By Francis Sadhere

In September 2017 a promising young man, Dr Michael Tidi, decided to run for the office of chairman of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This young man not only won that election but he won with a landslide victory. He came into politics at a time when the people needed someone with exceptional leadership skills to redefine local government administration.

When he assumed office he knew what he wanted to do for his people and today at the twilight of his administration and in spite of the many challenges he faced while piloting the affairs of the council, he was able to change how people viewed local government administration and also made that position attractive – No wonder there are so many aspirants jostling to become the next Chairman of the council come 2024.

For those of you who don’t know Dr Michael Tidi, he is an Itsekiri man of Okere, Ode-Itsekiri and Omadino, and Urhobo of Ukpokiti and Igbudu of Agbarah, all of Warri South Council Area of Delta State.

When he was elected as the chairman of the council, many people thought he would fail because this was the first time a young man is holding such position in the history of the state. He was never given a chance even when he proved all his traducers wrong, they still try to bring him down by all means.

As an enlightened and educated young man who against all odds decided to go into politics to free his people from the shackles of underdevelopment, Tidi rolled up his sleeves in his first tenure and went to work with all determination. But to do this he had to first of all bring back the image of Warri that has been battered by ethnic crisis and comedians who always sell Warri as a place full with negativity. To bring back the lost glory of Warri Tidi held the first ever Warri Economic Summit meant to enlighten the world that Warri is safe to do business. During his second tenure the second Warri Economic Summit was also held and the result of those two economic summit is what we are enjoying today. Warri is now in the world map as one of the safest places in the world to do business.

In order to hit the ground running at inception, Tidi gave the council secretariat a face lift and also rejuvenated the work force because he knows that bureaucracy was very unwieldy, grossly demoralizing and was making results almost unachievable. This action, like we see today, has repositioned and rebranded the workforce in the council. To achieve this, the young chairman made sure that adequate working tools and conducive working environment was provided, and also ensured that square pegs are placed in square holes.

From the way he rolled up his sleeves to get to work right from the inauguration of his administration by the governor of Delta state, it shows that he had was  determined to deliver dividends of democracy to his people. His team swung into action with the zeal and determination to uplift the face of the council secretariat and the negative narratives of Warri. 

The task towards changing the narratives has been very challenging and extremely difficult, but with the encouragement from his political father, Ifeanyi Okowa and of course his trust in God, he is gradually arriving at his prescribed destination not withstanding the limited mandate, finances and time. The energetic chairman recognized that the local government is a system of government that should be close to the people, a system that is capable of managing Local Resources/services in a way that will help to raise the living standard of the citizens.

In 2023 he organized an Economic empowerment programme for 250 Small Scale Business Enterprise where 200 beneficiaries went home with a hundred thousand naira each to support their business while 50 people went home with Point Of Sale (POS) machines and seventy thousand naira start up funds.

Tidi also supported the payments of non-technical voluntary staff in Health facilities.

Knowing fully well that the main essence of local government administration is the development of an efficient democratic system of governance at the grass root level, Dr Tidi was also determined to build a state of the art local government lodge.

His administration vigorously embarked on the building of the Warri South Local Government lodge because he knew that it will help reduce the cost of checking council guests into hotels thereby saving cost for the council. 

a library, a conference room and a modern befitting Kitchen and facilities (Utensils) with a top notch finishing and perfect landscaping.

His administration has made tremendous progress in the primary health care sector, from the available statistics, it has been able to consistently and effectively carried out supplementary Immunization activities (SIA), that is National Immunization Plus Days, Integrated Measles Campaigns (IMC), Yellow Fever Campaigns Out Break Response. Warri South LGA have always had a coverage of above 100%, it ranges from 100% to 111%. National Immunization Programme Days (NIPDS) in 2018, coverage was 111%, while for 2019, was 108%… from 2020 till date the coverage has improved tremendously

As for the Yellow Fever Campaigns in the year 2020, the coverage was 102%, while Out Break Response in the year 2021 coverage was 111%, for Integrated Measles Campaigns for the year 2022, Tidi’s administration had a coverage of 103%.

To show his passion to improve the health sector Tidi had supplied Hospital equipment; Beds (10) B/P Apparatus (10) Stethoscope (5) Examination Couch (5) Delivery Beds (5) Fetal Dopplers (15) Infrared Thermother (10) Infant weighing scale (5) Body cots (5) Instruments-Artery forceps of various sizes and shapes to the health centers in the council.

As if that was not enough today in the the twilight of his administration, he has also embarked on another gigantic project that will be beneficial to the the people of Warri South Council Area. Being a man that does not joke with the health of his people, he quickly embarked on the building of yet another state of the art project that he is known for. This state of the art project is the building of the Warri South Cottage Hospital. This project is located at the former Warri Playground situated at Upper Erejuwa, Warri. This play ground was chosen because it was in a state of disrepair. Because the project was so dear to his heart Tidi quickly went to work vigorously, because he wants to commission it before the expiration of his tenure.

Residents who live around the location of the cottage hospital  prayed for the council boss  the day the hospital was  Commissioned. They said nursing mothers in the area went through hell just to access top notch healthcare facilities. They said with the commissioning of the cottage hospital in the area their suffering had  come to an end.

Indeed Dr Michael Tidi, has set the pace and it will not be easy for his successor to step in his shoes.  

*Sadhere is resident in Warri