The Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has called on communities fighting over boundaries to embrace peace to pave the way for development.
The governor said this while speaking during the burial ceremony for late Professor Abednego Ekoko at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Uzere in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State over the weekend.
He said that no land was worth the life of any individual and urged the Isoko people to embrace peace in honor of the late Ekoko who was an accomplished boundary scholar.
According to him, Ekoko contributed immensely to the peaceful resolution of crises in many communities, adding that Isoko people should tread the path of peace in memory of the deceased peacemaker.
Okowa recalled that Ekoko played a vital role in the resolution of the Aladja-Ogbe-Ijoh crisis and other boundary issues in the state and across the country when he served as National Commissioner, National Boundaries Commission.
He said “on behalf of my family and the government and people of Delta, I extend my condolences to the Ekoko family of Uzere on the passing of our father, brother, and friend.
“We thank God for what is happening today on the day a peaceful man is being laid to rest. Professor Ekoko achieved all that he truly needed to achieve and today we are celebrating his life of great accomplishments.
“In everything he found himself doing he excelled and he taught my wife at the postgraduate level and has impacted directly on my family.
“In the community, he rose to achieve the highest honor in the land and beyond serving God; he served Nigeria at our national governance and through various appointments in the state.”
He counseled the people to eschew bitterness, especially over land matters, saying “when you fight because of land and for the sake of the land, destroy lives, those lives you destroyed you cannot recreate them when you settle.
“No land is worth the life of anyone and as leaders and elders, we ought to hand over things that will connote peace and development and not a crisis.
“I hope that the sermon spoken to us today will touch our lives for a change in honor of the late Ekoko.”
Okowa urged the leadership of the Isoko Development Union and the Christian community to organize a collective prayer to rededicate Isokoland to God.
Bishop of Oleh Diocese (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. John Aruakpor, said that late Professor Ekoko was a man who worked for peace across the country.
He described him as a man who was an addicted singer and worshipper of God, adding that his death was a great loss to Christendom.
The bishop said that Ekoko worshipped God even through pains and sickness.
He urged Christians to live in peace and shun the spirit of bitterness and acrimony which had pervaded the land in recent years.
He said, “As politicians, it is only when we are united that we can attract dividends of democracy to our land.”
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