By Emmanuella Anokam
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has urged the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to raise and sustain its contribution toward economic growth and stability of the country.
A statement by Okowa’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, on Wednesday quoted the governor as making the call on Tuesday when he received the new leadership of the union on a courtesy visit at Government House, Asaba.
The visit came shortly after their fifth quadrennial delegates’ conference of NUPENG held in Asaba.
Okowa said peace and stability of the country were paramount to the socio-economic development of the nation and charged all hands to be on deck to move the country forward.
According to him, each and everyone of us has very important roles to play, and NUPENG as a union has a lot of roles to play in very difficult times in the nation.
The governor prayed for greater peace in the country, noting that without peace, it would be truly difficult to grow the economy of the nation.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to work hard to find a way to ensure greater peace for the nation.
“I thank God that you have been able to meet in peace. I want to congratulate each and everyone of you and also for those who are returning, to congratulate you even further that you have been found fit enough to return to office.
“It is our hope that you all will continue to contribute your quota toward the stability of our nation, Nigeria, in spite of the very difficult times that we find ourselves.
“For me, I believe that this is the time that everybody needs to pray for our country.
“This is a time where we need to put heads together on how best each and everyone of us as a Nigerian, can truly find pathway to put in our best in our individual and collective ways to see to the peace of Nigeria and its prosperity.
“This is because things are actually getting very difficult for our people and we all need to put our heads together to see what best can be done. It is not a question of leaving things for politicians alone.
“I think each and everyone of us has very important role to play and l know that NUPENG has a lot of roles to play in very difficult times.
“So, I wish you well because as we begin to move into the next few months, it will definitely be tasking for many more Nigerians, including the political class.
“And l hope that we all have to exercise our God-given talents in our various ways to see how we can be of support to our nation to ensure its stability,” he said.
Okowa expressed appreciation to the union for the choice of Asaba for the delegates’ conference, adding that it was something Deltans were happy about.
“We know that a lot of people have come into Asaba now; we return all glory to God for the peace that He has given to us here and we are hoping that God will continue to strengthen us in that direction.
“We also pray that God will give us greater peace in our nation because without peace, it will be difficult to grow the economy of this nation, even the local investors will get discouraged, not to talk of having foreign investors come in.
“So, we all have to work hard to find a way to ensure greater peace for our nation.
“I welcome you to Delta State and I wish you the best and hope that at some point in time, we will be able to find ways to partner than just having this conference in Asaba,” he added.
Earlier, the National President of NUPENG, Mr Williams Akporeha, had told the governor that the visit was to introduce the new leadership of the union to him.
Akporeha lauded the governor for providing enabling environment for NUPENG to hold the quadrennial delegates conference successfully in the state.
He advocated the need for petroleum products to be refined locally, adding that more refineries should be built in order to mitigate the incessant fuel scarcity being recorded in the country. (NAN)
