By Festus Ahon

ASABA—DELTA State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday raised alarm over the spate of cultism in the country, lamenting that it was destroying the society.

Town Hall meeting: From left: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; member, representing Ika Federal Constituency, Mr Victor Nwokolo and Secretary to Government, Mr Ovie Agas, during the governor’s Town Hall meeting with the people of Ika South LGA. in Agbor.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Akwukwu-Igbo, Oshimili North and Agbor, Ika South Local Government Areas of the state, Okowa appealed to parents not to leave the upbringing of their children to teachers alone.

He decried the high rate of kidnapping and the terror being unleashed on innocent citizens of the country by ravaging herdsmen across the country.

He, however, said  that the state government  was doing everything possible to address the menace in the state, urging traditional rulers to be mindful of the people they give farm lands to.

According to him, herdsmen who occupy farmlands, especially the criminal elements among them, were being shown the way out of the state by the police.

On sporting activities, the governor said that the state government had directed all secondary schools in the state to form their football team, adding that sports improves the health and intelligence of the child.

He said that private schools without sports facilities would no longer be given approval to operate in the state. Okowa said that the government has introduced Principal’s Cup to promote sports activities.

At Akwukwu-Igbo, the governor said that there were indications that the Federal Government would ban the importation of rice, urging rice farmers to boost their production to meet  the needs of the people and also, benefit from likely incentives from the Federal Government when such happens.

Commending the people of Illah for their commitment towards the production of rice, Okowa said; “We are taking the growing of rice very serious because, the Federal Government may ban the importation of rice and existing farmers will benefit from Federal Government’s assistance.”