By Egedegbe Edewor
There’s no gainsaying the fact that the oil-rich Delta State have had its fair share of constitutionally required representation since democracy birthed in the world’s most populous black nation – Nigeria.
Tucked in the serene mangrove and fauna of the Niger Delta region, the big heart state has however since creation in 1991 by the Ibrahim Babangida military junta suffered ill fate in the hands of the operators of the political system owing to poverty of quality and selfless leadership, a situation which has reduced the state that boasts of over 4 million population of people, a figure more than some countries in Europe yet, has suffered immeasurable set backs in the hands of usurpers of political power.
Comparatively, the oil-rich state is supposedly one of the richest and most infrastructurally developed in Nigeria amongst the 36 states of the federation in terms of derivations from the national treasury, nay, monthly allocation from the federation account, 13% oil derivation, security votes, Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, and host of others yet, the people wallow in abject poverty, despondency and mass illiteracy due to the non performance of those trusted with power who ought to be representatives.
The trajectory of political representation in our state is replete with mass failure, self centredness, arrogance, thievery, dishonesty, insincerity, dearth of good conscience, profiteering, racketeering and all sorts of anti – human vices that destroys any nation reducing the youth population to mere hangers-on who are left idle and dangerously vulnerable – the reason for insecurity of lives and property.
Until the political pendulum swung thrusting up the Deputy Senate President, DSP, Ovie Omo-Agege, the people of the Delta Central Senatorial District, nay Delta State have never known representation at its best, not even the so called leaders who turned our women to cheer leaders and street dancers in the most sychophatic manner year in, year out. They spend the money meant for constituency projects as if it’s their personal money, yet no project on ground to show that the people of Urhobo land have ever been represented before now.
It wasn’t a coincidence however, that our today’s Ovie Omo-Agege, the proud son of Urhobo land was given to us by providence to remove the Urhobo nation and the entire citizens of the state across socio-ethnic divides from the shame and pains of underepresentation, gross misrepresentation and criminal arrogance that we used to know as the only achievements of our representatives in the annals of democratic representations in past when elections were based on the obnoxious and subversive process of name writing by self acclaimed godfathers of delta politics.
Today, the DSP, the illustrious son of the late Rtd. Chief Justice James Omo-Agege, who hailed from Orhomurun-Ugono Orogun, Ughelli North LGA, Delta State, South- South Nigeria has ignited a life changing revolution in a new normal, raising the bars and standard of representative democracy above the level of our political merchants who had feasted on our past ignorance over the years. His father, Justice Omo-Agege made his mark in the judiciary where he held sway on the bench and his name till date remains indelible in that arm of government. Little wonder the excellent disposition to work being exuded by the Senator representing the good people of Delta Central Senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate who is turning the table against the poverty of ideas that once ruled our past in terms of under-representation.
DSP Omo-Agege, a two-term senator has been able to prove to us that good representation of the people is not impossible as he justifies every moment of his mandate freely given to him by his constituents as he makes giant stride to re-write the ugly narratives abi initio. Its on record that before his mandate, all we knew in our Delta were siren blaring representatives with large number of security operatives all over the place on just a visit to their constituency, not even in Syrian can one single person parade such number of security agents.
Within his two years in the red Chamber, DSP has been able to take the battle to the doorstep of poverty that is ravaging his people in his massive Empowerment drive. The last time I checked, no community in Urhobo land has not tasted the positives inherent in putting square peg in square hole; Omo-Agege is the square leg righteously placed in a square hole.
During the first COVID-19-propelled lockdown in 2020, beyond what governments in the state and local levels did, our Omo-Agege spent well above a hundred million naira to put smile on the faces of his constituents and this he was able to achieve because he has the zeal and passion to lift his people above poverty level.
To Omo-Agege, the war against poverty in the lives of his people is personal, and it must be won at all cost, no matter whose ox is gored while he surges on gallantly to ensure that an average Urhobo child does not die of hunger and this accounted for his distribution of food items, cash to the vulnerable, and all inclusive engagement of the productive population which has remained a work-in progress for the Orogun-born legislator per excellence who on daily basis writes his name in gold in the sand of time.
Where many failed, Omo-Agege has undoubtedly succeeded; where they feared, he dared…the lawmaker decided onerously albeit, to break the jinx of bad representation in delta central and beyond as he has no preference for any person or group persons as long as the Urhobo project in particular and delta state in general is concerned. Omo-Agege is a weird personality.
