By Ben Etaghene

POLITICS in many ways is always a game of ideas made audacious by numbers. And as the aphorism goes, no one has the monopoly of good ideas for leadership. This was aptly demonstrated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua of blessed memory when he incorporated his rival’s (Atiku Abubakar) philosophy of the ministry of Niger Delta into reality as part of his governing initiative. Today, it remains one of his political legacies. (I can still recall I wrote some articles on why the adoption of the ministry was judicious and most expedient because it was a notion whose time was auspicious for the sake of the growth and development of the nation).

During the last elections, the then incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan kind of threw in a fillip when he advised the candidates to show their manifestoes because before then they were dreary and copiously restrained with their manifestoes which were the public mirror between them and the electorate. But for the man who had long been associated with the candidacy of one of the candidates to throw this seemingly challenge was a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Not that these candidates lacked manifestoes because no politician will aspire to an elective position without a game plan but they were hitherto not abrasive and assertive enough with their intensions. They hugely relied on building political structures across the state. In quick response to the fillip, they demonstrated their readiness with the publications of their detailed manifestoes that were progressive and futuristic. This write-up is, in fact, not about those manifestoes per se but on some aspects of those of the governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and aspirant Obaisi Ovie Omo-Agege.

Without prejudice, it is on the comparative analysis of what both men told us they would do with some abandoned industries across Delta State. Ovie Omo-Agege mentioned key industries like Asaba Textile Mill which is today a kingdom of reptiles, Ughelli Glass Factory, AT & P Sapele, et al. These he marked down for reactivation. Asaba Textile Mill at its peak employed about 3,000 workers, Ughelli Glass Factory i.e Delta Glass had about the same number of workers. The products of these two factories were common features in our markets and homes but today taken over by China, India and other Asian countries.

The African Timber and Plywood, Sapele offered jobs to about one-third of Sapele workers. The factory at its near peak had the capacity to make doors, simulated wood works, cartons, cardboard papers, tooth picks, et al. With the ban on the importation of tooth picks by the CBN, a reactivated AT&P would have been ready to fill that vacuum. Across the state, there are a host of moribund factories but when reactivated can become a huge source of employment for our youths and executive applicants. This point is being emphasised here because every Deltan knows that the issue of unemployment is key to the present administration in the state. This is one of the reasons the governor quickly set up youth agricultural projects across the state. The AT&P needs experts more than it needs funds as only one fifth of the factory is today functional. A factory set up to produce specialised products is today competing with local carpenters in the production of school desks!

We should not follow the example of the federal government in Delta State. The federal government abandoned Volkwagon Industry in Lagos, now a pathetic site where any patriotic Nigerian on a visit would shed tears, Pan (Pegeot), Kaduna; Ajaochuta Steel, DSC, Ovwian Aladja, Oshogbo Rolling Mill, et al only to engage on an annual pilgrimage abroad in the name of seeking investors.

In the Delta State’s governor manifesto, he mentioned his intention to revamp the Delta Steel Complex (DSC). Then too, I brought it to his attention that he should do well to leave it at that because the kind of money needed to bring it to fruition would constitute a drain on the state’s resources. Obviously he might not have seen it that way. But recently as the governor of the state was on the trail of the DSC and how it could be brought alive obviously because of his love for the state development, he pledged the state government’s collaboration with the federal in any attempt to revamp the Delta State Complex.

The governor said: “The subject of the Delta Steel Complex which is moribund is a real cause of concern for us as a state, it is a federal project but all we can do as a state is to do our best, collaborate with partners in progress to put in the necessary request and pressure on the federal authority to have a consideration of revamping the company.”

This is most necessary for the federal government to pay attention. Late Senator Akpor Puis Ehwerido did just that and it led to the setting up of a committee of the Senate on DSC. The committee members even visited Ovwian-Aladja to inspect the complex. Perhaps his death had caused a lull but action can always to be kept alive. The DSC matter can be left with the federal government but with constant pressure and lobbying.

Abandoned projects in Delta State should become a priority for growth and job creation. The points raised by Omo-Agege like in the creation of the ministry of Niger-Delta which was originated by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar but implemented by the late Yar’Adua government across political divide was a matter of political sagacity. In Delta State today with Dr. Okowa’s experience so far in office, no doubt the issue of unemployment across all spectrums of the society must be worrisome to the administration. So where ever ideas originated from should be irrelevant. What we want is an inroad into the seemingly incurable unemployment problem. A sophisticated industry can be created out of the AT&P. Asaba Textile Mill can meet our clothing needs instead of going to either Cotonou, Lagos or Kano while Delta Glass products can once again adorn our homes and markets instead of China. Delta State has the capacity to turn these industries around.

Beyond this, attention can be turned towards the state’s solid minerals which for years have not been taken into official reckoning.
Mr. Etaghene is the editorial director of The Bulletin, Sapele, Delta State.