By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has appealed to governorhip aspirants, especially of the Urhobo extraction, to be choosy in the kind of words they use in the public arena to avoid fights.
He said failure to adhere to choosing kind, rather than hash, uncouth words in the public for reason of political exigencies, could generate more conflicts in the state.
“I don’t believe that we must fight everything through; sometimes a kind word or a conversation can help you to get to where you want to be,” he said.
He, therefore, admonished governorship aspirants to exercise restraints in their consultations and campaigns.
“I want to appeal to our sons and daughters who seek to be governor. It is usually best when you approach it on the basis of friendship.
“It is usually best that we are choosy on the kind of words that we use in the public so that we don’t start any round of fights.
“No matter how provoked, any person aspiring to the position of leadership must learn to control his anger and speak peacefully to people because in so doing, he attracts friends to himself,” he said.
He called on Urhobo people to prune down the number of aspirants in the governorship race, advising that it was in their best interest to reduce the number.
“When there are too many sons and daughters in a race, it creates its own challenge and I believe that the elders have understood this.
“There is a need to trim down and I believe that the time is now,” he admonished in his remarks on Friday at grand finale of the 90th Anniversary of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) held at the Urhobo Cultural Centre, Uvwiamuge-Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
Earlier In his welcome address, President-General of UPU, Chief Moses Taiga, had said that UPU was celebrating 90 years, a decade short of a century, adding that the union was Nigeria’s oldest surviving socio-cultural organisation.
Taiga said that the Urhobos would build alliances with other ethnic nationalities in the South-South and beyond to proffer a new destiny for Nigeria as the nation totters gregariously towards a new beginning.
Highlights of the ceremony were presentations of awards to deserving sons and daughters who have distinguished themselves in various disciplines and made Urhobos proud in the past 90 years.
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