The 1st Ikwerre Economic Summit has ended in Rivers State with a call on the people of Ikwerre ethnic nationality to stop chasing white collar jobs and embark on agriculture to enhance surplus food production in the state and the country at large.
Chief Mike Elechi, a former permanent secretary Rivers State Ministry of Information and Works who was a guest speaker at the ceremony at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science RIVCAS Rumuola in Obio/Akpor LGA in a lecture described land as the gift of nature, emphasizing that Ikwerre land is blessed with natural resources.
He further stressed that another factor was that most Ikwerre people leave agriculture in pursuit of white collar jobs and contracts, thereby encouraging low productivity in agriculture.
He however advised Ikwerre people to massively embark in agriculture to ensure abundant food production and maintain its stand as the food basket of the state, the region and even the nation.
He commended the Ikwerre Vanguard for organizing the ceremony and for inviting him to be one of the guest speakers at the ceremony and urged them to sustain the tempo by making it an annual event.
In his key note address chief Lambert Obinwa who spoke on Ikwerre land, noted that Ikwerre land especially in Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt city LGAs have been sold out to government and strangers and advised that Ikwerre lands in Emohua and Ikwerre LGAs should be planned judiciously to avoid waste of land in future.
Chief Alex Amadi Wochi in his lecture entitled the role of ICT in Ikwerre land stressed the important of ICT in all professions including medicine, law, accounting, media, among others and advised Ikwerres to embrace ITC to make their work easier.
He commended Rivers State government for bringing ICT to the door steps of Rivers citizens, stressing that the state was the first to organize ICT workshops twice. He commended the efforts of the federal government on ICT.
Similarly, in her lecture, professor Joyce Akaniwno a lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt who spoke on “peace and unity in Ikwerre land” said leaders should not use politics to create violence in Ikwerre lands.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr. Same Eke a lecturer in the Rivers State College of Arts and Science who chaired the occasion described Ikwerre people as special people stressing that they have all the natural endowment in their land.
He advised the Ikwerre Vanguard who organized the programme to continue to project the Ikwerre people and promote their cultural heritage and advised Ikwerre people to use their God given natural resources judiciously.
Other people who lectured at the ceremony include Miss Patience Goton who spoke on the women development, among others.
The highlight of the ceremony was the launching of a calendar containing some of Ikwerre leaders. ####
Emeka Jilly Ejiowhor
