Palace Of Olu Of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, Delta State On 05/03/2022

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE PALACE OF THE OLU OF WARRI, OGIAME ATUWATSE III, IN DELTA STATE ON THE 5^TH OF MARCH, 2022

PROTOCOLS

Your Royal Majesty, it is a very special pleasure to be here; first, because I have not had an opportunity to visit since you ascended to the throne of your fathers, and although, we have had occasion to meet, I am happy to be able to come today to formally congratulate you and also to pray that this ascension to the throne, which I know is ordained by the almighty God, will be blessed for the benefit of this community and for our nation.

I also bring the very greetings of President Muhammadu Buhari who thanks you again for your very kind visit and for all of the very kind and supportive statements that you made when you visited a couple of weeks ago.

Why I have also come is because we are at a time in the history of our country when we must do certain things to improve and point ourselves in the right direction.

As you know, coming into office, we had on top of our agenda, as the President stated, the economy, security, governance, corruption; the fight against corruption; but we also recognize, especially with security, that very few administrations have been confronted with the plethora of security challenges that we have been confronted with.

And frankly, when you look at the sheer number and range of those security challenges, it is evident that it was necessary to have a leader such as Buhari to be able to even take on those challenges.

But the role of the traditional council, the traditional rulership in our country is critical to security, absolutely critical and I am happy that this is something that you also, not only recognize but accept as a major function of the traditional rulership.

But it is not of course, in the army or the military aspects, it is more because we recognize that the traditional rulership of our country hold a moral place in the lives and esteem of our people, and it is that moral place that we, very frequently, have to call upon in order to mediate some of the conflicts that give rise to the security challenges that we have.

For example, the Deputy Governor, Barr. Kingsley Burutu Otuaro and I have worked extensively in some of the conflicts in oil-producing communities that have led to a decline in oil production and we did so by going round to speak to various communities.

That was about three or four years ago, and we were able to achieve results just because the traditional rulership took it upon themselves to be front and centre of mediating these disputes.

I think that the times that we are in also calls for that kind of intervention, and I will respectfully urge your Royal Majesty to take this on as a major task because just as it has been mentioned, our country depends a great deal on oil production.

We want to see that security challenges, oil theft and some of what we are seeing in the Delta and in many of our oil-producing communities are swiftly brought to an end.

The other point is that I know that so much excitement has come from your being installed as the Olu of Warri, and if the amount of media attention is any measure, then  I dare say that you have your work cut out for you because just watching the videos of the installation, millions all over the world paid attention to what was going on here in Warri.

But I want to say that the reason, first, is because you bring to this stool, this office, not just the energy and the farsightedness of youth, but more importantly, your antecedents in business, in innovation and entrepreneurship. Many are looking to see how this will benefit not just Warri but also our nation.

Your Royal Majesty, I hope and pray that working with us the Federal Government – we have several initiatives, especially initiatives for entrepreneurship and innovation for young people, not just in technology but also in your area of oil and gas.

There is a lot I hope that we will be able to do together. I thank you again for the very warm reception; you are a father and a brother and that part is what makes this particularly interesting and as an in-law, I think I might also begin to take advantage of that in-law relationship.

Thank you very much for your courtesies all the time and for the very warm reception that you have given me and my team since we came.

Thank you very much and God bless you. I pray that your time in office will not only be known for progress and prosperity, but it will also be known for safety and security, and this land will prosper under your reign. You will live very long, and you will exceed all your forbears in performance and in love and respect for your people in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen!