Omiete Blessing
Rivers State Governor, Mr Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his Bayelsa counterpart, Senator Douye Diri, are among dignitaries expected as special guests at the 4th Anniversary Public Lecture of FirstNews.
Renowned economist and management expert, Prof Pat Utomi will deliver the keynote address at the event scheduled to hold on October 4, 2024, at the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
A statement signed by the Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of FirstNews, Dr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the event has as its theme “Building The Niger Delta of Our Dream: With or Without Oil”.
While explaining the choice of the theme, Iworiso-Markson said: “Reflection on the squandered opportunity to develop the region and the imperative to do something about it rather than indulge in lamentation and hand-wringing informed our decision to mark the fourth anniversary of our online newspaper, First News, by organizing a public lecture.
“Billed to speak at the event are Prof. Pat Utomi, renowned Political Economist and Founding Senior Faculty, Lagos Business School, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State and some of the engaged figures on the challenge of development in the region and beyond.”
He added that: “The various speakers and crack team of experts at the panel sessions in the October 4th First News annual public anniversary lecture will engage our audience in meaningful conversation and dialogue that will stimulate new ideas and solutions on the way forward to fast track the development of the Niger Delta.
“It bears restating: there can be no better time than now for us to rethink the future of the region, casting our minds back to the time when we were a thriving economy, long before the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956. That was when the white man came with his oily business. Then, our people were bemused by his preoccupation with the oil and allowed him to exploit our land rather mercilessly. Now he has sucked out the black gold and has left our land badly degraded and despoiled, leaving whatever is left to their local interlopers.
“Why couldn’t the Niger Delta be developed like Dubai, which in the space of two decades, and before our very eyes, grew from an unremarkable fishing town to the Middle East’s business, tourism and culture epicentre?”
According to him, to build a developed Niger Delta will require a similar single-minded deliberation and effort, saying that the first place to start is to identify and be deliberate about the choice of leaders that will handle in positions.
“If the Niger Delta must develop, then it is imperative that we elect the right set of leaders and buck the national predilection to enthrone mediocrity. For too long, it appeared as if only the worst amongst us found their way to power by hook or by crook”.
He advised leaders in the region to be intentional about assisting the common people with resources to meet their basic needs, adding that “Your good roads and bridges mean nothing if the people are wallowing in abject poverty, unable to appreciably pursue a means of livelihood that will enable them live in dignity”.
He continued that “It means nothing if the children are roaming the streets instead of having them in the school classrooms and learning. It means absolutely nothing if the bulk of your youth population are not gainfully employed or empowered and armed with the requisite skills to fend for themselves.
“For us in the Niger Delta, our future and prosperity now lies in our ability to look beyond oil, a depleting asset that has inflicted more pain than gain. The magnitude of the damage to our environment and the attendant effects on the lives and health of our people by oil exploitation is still to be fully appreciated.”