By Idowu Bankole, Vanguard Newspaper
Listen To The Report
Following the seasonal, unabated crisis peculiar to some Urhobo communities in Ughelli North and South Local Government Areas of Delta State, a philanthropist, Chief Lawrence Emareyo has kick-started the process of ensuring lasting peace amongst Urhobo communities through the ‘Chief Lawrence Emareyo Community Peace Cup.’
The football competition was kick-started by an opening match between Oteri and Emeragha communities at the Ughelli general field, the venue for the 30-day tournament.
According to the competition host, Chief Lawrence Emareyo, the football event is targeted at promoting peace between warring communities such as Ekuigbo and Otor-Iwhereko in Ughelli North and Okwagbe and Owhawha in Ughelli South.
Speaking at the opening ceremony he said he had decided to put the competition together out of his love for the Urhobo Nation and not because he was having enough money to throw away.
He pointed out that peace was paramount to the development of any society as it was the first thing investors look out for before investing in any place, adding that football was one thing that brought people together and promoted peace.
He said, “I am from the soil here, from Ughelli, I grew up here and have always enjoyed peace here. Some of the communities around, for instance, Ekuigbo and Otor-Iwhereko, the crisis that does come up every time instigated this competition.
“I live in Abuja but I took it upon myself that the only way to try to bring peace is to organize a competition like this. Football is a game that does not know the enemy, everybody comes together to play and I believe at the end of this competition that we have started, Ekuigbo and Otor-Iwhereko who are the people we are targeting will have peace.
“This is the first edition of the competition, it is a continuous process, the youths are my target and with a tournament like this we will be able to identify talents and impact on them, the good ones that we will see among them, we will pick them and take them to the next level. I believe with this initiative gradually we are going to take them off the street, one by one and it will also dissuade their minds from anti-social vices.”
Emareyo further advised the youths to continue to give peace a chance, noting that, there was nowhere violence has ever helped in solving problems.
In their separate remarks, the Monarch of Ughelli Kingdom, Wilson Ojakovo, Oharisi III, the Ovie of Ughelli, and the Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Council, Mr. Godwin Adode both commended Lawrence Emareyo for putting the competition together.
Oharisi who was represented by Chief Sunday Ogheneovo, the ‘Izomo’ of Ughelli Kingdom, said that it was not the absence of war that guarantees peace but by ensuring that people’s basic needs are provided for.
Adode who was represented by the Secretary to the Ughelli North Local Government Council, Felix Oderhowho called for more similar gestures from well-to-do individuals in the society geared towards promoting peace in the Local Governments.
Recall that communal clashes have claimed many lives in Owhawha and Okwagbe as well as Ekuigbo and Otor-Iwhereko communities in recent times.
Twenty registered Urhobo communities including, Otor-Iwhereko, Ekuigbo and Okwagbe would challenge for the grand prize of 1 Million Naira.
Watch.
