Delta State clocked 23 years August 27th, 2014. Speaking to our crew of Tejiri Ebikeme and Francis Sadhere on the 23rd Anniversary of the creation of the State, His Royal Majesty, Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu (JP), OFR, Paramount ruler of Seimbiri kingdom and former National Chairman of TROMPCON, said the state has made steady progress in the last 23 years. Read On:
His Royal Majesty, Delta state clocked 23 August 27 this year, how will you rate the state?
Delta state has grown in lips and bounds for the past 23 years. It has done tremendously well socially, economically, politically and in other areas like sports. Delta state for the past 23 years has been a center of attraction in the areas of education and culture. The state is blessed with a dynamic governor in the person of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who has been doing well in his three point agenda of peace and security, human capital and Infrastructural developments. You know that in the past, peace and security had eluded the state. But today, you can see that both social and individual activities of the citizenry are going on unabated. All these are happening because the Governor has been a very articulate, dynamic and charismatic governor. You will agree with me that the kind of infrastructures we have in the state can compete with infrastructures in any part of the world. In terms of education, you can see that we have our own universities in the state and some private owned universities. We have the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun. If you talk about medium scale employment, we have the skill acquisition that has helped a lot of our youths to become self employed. I can say that through the efforts of the governor who has being in power for the past seven years, that Delta State is a trail blazer in any way you can think of. We can say that Delta State is a miniature Nigeria and one should be proud to be a Deltan because anywhere we go we have always proved our mantle.
How will you describe the Delta Beyond Oil policy of Govenor Uduaghan?
I completely subscribed to that vision of thinking ahead. Like I said earlier, Deltans are trail blazers. Oil as you know is an exhaustible commodity. Before oil we had an agro economy and that was when we had the cocoa, palm oil, groundnut, cotton and the rest. Then, people used these natural resources to develop their areas and they benefitted so much until oil came in 1956 in Oloibiri which became a commercial quantity in 1958. You will agree with me that today the economic livewire of this country is oil and we have jettisoned every other means of livelihood to the air and everybody is relying on the oil. If I want to be the president of this country today, it is because of the oil. The oil has become a unifying factor in the country and if not for the oil, some ethnic groups would have left Nigeria. We do not have the wisdom to think of how we are going to use the revenue accruing from oil for other investments. If you go to Oloibiri today, the town is a ghost of itself because the oil has dried up. So for our governor who is from an oil community to come out and say we should invest the proceeds of oil on other economy because he knows that one day the oil will dry up, knows that we will be in problem when the oil dries up. If the oil dries up today it will be a sad commentary and a failed nation. So for him to come out and say Delta beyond oil, I think he is a visionary leader and I hope and believe that leaders from other states should all key into it. Let us use this money to provide industries and go back to agriculture so that we will not be relying solely on oil, because if we do so and by the time the oil gets exhausted, what will be our faith? So that is why I see him as a visionary leader who is not thinking of only today but thinking for the present generation and generation yet unborn.
Tell us about the unity of the various ethnic groups in the state
We all know that Delta State is a multi ethnic state and that is why I said it is a miniature of Nigeria. If you want to lead such a state, you must be a detribalized leader. As the chief executive officer of the state, you will have to take the entire state as one political entity and whatever you are doing you have to do it well. They say what is good for the goose is also good for gander. If you look at our country, Nigeria, it is so blessed but we have been having bad managers. The winner takes all syndrome has pervaded the minds of the people and they are seen at the helm of affairs, they tend to think very narrow mindedly and only be thinking for yourself and your family alone. And this is what has made Nigeria to be where we are today. Past governments and rulers are seen to be ethnically biased. The issue of tribalism, nepotism and corruption has been the hallmark of several leaders. But when Uduaghan came in and he succeeded Governor Ibori when we had series of ethnic crisis, the idea of peace and security came up– peace and security is very vital in all that you doing because if you do not have peace you will not be able to develop. Development can only strive in an atmosphere of peace and security. And he knew what he was going to grapple with and he was so well advised to first pull the bull by the horn in ensuring that peace returns to the state. And when that peace was attained, you can see that no particular ethnic group has been complaining that I have been sidelined or marginalized. Though we know that there is no perfection and people will always have their own reservations which may not be seen. If people can complain about our Lord and Saviour Jesus who had no children and wife, but because he said he was the son of God people become jealous and crucified him, why do you think some people will not say the governor is not trying? So when we see somebody doing something good, we should always pray for the person to succeed because you cannot satisfy everybody.
What is your Vision of Delta State for the next 20 years?
Twenty three years down the line, we had our teething problems but we have overcome that and like I have always said, Delta State is a blessed state both economically and human resources despite the oil that we have. In the next 20 years I see Delta State growing faster than any other state in the country and we will go places.
