Delta state government has enjoined youths to always exhaust every available means of dialogue, reconciliation and arbitrations before taking actions that may be inimical to societal development.
The Commissioner in the Directorate of Youth Development, Chief Oghenekaro Ilolo, who also expressed state government’s readiness to partner with the various youth organizations in the state, said this while playing host to leaders of the Isoko National Youth Assembly (INYA) in his office in Asaba.
He urged them to ensure that dialogue is evolved as a necessary tool for resolving grievances so that such grievances does not escalate into an uncontrollable conflict situation, adding that youths in the state should always collaborate with government at all times.
He promised to hold meetings with leadership of youth bodies in the state across board to discuss and review youth activities in the various local governments and ethnic nationalities and come up with possible solutions to tackle the challenges faced by youths in the state.
“Dialogue with youths helps resolve grievances before they snowball into violence and conflict which is much more expensive because lives are lost and properties are destroyed.
“The youths must be seen to be collaborating with government in every possible way so that we can have less conflicts and less issues. We should put our issues on the table through proper dialogue to avert unnecessary conflicts and frictions. These meetings would help us to chat a pathway for possible collaboration.
“Our drive is to find a common ground whereby the issues associated with the youths is looked into and government will be happy to sustain the existing peace in the state and the youths have a very big role to play as far as these issues are concerned. We are creating the enabling environment for us to interact from time to time and we will all reap in the benefits.”
He futher appealed to them to become useful to the society and jettison the “Ose” ideology and erace the stigma that attaches youths to violence which he said has greatly affected the integrity of youths in the state.
According to him, “The era now is driven by knowledge, balanced wisdom, laced with technology. Our youths should concern themselves with useful engagements like awareness campaigns, enlightenment, entrepreneurial endeavors and farming.
In his remarks, President of Isoko National Youth Assembly (INYA), Comrade Umuakpo Ovie said he is optimistic that Chief Oghenekaro Ilolo’s new office will turn around the fortune of Isoko youths and entire youths of Delta state, adding that INYA is ready to partner with the state government if some of the issues affecting the Isoko nation are substantially addressed.
Some of the issues raised by him include gross marginalization of the Isoko nation by both the federal and state governments, in terms of political patronage, non inclusion of Isoko youhs in the amnesty programme and inadequate budgetary allocation for infastructure and road projets in Isoko.
According to him, “We will only give support to government based on what is placed on the table of Isoko nation.”
