#Congratulations: BROTHER SUNDAY ITODO BAGS PEACE AMBASSADOR AWARD, DEDICATES IT TO #OGBADIBO PEOPLE “You are an asset to Ogbadibo…” - Council Chairman “Where ever you find yourself and in whatever capacity, always try your best to impart your environment positively, it does surely pay in due time” Those were words of encouragement by Amb. Sunday Itodo, a foremost Social Activist, Public Affairs Analyst and the Managing Editor of DayBreak Newspaper in Otukpo, while addressing a mammoth crowd from the various council wards of Ogbadibo Local Government Area. It was at the Ellyon Hotel’s venue of the reception held in honour of Amb. Hon. Sunday Adah Ojo, the Executive Chairman of Ogbadibo LGC and Amb. Sunday Itodo, both recipients of ‘Ambassador for Peace’ award in a Peace Seminar and Award ceremony organized by Universal Peace Federation in Otukpo, Benue State. The Nigerian chapter of Universal Peace Federation had organized a forum to honour 18 illustrious sons and daughters of Benue South, who have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour with the international award. The Peace Seminar which was held at King David Hall, Haggai Suit, Otukpo also had in attendance, the National Secretary-General of UPF, Dr. Ralph Ogar, the Zone C Chairman of Peace Council, Amb. Dr. O.B. Ella, the Coordinator of UPF in Zone C, Comrade Joseph Igomu, distinguished Peace Ambassadors across the country and members of the public. While charging the awardees and guests on the theme “Fundamental Principles of Peace, Root Causes of Conflicts and the Process of Reconciliation as Response to Security Challenges in Nigeria”, Dr. Ogar, Amb. Ella and the Guest Speaker, Prof. Ocheni S. Ikani admonished the political class to shun politics of violence as election year draws near. The traditional rulers were also charged to imbibe the virtue of Peace as custodians of culture and tradition in their various communities. Addressing the good people of Ogbadibo LGA and other invited guests at the reception ground, Amb. Sunday Itodo enjoined them to always impart their communities in positive ways as it could always be rewarded in due time. According to him, no matter where one is living, there are people who would always acknowledge the deeds of every individual and times shall come when such deeds would be made open and rewarded. Amb. Itodo who lauded the organizers of the award ceremony for their diligence and objectivity in nominating the awardees also pledged to be a worthy ‘Peace Ambassador’ and agent of peace wherever he may find himself. The astute media practitioner also used the opportunity to exhort the Ogbadibo Council Chairman, Amb. Hon. Sunday Ojoh to intensify efforts at ensuring more dividends of democracy were brought to the local government before his tenure expires, even as he admitted that Hon. Ojoh was one of the best in the State. “For close to two years now, you have come under increasing criticism from some Activists within and outside Ogbadibo LGA via the instrumentality of social media. On many instances I was linked to such criticism, but may I announce to you that such cynicisms were not to discredit you or bring your government to disrepute; but they were intentionally used as tools for social engineering to propel your developmental acumen. Thank God we are seeing the importance of such criticism. “We are not unaware of your developmental strides; we are fully informed on all your activities; we were also there when you were given the award of the ‘Best Performing Local Government Chairman’ in North Central, Nigeria by an organization. When we left the occasion, we fired you the more! That in itself was to keep you on your toes, so that you could know that your best were not enough. “Mr. Chairman Sir, joke apart, you have done more than some of your predecessors and gone past many of your colleagues in Benue State. But expectations are high and the good people of Ogbadibo want more from you. Having said that, may I dedicate this fabulous ‘Peace Ambassador’ Award to you and the entire people of Ogbadibo Local Government Area, the rest of your tenure shall not cease to bring good luck to Ogbadibo people”, Amb. Itodo said. Responding, the Executive Chairman of Ogbadibo Local Government Council, Hon. Sunday Adah Ojoh acknowledged the honor done to the council by Amb. Sunday Itodo, by dedicating the award to the Government and People of Ogbadibo. While appreciating the contributions of Mr. Itodo and other guests to the development of Ogbadibo Local Government Area, the Council Chairman charged other youths in the area to emulate the nobility and virtues found in Amb. Itodo, whom he described as an asset to Ogbadibo Local Government, Benue State, Nigeria and world at large. On the constant criticism experienced on the pages of social media, the Zone C ALGON Chairman said it was expected. According to him, “criticism is one of the ingredients of democracy and it serves as a mirror to assess one’s performance. If it’s done in good faith it is called ‘constructive criticism’ but if done otherwise, it could be destructive. The former helps the leaders to brazen up to the challenges of development and do more for the people while the later may be seen as sponsored attack on the person of the leader. “I shall therefore encourage us to always be objective and constructive in our criticism as that would help the leaders identify the needs of the people. Above all, let’s learn how to believe in our leaders and also pray for them. “We should always be seen in the positive side of life. Today, four of our respected sons including myself were bestowed with the ‘Peace Ambassador’ Award and it’s a good one for our dear Local Government. I charge everyone here to carry this emblem of peace wherever you find yourself”. A renowned religious leader of Ogbadibo extraction, Arch Bishop Dr. Jim B. Okewu brought the occasion to an end with a special deliverance prayer section organized to liberate the People of Ogbadibo from shackles of poverty and lack of progress. Present at the epoch-making event were members of Ogbadibo Traditional Council, led by HRH Chief Sunday Ekele (JP), the Och’Otukpa; members of Ogbadibo Legislative Council, led by Rt. Hon. Frank Onuh (Leader); members of Ogbadibo Executive Council; distinguished Journalists from the area; various youth associations and a host of others. Amb. Sunday Itodo was born on the 19th October, 1985 to the families of Chief Gabriel Itodo of Adum Otukpa and Mrs. Margaret Ogbanje of Epaegbo Otukpa, all in Ogbadibo LGA of Benue State. He