Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ede Dafinone, has reaffirm his commitment to continue empowering more people in Delta Central, just as he urged other Urhobo sons and daughters occupying positions of influence across the country to make deliberate use of their offices in uplifting their people.
Senator Dafinone gave this charge Thursday, during a media parley with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ughelli Correspondents Chapel, held at the Chapel’s Secretariat in Ughelli, Delta State.
He maintained that leaders from other regions have never been apologetic about favouring their people in matters of recruitment, contracts, and appointments, and as such, Urhobo leaders must rise above the mentality of being second-class citizens.
“In the past, an Urhobo manager would go round begging colleagues from other regions to give him names for recruitment, as if he had no names of his own. That must change. If every Urhobo in office employs just two or three people every year, we will make serious progress in reducing unemployment among our youths,” he stated.
The Senator further disclosed that he has helped to build a strong support network of Urhobos in Abuja working across government agencies, who are ready to assist others in securing employment and contracts once properly introduced.
“We are not second-class citizens in this country. If a DG or MD from another region is employing 100 people, he will take 90 from his own area. An Urhobo man should not feel afraid to employ 50 when given the same opportunity,” Dafinone emphasized.
According to him, the office he currently occupies does not belong to him as an individual but to the Urhobo people, hence his commitment to use every available instrument of power to create opportunities for the ethnic nationality.
“The office of the Senator representing Delta Central does not belong to me; it belongs to my people. The more I can share the instruments of power from my office, the closer we get to solving the problem of our young people. It should not be about me as an individual, but about all of us,” he stressed.
While recalling how he initially limited his endorsements to only “qualified applicants,” Dafinone explained that experience has taught him that persistence and connections often trump credentials in the struggle for opportunities in Nigeria.
“At first, I would scrutinize every paper and tell people, ‘You can’t do this job, you’re not qualified.’ But I later found out that the person who eventually got the job also had no qualifications. He went there, hustled, and got it. So now, I give the letter and tell our people: go and hustle for it too. Not everyone will succeed, but some will, and that is the risk worth taking,” he said.
He also revealed that although stakeholders have advised him to create a WhatsApp group or platform to push the agenda, he declined so as not to be misconstrued as seeking to rival the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). Instead, he has continued to appoint ambassadors from every gathering to spread the gospel of Urhobo unity and empowerment.
“Every time I speak to a group of 20 or 30 Urhobo people, I tell them to go and hold their own meetings, spread the word, and carry others along. That way, it is not just my assignment. If I try to be the only one with access to Mr. President or Festus Keyamo, then I reduce the overall impact. But if all of us are champions of Urhobo progress, the results will be greater,” he added.
Earlier in their remarks, the duo, Chairman of the Ughelli Correspondents Chapel of NUJ, Comrade Sunday Apah and the state Financial Secretary of the Union, Elder Polycarp Orosevwotu, commended the Senator for deeming it necessary to brief the union on his activities in the Senate and pledged the union’s readiness to continue promoting his works.
