Niger Delta Crisis: Okowa, Tambuwal canvass dialogue

From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba

Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and his Sokoto State counterpart, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, have said dialogue rather than violent agitations would bring about speedy development of the country.
They made the submission yesterday in Asaba, Delta State, during the state’s Economic and Investment Summit held as part of the activities marking the 25th anniversary of the creation of the state.
They noted that the region had great potentials for growth which could only be harnessed in an atmosphere of peace. “I bring you felicitations from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on your state’s silver jubilee celebration. Delta State is known for peace, and a lot can be achieved when dialogue is applied. I want to call on the youths of the Niger Delta Region to embrace dialogue and peace in their agitations. Let us have dialogue on the various issues affecting the region; we need peace and tranquility in the country so that we can harness all our resources for development.
I urge the youths of the Niger Delta to engage the Federal Government through dialogue so that solutions can be found,” Hon. Tambuwal said.
Governor Okowa, on his part, said “We seek peaceful environment from our people so that a lot of development can take place.
We need to cooperate with ourselves so that we can right the wrongs of the past. A lot of the investment communities are ready to partner with us to develop the state, but, we need to ensure that we sustain the peace and security in our communities so that investors can come in. It is not wrong to agitate, but we can do that through dialogue.
We will get better result when we agitate through dialogue,” the governor emphasised.
He assured the people of the state especially the participants of the summit that government would take all necessary measures to implement its resolutions.
While commending all the participants especially the former administrators and governors of the state for charting the way forward for the state, the governor called for the cooperation of all and sundry to provide an enabling environment for investment to thrive.