VISIT: President Jonathan Goodluck flanked and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan (left) during the President's visit to Delta State, weekend. Photo by Akpokona Omafuaire.

By Emma Amaize
OGHARA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan had his ears full before his one-day visit, weekend, to Delta State, but, to his amazement, the story of non-performance that had been trumpeted by the opposition against the state government was not what he saw on ground.

Starting from the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, which was his first port of call in the state,  President Jonathan was impressed with the work that had been done by the state government and he voiced his opinion,  saying with what he saw, Nigerians could save the money they spent going abroad for medical treatment, even as the hospital is primarily meant to train medial students of the Delta State University.

Dr. Jonathan’s verdict is contrary to the opinion of critics in the state,  who see the hospital as a waste because it was sighted at Oghara, the hometown of the former Governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, which is many kilometers away from Abraka, where the Delta State University is located. The hospital is said to be the best equipped in the Sub-Sahara.

Uduaghan’s critics also frowned at the huge money the state government spent in building the Headquarters, Nigerian Navy Logistics Command at Oghara, but, President Jonathan does not see it as such. He believed it is a monumental contribution to the Federal Government’s security programme in the Niger-Delta and charged the Nigerian Navy to maintain the facilities. He praised Uduaghan for his doggedness in seeing the project through and for not asking for a refund of the money spent on the project unlike other states.

The Logistics Command with headquarters in Oghara has a Fleet Support Group (West) and (East) based in Lagos and Calabar respectively. It also has three depots located in Port-Harcourt, Calabar and Lagos, which handle material and POL supply to both the Fleet and Bases and the general administration of the Command is under a Flag Officer Commanding, Rear Admiral O. Oketa at the moment. He is directly responsible to Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I.

Ibrahim. It was established on May 14, 2008 by the Nigerian Navy Order 02/08 to cater for the logistics needs of the Nigerian Navy, but, since its creation, the Command Headquarters had operated from a temporary location within NNEC facility in Sapele.

The camaraderie between President Jonathan and Governor Uduaghan, both of who wore the same brand of Urhobo traditional attire was effervescent.  Governor Uduaghan acknowledged that both projects were initiated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  government under his predecessor, Chief Ibori, which he was part of, and he had to complete them because of their importance to the state and Niger-Delta region.

All the South-South Governors were in the state during the visit to savor the moment with him. From Mr  Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom) and Lyel Imoke (Cross River), they traveled in one bus from one venue to the other during the visit.  In fact, they entered Asaba, the state capital 24 hours before the President came. Governor Amaechi joined Uduaghan in inspecting some of the projects under construction, including the new Government House. Some of the Governors also visited the Asaba International Airport, Asaba due for completion in December, this year and the Governor seized the opportunity of Mr. President’s presence in the state to tell him that he will invited him shortly to commission the airport and other projects.

Before the visit, there were speculations that Oghara people had planned to protest against President Jonathan over the fate of son, Chief Ibori, but, they proved critics wrong, as they organised to ensure that no outsider infiltrated to paint the community in bad light.

Of course, all the routes, which the President passed in Oghara were filled with security agents. The Commander of the Joint Task Force on the Niger-Delta, Major General Sarkin Yarkin-Bello, his deputy, Brigaider-General Wuyep Rimtip, Assistant Inspector General of Police,  Zone 5, Benin City, Delta State Commissioner of Police, Director of State Security Service,  in the state were on hand to issue instructions to their men.

Oghara monarch,  who was delighted that President Jonathan personally came to inaugurate the projects said, “it is with great pleasure and joy that I and the entire people of this Kingdom welcome you and your entourage to Oghara for these history making events of the commissioning of the Delta State University Teaching Hospital and the Headquarters, Nigerian Navy Logistics Command, both in Oghara.”

The monarch congratulated Governor Uduaghan for the achievements, saying, the people were happy and rejoiced with Mr. President on his ascension to power as President of the country.

He noted that Oghara people were friendly and wished the President a successful tenure in office.

He prayed that the projects would bring better health care and security closer to the people and also pleaded that qualified hands from the Kingdom be given employment by the government in the establishments.

The highpoint of the visit was the reception for Mr. President at Asaba, where Dr. Uduaghan took time to brief him on his programmes and vision for the state, and from President Jonathan’s response, he believed the Governor was doing well and deserved encouragement.

