Warri South council boss, Michael Tidi, on Monday said the second Warri Economic Summit slated for October 2 to 3 would be geared towards tackling unemployment and other economic issues facing the council.
Tidi, who said this at pre-summit media briefing, lamented the high rate of unemployment among youths in the council, adding that this was one of the reasons the second summit was necessary.
He said one of the aims of this year’s summit would be to introduce the youth to some of the benefits of engaging in agriculture.
“We are not happy with the way our youths are sitting idle doing nothing and this is why we decided to organize this second Economic Summit where the youths can come and learn how they can be gainfully engaged.
“In this Summit we are going to bring in experts from within and outside the state who are going to share ideas with us because we believe that ideas rule the world,” Tidi said.
The Warri South council boss said there were a lot of untapped benefits in the agricultural sector, which most youths were not aware of, noting that agriculture would change their lives for the better.
He said the council was planning to have their own ‘Warri Farms’ in one of the rural communities that would address the issue of rural/urban migration.
“We are trying to partner with professional farmers who have made it big to come and invest here and encourage agriculture.
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“We are looking at palm oil production and we already have farmland at Ugbogede community. Here, investors from far and wide will come and encourage our people to farm.
“Warri should have it’s own farm and we are working towards it. This will address the rural/Urban drift that choking our cities. And we can also identify those who want to work and those who do not want to work,” he said.
He expressed optimism that a more economically viable Warri would improve the socio-economic life of the state, saying that the ongoing revitalisation of Warri Port through sustainable advocacy, commencement of operation of SIFAX Group in Warri Port and fresh investment to reinvigorate the famous Erejuwa Playground in the heart of Warri, as some of the positive impacts of the maiden Warri Economic Summit held in 2018.
Chairman of the Warri Economic Summit Group, Emmanuel Jakpa, in his remarks, said one of the proposes of the Warri Economic Summit was to drive the process of bringing industries and government together so that “we can bring Warri back to the glorious old days when Warri was a major player in the economy of this country and West Africa.”
Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who graced the first Warri Economic Summit in 2018, will be the special guest of honour in this year’s edition while economist and CEO, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismark Rewane, former executive director of operations, Nigeria Gas Marketing Company, Ekpan, Gabriel Aggrey, chairman of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, and Francis Okumagba, are among keynote speakers expected at the event.
