NGOZI Olejeme, Chairperson Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, and governorship aspirant in Delta State, in a chat with Vanguard acticulates why she wants to govern Delta and her vision for the state.

By Charles Kumolu

What is your vision for Delta State and what inspired it?
My vision is inspired by the passion to serve and uplift the people of Delta State to greater height. It is a clear goal that seeks to harness the huge potentials and capabilities in human and material resources available in the state and ensure all inclusive development, job creation, poverty reduction and to re-orientate the mind-set of our people, creating conducive environment for industry and commerce to thrive, huge investment in agriculture, education, health and creating opportunity for the youths and ensure a decent and quality life for all.

Olejeme
… in search of a better life for the people

Our actions will be guided by total commitment to the will of God and service to our people. The pursuit of this goal requires clear strategy and vision, and we are certain that we have the requisite experience, zeal and commitment to actualize these set objectives. We understand the magnitude of the work to be done and are sufficiently equipped to take Delta to the next level. A lot of grounds need to be covered, we need to catch up and excel in a very short time.

We recognise government as a continuum and therefore intend to consolidate on the efforts of the previous and present administrations in the state.   I have offered myself for service and will provide the model of governance that will be people centred.

Can you expatiate on the  concept of people centered governance that you are passionate about?
If elected to serve, our government shall be a government of equal opportunity for all Delta citizens. Our programmes and policies will be people-centered and will be anchored on the concept of mass participation, accountability, community development and values built on hard work, integrity and private enterprise, setting the bench mark for transparency and accountability in governance.

We shall promote effective grassroots administration at local government level and ensure that government presence is felt in every community. A new framework for Local government  partnership in service delivery shall be evolved where every town union will be required to prepare annual budgets and government will provide matching grants to fund part of the town’s budget to execute major developmental projects/social services and ensure security.

We shall encourage the participation of traditional rulers in governance by constituting Traditional Rulers Advisory Council whose duty shall be to advise government on matters bordering on community security, development and culture.

The Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan administration’s key programme has been Delta Beyond Oil. Does that strike you as a good policy worth sustaining?
Delta beyond oil is a programme that must of necessity be encouraged and sustained for the good of our state.   One way to do this is to embark on large scale agricultural farms to employ thousands of workers directly and create thousands of jobs indirectly.   This will be achieved by training and facilitating youths Agricultural Entrepreneurial Model, which will encourage the youths to invest in agriculture as a business.

We shall also provide agricultural credit support schemes to farmers as well as provide agricultural credit, farm tools, fertilizers and improved seedlings.   We shall also empower our farmers’ cooperative societies through facilitation of sustainable food production and processing, support for strategic food preservation and farm settlement development.   Under our Agricultural Master Plan, we will divide our state into three agricultural zones each producing products it has comparative   advantage.   We will as a matter of fact invest in aquaculture because we are upbeat on making Delta State the highest fish producing state in the country.

What is your plan for education?
Education is very strategic to the overall development of any state, and building sustainable education requires aggressive investment.   We will establish model schools in all local government councils; refurbish primary schools; rehabilitate and maintain existing schools and libraries; provide school furniture/equipment, teaching materials, curriculum review/entrepreneurial and vocational training, functional scholarship system; and enhanced tertiary education.

We will improve the welfare of our teachers by providing incentives and training to encourage productivity while setting performance assessment method to entrench effective service delivery.

The incumbent governor has performed creditably well in the health sector, how would you sustain the gains he recorded?
We will pursue a public healthcare system that will cater for the health needs of every Delta State indigene.   This will be achieved by widening access, equipping and training healthcare providers in our primary health care facilities in every community in the state.

We will also embark on expansion of primary health-care programmes; improvement of secondary health-care; strengthening of the marine ambulance and emergency medical services; and improvement of medical personnel welfare.   We will introduce comprehensive health insurance cover for every Deltan.

This will be achieved by the introduction of community based health insurance that will cater for the healthcare need of the rural poor. We will build and equip at least two international hospitals in partnership with the private sector, which will be centres of excellence in medicine.

To ensure that we promote medical tourism,   we will strengthen our healthcare system by ensuring enforcement of health care delivery standards at all times.