Delta State born environmentalist, peace and development advocate, Chief Sheriff Mulade, has called on the Delta State government to urgently prioritise the industrialisation of the state by making use of its agriculture and aqua-cultural endowments.

Chief Mulade, who is the Ibe Serimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state and the National Coordinator of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), disclosed this at the just concluded Amaseikumor Festival.

According to the CEPEJ Boss, the call became necessary as the Governor Sheriff Oborevwori-led government need to adopt a pragmatic approach towards industrialising the state.

He emphasised that leaders all over the world now adopt strategies to harness the resources of their countries for more infrastructural development, job creation and economic growth, translating to wealth creation, and that Delta State cannot be an exception, especially as the State is richly endowed with human capital and natural resources which are the keys to unlocking the greatness of the State.

"Delta State is greatly endowed with arable land and marine resources that can turn the State into a food basket for local consumption and create revenues via exports while also achieving the aim of diversifying from an oil-dependent economy in the long run," Mulade stated.

The Gbaramatu Chief further noted that adopting an agro-based industrialisation strategy would go a long way in creating wealth for the state's teeming unemployed youths and women. 

"By engaging them, it will reduce the rate of unemployment and food scarcity, while boosting food sufficiency and its affordability, a key to reducing the poverty index of the state," he asserted.

Mulade also stated that the industrialisation of the state through agriculture and aqua-culture would create opportunities for youths and women, and curtail the wastage of idle human resources, turning them into assets that can contribute their quota to the growth and development of the state.

"Agro-based industrialisation will help to reduce the insecurity challenges and criminal tendencies and immorality prevalent in the society. As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. When the youths and women are meaningful engaged, this will improve peace and reduce anti-social behaviors like armed robbery, prostitution amongst others, and in the long run attract more investors into the State," he added.

He noted that apart from crude oil, "the many resources in the riverine areas of the state are greatly untapped especially in the aqua-cultural sector" and that "The potentials of unemployed youths in the creeks can be tapped thereby turning the coastal areas into exporting zones of seafoods and revenue generation."

He stated that failure of the state government to meaningfully engage the next generation would amount to societal devastation that would be difficult to recover from as the negative impact would be disastrous.

He, therefore, appealed to the Oborevwori Administration to prioritize the industrialisation of the State through agriculture and aquaculture, as Delta has a lot to benefit in the long run, just as he further counseled, "These poor areas should be strategically looked into, devoid of politics, for the interest of the future of our dear Delta State."

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