By Charles Aniagwu

However one looks at it, turning 62 is no doubt a great milestone especially in Nigeria; a country where life expectancy is estimated at 54 years as at 2018.

On July 8, 2021, Delta State Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, will be celebrating 62 years on earth. Three scores and two years of outstanding accomplishments and attainment of lofty heights!

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Born on July 8, 1959, at Owa-Alero in the present Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa had his early education at Iroro Primary School, Owa-Alero and later attended the famous Edo College, Benin City. He graduated with the second-best result in the Higher School Certificate Examination in the then Bendel State in 1976.

He thereafter proceeded to the University of Ibadan to study Medicine and Surgery. Subsequently, he graduated in 1981 with MBBS, at the record age of 22.

Okowa’s story is that of uncommon courage and positive resilience. He is a man of great faith, enviable impacts, impeccable integrity, and a flawless reputation. From very early in life, he has displayed high craftsmanship in his work and the evidence of his constructive leadership manifests in his growing political profile today.

He rose through the ranks from Secretary to the defunct Ika Local Government to Chairman of the ika North East Council; and, from Commissioner in several ministries to the strategic office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) before eventually being elected to represent the people of Delta North Senatorial District at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2011.

As Senator in the 7th Assembly, he was ranked among his peers as one of the best so, sponsoring ten (10) bills – including the National Health Bill – a feat many acknowledged as ingenious, legendary, and laudable despite his short stint in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

His steady progress did not just start today as a lot of people, who knew him a long time ago, will not easily forget how he rode on the back of humility, all through his professional and political career, even to his present status as Governor of Delta State.

Today as Governor of Delta State, he has made positive impacts in the lives of Deltans. In the past six years in the saddle, his exploits in road construction have earned him the Nickname, the “Road Master”. This is in recognition of the significant advancement of urban-rural integration through massive infrastructure development projects spread across the three senatorial districts, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has dazzled everybody. Specifically, he has successfully constructed 503 roads including highways, urban and rural roads, bridges, and several line drainages spanning 1,577.8 kilometres of roads and 908.8 kilometres of drainage channels.

The Governor has completed the construction of six bridges namely, bridge over rail crossing at Agbor, Ovwor/Effurun-Otor Bridge, two pedestrian bridges in Asaba, Agbarho/Orherhe Bridge and the Oha/Orerokpe Bridge while 15 other bridges are currently under various stages of completion across the state, some of which are almost ready for inauguration.

Aside from infrastructural development, Governor Okowa has performed creditably in turning around the economy of the state, doing so in record fashion. He grew the state’s economy by 51 percent in four years with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hitting N4.471 trillion in 2019, from N2.961 trillion in 2015.

Perhaps, what makes this economic growth particularly noteworthy is the significant contributions of the non-oil sector. The latest figures from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on Delta State’s economy for four years indicates that the contribution of the non-oil sector to the state’s GDP rose from N1.74 trillion in 2015 to N2.356 trillion in 2019.

Under Okowa’s leadership, Delta also emerged as the second least poor in the NBS’ poverty ranking among the 36 states of the Federation in 2020, up from being ranked 12th in 2010. This, indeed, is another testimonial of his prosperity for all Deltans vision buoyed by meticulous planning, sound fiscal discipline, efficient public resource management as well as youth-targeted job and wealth creation programmes.

Visitors now throng Asaba, the state capital for business and pleasure as the capital is not only wearing a modern urban look but now rated one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. This has been made possible through huge investments in elaborate flood control measures, construction, and reconstruction of new roads such as Mariam Babangida Road, DLA Road, Jesus Saves Road, Okpanam Road, Ralph Uwechie Road and a host of other internal roads within the capital territory.

His intervention at the Asaba International Airport with the reconstruction of the runway and installation of instrument landing system (ILS) and subsequent concession of the airport makes it the first Airport to be successfully concessioned in the country.

Flowing from the success recorded by the Asaba Airport Concession, the Federal Government is currently adopting the same model in its bid to concession the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Port-Harcourt International Airport.

Another area worthy of commendation is Okowa’s health policy in Delta. He believes that parents should not adopt out-of-pocket payments for health services as health challenges may arise when there is no money in the pocket. To curb this malaise, he pioneered the establishment of a Contributory Health Commission in 2017 with almost 1,000,000 Deltans already subscribed to the scheme.

In the same vein, because he realised the vulnerability of pregnant women and children under five years to maternal mortality and neonatal mortality, respectively, the Okowa administration opted to offset the cost of their treatment, and this has considerably reduced the state’s mortality rates.

In sports administration, Delta has continued in the winning trajectory which the state is known for. Delta has remained back-to-back champions of the National Youth Games and the National Sports Festival since Okowa came on board.

It is noteworthy that Okowa successfully completed the Stephen Keshi Stadium where the African Senior Athletics Championships, tagged Asaba 2018, was hosted and several Super Eagles international matches have been hosted in the stadium.

Needless to say, his enviable records in politics and in the leadership of Delta sure sets him apart as a selfless and passionate leader who burns with desire to build strong institutions for his state. He has re-defined the concept of leadership and effective governance by effectively re-orientating the mindset of the political class to see politics as a call to service and not as means for self-aggrandisement.

As he turns 62, even his strongest of critics would agree that Dr. Okowa is, indeed, advancing the course of a stronger Delta.

Congratulations, Ekwueme!

*Aniagwu is Commissioner for Information, Delta State