By Amos Aar
BENUE State governor, Samuel Ortom, Thursday inaugurated the second session of the Benue Youth Parliament at the Benue State House of Assembly, Makurdi, the state capital.
He said the youths had proven to be of good character, hence their inauguration and charged them to be youth ambassadors. He stressed that as young adults, it was proper to give them the opportunity to express themselves in order to provide a platform to resolve issues.
The governor assured the youth parliamentarians of the state government’s support for the youth parliament to succeed and advised to live exemplary lives.
In a remark, Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Titus Uba, expressed joy for interfacing with the youth parliamentarians for the first time and tasked them on proper conduct.
Earlier in his welcome address, Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development, Hon. Pastor Ojema Ojotu, also assured the continued support of his Ministry towards activities of the Benue Youth Parliament in line with its mandate.
Hon. Ojotu, who described the inauguration as a unique one, sought partnership with the Parliament with a view to assisting young people in actualising their full potentials.
Shortly after the inauguration of the Parliament, which comprised 30 youth, election was conducted for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, presided over by the Clerk of the Parliament, Ms Margaret Manta, and they were sworn in immediately. Ms Tyona R. Wuese of Tarka Constituency and Alfred Yambasu Edeh of Ado Constituency emerged Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.
In an inaugural speech, the Speaker-elect, Ms Tyona, thanked her colleagues for believing in her and promised to carry everybody along and to work as a team. She urged them to eschew sentiment but make common interest their watchword to achieve progress and unity of purpose.
