By Onwa Ekor
Cross River deputy governor, Rt. Hon Peter Odey, has called on Nigerians to conquer hunger and poverty, if insecurity must stop.
Odey stated this while addressing stakeholders in Calabar, the Cross River capital, during the maiden meeting of National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
According to him, “today as pioneers of humanity, let us save Nigeria because I believe very clearly that if we conquer hunger and poverty in Nigeria, there will be no banditry.”
The deputy governor also added that, “half the problem of insecurity in Nigeria will be solved if poverty is defeated and that task of defeating poverty starts today in Calabar and with all of you.”
Odey had earlier told a story on humanity where a certain photographer, Kelvin Carter, during the Sudan crisis, had taken a picture of a little child with a vulture waiting for the child to die, before feasting on it.
According to the deputy governor, the photographer became famous for taking the picture as he even bagged an award.
Continuing, Odey informed that in the photographer’s quest for fame, he started granting interviews as he moved from one television station to another.
“One day,” the deputy governor went ahead to narrate, “a journalist asked Carter what happened to the child and he responded that he does not know as he only took the picture.”
Odey went further to explain that the journalist in turn told the photographer that on that day, there were two vultures, one was holding a camera and that is you, the photographer.
The deputy governor who got the crowd emotional at this point, informed that the said photographer left the place, committed suicide and died because he could not live with the emotional trauma of not being able to save the child.
Odey further charged the stakeholders that, “if you don’t take anything away from here, take the compassionate part of it, of which humanity is all about.”
