise restraints in their consultations and campaigns.

“I want to appeal to our sons and daughters who seek to be governor. It is usually best when you approach it on the basis of friendship.

“It is usually best that we are choosy on the kind of words that we use in the public so that we don’t start any round of fights.

“No matter how provoked, any person aspiring to the position of leadership must learn to control his anger and speak peacefully to people because in so doing, he attracts friends to himself,” he said.

He called on Urhobo people to prune down the number of aspirants in the governorship race, advising that it was in their best interest to reduce the numbers.

“When there are too many sons and daughters in a race, it creates its own challenge and I believe that the elders have understood this.

“There is a need to trim down and I believe that the time is now.

“I thank you for the support you have given me as a people through the course of governance in the last six and half years.

“It is my prayer that Delta will remain peaceful and united and whoever is coming will recognise the fact that we are better off as united people and once this is done we will continue to be stakeholders in our own state,” Okowa added.

Earlier In his welcome address, President-General of UPU, Chief Moses Taiga, had said that UPU was celebrating 90 years, a decade short of a century, adding that the union was Nigeria’s oldest surviving socio-cultural organisation.

He said that UPU saw education as the light that would illuminate Urhoboland and liberate its people.

Taiga told the gathering that UPU was working on bequeathing an economic legacy to future generations with the proposed establishment of Okugbe Microfinance Bank which was awaiting operational license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Taiga said that the Urhobos would build alliances with other ethnic nationalities in the South-South and beyond to proffer a new destiny for Nigeria as the nation tottered to a new beginning.

“While we do not support secessionist agitations, we align with the call for the restructuring of Nigeria in line with the tenets of federalism.

“We support the call for the relocation of the headquarters of all oil companies to the Niger Delta and the call for election results to be transmitted electronically.

“Urhobos are in support of states’ collection of Value Added Tax (VAT), the enactment of Anti-Open Grazing Laws, the establishment of State Police and other such progressive factors that will make Nigeria great again,” he stated.

The ceremony featured presentation of awards to deserving sons and daughters who distinguished themselves in various disciplines and made Urhobos proud in the past 90 years.

GOV AKEREDOLU: WE ARE DETERMINED TO PUSH OUR PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY

• Says Entrepreneurship Only Solution To Unemployment
• Ibukun Awosika, Folorunso Alakija, Others Speak At Ondo Unemployment Summit

Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has said his administration is determined to push the people of the state out of poverty and unemployment through entrepreneurship knowledge economy, innovation and technology.

The Governor disclosed his readiness to invest more in entrepreneurship development and provision of grants for startups and those badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Arakunrin Akeredolu spoke on Friday at the Inaugural Unemployment Summit held at the International Centre for Culture and Events (DOME).

Speakers at the summit include Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Apostle Folorunso Alakija and founder of Africa’s Leadership University, Fred Swaniker.

While declaring the summit open, Governor Akeredolu explained that the letter ‘D’ in his second term agenda which is simply encapsulated in the acronym ‘REDEEMED’ stands for Digital Revolution and Entrepreneurship.

The Governor noted that the digital revolution and Entrepreneurship is not just an agenda but his passion to see that the unemployment rate in the state is reduced.

“Unarguably, we have come to the point of deliberating extensively as a State to take actions to tackle this problem of unemployment once and for all. We have always been concerned that the only enduring solutions to the unemployment issues are for our youths to embrace entrepreneurial development.

“This type of Summit is not the first in Nigeria, but it is significant because of the peculiarity of the seasons we are in as a country and because we have decided to refer to it as ‘Unemployment Summit’ and not employment summit, as we would rather address the problem first before the solution.

“You will recall that our State had hitherto been known and referred to as a Civil Service State. The little Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) we get is recycled around the public service and our capacity to generate more IGR was limited.

“We observe that keeping the civil service culture, in no time, the state will be in chaos hence the birth of the Ondo State Entrepreneurship Development Agency (ONDEA) for Poverty Eradication, Job Creation and Economic Development,” Arakunrin Akeredolu said.

The Governor said ONDEA was birthed with the mandate to create a master plan for massive job creation in the State, foster economic growth and engender business knowledge transfer for indigenous based entrepreneurs, MSMEs and job seekers.

He added: “A lot of people might not know the importance now, the fact about entrepreneurship is that it is the engine that creates new jobs and it is a great panacea for economic development.

