Okowa, Okonkwo Task Nigerians on Committed Leadership, Unity

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) candidate in the November 6, 2021 gubernatorial election in neighboring Anambra State, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, have stressed the need for Nigerians to eschew all forms of divisiveness but to ensure that leaders are people with proven integrity and who are determined to unite and add great value to people’s lives.

They made the assertion in separate remarks at the 2021 Dr Sam Ekpelle Memorial Gold Paper Lecture, which is organised annually by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), and held in Asaba, Delta State.

Governor Okowa, who had earlier received the President and members of the Governing Council of NIPR at Government House, lamented that the growth of the country has been greatly hampered because Nigerians have often been encouraged to be divided along ethnic and religious sentiments.

“Just about a week ago I was in Lagos at the Ripples Dialogue to talk about the unity of Nigeria,” Okowa noted, adding, “I am glad that your topic today is centred on the unity of Nigeria and it shows that your institute understands the nation.

“Talking about the unity of our country is not only about persons in government, but about Nigerians ourselves. We need a forum to talk about it and I am glad that as an Institute, you have decided to talk about it this year.

“We cannot build trust in the nation when the component parts of the country do not trust themselves, and that is why as an institute you have decided to talk about it this year. We cannot build trust in the nation when the components do not trust themselves.

“So, this communication will definitely help to build more bridges across the nation because we are better off united but we must continue to talk about it. There must be an enabling platform to discuss Nigeria; we must be able to air our voices and we must listen to ourselves and find solutions to our problems.”

Okonkwo, who delivered the lecture titled, ‘Reinventing Nigeria’s Unity for Global Relevance in the 21st Century: Issues of Identity, Governance and Stability’, which also featured the investiture of Okowa as a distinguished patron of the NIPR said that committed leadership was inevitable to positively impact the people’s lives but noted that there were limits to what he could do as a private individual to positively transform lives, adding that as governor a lot of lives would be touched in the federating states to serve as launch-pad for the desired reinvention of Nigeria.

He noted that Africa and the global community recognised the strategic importance of Nigeria, saying that unity remains imperative for the country to live up to expectations.