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 Okowa tasks new appointees on surmounting development challenges

Okowa tasks new appointees on surmounting development challenges

THE GUARDIAN

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday, charged his appointees to contribute their quota towards surmounting the socio-economic and development challenges of the state.

Okowa gave the charge, while inaugurating newly appointed special advisers (SAs) at the Government House, Asaba.

The special advisers are Ignatius Ziakegha, Matthew Tsekiri, Chukwudi Dafe, Edward Ekpoko, Martins Okonta, Daniel Yingi, Ernest Ogwuezzy and Johnson Erijo.

The governor said the appointments made so far were not meant to fulfill the statutory requirement of Section 196 of the constitution, but to bring structure, men and women of character and experience on how to tackle unemployment, poverty, anti-social vices, suspicion and distrust into governance.

Okowa explained that his administration believed that the stability, peaceful co-existence and prosperity of the state depended on the ability to run an all-inclusive government of men and women that could actualise the Stronger Delta Vision.

On efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment, he said no fewer than 100, 000 youths have been trained and empowered to be entrepreneurs in various fields, stressing that the initiative had started yielding positive results.

With the inauguration of the new advisers, the governor now has 16 special advisers.

BESIDES, Okowa congratulated budding poet, Othuke Umukoro, for winning the Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2021.

He conveyed his felicitation with the Isoko-born poet, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Olisa Ifeajika, in Asaba.

Okowa described Umukoro, a teacher, as one of Nigeria’s brightest exports to the literary world, noting that the global community was yet to see the best of him.

He commended the University of Ibadan graduate for his contribution to the poetry genre and for bringing honour and fame to Delta State.

“On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I congratulate Othuke Umukoro for winning the $3,000 Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2021.

“We are particularly proud of your accomplishment and it is our prayer that you work harder to win more laurels in future,” the statement reads.

Umukoro was chosen from a shortlist of eight poets, including Gambia’s Kweku Abimbola, Uganda’s Arao Ameny, South Africa’s Isabelle Baafi, Somalia’s Asmaa Jama, Lesotho’s Tumello Motabola and their compatriots, Oluwadare Popoola and Yomi Sode.

Founded by Booker Prize Winner, Bernadine Evaristo in 2012, over 1,000 people entered the eighth Brunel University London-backed contest for African poetry aimed at developing, celebrating and promoting poetry on the continent.

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