“We are building the right foundation and it might take some time. Many of these entrepreneurial initiatives have great benefits that are not just for now, but for long after our administration, because that is when the narrative of this State would have changed.

“Our people would be more self-driven and self-conscious, and we have started seeing the impact. This Agency, within just a year Of Creation has trained thousands of people and there has been various empowerment of young people to support them with interest-free loans and grants.”

In her Keynote Address, the Grand Matron, Africa Young Entrepreneurs Organization A.Y.E, Apostle Folorunso Alakija, commended the administration of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for opening up the state economy through entrepreneurship.

Apostle Alakija who presides over several entrepreneurial establishments said opening up the eyes and minds of the youth to employable potentials around them through the creation of Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency, ODEA, is highly salutary.

In her speech, a top rated business woman and motivational speaker, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Awosika said entrepreneurship is the panacea to the daily increasing growth of unemployment and poverty which has become a cankerworm affecting the fabric of Nigerian nation.

Mrs Awosika who noted with satisfaction the Ondo State example in poverty and unemployment management, said the prosperity of Nigeria depends largely on the intervention of the private sector through the productive engagement of the youth populace in entrepreneurship.

Richard Olatunde

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.

December 3rd, 2021.

Be trustworthy, steadfast, Okowa urges politicians

Governor of Delta, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, on Friday, urged politicians in the country to be truthful and steadfast in order to remain relevant in the scheme of things.

Okowa gave the advice when he paid a condolence visit on the family of the late PDP Chairman in Ughelli North, Hon. Lawrence Agbatutu at his residence in Agbarho.

Governor Okowa said late Agbatutu was his genuine friend, a man that was bold, selfless and reliable, praying that God should grant his soul eternal rest.

He noted that the late Agbatutu was one man that supported him politically in 2019 and promised to remain a father to his children.

While condoling with the deceased family, the governor told the children not to feel that the world had come to an end as a result of their father’s death, stressing that God will be there for them at all times.

He thanked PDP leaders in Ughelli North for being there for the bereaved family and urged them to maintain the bond of unity between the Agbatutu family and the party.

“I want to condole with the family of Lawrence Agbatutu on this sad loss. He was a very bold man, bold politically and he was a man that will tell the truth all the time and l loved him for that.

“He was somebody who you could exactly say where he was. He never at any point in time, played the game of l am neither here or there.

“I think that is good for politics and that is what actually endeared him to me. He worked very hard for our party.

“He truly worked for the party, he believed in the party and he put in everything in him towards working with the rest of the leadership to get the party working.

“I want you to be rest assured that I will open up my line of communication to you and I will do my best to ensure that the role he would have played in your lives, l will play that role,” the governor assured the children.

Welcoming the governor and his entourage to their residence, the eldest daughter of the deceased, Dr. (Mrs.) Omonefe Moses thanked him for the condolence visit.

She disclosed that members of the family were not unaware of the enormous positive role the governor played in the life of their departed father.

While saying that she was a direct beneficiary of the governor’s magnanimous gesture, she thanked him for being a nice man to their family.

Dr. (Mrs.) Moses, therefore, appealed to Governor Okowa to see them as his adopted children as their backbone was no more.

“We are not unaware of the good role you played in the life of our father until his death. I am a direct beneficiary of your magnanimous gesture.

“On behalf of my siblings, l thank you immensely for being a nice man to our family. I plead with you to see us as your adopted children as our backbone is gone,” she added.

OAU TO HONOUR GOV AKEREDOLU WITH DISTINGUISHED GREAT IFE ALUMNUS AWARD

Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Aketi , SAN, will tomorrow, Saturday, December 4, 2021 be conferred with the Obafemi Awolowo University Distinguished Great Ife Alumnus Award.

The Governor is among the 60 graduates of the institution to be honoured with the award of excellence as part of the activities marking its 60th Anniversary.

A letter personally signed by the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, and addressed to Governor Akeredolu said “the award of excellence for very passionate, supportive and dedicated Great Ife ambassadors who have contributed over the past 60 years, is to further show the University management’s appreciation.

The Obafemi Awolowo University is Governor Akeredolu’s alma mater. The award ceremony holds in Lagos tomorrow.

Signed:

Olabode Richard Olatunde

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.

December 3rd, 2021.