AS the chase for the Asaba Government House hots up, a Netherlands-based activist of Delta origin, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, has vowed to re-engineer the infrastructural and economic architecture of the state if he emerges governor of Delta State come 2019.
Swelling the number of youths gunning for exalted political positions across the country, Ofehe boasted at a rally held at Ekwerigbe Primary School playground in Ozoro, headquarters of Isoko North Government Area on Sunday, that he’ll emerge as the next governor of the state.
The frontline governorship hopeful under the depleting All Progressives Congress (APC) platform in Delta State, had with him at the declaration foreign nationals who are set to inject resources into the economy of the state.
The 46-year-old activist-turned-politician said that his top priority would be to give nutritional access to pregnant women and strengthen the institutions that would grow the socioeconomic development of the state.
According to him, he would not promise Deltans construction of roads, schools and hospitals, retorting that they are the minimal basic amenities any government, the world over can offer her people.
Pulling about seven foreign investors said to be willing to inject their resources into his economic agenda, Ofehe lamented the dearth of development of institutions in the state.
“Every day I wake up in the city called Rotterdam, I weep for Delta State. We are in a state that has four under-functioning seaports.
“We are in a state with two major truck terminals that export crude oil out of this country.
“We are in a state that is the second largest producer of crude oil in the country and we are in a state with the largest gas reserver that has made Nigeria the largest exporter of crude oil all over the world, but what we are seeing is poverty.
“What we see is an institutional failure. What we see is lack of education. What we see is a failure in our health care system and all of that can be summarised as a product of bad leadership and corruption.
“Delta State is the gateway to South West and South East, so whether by air, by sea or by land, you cannot access this region without passing through our state.
“We are not supposed to be where we are today, but I have seen how things work. European development is not a rocket science, it’s borne out of patriotism, dedication and respect for equal rights.
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“That’s why I have offered myself to serve you and to serve with a simple slogan;” FixDelta” because our state is broken and we need to fix it. And we need to fix it not only by my power, but we need to fix it together.
“We need to bring in international collaboration and we need to bring in national unity and we need to bring our people together.
“Isoko nation, as my mentor has said, has been marginalised for too long, but we want to stand up and say we have what it takes to produce the next governor of this state,” he enthused.
Speaking earlier, Isoko Federal Constituency APC House of Representatives aspirant, Hon Benjamin Essien Okiemute, reaffirmed that Ofehe has what it takes to win and reposition Delta State for the better.
Similarly, Delta State Commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Ogaga Ifowodo, who canvassed support for the Not-Too-Young-To-Rule law, said that Ofehe has been well prepared to run and steer the mantle of leadership of the state.
One of the foreign nationals who accompanied Ofehe to the rally, Pepijn Van Den Hoogenband, who’s the CEO of TRINCO Development said that they had keyed into Ofehe’s governorship project because they believe he has the capacity to turn Delta State around within his first four years in office.
Pepijn, who likened Delta State to Holland, said that if Ofehe is elected as governor come 2019, Deltans would be shocked by the huge infrastructure and institutional developments that would spring up in the state.
He stressed that Ofehe’s blueprint is achievable if the people actually need development and a departure from the old order.
and then