Comrade Umukoro Vies For UPU Youth President, Assures Of Massive Representation

By Daniel Dafe

Comrade Efemena Umukoro has joined the race to become president of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, Youthwing, Worldwide, saying if elected, the youths will be well represented.

Umukoro spoke exclusively to Oasis Magazine on Friday.

Responding to questions, he said that those that think the youth body was simply put together to collect money from the Federal and state governments are making a great mistake.

His words: “Anyway, I won’t blame those who think that way. I made UPU Youthwing attractive because of the way I managed the office of the president. Talking about money for example, my first tenure as you know was characterized by multiple factions. I never got a penny from the government but because I am a determined and patriotic young leader, I continued to affect the lives of our youths independently. While other factions were getting little stipends from the government, they couldn’t do any program to impact the lives of our youths but I did with zero budget. If you can recall Mr Oasis, your media house was in charge of media coverage when my outgone administration trained 200 youths on CCTV installation, during the Covid-19 period. It was only my team that shared palliatives to all the villages in Delta central.

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He continued: “UPU Youthwing is a place for people who have the heart to sacrifice and to labor for their ethnic group. So, anybody who is coming onboard because of what he wants to gain, would be disappointed. You must be able to speak firmly for your people, and you must have good contacts which you must use to help your people. It was contacts I had outside politics that I used to navigate through the hardship or rather neglect from the government. You can imagine the high level of representation we gave Urhobo youths without support from anyone then think of what we can do if we have a little push of finance.”

Speaking further on his antecedents, he said: “As an Urhobo youth, my administration was able to provide series of jobs to our youths in the public sector. We achieved this with personal friendship and influence and these jobs were duly shared among Urhobo youths who were qualified for the position and it was on merit. So, it wont be difficult for anybody to fit into the position because we have increased the standard of who is eligible to govern Urhobo youths.”

Furthermore, he said: “As Urhobo youth president, my administration fought extortion and harassment of our people by security agencies to the barest minimum. Over 10 overzealous and unprofessional officers who extorted our youths were dismissed from service from 2020 till date and a total of 206m naira was retrieved from external policemen basically from Abuja who usually come into Delta state without due documentation to harass our people.

“Our antecedents speak volumes about our capacity. So, the records are there for everybody to see. To me, if Urhobo youths give us another chance, we will consolidate on our previous achievements and we shall do more. We shall offer our youths purposeful leadership, accessibility, employment, and defending of their rights. I shall ensure investors have the conducive environment to work in and also ensure that they respect the local content law whereby they must employ our people. I shall encourage young talented Urhobo youths by giving them a platform to strive and ensure Wado City becomes a Music market like Lagos.

“You see the issue of cultism, my government has brought it to almost zero percent in Urhobo land by working closely with the anti-cult. I was the one who settled the cult clash in Eku, Abraka, Sapele and Ughelli. Today, despite Abraka being a student community, I can say you don’t hear of cult clashes often because we have a well-established structure that addresses any issue before it leads to confrontation. These and many other similar achievements led to my appointment as member rep NYCN in the State Community Policing Committee Delta state command. I was duly inaugurated by the former Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa. The UPU Youth Wing presidency office needs someone who is experienced not someone who wants to come and learn on the job. It’s a serious matter.”

On if he has the blessings of Chief Joe Omene, he said: “Chief Joe Omene is a father and I have his 100% blessings for the position. I learnt from him. He is my mentor and my director. He leads and I follow. He believes greatly in me as a son. Yes I have his 100 percent blessing and that of his former executive. You can confirm from him.”

Meanwhile, he said that he was instrumental to the peace and unity enjoyed in UPU today.

“On a normal day, I do not expect anybody to contest against me. They know the truth; they know my capacity. This is the first time we are having many people vying for the office of the President and I am happy that it.os courtesy of me.