Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson on Thursday appointed
\nthe Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investment Barr. Kemela Okara as
\nthe new Secretary to the State Government.<\/p>\n
Okara who hails from Bumoundi in Ekpetiama Clan of Yenagoa Local
\nGovernment Area\u200e holds an LLB degree with Honours from the University of
\nMiddlesex, London and he is a member of the Honourable Society of Gray\u2019s
\nInn, London, England having been called to the English Bar in 1989.<\/p>\n
He was also called to the Nigerian Bar in December 1989 \u200eand \u200ewas one of
\nthe founding partners of Streamsowers & K\u00f6hn, a major commercial law firm
\nlocated in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos, with branch offices in
\nAbuja and Port Harcourt, Rivers State.<\/p>\n
Okara served as Commissioner for\u00a0 Trade, Industry and Investment\u200e from
\nfrom April 2014 to February 2016 and was re-appointed to the same
\nportfolio on\u00a0 April 13,\u00a0 2016 after the re-election of Gov. Dickson for a
\nsecond term.<\/p>\n
He was responsible for developing the Bayelsa State Industrialization
\nPolicy, designing the masterplan for the State Eco-Industrial Park, the
\nmasterplan for the State Power Generation Hub as well as providing
\nconducive trading infrastructure, and developing the strategic plan for
\nviable inward investment into Bayelsa State.<\/p>\n
Okara also organized the inaugural edition of the Bayelsa State Investment
\nand Economic Forum in 2014.<\/p>\n
Known for his impeccable integrity, Okara oversaw the CBN MSME funding for
\nBayelsa State providing single digit interest rate financing for the MSME
\nsector.<\/p>\n
Prior to his appointment as Commissioner in 2014 he was a Trustee of
\nFreedom Foundation and a Director in King Solomon\u2019s Micro Finance Bank
\nLimited, a faith based initiatives actively involved in providing
\nrehabilitation, education and empowerment to the disadvantaged in Lagos.<\/p>\n
The new scribe of the Bayelsa State Government is also a Trustee of This
\nPresent House church, in Lagos while in the Niger Delta area, he
\ninstituted the Kemela Okara Foundation to provide scholarship to indigent
\nstudents and the Firi Ke Ebi Initiative to provide Vocational and
\nEntrepreneurial training to young unemployed men and women in Bayelsa
\nState.<\/p>\n
Okara previously chaired the board of Arc Lights Limited holders of the
\nLEGO Franchise for West Africa and parts of North Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson on Thursday appointed the Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investment Barr. Kemela Okara as the new Secretary to the State Government. Okara who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n