Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi and the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Kayode Fayemi, have advised politicians to appoint technocrats who will be required to undertake specific assignments for the smooth running of the government.
Fayemi said one of the important challenges that every governor will face early is that of making key appointments. According to him apart from the challenges of ethnic and religious balancing, they also have political IOUs to settle. Obi, a former governor of Anambra State called on political office holders to go beyond the barriers of political partisanship, tribal affiliations and religious inclinations in their contributions to the development of the society.
Apart from both agreeing to become visiting lecturers at the Western Delta University, (WDU), Oghara, Delta State, they promised to set up the School of Policy Implementation in the institution and also promised to become the first lecturers once the school is completed.
They spoke at the institution’s 25th Founders’ Day celebrations and lecture at Oghara, Ethiope West LGA of Delta State where Prince Nduka Obaigbena, the THISDAY newspaper publisher announced a donation of N1,000,000 to the institution to help enhance the school’s development.
Fayemi, who delivered the lecture at the well-attended event with the title, “Sub-National Governance, the Ekiti State Example” urged political office holders to ensure balancing when making appointments and avoid the pitfalls of selecting those who will end up as liabilities to the government.
“Every governor will have to strike the right balance between appointing core politicians who have been involved in the long and tortuous political struggle like mine that brought the governor to office and appointing technocrats who will be required to undertake specific assignments for the smooth running of the government,” he said.
According to Obi, though the visitor to the university, Chief James Ibori and The Founder’s Day guest lecturer, Fayemi, were in different political parties from him, he attended the event because of his love for education and its developmental impact on the nation.
Obi emphasised that political parties should present credible candidates based on character, competence, integrity and track records. “And when they are given the opportunity to serve, they must serve without recourse to any form of bigotry,” he said.
The founder of This Day Newspapers and Arise Television, Prince Nduka Obaigbena said in his quest to build a first-rate institution, he was committed to the pursuit of excellence in all areas of academic learning, technological development and social service.
He also commended Chief James Ibori for his large heart and great vision for establishing the university, remarking that running a university is money-intensive and the promoters do it virtually for development purposes and not really for profit-making.
He said he was at the Founders’ Day celebration of the Western Delta University, “to rejoice with, and encourage, a friend who is giving back to society what it needed to grow.”
On the significance of the Founder’s Day Lecture, the vice chancellor of WDU, Prof Augustine Ikelegbe said the occasion is geared towards highlighting its journey so far in offering educational training and preparing students to build competence for their future careers.
Ikelegbe said the occasion is geared towards highlighting its journey so far in offering educational training and preparing students to build competence for their future careers.
Earlier, lbori, the visitor to the university and former governor of Delta State said, if it were to be the election period, issues would have been made out of the invitation because of the presence of the guest lecturer and former governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC , but quickly added that the issue of development has nothing to do with party.
He stated that building an institution like the Western Delta University, established to promote intellectual development that competes with the best in the world, requires people and resource collaboration outside the limited scope of party affiliation.
Ibori pleaded with the Arise Television promoter to help build the Western Delta University to make it one of the best private universities in Nigeria.
Former governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan was the chairman of the occasion, attended by the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, and a host of academicians, politicians and captains of industry.
