Governor Seriake joystickson of Bayelsa State has appointed the
Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai Elkanemi, as the second
Pro-Chancellor of the Niger Delta University owned by the state.
He has, therefore, called on Nigerian leaders to protect the cordial
relationship between the North and South rather than fan the embers of
hatred and acrimony.
The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government,
Prof. Edmund Oguru, said this during a ceremony to formalise the
appointment on Monday in Abuja.He said one of the reasons that guided
the choice of the monarch from the old Borno Empire was to rebuild the
existing cordial relationship between the North and the South-South.
He said, “The message we are sending to Nigerians by this action is that
we should build bridges across the divide and stop creating walls over
each other. What was uppermost in our minds was that the South-South
has, over the years, been a great ally of the North.”
The governor said from the early days of Nigeria’s independence till
today, the South-South had been the bridge between the North and the
South, adding that it was in order to reenact that bridge-building that
the state government decided to appoint the Shehu as the chancellor of
the state university.
He said, “As we have said repeatedly, Bayelsa State occupies the
south-most part of this country. We carry the weight of this country in
terms of politics and in terms of the economy.
“You will recall that in 1959, in the very first election that was
conducted in this country, the Northern People’s Congress did not secure
the majority, the Niger Delta Congress won only one seat through the
late Chief Melford Okilo. It took the coalition of the NPC and NDC to
form the government of the day.
“Particularly in these times, instead of building bridges, ethnic
nationalities, geopolitical zones, religious and political groups appear
to be building walls that will separate everyone. We felt that we
should reenact what we are used to doing, building bridges between the
North and the South.
“We in Bayelsa State consider it a honour and privilege to have the
revered Shehu of Borno accepting to serve as the chancellor of our state
university.”
Oguru said among the factors that led to the choice of the emir as the
second chancellor of the institution were his character and status,
adding that the state recognised the fact that the Shehu is the second
highest traditional institution in the northern part of the country.
“We also recognise the fact that he is somebody who rose from the ranks
in the civil service and got to the peak. We needed to tap from his
wealth of experience and extensive personality and institutions that he
has links with,” he said.
While accepting the offer, Elkanemi expressed his delight at the appointment, describing it as a great honour.
He described the university as the institution of the future and gave
the assurance that he and other officials of the institution were going
to develop it to a world-class institution.
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