The Governor
Delta State, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has attributed the successes recorded by
his administration in the delivery of development projects across the State, despite
the economic down-turn in the country to superior planning.
The
Governor in a crowded press conference to kick-start activities to celebrate
his one year of being in office at Asaba, said, “when I addressed the State
immediately after my swearing-in as Governor on May 29, 2015, we were in the
middle of a serious economic crisis, our monthly revenue both from the
Federation Account and Internally Generated Revenue had dipped significantly;
the non-oil sector of the economy remained largely untapped; the level of youth
unemployment was troubling, posing a clear and present danger to the
socio-political stability of the State; our credit was in bad shape, and the
financial system was at best, shaky and at worst, perilous; indeed, our promise
of prosperity for all Deltans seemed illusory, but, we moved swiftly and
decisively to restructure our liabilities and instituted processes and
procedures to plug leakages, eliminate wastes and ensure fiscal discipline.”
“The fiscal consolidation measures we put in place have enabled us to achieve a great deal of macro-economic stability while creating the right conditions for us to implement programmes under the S.M.A.R.T agenda,” Senator Okowa disclosed, asserting, “had we not taken the steps we took, our financial system would have been on the verge of collapse by now; the global price of oil has continued to tumble, the naira has substantially weakened against the dollar, and recent security challenges in the Niger Delta region have combined to compound our national economic woes.”
He
stated that to diversify the economy of the state, his administration invested
heavily in agriculture by “stimulating and increasing the yield of our
small-holder farmers through the Production and Processing Support Programme
(PPSP), as the PPSP is aimed at up scaling the use of modern farm inputs and
technologies of small-holder farmers to increase the yield of crop, livestock
and fishery enterprises; towards this end, we distributed tractors to 64
Cooperative Societies and another set of 106 Cooperative Societies got Mellon
Shellers while 18 other Cooperative Societies received Outboard Engines and
Fishing Gears support packages.”
“We also distributed improved variety of cassava cuttings, fertilizer, and cash
to 475 cassava farmers; 100 fishery farmers were given fingerlings, feeds and
cash; 100 poultry farmers were supported with 200-day-old chicks each, feeds
and cash; 50 poultry layer farmers got 200 layers each, feeds and cash; 50
piggery farmers received 10 growers, feeds and cash; while 40 tomatoes farmers
were supported with seedlings, agrochemicals and cash,” Governor Okowa said,
adding that in the area of education, his administration was working to ensure
a paradigm shift from certificate acquisition of vocational and technical
skills by the teeming youth population.
He
stated, “upon assumption of office, I sent the Delta State Vocational and
Technical Education Board Bill to the State House of Assembly; the Bill, meant
to provide the regulatory framework to administer and promote technical
education in the State, was passed and signed into law in June 2015 and since
then, we have reconstructed/rehabilitated and equipped three technical colleges
in Ofagbe, Sapele and Agbor. “
While
stating that the process to ensure curriculum review and enrichment to make the
technical colleges more relevant to the dynamics of the 21st century
marketplace, Governor Okowa confidently informed the Journalists that the
inauguration of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission by his
administration which made the state the first “in the country to have a
mandatory health insurance scheme for the purpose of universal healthcare
coverage would ensure that “people are able to access and get treatment at our
hospitals/clinics without suffering financial hardship at the point of service,
or denied service outright due to lack of funds because, when the insurance
scheme is fully operational, it will lead to a more robust healthcare system,
improved quality and more affordable healthcare delivery as well as
significantly better health outcomes.”
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