By Austin Ogwuda
National Coordinator, Centre For Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) and renowned Environmentalist, Comrade Sheriff Mulade has been asked to do all he can for peace to return to Okoloba and Okuama communities in the State
and others where there are pockets of crisis and insecurity particularly in the riverine communities.
Recall that Okoloba in Bomadi and Okuama Ughelli South local government areas of the Delta State respectively had been engrossed in age long communal crisis which snowballed in the ugly incident of killing of Soldiers and subsequent razing of Okuama.
The call was made by the Chapel Chairman of the Indigenous Correspondents’ Chapel (ICC) of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Kenneth Orusi while decorating him as one of its Patrons.
The occasion took place at the Centre For Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) Corporate headquarters Ugolo-Okpe, Okpe local government area of Delta State on Thursday.
Said Orusi, “we are here today to decorate you as a Patron of the Chapel.
You were not selected because we wanted to fill a vacuum but because we have followed your antecedents as not just the voice of the voiceless but your tentacles spread across not just the State but across Nigeria and the globe.
“As a Chapel, we are critics of government policies and programmes that are not actually met to benefit the grassroot and we see in you someone that is actually trending on same path of activists that are doing their jobs.
“We equally looked at you campaigns for the welfare of the people around the coastal areas where the crude oil that actually feeds the nation comes from. So, we didn’t have any issue selecting you as our Patron”.
ICC Chairman expressed believe that Comrade Mulade’s strong advocacy for the creation of an agency known as Coastal Areas Development Agency (CADA) to look into the development of the coastal communities in the State might have led to the creation of the Directorate of Riverine Infrastructure by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration.
He therefore called on him to rise up to the challenge by putting the Government on its toes so that the Directorate won’t suffer underfunding as experienced during previous governments.
“We are using this opportunity and platform to call on you that you should not rest particularly now that this ministry has been created, it gives you more opportunity for more advocacy. We have seen situation where government create agencies or parastatal but were not funded.
“It is time for you to raise your voice to see that the Directorate of Riverine Infrastructure is adequately funded and our brother is given the opportunity and privilege to do the work why the agency was established”, Orusi added.
Responding, the UN Peace Ambassador and Environmental Activist, Comrade Mulade thanked the leadership of the Chapel for finding him worthy for the honour.
His words, “let me congratulate your Chapel for this laudable initiative. I am a bit short of words because I didn’t expect this.
I am open to every progressive forum. My vision and calling is to support every progressive organization, movement, society or nation. I have not even contributed enough to the society as I want. However, I want to thank you for finding me worthy of this position.
“I want to assure you that I will not disappoint you, I will not fail you. We will do everything humanly possible to support and assist the Chapel
“Like I said, my organization’s door, is open and as a person, my individual door is also open. Whenever you need our attention, do not hesitate to reach out so that we can continue to move together to contribute to the betterment of the State”.