Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa says in spite of the huge successes recorded by the state within 26 years, the state is not rolling out the drums to mark her 26 years of existence but would rather have a low key celebration in view of the economic mood of the nation.
Okowa, who spoke through his chief press secretary, Charles Aniagwu while fielding questions from newsmen, said the recession ravaging the country would not permit for frivolous spending, saying such funds would rather be channelled towards uplifting the lives of Deltans.
The state has every cause to celebrate, recalling her achievements since the creation. “As a state created 26 years ago, our leaders and indeed, all Deltans have cause to celebrate because the state has recorded huge socio-economic and political transformation within the period. We may not have been able to develop to a level we anticipated, but today we have been able to record considerable number of milestones that we can be proud of as a state in various areas of development,” he said.
According to Okowa, successive and present administrations in the state have been able to focus on construction and maintenance of the vital infrastructure like roads, bridges and drains.
He pointed out that Okowa’s administration since inception had embarked on the construction of more than 98 roads, covering a distance of over 612 kilometres, realising that road development and construction was the backbone for the achievement of the SMART agenda.
He noted that the roads were intended to link up various communities to enhance social-economic development in the state. “The movement of farm produce from one locality to another has been enhanced with the provision of motor-able roads linking our communities.
“The unprecedented growth in our state capital as witnessed in recent times is indicative of the fact that the dividend of democracy is gradually trickling down to the masses,” he said, adding that the state capital was growing at a phenomenal speed.
He said Asaba, being the state capital, had been enjoying unprecedented level of peace as a result of the conscious efforts of our past and present leaders of the state.
In the area of education, he said the state was registering a level of progress as attention was paid more on vocational training for students, to reduce the incidence of unemployable graduates.
The chief press secretary said, “It is on record that the state government has repositioned the technical and vocational schools in the state by investing huge resources to ensure that they become centre of excellence, as the existing technical colleges are being upgraded with infrastructure and equipment.’
He disclosed that a lot of policy initiatives have been directed at the tertiary institutes as the Delta State University and the state polytechnics have received various degrees of attention from the government in the recent times in terms of upgrade of facilities and funding.
The state has also achieved a lot in the areas of healthcare, agriculture, transport, culture and tourism and many more, he maintained.
Delta State was carved out of the former Bendel State on August 27, 1991. The state was created following agitations for the creation of a separate distinct state by the peoples of the old Delta Province, namely, the Urhobos, Itsekiri, Isoko, Ijaw (Ezon) and Ukwuani (later joined Anioma).
