Osuoza

Revealed: Why Deltans re-elected Okowa – Osuoza

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Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza is the state Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Delta State. He has been speaking on why Sen. (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa who received his Certificate of Return from INEC yesterday Wednesday, March 28, 2019 was re-elected for s second term in office by Deltans. A one time commissioner for Special duties (Project monitoring), spoke with Charles Okogene Online

Congratulations on your party’s victory at the polls?

Thank you very much. We give God all the glory for He was the One that made it possible. Power comes from God and all power belongs to God. Ecclesiastes 9; 11: says that “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all”. So you must be divinely positioned in the right place and at the right time by the Grace of God. Again, according to Psalm 127 vs 1,

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain”. Our victory is by the Grace of God and the will of the people for as you already know, the voice of the people is the voice of God. Deltans have spoken loudly that Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the PDP is their choice. We return all the glory to God for our resounding victory.

 

How does that make you feel now?

A: Of course it is only natural that one must feel a great sense of satisfaction, especially because all the hard work, strategic planning, our comprehensive campaign across the length and breadth of the State, even in the face of brazen violence and deadly intimidations and harassments, has finally paid off in the long run. I salute the great patience, endurance, courage, bravery, and maturity of all our members, leaders, loyalists and supporters throughout the election. Our leader, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is a man of peace, who abhors violence and he was able to instill the principles of non-violence amongst our members, by constantly demanding that we must campaign vigorously to all the nooks and crannies of our grassroots and ensure that our campaigns were issue-based and our agenda was to promote and sell our vision of what we intend to deliver as democratic dividends to our people. That was our message and I am happy we were able to get it across to the people and of course with the outstanding achievements of Governor Okowa, especially in infrastructure development, job creation initiatives, the micro-credit schemes and most importantly, the sustainable peace he achieved, which also contributed immensely to increased revenue both to the State and Federal government, it was easy to sell our candidates and the PDP to Deltans.

 

Ordinarily, Okowa has done well in his first term, especially in the areas of road construction and rehabilitation of some schools building, to deserve re-election but were you confident he would be returned with such wide margin even with Ogboru as his main challenger?

We were very confident of victory because Governor Okowa like you rightly pointed out, had done fantastically well in his first term. In fact, beyond the very obvious outstanding legacy projects and achievements and the dedicated and committed approach and desire to entrench and deliver good governance, Governor Okowa also embarked on the bold and people-oriented strategy of holding regular Town Hall meetings with Deltans across the three senatorial zones of the State, with the objective of interacting with the people, accessing their needs, addressing their uncertainties and fulfilling their expectations. This was a masterstroke strategy that not only brought government and governance closer to the people, it also gave Deltans a sense of belonging in their State and right to ownership of the developmental processes and activities in their regions. But most importantly, the PDP and Governor Okowa campaigned vigorously and comprehensively all over Delta State. Our campaign tours were robust, colourful, peaceful and well organized even with the mammoth crowds that trooped out in every local government we went to. The opposition only did skeletal campaigns and the turn out in most places was very embarrassing. In fact, Deltans were very angry with the threat of the opposition to bring ‘federal might’ to win the election and their anger reached a crescendo when it was announced that our Presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar did not win the Presidential election, despite all the harassment and intimidation they endured during the February 23 election. There was thus a conscious determination by our people to turn out even in greater numbers to drive the point home to both the opposition and the whole world that Deltans will not succumb or be silenced by ‘federal might’ and I must thank the security agencies for the highly professional neutrality they displayed to allow our people exercise their franchise and vote freely for the candidates of their choice. The margin of victory was, therefore, a bonus to confirm and consolidate what was already assured and despite the fact that it was Chief Great Ogboru that was at that time on the opposition ballot, Deltans spoke with a loud, resounding voice that they wanted peace and unity and they were quite satisfied with Governor Okowa and the brilliant SMART agenda to give him a well-merited landslide second term mandate.

Even when big wigs like former governor Uduaghan, Hon. Victor Ochei and Cairo Ojougboh swelled the rank of his opponents?

As I said earlier, these people did not campaign at all. They were relying on ‘federal might’ to win elections for them. It was quite unfortunate that many of those you mentioned, who had been in the PDP and knew how they won their own elections in those days, completely forgot that PDP has always won elections in Delta State by campaigning comprehensively across the State, and not relying on ‘federal might’, even when we were in charge in Aso Rock. The so-called opposition big wigs, rather than campaign to Deltans and tell them what their plans for the people were, were instead busy castigating and bad mouthing Governor Okowa and PDP. They were, unfortunately, playing to the gallery and waiting upon ‘federal might’ deliver the mandate to them. Besides, the opposition was fractured and confused so much that they were all fighting against themselves in fictionalized camps and this even made it easier for PDP to trounce them convincingly and comprehensively. And as you already know, from the recent Asaba Federal High Court ruling, their confusion has still not ended even after the elections.

