The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro in this interview with Sunday Vanguard, speaks on Delta at 24, programmes of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and other issues.

Excerpts

Your Excellency, as the people of Delta State celebrate their twenty-fourth anniversary as a state, what is your assessment of the journey thus far?

I can tell you that we have much to celebrate despite the onerous challenges we continue to grapple with. I am a positivist and it is my nature to see a glass as half full rather than half empty. In Delta, we have much to look back on and great cause to give glory to God for how far we have come as a state. Do not forget that this state has been a major contributor to the success of the Nigerian project, a status of glory that can never be denied us.

Delta State is unique for its contribution to the overall success of the Nigerian project. I can hazard a safe guess that right from the colonial era, what is presently Delta State remains the biggest contributor to the national cake amongst all the states presently existing today. Quite apart from our oil wealth, we have always contributed to the national purse through timber, rubber, oil palm and what have you even before the era of crude oil. We have always been more of a net producer than a net consumer and that is something worthy of positive pride on our part.

While that may be true, there are many challenges still to be met in terms of development in the state

There are always challenges to be met. You can be sure that a serious government like the present Governor Okowa-led administration is committed to tackling them head-on. But we must always remain focused on the brighter side as an inspiration to further excel. If you undertake a detailed assessment of all the indices of development in Nigeria, Delta State is always amongst those at the top. This is a state of achievement and achievers. In any area of human endeavor we are there to be counted and recognized not just among those who participated but amongst those who truly excelled.

 But the challenges remain all the same

And that is why we are here; to meet those challenges and indeed to surmount them. That is the vision of the Okowa administration as exemplified within his S.M.A.R.T. Agenda. We don’t believe in complaining, passing the buck or playing to the gallery. Governance is serious business and does not succeed by mere whitewashing or populism. What is crucial at the end of the day is for genuine work to be done in service to the electorate. I cannot think of a person better configured, determined, inspired and hungry to genuinely deliver as my Governor. From this administration’s economic empowerment programmes to its pan-Deltan approach to governance and its commitment to inclusiveness, I can assure Deltans that they have a Governor who sees his stewardship from the prism of a divine mandate to better the lot of all Deltans. His Excellency’s vision for the state is encapsulated within his Prosperity for All Deltans  mantra. It is a vision of economic empowerment through, amongst many other things, inculcating and nurturing an economic culture of entrepreneurship as a veritable tool of wealth creation through job creation. We are on course. We will stay the course and God will ensure we arrive to the prosperity of all Deltans…

As the number two man of the state, how troubled are you over such allegations of bias on the part of this administration from a host of stakeholders and commentators?

I would say I am not troubled because, factually speaking, they are all a tissue of blatant lies and a cocktail of orchestrated falsehood. Unfortunately you will always have those who read wrong meanings into everything no matter how well intentioned. I must reiterate that from facts on ground, Governor Okowa has been exemplary in sustaining the momentum of the pan-Deltan platform on which he came to power by constituting an executive team and implementing governmental policies with all the hallmarks of a uniquely detribalized approach to governance. My boss is a brother to all and a stranger to none. By way of the statewide spread of his appointments, programmes and projects, he has eminently demonstrated his pan-Deltan make-up and there  is simply no way Okowa’s detribalized nature and vision for this state can empirically be faulted by any objective observer. I can authoritatively affirm to you that the watchword of the Okowa administration is inclusiveness and it remains the highest article of faith of this government.

As you celebrate this anniversary, what can Deltans expect from this administration?

They should expect governance re-energized and reloaded to do exploits in delivering genuine dividends of democracy that even the common man can see, feel, benefit from, acknowledge and attest to. Governor Okowa is arguably the most detribalized and people-friendly Deltan I know. His emergence as Governor is a milestone in forging a Delta of pan-Deltan values rather than one of ethnic champions. We are plugging the loopholes in government. We are engendering a sustainable template for managing our finances. We are committed to effecting a departure from a business as usual format for conducting public affairs. We are restructuring, reforming, revamping, reengineering and reconstructing. Above all the Okowa administration is effecting a paradigm shift in governance that rightfully places the interests of the electorate at the core of governance. As we mark our anniversary, I can only assure Deltans that they have just the right Governor to take this state to where it truly belongs. As we say over here in local parlance, “Delta no dey carry last.”