By Oluwayemi Davidson, Warri
Foremost Ijaw environmenal activist, Comrade Mulade Sheriff, on Tuesday led a high-powered delegation of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, (CEPEJ) to the Olu of Warri, His Majesty Oguame Atuwatse III, to celebrate the Itsekiri monarch on his contribution towards concretizing peace and sensitizing the masses on the need for peaceful coexistence.
Comrade Mulade Sheriff, the Country Director and CEO of CEPEJ, who is also a governorship aspirant for Delta State 2023 general elections, stressed the need to continuously build and support peaceful coexistence in Nigeria, most especialy with neighbours in Warri Area of Delta State, in line with the 2021 theme of the World Peace Day: Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World.
The visiting CEPEJ team, some if who held placards reading: A Message of Peace from the Creeks of the Niger Delta to the World, canvassed for a society characterized by equity, justice, fair play and inclusiveness.
Comrade Mulade specifically advocated that peace begins with the inner mind to the heart and to the people.and used the occasion to request the monarch to nominate one of his Palace Chiefs to be a member of the Local Organizing Committee for the upcoming Ijaw/Itsekiri Peace and Unity Football Tournament.
Comrade Sheriff Mulade, the first Ijaw leader to take peace advocacy to the Olu of Warri, used the occasion to celebrate the Monarch on his coronation, and inducted him as CEPEJ’s Royal Peace Ambassador and Patron.
Also speaking on the occasion, the Chairman Board of Trustees of CEPEJ, Dr. Chief GodwIn Orhadahwe praised Ogiame Atuwatse III for revoking an age long curse placed on Nigeria by one of his ancestors.
The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, in his response thanked the CEPEJ team for the visit, and commended Comrade Mulade for taking his peace crusade to all corners of Nigeria and Africa.
The Warri monarch emphasized the need for sustainable peace and development based on the truth and resolution of underlining wrongs and injustices in the land.