By MC Paul

As the race towards the hallowed chambers of the nation’s assembly is heating up in every part of the polity, Deltans in their thousands of millions are reportedly queing up behind the candidacy of Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, JOT, what with the spate of endorsements for this Harvard-trained chartered accountant, frontliner for the Delta South Senatorial seat under the banner of the All Progressive  Congress, APC.

It is visible to the blind, audible to the deaf and tangible to the abstracted, that the APC candidates all through the different slots are holding the reins of popularity and empathy to configure a new Delta that is bound to meet the prototype and blueprint laid down in the drawing board of the relatively young state when it was first conceptualised by the founding fathers as far back as the heady days of the Babangida’s regime.

It is to be a district of oneness, with shared values and purposes, where merit comes before privilege, a nation that would be sure of herself at home and abroad, that would not shuffle into the new horizon afraid of the future, but would strut and stride into it with bumper confidence, according to JOT, who disclosed that he would want to renew the Big Heart’s faith in the ability of it’s governmental operatives and politics, to govern in the interest of the broad majority of people who work hard, play by the rules, pay their dues and feel let down by a political system that gives the breaks to the few, to a mollycoddled elite at the top rung of the social ladder out of touch with quotidian reality.

To redress this social and economic anomalies, he divulged further, there is the yawning need to govern in such a way that unites the state in facing  the tough and dangerous challenges of dwindling resources, occasioned in the main by a depression -battered economy and change for the better our society, a Delta State in which every Deltan, from the least to the greatest, evinces a sense of identity, belonging and togetherness. 

Consequently Deltans far and wide have applauded the endearing articulated vision and mission of this debonair visionary so much that corporate entities and groups have been running in circles to host and laud thee noble sentiment and vision evoked by his inspiring rhetorics and dialects, so much so that the Delta South APC Mobilization Group(DELSAMOG) has deemed it expedient to honour JOT as a patron of the renowned group, in an outstandingly impressive investiture ceremony held at the residence of Prince Yemi Emiko, a highflying prince of the kingdom, a deluxe ceremony in which JOT was ably represented by the Director of Administration of the JOT Senatorial Campaign Organization, Prince Andy Egunoma “Isoko has always supported Ijaw and Itsekiri. Ijaw has been Deputy Governor for eight years and Senator for 20 years. Itsekiri also in Delta South has been Governor for 8 years. Only the Isoko has been marginalised. Now it is time for us to support Isoko for Senate.

“Hon Joel-Onowakpo Thomas is a good man. He shall bring development to Delta South when he is elected and will not take the back seat as a Senator. I appeal to all our people to vote for him for fairness, equity and his capacity to deliver,” (Ijaw leader).

It is pertinent  to note that JOT, in the course of this affable endorsement spectacle, pledged solemnly to lead by example when elected into the Red Chambers of the 10th National Assembly in 2023, ensuring that all ethnic nationalities, regions and indeed subregions are equitably and fairly represented, as a corrigent prerequisite to a sterling representation in the diverse senatorial district. Joel-Onowakpo, whose track record in the public service mouths volumes about radical vision and executive efficiency, especially as the preeminent taxman of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue (DBIR) when the Board recorded unprecedented prosperity yet to be equalled, let alone surpassed, during the tenure of the ertswhile while Governor of Delta State : Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan, was of the opinion that Delta South is due for result-oriented representation. 

Besides, the Aviara people, JOT’s kiths and kins, have promised not to leave any stone unturned, with a view to ensuring that they deliver the goodies of their son’s  election in an overwhelming manner, this coming when JOT duly charged his people the Isokos, the Itsekiris and the Ijaws to support his ambition to represent the good people of Delta State in the Red Chamber. JOT also encouraged the seriously sidelined Isoko people to be resolute and forge a united front, sure in the knowledge that the other ethnic nationalities have pandered to their desire to right the wrong of ethnic marginalisation in the power sharing equation and narrative,  and indeed to regard the slots as belonging to the Isoko nation, speaking in his country home in Aviara as he hosted the people of Abiogu and party loyalties of the All Progress Congress, APC,  Aviara Ward 03.

It is also not surprising that the Isoko Development Union Youth Wing (IDU-YW), the apex youth group of Isoko ethnic nationality, has adopted JOT, the senatorial candidate of the all Progressive Congress, APC, as the candidate of the Isoko youths in this month Delta South senatorial elections. 

As for Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege the Deputy Senate President of the nation and Delta State governorship candidate of the APC,  the Senate needs brilliant men like JOT, and not smelly and irredeemably fetishy native doctors masquerading as senators, noting that it would be suicidally catastrophic to send novices and neophytes who know next to nothing about the absttruse and specialised art of lawmaking into the Senate.

Paul, a public affairs analysis, writes from Warri