BY COLLINS AGWAM
“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
The great former American President, Abraham Lincoln who made this timeless statement many centuries ago must have seen far beyond his time that as long as earth continues to rotate around sun, there will never cease to be deceptive people among us.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, the Senator representing Delta North at the Red Chamber in Abuja during a recent visit to one of his associates, Chief Adizue Eluaka, made some statements aimed at maligning the person of Delta State Governor, Sen. Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa.
In his diatribe against Governor Okowa, the Senator, in trying to pit Deltans against one another, compared the achievements of the Governor and his predecessors, especially Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan in Asaba.
“I am a PDP Senator but I have to tell you the truth. Urhobo and Itsekiri governors performed credible well than our own Anioma Governor. What has the Anioma Governor done for Asaba people to show that he loves Asaba more than the Delta Central people?
“Don’t allow selfish people to bring division between us and Delta Central people. I challenge anyone to a debate that Uduaghan loves Asaba more than our Anioma Governor anytime and anywhere. His legacy in Asaba speaks volumes. It’s the turn of Delta Central to produce the next Governor of Delta State,” Nwaoboshi was quoted to have said.
Well, politicians will always be politicians. And it is okay for Nwaoboshi to disagree with the Governor, but it is unacceptable for a Senator whose only achievement in office is going in and out of EFCC net, to spill outright lies and ignorance all in the name of politics.
Is it not funny that Senator Nwaoboshi likes to talk about how Deltans “should not allow selfish people to bring division between us and Delta Central people” but in the same breathe tried to pit Deltans against one other when he said “what has the Anioma Governor done for Asaba people to show that he loves Asaba more than the Delta Central people?” If this is not the definitive feature of a con man, I wonder what is.
And to answer Senator Nwaoboshi’s question on what Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration has achieved in Asaba in the last six years, we are not going to take his bait to divide our people by comparing our Governors because we are not foolish. However, we are going to put the records straight for the sake of right thinking Deltans and for posterity.
Since the Senator was particular about Governor Okowa’s achievement in Asaba, this article will stick with the Governor’s success in the State capital, without taking Nwaoboshi’s bait to pit our people against each other.
At the very Heart of Asaba, Delta State Capital, Governor Okowa has built an ultra-modern Central Secretariat Complex second only to the Federal Secretariat, Abuja in size and layout. The multi-billion Naira Secretariat complex, ready for commissioning was designed in five clusters to house 27 ministries, departments and agencies of government including a bank, clinic and crèche.
The Stephen Keshi Stadium is another legacy project of the Okowa administration in Asaba. The decrepit stadium pre-2015 is now a world class facility that has hosted national and international sporting competitions, with all the positive implications this has on the hospitality and retail sectors of the economy.
Talking about the economy, the Maryam Babangida Road is now a beehive of activities with businesses springing up there on a regular basis. Before Okowa came into office, that road was a blight on Asaba, totally impassable and abandoned. Today, travellers coming to Asaba can decide to enter through this road if they do not wish to use Summit Road.
Should I also talk of the popular Okpanam Road that is now wearing a new look. For years, this road defied every attempt to fix it. But today Governor Okowa has changed the narrative.
The Asaba Storm Water Drainage is another star project of Okowa in Asaba. It is easy to forget that just four years ago, it was virtually impossible to drive or even move around Asaba whenever it rained. Thanks to the Storm Water Project, residents of Asaba are no longer apprehensive when it rains. This is because the flood menace has been substantially mitigated.
It is a fact that Asaba is now looking more like a state capital than the rustic look it used to wear before Okowa assumed office. Thanks to the Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency, a special intervention body established by Governor Okowa, many major and internal roads have been rehabilitated/reconstructed. As a result, there is high property appreciation in the city. Wherever there is infrastructure growth, new businesses spring up. That is what we are currently witnessing in Asaba. All you need to do is just drive round the city. It’s a pity Nwaoboshi is so far detached from reality he is not even aware of the recently commissioned modern Secretariat of the Council of Delta State Traditional Rulers.
The fact is anybody who has visited/lived in Asaba before 2015 and now and cannot see the difference is either blind or dishonest or both. I challenge Peter Nwaoboshi to tell us his achievements in the last six years as a Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
Nwaoboshi, like any other politician, is free to do his politics but his nauseating habit of taking Deltans for a ride is what is unacceptable, and it will be resisted and fought to a standstill by Deltans.
Collins Agwam writes from Asaba, and can be reached on agwamcollins@gmail.com
