DELTANS VOTED RIGHT: HOW PEOPLES’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) TOOK DELTA STATE

Against the backdrops of election violence and scheming that must have occurred on or before the April 11th Governorship and Houses of Assembly elections in Delta State, the permutation of election’s victory went well for the PDP.

 Right from when parties’ primaries were concluded across the country and the opportunity for victory was clear with the adoption of Great Ogboru as Labour party candidate and Otega Emerho as the APC Party’s flag bearer.  With both contesting on Urhobo platform and Uvwiamuge declaration, PDP was so sure of victory which many of the members described as easy and sweet victory.

Some mistakes and political miscalculations cost the two opposition parties the most prized seat in the State. So many factors stood against them right from buildup of the elections.  

The question is: Why was it so easy for PDP to sweep Delta State? Great Ogboru and Otega Emerho limited their candidacy to ethnic support. The 2015 Governorship election for the two main opposition parties in Delta State was without the steam and fanfare which characterized the DPP 2011 elections.  

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa stole the show completely by introducing a charisma that put opposition candidates on the defense.  While Senator Okowa’s campaign covered the entire State, the two opposition candidates were known to have introduced ethnic dimension based on Uvwiamuge declaration. This actually backfired on them as even their choices of Deputy were not popular names.

At this crucial deciding point of Delta State economy, we needed the right person for the job. Let’s derive some inspiration from history. People tend to think of Winston Churchill as one of the great leaders of the 20th century, and in May, 1940, Winston Churchill was the only person who could have kept Great Britain in the war against Adolf Hitler.  He was a hero.  At that moment, at that point in time he was the best person for the job.

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa is the man with the experience in terms of exposure to lead Delta State and this contributed foremost to why Deltans voted for him. To move further, the State needs a new leader with multi-faceted knowledge in bringing to bear the people’s aspirations.  Majority of the people of the State look forward to having an economy that the dependency of survival will not rest alone on the shoulders of Government but on the private sector.

If the economy is going to be pushed higher, it needs intense private-sector competition for availability of jobs and more wealth, neither of which are going to develop if the economy is operating through public funding. The earlier the dependency of the State transcends the public management, the more jobs will be created for the teeming unemployed masses, both skill and unskilled labour.

The Governor-elect, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has all the skills needed in the transformation of Delta State from a civil service State to a private sector driven economy. Great leaders are effectively skillful.