It was Winston Churchill who said that “Truth is incontrovertible.
Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there
it is”. There has been some heated arguments for and against on the political
status of Delta State ever since the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan of
the ruling PDP then, conceded his defeat in the last Saturday Presidential
election to General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress APC.
It’s very bothersome to hear some people maybe for political interest are advocating that now that the ruling PDP has fast become an opposition party, Delta State should move to the ruling party. But unfortunately these are the same set of people who propagated and preached the need to have a governor from the opposition party for development; drawing examples from Lagos, Edo, Osun, and other opposition states when the PDP controlled the centre.
Unfortunately in our State, some people are more concerned about sentimental politicking not considering issues of development as a factor for their political support to a particular party or candidate. It is equally true that people form their opinion on a particular matter based on the information at their disposal. A lot of things have happen in this State but people still find it difficult to learn from them.
What happened last Saturday that led to the victory of Buhari started in 2011 after the general election. The North and West had a pact to dethrone the South-South man from the seat of President. They did not consider party line because it was to them a task that must be accomplished in 2015. That was why PDP could not produce the speaker of the House of Representatives by the simple majority as agreed. It started at the National Assemble before others also keyed in.
The truth of this matter is the conspiracy by the North and West against South-South who undoubtedly own the wealth of this nation. They saw the South-South man on the saddle as a threat, because it should not own the resources and power and they used the western press to consistently vilify him and his presidency. It is not about President Jonathan but the people of South-South. It therefore means that we have no place in Nigeria since the majority can just wake up one day to retrieve power from us the vulnerable minority.
This victory of conspiracy is not worth the celebration of the
South-South. How can it be explained that Bauchi State governor, PDP National
Chairman, and FCT Minister could not deliver Bauchi? Minister of Education who
made an impressive winning in Kano could not give Jonathan half the total
number of votes in Kano, and many other States. It is a clear case of gang-up
and conspiracy.
Deltans should understand that opposition, progressive or activism is a conscious and inherent attitude; it is not something anybody can just develop overnight because of political aspiration. The progressives and activists that we have in Nigeria are born out of selfish ambition of some individuals whose aspirations were not met in PDP where they belonged originally; hence their overnight sainthood, progressives and activists. This is a clear case of disguise, pretense and pure deception of the unsuspected poor masses.
Like I said before, progressive, opposition or activism is an inherent thing; not after being a part of the so called corrupt processes and keeping quiet when the going was good then turn overnight progressive or activist when the going becomes rough based on personal ambition. Then if that is the case, there must be a restitution of corrupt dividends. In a civilized society where political support is based on integrity of the aspirant; integrity then becomes the credential to win support of the masses. When that is the case, you will always see people in positions of authority resign their positions if not allowed by their superior to do the right thing because they have their integrity to protect.
Back to the main topic, those advocating for the ruling party now
who were against it before may be seeking equity with unclean hands. They must
understand that Delta State is at a critical point that does not need party to
solve her problems of unemployment, quality education and affordable
healthcare, job creation through industrialization and stable power supply.
These are the problems that affect the ordinary Delta person not the national
politics or ruling party. Delta needs a governor in the mould of Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa who has the experience, capacity and connections internationally
to deliver industrialization and boost the IGR of the State to be independently
buoyant, whereby it can take care of its people without waiting for federation
account.
Delta does not need a governor that will wait for federal
government or federation account money to execute projects, it needs a man like
Senator Okowa to fix the economy of this State and move Delta State to a level
of financial independence like Lagos State. The ruling federal government
cannot achieve this for Delta State, it is the quality and capacity of the
governor that the people will elect come April 11 that will achieve all these
for Delta State, not minding the political party.
It is not news that oil, the major source of Delta State revenue
has dropped; which means the financial income from the federation account to
the State has also dropped. In this situation, Delta does not need a man who
will depend on the decreased allocation that will come from the federal level. It
needs a man like Senator Okowa who has the experience, intellectual capacity
and skills, which are the criteria. This is not the time we should play
politics, this era is for real change from petty politicking to development and
industrialization which Senator Okowa represents.
The Delta 2015 governorship is not about a particular political
party, it’s about the quality and character of the man representing the
political party. This contest is between the man that has all it takes to
deliver Delta in the direction of our founding fathers dream and the sentiment
of opposition party and ruling party. Performance or development is not based
on whether ruling or opposition party, it’s not about the political party but
the quality and capacity of the governor. Party will not make the governor to
go higher than his ability or capacity because party is only serving as a
platform to contest an election.
After the election the party goes under, the governor that was
elected takes over. It is worthy to note here that the governor, be it from the
ruling or opposition party will only do what he can do. The man with few ideas
will only implement his few ideas, and the man who is capable of turning
impossible to possibilities will do it because he knows how to get it done not
necessarily that it must be in the ruling party. If Governor Fashola who was
the Chief of Staff to Tinubu could perform, Adam’s of Edo State in the then
opposition party; Senator Okowa will perform better because of the person he is
and his exposure in public service. All that Deltans need is not just a
commensurate dividend from their money, but innovative administration based on
international standard that will make life beautiful for the people.
Delta State is very lucky because Senator Okowa will be in a hurry
to perform so that he can justify the mandate given to him. In the Nigerian
system of governance, those in the opposition are forced to compete with the
ruling party in terms of development while most of those in the ruling party
think they are covered by the power at the centre. It will bring developmental
consciousness to bear in Delta State and impact positively on the lives of the people.
These are the truth Deltans must know as they go to poll next Saturday, 11
April to elect their next governor.
God bless Delta State.
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