- Reels out first year report card in Senate
- Urges Urhobo in positions to assist others
By Pleasure Onohwakpo
As the Urhobo nation express relief with the release of the Ewu Monarch, HRM Clement Ikolo from military detention in the aftermath of the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama, the Senator representing Delta Central who received the royal father from the military authorities, Senator Ede Dafinone, has said that it was a collective effort of many stakeholders that resulted in the freedom.
It would be recalled that the royal father spent approximately twenty-one days in military detention in what the military authority had claimed was an ongoing investigation into the killings of the 17 officers and men of the Nigerian Army.
Addressing party elders, leaders and stakeholders at a consultative meeting held in Ughelli on Sunday, Sen. Dafinone noted there credit must go to several prominent Urhobo sons and daughters whose collective efforts helped secure the release of the royal father.
“Let me start my report with an issue that is very topical today. That is the release of the Ewu king. The disaster in Okuama was something that took the whole country by storm – brutal killing of 17 officers and men of the Nigerian Army. That is a tragedy and in fact, it’s number one tragedy.
“The other tragedy is that of the Urhobo people that died in Okuama and the surrounding area. Our king, the Ovie of Ewu was kept in detention for about three weeks.
“Now, Delta Central is an Urhobo district. And I want to tell you that the work to free him came from many Urhobo kingdoms. It was not done publicly, a lot of work was done privately. But the shame of having our king in detention was the shame of every single Urhobo man and woman and it was a pain that our king was there for about three weeks’’, Dafinone noted.
The Distinguished Senator, himself is a scion of a former Distinguished Second Republic Senator, Senator David Dafinone of blessed memory, said that during his electioneering campaign he made several promises including setting a target to toe the path of legislative accomplishment of his late father and the immediate past Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
According to him he was yet to meet his target, adding that for the first year as a senator, he has accomplished a few things which he has unveiled during the consultative session.
Apart from his effort to secure the release of the Urhobo monarch from the stranglehold of the military, Sen. Ede Dafinone listed the various projects he has succeeded in putting in the 2024 national budget.
He listed them as: “Micro enterprise business training and provision of starter packs to women in selected communities in Delta Central.
“Training and empowerment of youths and women in agribusiness with focus on livestock and aqua culture business in Okpe Local Area of Delta State.
“Provision of 500kva 11kv transformers in selected communities in Delta Central, renovation work and provision of equipment for electrical engineering laboratory with transformers, switch gears and prototype prepaid meters for practical trainings at the Sapele Technical College, provision of transport buses for the students of Delta Polytechnic, Otete, Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area, training and empowerment of youths through basic driving schools of mini-buses in rural and Urbana schemes in Okpe Local Government Area.
“Supply of hospital equipment to selected health centers in Delta Central Senatorial District, medical outreach, testing and dispensation of drugs to selected communities in Delta Central, construction and repairs of soakaways and installation of solar street light in Sapele Prison, construction of 50 rooms hostel in Federal University of Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, Effurun, construction of railway substation in Egbo Urie, provision and installation of street lights in selected communities in Delta Central, construction and equipping of ICT centres in selected schools in Delta Central,
“Construction of police station in Effurun-Otor, Ughelli South, Construction of Police Station in Orogun, Ughelli North, provision and installation of transformers in Sapele Local Government Area, replacement and installation of transformers in selected areas in Ethiope East”, Dafinone listed, adding that “those are the total projects I have directly put inside the budget”.
Senator Dafinone who stressed that his doors are open to anyone who has anything to request from him,further noted that it is in the best interest of his constituents to make their demands known so he can address them as possibly as he could.
He used the occasion to encourage any Urhobo son or daughter in any prominent position to use the office to create opportunities either in employment or contracts to unemployed Urhobo in order for the ethnic nationality to grow.
Earlier, the Chief of Staff to the Senator, Olorogun Adelabu Ejiroghene Bodjor had welcome the elders, leaders and stakeholders for their attendance, adding that the meeting was to actually hear from the people, after one year in the Senate.
Present in the interactive and consultative meeting include APC party leaders such as Chief Tuesday Onoge, ArcBishop Orovwudje amongst others. Party chairmen from Delta Central and representatives of different communities were also in attendance.