 

 

What role did equity, viz a vis the call that Delta North, where the Governor hails from, deserves a second term like its counterparts, Central and South through Okowa?

A: Equity was very important in the decision of Deltans to return Governor Okowa for his second term. Majority of Deltans agreed that the peace and harmonious co-existence amongst the ethnic nationalities in the State was largely due to the commendable power rotation arrangement which all the ethnic nationalities had agreed to by conventional endorsement. This arrangement has been maintained with the election of Governor Okowa in 2015 and has already delivered the mandatory two terms to both Delta Central and Delta South, Deltans decided that equity must be sustained by giving Senator Okowa and the Anioma nation its well deserved mandatory second term too. No more no less… It is quite instructive to note that the elders and leaders of the major ethnic nationalities all approved the sustenance of this power rotation arrangement by endorsing Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for a second term, in all the campaign tours we embarked on in the various senatorial zones. In fact, each zone organized their own rallies at different times, where they overwhelmingly passed a vote of confidence on Governor Okowa’s administration and endorsed him for a second term. So the issue of equity was very important in the elections.

 

 

Aside achievements, equity, what other things do you think had going for the governor?

A: The credentials and leadership qualities of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa are simply exceptional and outstanding. First of all, don’t forget that he attended the famous Edo College in Benin city and then proceeded to the prestigious University of Ibadan, where he distinguished himself and graduated in flying colours as a Medical Doctor. These academic grounding alone would have been sufficient to prepare him for any leadership challenge. But then Dr. Okowa pursued and achieved excellence in administration and politics through a well structured trajectory of outstanding public service and strategic political engagements, which has seen him serve as Local Government Chairman, Multiple Commissionership positions in several high brow Ministries, SSG in Delta State, Director General of a victorious Governorship Campaign, Senator of the Federal Republic and of course the astute and brilliantly executed management of PDP Conventions and Congresses, which were nationally acclaimed by both the political class and secular society as reference watersheds in the procedural execution of our political activities. But most importantly, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is a man of peace and a deeply religious man, who has subjected himself to the will of God in his life and dedicated himself to serving God and placing God first in everything. Those who have followed his eventful life, especially his political career will be very conversant with the wonderful way and manner the good Lord has manifested in his life. He is a simple and yet firm and strict administrator who strongly believes and desires that the right things are done in all circumstances. He is honest, transparent and constantly conscious of doing things that will deliver the greatest good to the greatest number, hence he decided to work with the mantra of “prosperity for all Deltans”. He also had a clear strategic vision of what he wanted to achieve and where he wanted to take Delta State to all of which were encapsulated in the very articulate and brilliantly packaged SMART Agenda, which acronyms stand for;   “Strategic Wealth Creation Projects and Provision Of Jobs For All Deltans; Meaningful Peacebuilding Platforms Aimed At Political and Social Harmony; Agricultural Reforms and Accelerated Industrialization; Relevant Health and Education Policies; Transformed Environment Through Urban Renewal”. All these endeared him to Deltans and though things were quite difficult at the beginning with the national recession and the inherited debts, Governor Okowa was able to painstakingly turn the fortunes of Delta State around, raise the bar of governance, improve our IGR and most importantly, ensure and entrench peace and security in the State.

This is like a kind of self-assessment, what aspect of governance do you think the Governor did not do well in and which you want him to use this last four years to improve on?

 

It is absolutely impossible to say that there is an area where we did not do well because we inherited some terrible baggage from the very onset and coupled with the recession that was ravaging the Country at that time, we really had our work cut out for us. Governor Okowa will be the first to tell you that although he had an idea that things were not going to be easy, he was actually staggered by the herculean nature of the challenges he met when he took over. But because he was prepared, he simply rolled up his sleeves, got a critical crack team of dynamic and astute cabinet members on board and set down to work. The first tasks were first to establish some kind of order in our operations, reorganize certain parastatals and agencies for optimal functionality, set up specific intervention directorates and structures to commence and accelerate some of our immediate programmes and most importantly ensure that we paid salaries regularly in those early months. It is on record that Delta State was one of the few States that never owed workers salaries and while other States were owing several months of wages to its workers, we were even offsetting backlogs of Local Government and teachers salaries, as well as addressing other critical areas especially in the provision of infrastructure where it seemed that only cosmetic efforts had been made in the past.

