BY CHARLES KUMOLU
When the Delta PDP Campaign Organisation announced that its 2015 flag off rally was to hold in Delta Central Senatorial District, not a few were surprised by the decision. Delta Central is home to the Urhobos where there has been strong agitation for one of their own as governor of the state.
Led by the vociferous Chief Joe Omene, the Urhobo Progress Union had maintained that the Urhobos would only vote for a party that fields an Urhobo candidate for governor, and vowed to sanction any Urhobo person who supported any other candidate. Given this scenario, common sense dictated that the PDP governorship campaign should kick off in any other zone but Central – at least until all the frayed nerves have been calmed.
Whatever doubts that trailed the decision to begin the campaign in Delta Central quickly evaporated when the campaign team arrived Oghara town in Ethiope West Local Government Area for the flag off. The Oghara Township Stadium was agog with party faithful and enthusiastic supporters of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP governorship candidate.
Gaining entrance into the stadium was a nightmare on its own, and even the scores of security personnel deployed to the venue appeared flustered, apparently overwhelmed by the surging crowd. Cars were parked within some five-mile radius of the stadium causing a gridlock on the Sapele-Oghara expressway. Inside the stadium, it was a carnival-like atmosphere. Different support and dance groups sought to outdo one another with their performances.
The same scenario played out in Koko town in Warri North Local Government where the campaign train moved to immediately after the flag off in Oghara. The following day, January 14, Senator Okowa and his campaign team landed in Orerokpe in Okpe Local Government Area and rounded up the day’s activities in Sapele town, bringing to an end the first leg of his campaign in Delta Central Senatorial District.
According to a supporter who was in Oghara and Sapele, “Senator Okowa is truly pan-Deltan. I am amazed.” Surprised by the unfolding events, a former member of the House of Representatives remarked that “my fears about Delta Central were unfounded.” In Oghara, the closing of ranks in the state PDP was also evident as Steve Oru, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and a prominent member of the UPU, sang a song eulogising Okowa.
In each of the campaign stop, the message from Senator Okowa was basically the same – to build a united and prosperous Delta State when voted in as governor. Amid thunderous applauses he reiterated his commitment “take Delta State to the status of the pacesetter in the Nigerian federation by building an enduring legacy of wealth and prosperity.” With the campaign theme of “Prosperity for all Deltans,” Senator Okowa has outlined a five-point agenda with the acronym S.M.A.R.T i.e.
Strategic Wealth Creation Initiatives and Provision of Jobs for all Deltans
Meaningful Peace Building Platforms aimed at Political/Social Stability
Agricultural Reforms and Industrialisation
Relevant Health and Education Policies
Transformed Environment through Massive Urban Renewal
Okowa promised that under his tenure, “deliberate effort will be made to generate employment and productive livelihood for the teeming youth population, which will go a long way in reducing undue conflict in social relations and community lives.”
Speaking of his plans for commerce and industry, Okowa said he was determined to continue on the path of progress embarked on by the present administration in the state. “My administration,” he promised, “shall complete and consolidate the Warri Industrial Park and establish other Industrial Parks geared towards the agri-business sector.
A key component of my wealth creation strategy is to encourage multi-national business and industrial activities to settle down and operate in the host communities; and aggressive creation and promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Scale enterprises (MSMEs), which form the fulcrum of driving economic growth in any society.”
Noting that Delta State has vast potentials in the production of yams, cassava, potatoes, plantain, and tomatoes, Senator Okowa pledged to “encourage and create the enabling environment for commercial farming to thrive through the private sector and Public/Private Partnership using and improving on the Ekpan Fish farmers’ model.”
He bemoaned the poverty situation in the country where poor people sometimes had to borrow from money lenders at “suffocating interest rates” to pay hospital bills. Dr Okowa’s solution to the problem is the promulgation of Universal Health Insurance Policy under which, he claimed, “every Deltan will have equal access to health care.” According to him, “Ghana has been able to achieve 60% health insurance coverage for its citizens. There is no reason we cannot do the same here.”
Furthermore, the governorship hopeful declared that “my administration shall establish a Technical College in each Federal Constituency to equip our young people with the requisite skills and expertise in such trades as plumbing, painting, carpentry, tiling, and electrical work; and thereby connecting our people to the realities of the modern workplace and business environment.”
He described the situation where Nigerians have to depend solely on other nationals to carry out such work as unacceptable. “It is not wrong to patronise these people because they are also part of our community,” he pointed out. “But it should not be heard that Nigerians cannot perform such tasks. Technical education is meant to fill the gap and equip our people with the right skill-sets to be proficient and productive in their endeavours.”
Speaking about his plans for urban renewal, Okowa noted that Delta is a blessed state because it is about the only state in the federation that can boast of at least twelve cities such as Asaba, Warri, Sapele, Agbor, Ughelli, Obiaruku, and Bomadi to name a few.
He promised to undertake “massive urban renewal” during his tenure as governor adding that “at least one city or urban settlement in each of the 10 federal constituencies will be designated for comprehensive renewal to discourage rural-urban migration.”
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