OGHENETEJIRI NYERHOVWO
The Federal Gvernment has been accused of being insensitive to insecurity laced with rising cases of killings in the country just as it has been called upon to seek external support to quell the challenge.
This was disclosed by Dr. Samuel Orton, Governor of Benue State while commissioning gigantic blocks of classroom of Army Day Secondary School, Effurun, he said that with the killings occuring daily and with heavy casualties, it had become very obvious that the Federal Government had been overwhelmed by the unfortunate situation.
He said that the situation has gone beyond the Federal Government’s capacity and nothing would be wrong if help was sought from other countries.
Dr. Orton said that governors whose states were being attacked had become helpless and frustrated, adding that it was shameful that Nigeria was in such terrible situation.
The Benue State Governor however, stated that God had not abandoned Nigeria, he then called on leaders to close ranks and provide equity, fairness and justice to heal the nation.
He also said that the major problem of insecurity occasioned by banditry, Boko Haram insurgency and other violent crimes in the country, was because the government had not been proactive in providing quality education for the people.
According to Dr. Orton, “if they were educated they would have found themselves something meaningful to do rather than occupying themselves with committing evil across the country.”
He added, “I say so because I believe in education and if you want to develop a people, give them quality education and so I must commend Governor Okowa for the quality school and for creating three new universities in Delta.”
Dr. Ortom commended Deltans for supporting Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, whom he described as very hardworking, diligent, committed and determined to add value to not just Delta but the entire country.
Dr. Ortom spoke further, “Governor Okowa has demonstrated immense capacity and commitment to achieve result in all tasks assigned to him and he remains our pride, both in the PDP and in the Governors’ Forum. Without education there cannot be any meaningful development and a single facility hosting about 3,000 students is a good deal and worthy of commendation”.
The Benue State Governor noted, “with the universities you have created, it will be easier to absolve them when they complete their secondary education. I have so much to learn from you in adding value to our people in the remaining two years left of my administration.”
Dr. Ortom further added, “we have been watching you inaugurating several projects all over the state, I thank you for this great privilege and am not taking it for granted because we have 36 governors and you could have invited any of them but you chose to invite me to perform this great function to commission a fully furnished gigantic blocks of classrooms.”
Earlier, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State said his administration was doing a lot even though a lot was still needed to be done.
He commended Governor Ortom for coming to inaugurate the projects, saying, “despite the challenges we have in our country, especially in the North Central, you still made out time to be with us in Delta, it shows the friendship and love you have for us.”
He said Uvwie Local Government was among the first beneficiaries of the nine new technical colleges being built in the state.
According to Dr. Okowa, “we are doing a lot but we still realise that a lot still needs to be done even as we continue to build new schools and also completing the projects we inherited from the previous administration.”
The Delta State Governor added, “we believe in technical education and we also believe that our people should be imparted with necessary skills to make them self reliant and to survive the challenging times. We are multiplying the number of Deltans that are gainfully skilled and empowered in their choice vocations. A minimum of 4,000 Deltans are trained yearly in the various vocational centres in the state.”
Dr. Okowa spoke further, “we will continue to empower our children to make them have sustainable means of livelihood. My administration is committed to completing the storm drainage projects and the Warri-Sapele Road dualisation project in the Uvwie and Warri area.”
