BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

Asaba — CELEBRATION of 22 years anniversary of  the creation of Delta State which was marked last Tuesday, has been greeted with mixed feelings.

Deputy majority leader of Delta State House of Assembly and Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mr. Johnson Erijo, told Vanguard that  the state had made tremendous progress in all sectors.

He said:  “If I have to use Asaba as a reference point, you can even feel the level of development that is currently being witnessed in Asaba. You can see the airport, it’s a novel.

“The economic impact of that airport at this moment, is not being felt; at least with time, I know it will be one of the busiest airports we have around this area.

“In infrastructure, you can see the level of work on our roads, drainage system.  I am just using Asaba for instance.

“I have witnessed how Asaba has grown so fast within this period of stable democracy because fortunately I was among those who came into Asaba in 1999, you can know what Asaba was and what Asaba is at the moment.”

However, state chairman of Labour Party, Mr. Emeka Nkwoala, said the state had not witnessed much progress in its 22 years history.

“We are on slow motion. There are some improvements in the area of health care delivery but so much is left undone.

“Twenty two years of existence as a state is no joke. We must resist the temptation of ethnic divide and political divide so as to be on the same page to stand up against discrimination of all sorts, injustice and corruption.”

On his part, a  taxi driver, who gave his name as Andrew, said “we need improvement on the roads. The roads are bad.”