BY GBENGA OKE

A Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial hopeful in Delta State, Chief Clement Ofuani, has re-stated the need for value change orientation in order to speed up social, economic and human development in the state.

Chief Ofuani, who was the Senior Special Assistant on Presidential Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan, spoke during his visit to Bomadi and Warri South Local Government Area secretariats of the PDP, Delta State, noting that “the time has come to extol merit over mediocrity.

“There is need for the society to return to the times when hard work meant everything and people only got rewarded for hard work. The restructuring of the system has been identified as a necessity for speedy development, as it is the only way everyone can be adequately protected.

“If we continue to rely on a system where somebody needs to know who you are before you can get anything, then we are in trouble, because the masses who lack such connections will be denied their rights. But if we create a system that is indifferent to who you are, but only cares about what you have to offer, then everyone will have a sense of justice.

“The reward or consequences of everyone’s actions will not depend on who they are but what the laws say they should be.”

He pointed out that there was the need to change the values driving the society, insisting that “if we continue to reward indolence and ignore hard work, then people will abandon hard work for indolence which will create a lot of disequilibrium in the society.”