In his wisdom, he decided, standing on the crest of the peoples’ mandate to bring the Federal Polytechnic, Orogun, Delta State to complement whatever was on ground especially to make up for the shortfall in the training of the teaming youth population, make them employable, remove them from streets and give their lives better meaning which is a departure from the past when our youths were left in the doldrums of poverty-induced illiteracy. The idea of a Federal Polytechnic in the nucleus of the big heart state since democracy was ushered into our clime has never occurred to any past representative other than displaying petty wealth and political rascality before our young ones, a trend that is currently the cause of insecurity in our state today, the new Sheriff in town has vowed to change it for better.
The Federal Polytechnic Orogun, for the records is not for Urhobo people alone due mainly to his location, it is in the middle of Delta State lying between Ndokwa, Isoko and Urhobo land; who say Omo-Agege is not a great thinker? That school when in full stream have Delta, Bayelsa, and Edo State as its catchment areas just as it will provide job for people around that axis. Who say: Omo-Agege is a blessing to the people of Delta State having shown enough proof that he has capacity and large heart to lead the Delta into a modern state. Like or hate him, Omo-Agege lives in the heart of all Deltans.
The Senator representing Urhobo land has made Deltans know that superlative representation of the people is not impossible but only takes the political will to achieve. Representation in the central senatorial district has never been this good for reason of the accessibility and transparency displayed overtime by the DSP. He carries everyone along in all he does as his footsoldiers are everywhere in all the nooks and crannies of the district and beyond into Ndokwa, Isoko, Ijaw and Itsekiri nations because of his determination to change the trend of representation and he is doing very well and this accounts for why Deltans across board are calling on him to throw his hat in the ring for gubernatorial contest sensing that his governorship will dwarf the acclaimed achievements of all PDP leadership in the state in 24 years running.
Omo-Agege passed through the death trap called Osubi Road, and before long that road was fixed and made whole again. At the moment, the Senator is waging war against darkness in the district as he distributes power transformers across communities in Urhobo land. Of note are those communities where electric had never lit since creation, Omo-Agege gave them light in 2020. Arhawrhawen community in Ughelli South and others alike which were hitherto victims of PDP bad governance have caved into the developmental stride of the ‘hurricane Omo-Agege’ who surges on, doing all that put smiles on his people. Hate him at your own peril, Obarisi is on the move to lift Urhobo people above the shenanigans of that political party that has constitently placed the state among the most underdeveloped states in the country – the humongous revenue accruals to the state over the years notwithstanding.
Before now, communities contributed money irrespective of government’s hypocrisy and that of the power companies to purchase transformers while those villages and clans who lack the financial muscles accept their fate in thick darkness over the decades but today they have songs of praise to God for blessing Urhobo nation with Omo-Agege who keeps making them proud.
As it stands, in the drive to Delta 2023, the people will gladly give Senator Omo-Agege their mandate to the Government House, Asaba as governor so as to consolidate on his success in delta central district and bring same to bear on the entire state. The people yearn for Omo-Agege particularly the people of Ndokwa nation who have seen through the deception and hypocrisy called Anioma and are daily queueing behind the man who has unveiled a new dawn in quality representation in that part of the country. While the Ijaws, Isokos and Itsekiri bemoan their fate in their ‘senator-do-nothing’ , the constituents of delta north senatorial district envy the people of delta central district for being blessed by a man who has thrust up Urhobo nation to enviable height in national politics and they reasoned that he does so selflessly without the usual accompanying noise and this underscores the need to rally round support by all and sundry for DSP Omo-Agege to emerge the governor of that rich-for-nothing state as it has been made to be, by the managers of the destiny of our state for over twenty one years of unbroken democracy.
As a trail blazer, Omo-Agege should consider calls by the downtrodden in the state and throw his hat in the ring because the big heart state cries for better leadership engineer a new delta state that will stand shoulder to shoulder with those states with vibrant economies like Lagos, Rivers, Kano and others due to prudent management of their resources by visionary leaders.
The time has come for this rare gem to bother his mind on becoming the governor of our state to engineer a new dawn in a prosperous delta state and build a leadership that compares with its contemporaries anywhere in the world. If changing the face of representation in Delta central senatorial district is possible, then; its not impossible for DSP Omo-Agege to engineer a new Delta, June 12, 2023 going forward. The people are ready, Deltans are calling just as destiny beckons on the lawmaker to take the bull by the horn and at the fullness of time, the verdict of history shall be kind to you.
