UGHELLI/Nigeria: Senator representing Delta Central, Ede Dafinone, has reaffirmed his commitment to creating opportunities for the Urhobo people while calling on other sons and daughters of Urhobo extraction in positions of influence to deliberately use their offices to uplift their communities.
Dafinone made the call on Thursday during a media parley with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ughelli Correspondents Chapel, at the union’s secretariat in Ughelli, Delta State.
He argued that leaders from other regions have never shied away from prioritizing their people in recruitment, contracts, and appointments, urging Urhobo leaders to discard the mentality of being “second-class citizens.”
“In the past, an Urhobo manager would go around begging colleagues from other regions for recruitment slots, as if he had no names of his own. That must change. If every Urhobo in office employs just two or three people every year, we will make serious progress in reducing unemployment among our youths,” he said.
The senator disclosed that he had built a strong support network of Urhobos in Abuja working across government agencies, who are positioned to help others secure jobs and contracts once properly introduced.
“We are not second-class citizens in this country. If a DG or MD from another region is employing 100 people, he will take 90 from his own area. An Urhobo man should not feel afraid to employ 50 when given the same opportunity,” Dafinone insisted.
He emphasized that the mandate he holds as senator belongs to the Urhobo people and not to him personally, hence his determination to use every instrument of power available to expand opportunities for his constituents.
“The office of the Senator representing Delta Central does not belong to me; it belongs to my people. The more I can share the instruments of power from my office, the closer we get to solving the problem of our young people. It should not be about me as an individual, but about all of us,” he said.
Reflecting on his approach to endorsements, Dafinone admitted that he had once insisted only on “qualified applicants” but had since realized that persistence and connections often outweighed credentials in Nigeria’s job market.
“At first, I would scrutinize every paper and tell people, ‘You can’t do this job, you’re not qualified.’ But I later discovered the person who eventually got the job also had no qualifications. He went there, hustled, and got it. So now, I give the letter and tell our people: go and hustle for it too. Not everyone will succeed, but some will—and that is the risk worth taking,” he noted.
He further explained that although stakeholders had advised him to create a WhatsApp platform to mobilize support, he resisted in order not to be seen as setting up a rival to the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). Instead, he has been appointing ambassadors at various gatherings to spread the message of Urhobo unity and empowerment.
“Every time I speak to a group of 20 or 30 Urhobo people, I tell them to go and hold their own meetings, spread the word, and carry others along. That way, it is not just my assignment. If I try to be the only one with access to Mr. President or Festus Keyamo, then I reduce the overall impact. But if all of us are champions of Urhobo progress, the results will be greater,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of NUJ Ughelli Correspondents Chapel, Comrade Sunday Apah, and the state Financial Secretary of the Union, Elder Polycarp Orosevwotu, commended Dafinone for engaging the press on his activities in the Senate and pledged the union’s support in amplifying his efforts.
