Ogiame,
AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY ORODE UDUAGHAN TO HIS MAJESTY OGIAME ATUWATSE III, THE OLU OF WARRI KINGDOM, ON SATURDAY THE 14TH OF MAY 2022, DURING HER VISIT TO THE PALACE TO OFFICIALLY DECLARE HER CANDIDACY TO RUN FOR THE DELTA STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY REPRESENTING THE WARRI NORTH CONSTITUENCY.
Let me begin by saying thank you to His Majesty for receiving me and those who have travelled from far and wide to be here today.
We are here with you today for a reason. Everyone seated in this room did not come here just for me; they came here because they believe in a Greater Warri North. This is the journey I have boldly stepped out to embark on. A journey I believe will make a difference for the people of Warri North.
Your Majesty, you have followed my journey for a long time, to be precise, since I was 5 years old. But I'd like to share a few insights that have shaped this particular journey and what has brought me here.
As you know, I grew up here in Warri until the year 2000, when my parents thought it was best to have me in a boarding school. So I moved to Agbara Ogun State and attended Corona Secondary School. Here, my interest and service to humanity began when I contested the position of Health prefect and won. My job was to ensure that every student in the school had access to quality health care.
These years defined the decision that shaped the next 20 years of my journey. As a young woman in college, I served in various organisations as a volunteer helping the young and the old, particularly in the area of health. However, in 2007 I decided to create my own organisation due to the loss of a close family friend to breast cancer. Still, in my 3rd year of college, at age 18, I came back to Nigeria. I organised a music concert that raised millions of Naira in profit for the project.
I came to Delta and did a needs assessment of how we could help raise breast cancer awareness and decided to buy and donate Nigeria's first digital mammogram machine to the Central Hospital in Sapele on March 23rd 2008.
My work with this organisation took me to some of the poorest parts of Nigeria, particularly here in Delta. I saw the problem people faced in health, education and job creation, especially women. So I decided to create programs to tackle these issues. I have successfully done over 300 programs, directly and indirectly, affecting the lives of over 1.9million people that address issues in health for women and children, education for orphans and communities in the slum, entrepreneurship for women and youths, agriculture facilitation for men, and social protection for young boys and girls aged 13-18.
However, our work in communities in Warri North sparked my interest the most. Interacting with women, children and youths, I realised that one day I would speak on behalf of my people and ensure their rights and interests are protected.
I stand before you today to announce my candidacy to represent Warri North Constituency at the Delta State House of Assembly come 2023. I know there is a certain audaciousness to this announcement. I recognise that I haven't spent much time entirely understanding the way of Warri North Local Government Area. However, I have been in Warri North long enough to know that the ways of Warri North LGA must change.
Throughout history, there comes a time a set of leaders must rise from each generation and ensure they do their best for the benefit of their people. Today that call has come once again for us to rise to the occasion for the benefit of our people.
In the last few years of my career, I have learned that even in the face of despair and smilingly little resources, those who are passionate about their people and love where they are from can change it.
We talk about the challenges; we've meditated, argued, and agreed to disagree for a long time. We know that these challenges can be resolved; however, we have refused to make tough decisions that ensure we all roll up our sleeves and build a working structure to tackle the problems we face today in Warri North. Instead, we've constantly blamed one thing or another, one person or the other.
Our people have looked away in frustration for too long. They have been subjected to a politics of special interest, but we're here today to change that. Our politics in Warri North will no longer be one of special interest but one that speaks to the true definition of democracy - a benefit for all.
I will be honoured to be the voice of our people and fight for the needs of our men, women, youths and children. I know that the task ahead of me won't be easy. I am already experiencing the challenges. But I have to make hard choices; we will all have to make hard choices that put our people's priorities first. I want to be a part of the generation that reshapes the fortunes of Warri North for the sake of our children's children. I want those who will come after us to be proud of what we've created and done. I want to stand before God someday and hear well done for improving the lives of our people.
Warri North is blessed with both human and natural resources that need to be harnessed to benefit everyone and not just a few. Warri North is one of Nigeria's oil hubs; however, we can create that era that focuses on other great resources to boost our LGA's economy, for example, agriculture.
Although a predominantly riverine area, Warri North can and will produce opportunities that will be positively channelled to improve the lives of her people.
A land that has dealt with much controversy can be revived and established into one of Nigeria's most habitable and resourceful Local Government Areas. We only need to put our heads and heart in alignment and think outside the box.
My administration will focus on seven key areas I believe will improve the quality of life of the great people of Warri North LGA.
Education on both primary and tertiary levels
Job creation and ease of doing business
Social protection
Health
Youth Development
Women's rights and opportunities
Peace and security.
At the core of quality, representation is the desire to serve. I hear people describe my ambition as rulership. A popular comment, "Serve papa, serve pikin", let me humbly disagree. We have one ruler in the Warri Kingdom, and He is Ogiame Atuwatse III, The Olu of Warri. I am here to serve, not to rule. My work from the day I begin to the day I end will be to serve the needs of those who have put me there as a representative. No matter what office I am blessed to occupy tomorrow in the era of democracy, you are never a ruler but a servant leader.
As a representative, my job is to open my doors, listen attentively, create a space in my heart to understand the needs of our people and work tirelessly to help them lead better lives.
This ambition is not only about me. It is about all of us. This is why an important part of my administration will encourage monitoring and evaluation. We have created a structure that includes the different tiers of leadership in Warri North as advisors, contributors and implementers. At the foundation of that structure is a quarterly feedback session between His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, the chiefs and the leaders of the various communities across the LGA. This allows for transparency and accountability. Let me use this opportunity to thank the people and leaders fo Warri North who have worked for the peace and security our people currently enjoy.
Finally, I'd like to say that creating the hopes and dreams of a greater Warri North rest on the shoulders of the sons and daughters of Warri North. It is time for all of us far and near to carry this vision in our hearts and act upon it by doing what is right for our people. I call on the sons and daughters of this great constituency to think beyond just today. I think about the possibilities we can birth together. Think about justice and opportunity, think about transformation, think about unity and progress. I call on my brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers to join me in this quest for a greater Warri North. I am confident that together we will take up the cause and make the future generations proud.
Your Majesty, I thank you for birthing this era I am proud to stand in today. You are an inspiration to us all, but particularly to me. I assure you of my continuous loyalty to your rulership and my support in building our people.
Ogiame Su O
Ene dokpe Baba.
Thank you.
Orode Uduaghan
Copyright: Fresh Angle International (www.freshangleng.com)
ISSN 2354 - 4104
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