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By Henry Uche
One year in the saddle after his victories both at the poll and the courts, various stakeholders and commentators are tempted to look at the score card of the Delta State governor, Sheriff Oworevwori vis a-vis his campaign promises to people of the oil-rich state.
Many political observers agree that the battle for the governorship seat of Delta was one of the toughest ahead of the 2023 general election. That was despite the fact that after the party primaries, the contest came down to a two horse race between the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Governor Sheriff
Oborevwori and his opponent of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Ovie Omo-Agege. Luck smiled on Oborevwori who emerged the governor of the state after the tension-soaked general election. So, one year at the helm of affairs of the oil-rich state, the question on the lips of critical observers is –how far has Sheriff Oborevwori delivered democracy dividends to his people?
On May 29, Oborevwori was inaugurated as the fifth elected governor of the state with a development blueprint called the M.O.R.E. agenda. The M.O.R.E agenda, which is an acronym for “Meaningful Development; Opportunities for All; Realistic Reforms and Enhanced Peace and Security”, is more or less an improvement on the blueprint of the previous administration, ‘Stronger Delta’.
From inception, Oborevwori’s popular quote stated thus: “as Governor, I am committed to building a Delta State that works for all. Through innovative programmes and policies, we are promoting socio-economic development, improving healthcare delivery, and empowering youth and women.
“These initiatives are just the beginning, and I am excited about what we can achieve together. I envision a Delta State where everyone can thrive and have access to sustainable, inclusive development. By working together and leveraging the strength of our people, I believe we can achieve this vision.
“In life, you never know how fast you can run until you are called upon. In the race of life, better is never good enough. As we walk the talk each day and strive for perfection, the best will surely come.”
Talk is cheap they say, hence Oborevwori is placed on the spotlight by both supporters and members of the opposition parties.
For followers of events in the state, one of the key strengths of Oborevwori’s administration is the all-inclusive approach to governance irrespective of political differences. Since he was sworn in on May 29, 2023, his projects are spread all over the diverse length and breadth of the multi-cultural state.
At a thanksgiving service to mark the first anniversary of his administration, the governor said his administration had turned the entire state to a huge construction site with 317 ongoing road projects in the last one year. He said out of the 317 projects, a total of 76 roads with a cumulative length of 171.49km and 85.30km length of drains were initiated by his administration.
Notable among the new projects started by the Oborevwori administration is the N78bn Julius Berger three flyovers cloverleaf, pedestrian Bridges and Road expansion projects in the Effurun and Warri megalopolis. The projects which are expected to be completed within 27 months are currently ongoing with piling and casting works going on simultaneously.
In the last one year, the administration has completed some roads while others are at various stages of completion. Amongst the completed road projects are: The Construction of Trans-Warri-Ode-Itsekiri Bridges and Access roads phase 1, the rehabilitation and Resealing of Otolokpo/Ute-Okpu/Ekuku Agbor/Ndemili/Obeti/Umutu Road, Construction of Oviri-Olomu/Egodor Road; the Construction of Ibusa-Achala Road Phase 1, Completion of Perimeter Fencing of Asaba International Airport, Construction of Okwuama Road in Osubi to link Etakpo Lane/Macnero Road, Osubi and Construction of Old Okpe Road, Jeddo.
Others include construction of failed portions of Okuvo/Okugbogbo/Mereje Road, rehabilitation of 1.16 km Section of Ogume-Emu Road; construction of Hon Abinoko Way, community road and Ekuobodo Village Access road Phase1, Okuobodo Village, construction of Kokodiagbene community road in Warri South West LGA, the construction of Awharode Street/Awharode Lane in Oghior Town Udu, construction of Urueode Internal Roads in Ofagbe and construction of impacted section of Ellu/Aradhe Road. The rest are construction of Umutu – Eku Road, construction of Agboghor Road in Odorubu Town, Patani LGA and construction of Comrade Izeze Road in Oginibo amongst others.
Apart from road infrastructure, Oborevwori on Tuesday, June 4 inaugurated the multi-billion naira, ultra-modern High Court Complex in Asaba, the state capital.
The facility has a 350KVA generator and 150KVA generator, and it is also connected to the Asaba Independent Power Plant, to allow for uninterrupted power supply.
