Except for the tenure of Chief James Onanefe Ibori (1999 to 2007), I have had several opportunities to traverse Delta State. I have formed my own mental picture of it which I share with you today. There are far more about this state than its perennial dominance of our youth sports as the defunct Bendel State (of which it was a part) used to do. Nigeria, as a country, has a lot to learn from Delta State in diversity management.
The state is divided into the Igbo-speaking Delta North, the Central Zone populated by Urhobo and Isoko indigenes and South, mostly Ijaw and Itsekiri with a spicing of Urhobo. Before General Ibrahim Babangida created the state on August 27, 1991, the North had agitated for the creation of Anioma State with Asaba as headquarters, while Central and South campaigned for a separate state with Warri as its capital.
Babangida played a “smart” one. He sliced Bendel State in two, called one Edo State and the other Delta State. Asaba, the paternal hometown of his wife, Maryam, was named as the Delta State capital. All hell was let loose! The Warri State agitators felt duped. When Babangida ignored their calls to “correct his mistake” and separate the Central and South (“true Delta”) from the North or take the capital to Warri, many activists swore to sideline Asaba and treat Warri as the real capital of the state.
Miraculously, the anger gradually subsided. The political elite of Delta State evolved a formula of equity, whereby each senatorial zone takes turns to produce the Governor, starting with Central. All sections have produced the State’s Chief Executive. It is back in Central, with Sheriff Oborevwori in the saddle. It has been a story of smooth baton exchanges. This has impacted peaceful coexistence and the flow of development too. States like Benue, Borno, Kaduna and even Nigeria, must borrow a leaf. After the fratricidal Warri wars ended, genuine peace, not that of the graveyard, has settled on the port city, its suburban agglomerations and creeks, all because of the spirit of give and take among Deltans.
One of the beneficiaries of this smooth baton exchange is the 193km Asaba-Warri dual carriage road. The historical nightmare of travelling the road is over. Between Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan, Ifeanyi Okowa and Oborevwori, a trip that used to cost over four hours can be done in less than two. The sections done by Oborevwori stand out with their beautiful markings which, I think, should be extended to all sections.
There is this thinking that the rotation of governors is an opportunity for each to pay special attention to his area. During Ibori’s tenure, he almost made Oghara, his hometown, the de facto capital with concentration of amenities. Uduaghan did not seem to share the animosity towards Asaba. He did his best to develop the capital along with Warri. But he could not quite fulfill his dream of linking the Warri ports to Asaba/Onitsha with a “Trunk A” highway. When Okowa came, he fully brought Asaba on stream as a befitting and boisterous state capital. Today, Asaba has taken the wind out of Warri’s sail.
Oborevwori appears determined to bring Warri back to full reckoning. This is the right thing to do. Warri used to have a fully operational port, refinery, steel factory, rubber processing industries and others. The de-industrialisation of Warri and the ethnic conflicts laid waste to the city. Whenever it rains heavily, the city drowns in flood. Bad roads and traffic jams complete the picture of despair for the city dwellers and visitors. Oborevwori is constructing gigantic and complex flyover bridges at major intersections after which he will descend on the broken urban roads. I also understand that huge underground drainages are being constructed to de-flood the city.
Another area the smooth transfer of power has impacted is education. By the way, Delta is the only state that has two very functional airports – at Asaba and Osubi, Warri. Delta State also pioneered the establishment of the state’s version of the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC. They call it Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, which has been copied by other NDDC states.
Delta is also the only state with four state-owned universities, apart from other tertiary institutions. Okowa may look rather poor these days, politically. But he started something really big in the areas of education and youth/women empowerment. Oborevwori has simply continued from where his predecessor stopped. We saw a number of really impressive technical schools, many of which will be opened in September this year.
Delta State has realised that the educational model we inherited from the colonial masters no longer puts food on the table of those who acquire it. Our irrelevant educational model is a mass producer of unemployment, youth poverty and crime. When we need specialists to give our buildings and other public amenities quality finishing, we must hire technicians from Togo and Benin Republic if we want a good job done. Delta State’s technical colleges are equipped to teach their students fish and earn a living after graduation. They are given starter packs and assisted to employ themselves. They are also given contracts and enabled to partner in developing the state.
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Delta State is moving forward because the various ethnic groups have come to embrace one another. Asaba is home to all. So is Warri. But I think the state should be further ahead than where it is, given its enormous oil and internal revenues. We need to see more ambitious infrastructural investments across the state. Next time I travel the creeks I want to ride in a safe and comfortable boat, not the traditional outboard canoes. Warri must be rescued from its current image of a junk city.
Indeed, with equity and justice, anything is possible.
