Governor Seriake Dickson 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.
