By Sunday Apah
Delta State Governor Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has warmly applauded the revitalised drive to cultivate lasting peace, cohesion and cordial coexistence among the varied ethnic groups inhabiting Warri and its surrounding districts.
Speaking through the Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Nyerhovwo Tonukari, at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Warri Unity Games staged at the Federal Government College (FGC), Warri, the governor portrayed sport as an formidable instrument capable of reinforcing interpersonal ties and anchoring durable harmony.
Tonukari, standing in for the governor, transmitted Oborevwori’s cordial greetings and conveyed regret that pressing official duties had prevented the governor’s personal attendance.
He praised the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, for the foresight that birthed the Unity Games, affirming that the venture had furnished a vital arena in which residents of disparate communities could mingle, contend and cement friendships.
The governor, Tonukari related, holds the firm conviction that sport functions as a potent conduit linking heterogeneous populations, dismantling artificial divides and advancing tranquillity.
“On behalf of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and the Delta State Government, I hereby affirm our unwavering and resolute endorsement of every grassroots endeavour that advances youth empowerment, safeguards cultural heritage and fosters peaceful cohabitation,” Tonukari declared.
He exhorted the competing athletes and the assembled spectators to maintain strict discipline, uphold fair play and practise mutual regard, voicing confidence that the affinities formed during the games would help usher in a more cohesive and flourishing Warri and Delta State.
His Royal Majesty King Kingsley Emakpo Orereh, Ataneru Igbi II, the Ovie of Agbarha-Warri Kingdom, likewise lauded the Olu of Warri for launching the sporting festival, characterising it as a momentous occasion for reconciliation and the rekindling of unity among the populace.
He pressed residents to extend the spirit of the peace initiative beyond the sporting field and called upon those trafficking in insults and inflammatory rhetoric on social media to cease such conduct at once.
“I was raised on Ekpen Street and was accustomed to describing myself as an Okere man, for no distinction existed between the Urhobo and Itsekiri peoples. Indeed, I spoke Itsekiri more fluently than Urhobo,” he recalled.
He implored the people to grasp the chance afforded by the Unity Games for complete reconciliation, underscoring that intermarriages and deep-rooted family connections had rendered the communities indivisible.
In his own address, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, explained that the Warri Unity Games had been deliberately conceived to illustrate that the inhabitants of the area share far more that unites them than anything that divides them.
The monarch announced that the games would henceforth constitute an integral feature of the activities commemorating his coronation anniversary, with the first Saturday of the anniversary week set aside specifically to advance unity among all who regard Warri as home.
He stated that the initiative sprang from the imperative to draw lessons from the bitter episodes of earlier years and to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Looking back to the early 1990s, the Olu recalled how an intended celebration of the coronation anniversary of his predecessor, Ogiame Atuwatse II, had descended into strife and bloodshed—consequences from which Warri has still not fully recovered.
He observed that Warri once possessed the capacity to emerge as a premier national cultural tourism hub through its carnival, long before the rise of the celebrated Calabar Carnival.
“Warri yearns to rise once more, and to rise more splendidly than before,” the monarch proclaimed, emphasising that the fresh endeavour seeks to place the people ahead of history rather than allow conflict to dictate their destiny.