began his educational career in Ondo State and later attended Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, where he graduated in 2012 with Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management. Prior to his academic pursuit at the Polytechnic, Mr. Itodo had enrolled at the Nigerian Peace Corps in 2002, where he was trained on intelligent report writing; leadership and citizenship education; conflict resolution and peace initiative; among others. At the end of the peace training, Mr. Itodo was deployed to Ogbadibo LGA where he served as the Training Officer and later acted as the Local Government Commandant of the Peace Corps. His wealth of experience was brought to bear when there was need to broker peace between Ogbadibo LGA and warring neighbouring communities of Udenu LGA in Enugu State and Olamaboro LGA in Kogi State between 2002 and 2003. In the year 2003, Mr. Sunday Itodo succumbed to pressure from his kinsmen to help stop the marginalization by the sister clan. He contested for councillorship under the umbrella of United Nigeria Peoples’ Party, UNPP but was not successful. Again in 2007, the vibrant and energetic Itodo made another move to end an age-long marginalization of his people by contesting under the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP. This he gallantly achieved! Though he was eventually schemed out of the race by Power-that-be in PDP, but his resilience, dogmatism and adroitness manifested in the count-down to the poll saw the emergence of his Kinsman as the first ever councilor from his Kindred. Being an Apostle of Civil Society and in his quest to further contribute to the socio-political development of Benue State, Mr. Sunday Itodo organized training for vibrant and Patriotic young men and women across the State prior to 2011 general elections, under the auspices of Nigeria Election Vigilante Organisation (NEVO) and Election Vigilante International, USA. Those trainees were later mandated to carry out aggressive grassroots mobilization during voters’ registration exercise and massive voters’ education for the elections proper, through the help of various media in Benue State. As a Social Activist, Mr. Itodo believes so much in good governance and could go to any length to ensure that obnoxious and anti-people policies do not see the light of the day. He was one of the few dogmatic youth leaders in Benue State that collaborated with Labour/Trade Union during the mass action against the removal of fuel subsidy when he led a powerful pressure group under the aegis of National Youth Parliament of Nigeria in fierce less protest, both in Makiurdi, Otukpo and Ogbadibo in January 2012. Mr. Sunday Itodo also broke a record through his NGO in October 2012 as the only civil society in the entire northern region of Nigeria to champion radio debate for Local Government Chairmanship Candidates in both PDP and ACN. This he was able to achieve with the collaborations of National Orientation Agency, NOA; Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC and some media houses in Benue, and it was done in preparatory to local government election in Benue State. He is a chronic believer of Idoma unity and could go to any length to fight any cause that could pose threat to the corporate existence of Idoma People, even as he has vowed to fight any injustice done to any of his people. Each time you ask the soft-speaking Journalist why he delights so much in fighting for others, he would smile and tell you “I cannot be alive and watch a crude colonization of my people; I shall fight any injustice with my last breath, even if that is all I can do, for posterity will not forgive me if I refuse to do the needful”. His patriotic activism started when in his Primary 5, he led a riotous campaign for his elder brother, Jacob Bamidele Itodo, a contender for the office of Head Boy, who later defeated an indigenous aspirant in Primary 6. That singular act broke the jinx of making only Ondo indigenes to head the primary school. While rounding up his secondary school education in Ondo State, the soft-spoken gentleman made another history when as a Senior Prefect and head of the college, he led a very formidable squad made up of Idoma students to the Office of the Governor of Ondo State to protest the inhuman act melted out to one of their own by a serving Corps Member, in defense of an indigenous lady; an act which made the Idoma Student to miss the SSCE exams going on at the time. The Corps member was not only redeployed, he also bagged extension of 6 months while others were passing out. On his own part, our dear Comrade Sunday Itodo was extolled by the Governor for making such a brave defense for his people. He was graciously offered Scholarship bid by the Governor. The Idoma community also made efforts to compliment the gestures of Comrade Itodo when they organized a reception in his honour on the 16th day of December, year two thousand and bestowed on him the title of ‘Ojotu 1 of Ai-Oodo’, which literary connotes a brave warrior of Ai-Oodo Kingdom! An ardent Analyst on social and public issues, Mr. Itodo has used the instrumentality of social media to project the image of Idoma nation and Benue State to the larger international community with his cogent analysis on social, economic and political developments in the State. Mr. Itodo is not only an online Journalist, but also a networker and a blogger of international repute, through whom most international online media get crude reports from the grassroots in Nigeria. With average of eighteen (18) hours daily on the internet, Prince Yemi Itodo, as he is fondly called by his friends, is said to be the most active Benue Journalist on the internet. He is a member of Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of various companies and organizations and currently, the Managing Editor and Co-Publisher of DayBreak Newspaper, a home-grown newspaper that is primarily concerned with grassroots reportage in Idomaland. DayBreak Newspaper is rated as the fastest selling local newspaper with monthly readership spread across 17 States in Nigeria and also the first Benue indigenous newspaper that is available through online stream. Our dear Itodo is currently consulting with some international organizations to enable him empower about 3000 youths from Benue State on various skills before the end of 2014. Amb. Sunday Itodo is newly married to his lovely wife, Tina Treasure.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 23:02:04 +0000
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