Government like you know is a continuum and so we also had to make some necessary interventions and revisit some outstanding capital projects like the Asaba International Airport, the storm drainage, and flood management constructions and of course, the Asaba Stadium which by the Grace of God, we not only transformed into a world-class sporting facility but also used it to immortalize one of the most distinguished and outstanding sports personality of our generation, Stephen Keshi, who not only brought fame and glory to Nigeria but put Delta State on the global sporting map for eternity.

The point is that Governor Okowa  could have achieved so much more, but as you very well know, four years is quite a short time to accomplish many of the things we desired to do, especially given the harsh domestic and national situation we inherited both politically and economically, but as Ekwueme has pledged, he will surely dedicate his second term towards building a stronger and better Delta for Deltans and ensuring the delivery of more democracy dividends by consolidating on the already successful initiatives and introducing new programmes and opportunities through which the prosperity for all Deltans will continue to be delivered.

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Generally, how do you assess the INEC handling of the elections both in Delta State and the nation at large?

 I must commend INEC for doing a good job in Delta State. Not only INEC but indeed the security agencies as well for exhibiting and maintaining professional neutrality. The election process and management by INEC in Delta State was very impressive. Elections materials arrived on time and with the exception of a few isolated cases, the card readers functioned optimally in many areas. Most importantly, the majority of the INEC staff and officials bravely refused to be compromised and resisted all attempts to be intimidated or cajoled by those who want to bring ‘federal might’ to win an election here. The staff of INEC that conducted the election in Delta State and especially Akwa Ibom State did very well, but I can’t say the same for INEC in any other State, especially in some Northern States both during the Presidential/National  Assembly and the Governorship and State Assembly elections. The volume of votes which some Northern States delivered to President Buhari was mind-boggling, especi especially when reported cases and instances of widespread Card reader malfunction, over voting and compromise of officials were rife. The INEC returning officers in States like Kano, Katsina, and Kaduna were a complete disgrace and embarrassment not only to Nigerians but sadly to the Academic profession as these were Professors who are supposed to be the role models for our children telling blatant barefaced lies to the world. Even the security agencies in places like Lagos, Kano and Rivers States displayed so much bias and unprofessional conduct that they were even recorded not only aiding and abetting the destruction of electoral materials, but in some cases invading polling centres and carting away ballot boxes or even abducting INEC officials and compelling them under duress to sign already prepared declaration forms. This led to shootings some of which results in the deaths of so many innocent civilians, which could have been avoided if the military had not become so involved in civilian affairs. The 2019 elections was a very low and unfortunate threshold for both INEC and the security agencies and a sad reminder that we still have a long way to go. The commendable and promising gains INEC achieved in places like Delta and Akwa Ibom, were completely wiped away by the actions and inactions of the electoral umpire and security agencies in many parts of the country thus prompting many Nigerians to dub the 2019 elections as the worst ever conducted in the Country. Yes INEC did well in Delta State, but u can’t say the same for its performances in so many other States

 

Do you believe as some people say, that the desperation of you politicians to remain in power was the cause of crises we witnessed in some States like Rivers and the Kano States?

A: Of course, the desperation of these politicians was so obvious for all to see. We were very lucky in Delta State because our Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is a man of peace, who also did his homework well, campaigned robustly and comprehensively with the PDP, ensured maximum vigilance and monitoring of all the processes and directed our leaders and our teeming followers and supporters to eschew violence and remain calm in the face of all provocations and intimidation from those who wanted to obstruct and sabotage the process in Delta State. We can safely say now that the opposition in Delta State, though comprising of some notable individuals, was not desperate enough to sing with war songs and make threatening boasts, because they knew they were dealing with a man who had made his mark with indelible legacy projects across the length and breadth of State and won the hearts of the people. It would have been near impossible for any desperate politician to succeed in Delta State. Sadly the same is not the case in States like Kano, Rivers and Akwa Ibom and it is quite unfortunate too that this desperation is being perpetrated and exhibited by top members of APC the ruling party in their vaunting ambition to take over their States from popular PDP Governors. This is a very sad commentary on the political analysis of our country and these men should hide their heads in shame or be called out by civil society and castigated for bringing shame, embarrassment, and death to our democratic process. Until such politicians realize that power belongs to the people and not one individual, their desperation will continue to sabotage and truncate our desire to move forward and join the rest of the global community as one of the highly respected, recognized and leading democracies in the world.

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