APC is dead on arrival in Delta — Odili · Says Uduaghan is determined to finish strong Mr. Paul Odili is Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s Communication Manager. In this interview, he speaks on the performance of the Delta State government under Uduaghan and the fate of the newly registered All Progressive Party (APC) in the state. Excerpts: Do you think the Uduaghan administration has made impact with its three- point agenda in the last six years? The evidence of the success of the three-point agenda of Governor Uduaghan, in terms of peace and security, human-capital and infrastructural development, is very clear to everybody. On peace and security, when the administration came into office in 2007, the issue was the Niger Delta militancy and how much that was impacting on stability and the oil economy of the nation. Delta State was targeted and was a major theatre of this struggle. The governor was one of those who forcefully promoted the strategy of engagement of repentant militants. He was the forerunner of the amnesty package. While some states were opting for confrontation, he opted for engagement approach as the right way to handle it. Eventually his position prevailed and the blueprint for their engagement was adopted during President Musa Yar’Adua’s government but was finally implemented by President Goodluck Jonathan. So, clearly, he succeeded, and if you also remember that in those days when militancy was at its peak, oil production declined. Delta State federal allocation was quite low because the state is mainly an onshore oil producing state and was quite vulnerable. So, it made sense that the governor exerted himself to bring peace to the troubled region, if we were to recover from the economic losses we faced. In addition to that, the governor, in building peace, looked at the ethnic formation of the state and felt it was important that everybody should feel a sense of belonging and benefit from the dividends of democracy. To that effect, he adopted a consensus approach in forming his administration’s programmes and projects. This has also led to intra-ethnic peace in Delta State. That in itself is an excellent performance. In terms of infrastructural development, anybody who has been to Delta State between 2007 and now will have no difficulty accepting that it is no longer business as usual but complete transformation of the state – roads, schools, hospitals, power. But there are some issues with his infrastructure programme. Many people that I spoke to are not satisfied? You know Delta is a complex state with high demand that all the projects being done should be delivered almost at once, which is not possible. Resources are scarce while needs are many. Let me give you an example. In the last six years, the government has constructed over 1,006 kilometer of roads in Delta. Yet the demand for roads and more roads continue. And government is not relenting in investing public money in the construction of roads to meet the state target of 5000 kilometre of paved roads by 2020. Aside from roads, the Asaba International Airport is near completion, and this airport is easily the best in the country. The quality of work is superb. Work has also commenced at the Warri Airport, which is being built to international standard. The Independent Power Plant (IPP) is on-going, expected to be completed in 2014. Our model schools can now ranked among the best across the federation, if not Africa. As I speak to you now, well over 18,000 classrooms have been renovated or upgraded. So, you see that this is an administration that has focus. The administration completed the Oghara Teaching Hospital, which was started by former Governor James Ibori, making that hospital today one of the best in the country. There is new Government House in Asaba and the Events Centre is there for all to see with its state-of-art facilities. So, you can see that this administration is undertaking massive projects that will impact positively on the people. We also have the Warri Industrial Business Park, early site work has since commenced and soon enough there will be ground-breaking. There is the Ogidigbe Gas Based Industrial Park (GBI) which the government is doing in partnership with the Federal Government, through the NNPC. The GBI project is an estimated 18 billion dollar private sector funded investments in fertilizer, petrochemical and Central Process Facility (CPF). The GBI will reduce gas flare as gas is the primary raw material for the products in the industrial park. Human capital development Deltans are enjoying big bonanza in human-capital development. The state government has been faithful in implementing this agenda, with unwavering focus. We have free under-5 healthcare, free maternal services for pregnant women, education in Delta is virtually free, the scholarship scheme, the bursary allowances to Delta students in tertiary institutions and to graduates who have first class
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 05:21:18 +0000
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