Hon. Sunny Ogwu, the Executive Chairman of Ika South Local Government Area, Delta State, in this interview, lauds the performance of the Delta State Government in curbing the lingering crisis in Warri, pointing out that the state government has been able to deliver democracy dividends to the people of the state in the last five years. He also commended the efforts of the Niger- Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in the state in terms of provision of social infrastructure, saying that the intention of the Commission is noble.
The council chief, however, declared that his main priority for now will be construction of roads which has been the major problem facing the local government, he also intends to create job opportunities for the youths in order to curb restiveness in the area. Excerpts:
How has governance at the grassroots level been in the last hundred days of your stay in office?
Well, governance has not been easy since I came into office, as you well know that the beginning of every programme is very hectic and this is due to the fact that there‘s definitely a problem that‘ll always come up at the beginning. But then, we have been putting in our best and the state government is coming to our aid. The Federal Government is ensuring that all money and allocations due to various local governments are given to them. I also want to commend the efforts of our amiable governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori. He has been doing his best for all councils in the state and also for his efforts in settling all quarrels.
How would you describe democracy in Delta State in the last five years?
Delta State is one of the best states in this country that is enjoying all facilities. When I mean facilities, I mean people who are enjoying the dividends of democracy. And as you well know, this state is quite rich in terms of oil and other good things; when the military was still in power, we did not see anything, but today, when you go round Delta State, you‘ll see what is happening there. If you get to Warri, you‘ll see rapid changes and development, if you‘ve not been to Warri in the last five years, you won‘t recognise Warri again and so many other places in Delta State. The roads are okay, other facilities such as water and the rest are being given to the people. Deltans are enjoying democracy dividends in the state.
Having said that Delta is an oil-producing state in the country, with huge resources at its disposal, are you satisfied with the level of development in the state, considering the amount of money the state government gets, derivation and all that?
Yes, definitely things are very much okay in the state; like I said, this state has been in existence before; the military men were there and we did not see anything to show for it, but in the last five years of democracy, there has been tremendous changes.
Delta State is well known for violence as a result of the crisis in Warri, what measures would you proffer to quell the lingering
crisis there?
The crisis in Warri has been in existence for quite some time now and this is due to interests of the different tribes. The people there :Itsekiris, Ijaws and the Urhobos are from different ethnic groups and they are fighting for supremacy and that is not the best; but now, they‘er talking about ending the war. I feel it is necessary because this state is really endowed by God with so many good things. If there is no peace in Warri, it might cause most of these companies there now to leave and when most of these companies based in Warri leave, the resultant effect is that revenue gotten from them would disappear. The result of that would be massive unemployment.
I think the people are beginning to realise this and that is why they are talking about peace. I would also want at this time to commend the efforts of our governor who has been there to solve these problems. At a point, he decided to relocate to Warri in order to prove that he is greatly disturbed by the crisis and due to this, Warri is somewhat peaceful now.
The Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has been in existence for quite a while now, how would you rate the performance of the commission?
Actually, they‘re doing well even if nothing reasonable has reached my local government for now. I feel they‘re doing well. If you get to the Niger-Delta area, you‘ll see for yourself roads and so many facilities being constructed by the commission. Even the recent assistance given to some local governments in Delta State, that is the distribution of refuse disposal facilities, they‘re trying their best by providing mass-assisted transit buses for us in Delta State. Their intention is okay.
What are the problems facing your local government which you intend solving?
I came into office and the major problem facing our local government, which I have observed, is road. Almost all the roads in this local government are bad. If you get to the other side of the town now, you‘ll discover that most of the roads there are unmotorable. Most especially in Bojiboji and Agbor, that is Ika South, when you get there, you find out that the roads there are bad, you cannot therefore point at any good road in Ika South. If you venture out of here to Abodu, you cannot ply that route due to the bad state of the road. Due to the rains, you cannot go to the villages now, that is the major problem we are having. Incidentally, the funds made available to our local government will not be enough to execute all of these projects; that is the major problem. But I‘m going to try my best to see what I can do at least to make the roads good.
And how do you intend to do this?
What I intend doing is to start by, at least, sand- filling all the earth roads in order to make them motorable and at the same time, make the citizens comfortable and that would, to a large extent, solve some of their problems.
How soon do you intend embarking on these projects?
Very soon, in my first hundred days in office, I‘m going to sand-fill most of these roads and I‘ll also want to make the space here at the back of the secretariat for the Agbor Arcade. I also have the intention of building at least three markets along the expressway; one is Alihagwu market; the other Ohumeri market while the third is Emohu market. All these markets will be on a daily basis where our farmers can sell their products down and the local government can as well generate funds and revenue.
What efforts are you making to call the attention of either the NDDC or the state government to the deplorable state of roads in your local government since you said the funds at your disposal will not be enough to repair them?
I‘ve been communicating with the people at the commission to help look into the matter and so many other things in which they will have to come to our aid.
Do you have any particular programme for the youths in order to curb restiveness amongst them?
Yes, let me say it here empathetically that we have not been experiencing any restiveness in Ika South among the youths because our youths are very much coordinated. In fact, all of us are involved in the administration. The youths contributed more than fifty per cent to my success at the elections and I‘m going to do everything possible to empower the youths by creating job opportunities for them and by assisting them to get jobs at the state, the local and federal government levels. At the same time, I‘ll encourage them to go into agriculture and also assist to get small loans from the state which will help them in improving themselves.
You know that an idle mind is the devil‘s workshop, when they‘re occupied, they won‘t have the mind to cause trouble.
How do you intend to resuscitate all abandoned projects in your council?
In our local government, there are no abandoned projects.