Included in the five-floor building are six courtrooms, six conference halls, ViP lounge, six witness waiting rooms, six holding cells, six judges and lawyers lounge, six secretarial offices, two general conference halls as well as Internet facility and a library.
At the event, the governor also presented 20 Toyota SUVs (sports utility vehicles) to judges in the state.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, who cut the tape to declare the five-floor imposing edifice commended Oborevwori for the functional impetus the hi-tech facility would add to justice administration processes in the state and the less travelled democratic government policy channel in the nation’s clime of zero tolerance for abandonment or non-completion of government projects.
Jonathan, who also recalled how Oborevwori had returned more than half a billion Naira unused funds to the state treasury when he was the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, asserted that the governor has already began to cut a niche for himself as a trustworthy and accountable leader interested in a paradigm shift in democratic governance.
The former president said, “there are some projects that are very fundamental to the growth and development of the state and we expect anybody who takes over government to continue with them and you are doing exactly that. I believe that if you go across the country today, this is one of the best judiciary headquarters in the country and I congratulate the governor and the Judiciary of Delta State for this exemplary project.”
While calling for the strengthening of the judicial and electoral systems to address certain democratic challenges in Nigeria, Jonathan lamented that half of the thousands of post-election litigations in Nigeria were frivolous and initiated by dishonest politicians intent on manipulating or exploiting the weaknesses in the judiciary.
The Oborevwori government has also continued on the same trajectory as the previous administration in the areas of healthcare programme and education, with projects’ inauguration in the four state-owned universities. For instance, projects recently inaugurated at the Dennis Osadebey University, Anwai-Asaba, include 500 and double 250-seater auditoriums, building and furnishing of Faculty of Agriculture, Administrative Building as well as Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge; entrance gate and the main entrance access road.
One of the significant achievements of the Delta governor in the last one year was the award of over N78 billion contracts in respect of a set of projects – comprising roads, drains and flyover bridges – in the Warri and Uvwie commercial axis of the state.
Over and above the multi-billion naira contract to give the Warri South-West and Uvwie local government areas a facelift was the fact that Oborevwori invited an internationally acknowledged construction giant in Nigeria, Julius Berger Plc, to handle it.
Security
Though the state has enjoyed some relative peace since Oborevwori took over from former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, many would agree that one of the toughest challenges he had faced in the last one year was the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama.
The slain soldiers, made up of a commanding officer, two majors, a captain, and 13 others, were ambushed and murdered on March 14. They were said to have been responding to the crises between Okoloba and Okuama communities which had allegedly been engaged in an age-long land dispute.
Following the killing of the officers, the Army as usual carried out a reprisal attack resulting to unconfirmed civilian casualties, destruction of property and displacement of thousands of Okuama people.
But the state government rose to the occasion and immediately set up an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Ewu Grammar School in Ewu kingdom, Ughelli South local government area of the state.
Some officials of the Delta State government led some visiting journalists into the camp recently to witness the situation on ground.
The Commandant of the Camp, Deacon Austin Ohwofaria, spoke about life at the camp and how the displaced people of Okuama were adjusting to the situation since the tragic and horrifying incident that uprooted them from their community.
Ohwofaria is in charge of admitting people into the camp, taking stock of everything there, ensuring law and order and, of course, presenting the needs of the people to the state government through the camp management committee headed by Mr Abraham Ogbodo, an accomplished journalist from the state.
Giving a breakdown of the number of people at the camp, he said at the time of filing this report, there were 1,640 persons, comprising of 209 children and 68 elderly people who had so far been registered to live in the facility.
He added: “In terms of registration, we have 1,640 people here. We welcomed two newborn babies recently and the people were so excited. By implication, we have 1,642 people here in the camp.
“Unofficially, the camp was opened on the 15th of May. But, there were disagreements here and there over whether the people were going to come or not. It was last week the people started coming for registration.
“We have 209 children and 68 elderly people. The newborn babies are all female. Just two of them, but we still have a number of pregnant women here in the camp.
On facilities and amenities, the commandant also informed of a playground, where the children were seen playing football as well as a clinic, a general kitchen and bathrooms.
Deacon Ohwofaria was full of appreciation for the kind gesture of Governor Oborevwori, for using the camp to alleviate the pain and suffering of the displaced people of Okuama.
“I must commend the Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori. The State Government has been tremendous in its commitment to the camp in terms of funding which has kept us going up to this point.”
