State-of-the-Nation: Convoke national dialogue, Okowa urges FG    

Okowa made the call at an interdenominational thanksgiving service to mark the 30th anniversary of the creation of Delta State held at St. Peters Anglican Cathedral, Asaba, on Friday.

He said that there were too many voices of anger calling for justice, fairness and equity in the affairs of the nation and urged the Federal Government to take steps to listen to the voices.

According to him, if it is not well with the nation, it will not be well with the component parts.

The governor cautioned that the country should not be built for the elite and the rich, saying “the rich and the elite will not live peacefully in a country where there are many poor people.

“We are still in a nation where so much power rests at the centre, with the Federal Government and I believe that it is not right and it is time for more powers to be devolved to the states and more money and resources given to the states.

“Nigeria will be better for it if we restructure but the greatest challenge we have is as a result of insecurity and it is pushing many people more into the poverty line.

“As a country, we are troubled and there are so many ethno-religious crises but it’s time for us to sit down and talk otherwise we may not be able to continue as a nation .

“In staying as a nation, we must find solutions to the voices of anger and we must dispassionately look for the opinion leaders in the different parts of Nigeria and speak truth to ourselves.”

He congratulated Deltans on the 30th anniversary of the creation of the state and noted that the state had come thus far because God’s presence had been with it.

Okowa recalled that when the state was created in 1991, it was greeted with cautious optimism but thanked God that, 30 years after, Deltans had become more united as a people.

He paid tribute to past leaders of the state for laying a solid foundation for its development, saying “we have come to realise that we are one people though with different ethnic groups and we have come to realise that we can only do better if we work together as one state.

“I thank our past leaders for laying a solid foundation for the development of the state which we have been building upon.

“We thank God because that foundation is truly strong. Today in Delta we can look round and find that there are many growing towns in the state unlike most states.

“We have several growing cities in Delta State and when you take a tour to many states, you will find out that God has truly blessed us in Delta.

“We are growing at our own pace; we may not all be able to grow at the same pace and we must realise this as a nation,” he stated.

Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Asaba, Rt. Rev’d Justus Mogekwu, in his sermon said that Delta was a microcosm of Nigeria because of the diverse ethnic groups in the state, but stated that in spite of the diversity, the people had lived together in unity, love and peace.

He commended Deltans for their resolve to work and live together in the overall interest of the state, adding that a state where bigotry, bloodshed, bitterness, intolerance among other vices existed could hardly make any progress.

Quoting from the Bible, Mogekwu said that the future was bright for the state as long as Deltans continued to put their trust in God in all their ways.
He pointed out that politics without integrity was the bane of Nigeria’s development and urged politicians to stop cross-carpeting from one political party to another.

The thanksgiving service was attended by wife of the Governor, Dame Edith Okowa, Deputy Governor, Mr Kingsley Otuaro; former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori; his former deputy, Sir Benjamin Elue and former military administrator of the state, Navy Captain Walter Feghabo (retd).

Others include Minority Leader of House of Representatives, Chief Ndudi Elumelu; Senator James Manager, Speaker of Delta House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori; Chief Judge of the state, Justice Theresa Diai; President, Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Patience Elumeze and Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Chief Kingsley Esiso.