Special relationship

Uduaghan who was happy that the plans of those who wanted to frustrate the visit of Mr. President to the state did not materialize said, “may I on behalf of the wonderful people of Delta State, welcome you and your impressive entourage to Asaba, the capital of Delta State.

Sir, you are in Delta State, the land where God lives, the finger of God. You are in Delta, a state dedicated to uplifting the needs of her people, a government serving the ends of every community. We are indeed one happy family. And we feel we enjoy a special relationship with the first family of the country. Last month, your wife, the First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, was with us. What a great moment we shared with her, the memory of that visit is still fresh with us.”

“Now today you are with us. This is truly remarkable. In one voice, all Deltans everywhere receive you with open arms in appreciation of your robust commitment to the oneness, growth and development of the state. The shortness of your visit has not allowed us to show you the full dimension of our state,   love,  care and  humanity.

What you have seen is a mere tip of the iceberg, but we know you will visit us again and when you do, it will hopefully be for a longer stay, and you shall feel more the hospitality and warmth of our people. You shall see more the transformations in Delta State, the emerging Tiger of Nigeria.”

“In Delta State, our people are enthusiastic about democratic rule, capable and visionary leadership. They have given us their support, and we have succeeded largely because of that. Your Excellency, since assuming office, you have manifested great qualities of leadership that our people admire and cherish so much, they have thus resolved to give your administration the support and cooperation you need to succeed”, he said.

My report card, by Uduaghan

The Governor continued, “three years ago on assuming office,  we placed before our people our three-point agenda of Peace and Security, Human Capital and Infrastructure Development as the road map for broad economic development of the state.  Our vision was defined by our goal of building a Delta State without oil, a state that will explore other opportunities outside oil, a state that will develop clean energy as means for creating jobs and eliminating poverty.  We have begun this work, which at the beginning looked like a tall order.

“In pursuing our goals, we were determined to give every Deltan a sense of belonging, in particular the oil producing communities. To drive this vision, we created the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, which receives 50  percent allocation of the 13 percent derivation fund. The mandate of the Commission is to interact with the people, gauge their feelings, assess their needs and address them.

Today, developments are reaching the riverine communities long neglected. There is still much work to be done, but we have made a good start.

“Our infrastructure vision across the state is no less ambitious, with the overall aim of ensuring economic development. Delta State is so well situated it can be a major logistics hub for the region, thus our emphasis on building major transportation infrastructure to take advantage of the opportunities available.  Our investments in power supply, urbanization, industrial clusters, ICT development, transportation and road constructions, have the simple objectives of creating employment and reducing poverty.”

“Most of these projects were begun three years ago and its impact as you shall see has been terrific. Aside from Asaba International Airport and Osubi Airport runway, we have three industrial clusters in the pipeline. We have the Warri Industrial Business Park, the Koko Export Free Zone and the Asaba ICT Park.

Substantial resources will be devoted to these projects, both from government and the private sector partnering with us.

As these projects take shape, Your Excellency will be briefed and hopefully will find the time to visit us and be part of its progress and success story. The Asaba Airport should be ready by end of the year and we trust Mr. President will accept our request to commission this airport, which should be one of the best in the country.

“Mr. President Sir, I take pride in stating that in terms of highway, urban and rural roads development, drainage schemes, and waterways structures, our record is impressive.  A few samplers will demonstrate this: We have completed over 483.67km of trunk roads, more than 93.55km of urban and township roads and awarded additional contracts for the construction of another 51.52km of urban and rural roads. In the same vein, 669.02km of drainage works are under construction in various parts of the State, out of which 424.79km have been completed. I might even add with due modesty that Delta state has some of the best road network in the country.

“As spectacular as these projects are, we see huge benefits in expanding our infrastructure base further, which is why we have undertaken even more massive road projects like the dualisation of the 148.9km long Ughelli-Asaba, which is a federal road, currently under construction.

Businesses will gain enormously from this road because it will make movement to and from the port in Warri to the commercial nerve centres of Onitsha and Nnewi, faster and easier.

Moreover, it will improve the linkage of Warri and Asaba, the two main economic hubs of the state.  The other is the Ugbenu-Koko road, which is intended to improve traffic to the Export Processing Zone. All of these projects on completion have the potential to employ