Any hope for Delta beyond Oil Initiative?

By Festus Ahon

Chief Sunday Eromedoghene Onoriode is the Transition Committee Chairman of Ethiope East Local Government. In this interview with journalists, he spoke on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s Delta Beyond Oil initiative, the just concluded PDP primaries in Ethiope East and other issues.Excerpts

What is your take on Governor Uduaghan’s Delta Beyond Oil initiative? Do you see it taking the people of the State anywhere?

The Delta Beyond Oil initiative of our Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is aimed at redirecting the minds of Deltans to other spheres of life but as l speak with you, other state governors across the country are already keying into the programme because of the ideology behind it, so it is becoming a national issue. Those saying it cannot work know nothing about the initiative. Before now we had rubber trees, palm trees and others.

When you compare the kilogram of rubber and barrel of oil, the oil price outweighs that of rubber but if you allocate large piece of land to agriculture and it is well harnessed, it will bring double of what the oil brings and as I speak, the Governor is working hard to achieve that. If you have been abreast with Uduaghan’s administration on this Delta Beyond Oil , you would have heard of about five thousand acres of cassava farm in Abraka. And am sure the farm will be a model to other farms in Delta State and this is being put together by the Delta State Government, Ministry of Agriculture and the Host community.

I know when the project eventually kicks off, it is going to provide employment for about six thousand people and it will also attract different companies to the community.  The governor is so passionate about the project and he personally visited the site about two Sundays ago and he spent about seven hours going round the farm. He is doing all that is possible to see that the project works. He has also invited private farmers and provided farm tools to aide them in their Poultry, Cassava, Fish, Rubber and Palm farms.

Those who know what the state government is doing in the state have always described him as inspirational leader with wealth of experience.

What does the the empowerment exercise in Eku community in Ethiope East signify?

As I speak with you a lot of the beneficiaries of the empowerment exercise held in Eku are making progress because those that were empowered have started putting up one business or the other and others are also planning on what to do with their money, so that tells you the government is redirecting the focus from oil to other sectors.

You sing the name of the Governor to a fault. Why?

He has executed several projects that are geared towards his three- point agenda and he never deviated in carrying out any of the agenda in spite of the many problems he was going through, court cases, party issues and the so many detractors. He was determined to succeed and today you could see for yourself that he is finishing strong.

The governor has given Delta a new face and has also brought governance closer to the people unlike before when one saw governance from a distance.

Let us look at the micro credit scheme that thousands of Deltans now enjoy freely without any form of interest to ensure that Deltans are self employed. Testimonies are everywhere.

But a lot of people still think that the governor has not performed?

I cannot subscribe to such unscrupulous allegations that are false and malicious. We should understand one principle in life – that no matter how good you are, some persons must be out destroy you. The are people who do not see any good in people. They must always be around. There is no way the governor can please everybody at the same time.

In my own candid assessment, l would say he is a quiet achiever; an excellent and a proactive governor. Free maternal health care, free health care for children up to five years, more enrollment of students into primary and secondary schools, his scholarship scheme for Deltans at home and abroad, skill acquisition programmes etc.

On Infrastructure and Human Capital Development, the state has done well. If you were familiar with Enerhen Junction and you have not been there recently, just go there and see for yourself.

The dualization of the Ughelli-Asaba Road, Eku-Asaba dualization, the Asaba Airport, the Eku Bridge to link Oghara, Edo state and a lot of road work that the state government has embarked upon in Asaba and other major cities of the state apart from the ones being carried out by the Direct Labour Agency are there for all to see.

You have been in the office as Transition Committee Chairman for about two years now, how would you say the journey has been so far?It has been sweet and bitter. Sweet in the sense that it is a very rare opportunity given to me by the Executive Governor of Delta State to serve in his government and to serve my people and it also gives me an ample opportunity to learn a lot of lesson in the course of serving. It is equally bitter because of the enormous task and the challenges in the course of my service but I am happy today because the challenges are over and I have served my people well to the best of my knowledge.

About few months from today, you will be out of office, what would you say are some of your achievements?

The relative peace that we now enjoy in Ethiope East, youths empowerment and some positive changes that I have made in the local government area.

How would you react to the recent adoption of candidates for the forthcoming Local Government election without primaries by your party?

There is no difference between adoption and consensus when all leaders of the party have accepted a candidate. This is done in all political parties in Nigeria and it is not peculiar to PDP since it is a process that is in line with party decision.

A lot of people see you as someone who played a major role in the adoption of Chief Majemite, what have you to say?

Well, everybody is entitled to his or her opinion but I would say as the Chairman of the council that the field was open to all the contestants and while some were going for consultation, canvassing for support and votes, some were busy making publications in the newspapers to either blackmail leaders or castigate fellow aspirants.

- Culled from: http://www.vanguardngr.com