Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, on Tuesday, said his administration will urgently tackle the shortfall in the number of primary and secondary school teachers in the state if elected as governor come February 2023.
He said upon the assumption of office as governor, his administration will address the students/teacher’s ratio by ensuring that Deltans get quality education by engaging qualified new ones.
Omo-Agege also disclosed that the Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a N40 billion Oil and Gas Park to be sited in the boundary communities of Eku and Abraka in the Ethiope East Local Government of the state.
The APC governorship candidate disclosed this while addressing mammoth crowd of supporters who received him in continuation of the party’s ward-to-ward campaign at Iyara, Oviri Olomu and Kiagbodo in Ughelli South and Burutu local government areas of the state.
Flanked by the deputy governorship candidate of the party, Rt. Hon. Friday Osanebi, chairman of the party in the state, Elder Omeni Sobotie, Director-General of the Delta APC Campaign Committee, Elder Godsday Orubebe and chieftains of the party, Omo-Agege noted that he was aware of the lack of teachers in most public schools, especially in riverine areas of the state.
“A few days ago, I was discussing with a prominent leader in Ijawland who’s like a father to me. And he was telling me about primary and secondary schools in Burutu where you have total teachers strength is about 16.
“Sixteen teachers teach over 700 students meanwhile if you go to St. Patrick’s, Asaba, they have over 300 teachers. I begin to wonder and I asked him, what crime did the people of Ijaw nation commit against Okowa?
“But don’t worry. Good news is coming. When I emerge as the governor of Delta State, we are going to address the students-teacher ratio imbalance in our primary and secondary schools.
“So that our children who are going to schools will have a solid foundation in learning. Our schools will get teachers with me as the governor”, Omo-Agege assured.
He stated that with what he has done as a senator in Delta Central Senatorial District, as governor, he would do much more if elected and bring development to all parts of the state.
Speaking at Iyara and Oviri Olomu where hundreds of PDP chieftains including Chief Eunice Okoh, who recently contested for House of Representatives ticket for Ughelli South, Ughelli North and Udu Federal Constituency and Madam Alice Ogba defected to the APC, the Delta Central lawmaker said he had kept to every promise he made to the people while contesting to represent them at the National Assembly.
“I made certain promises at that time and you voted for me. I went to the Senate, and in 2019, I came back to you again to ask for further support to send me back to the Senate.
“Ughelli South you were there for me. Because of the support that Ughelli South gave me along with other local governments in Urhobo land, I went back to the Senate and was able to emerge as the Deputy President of the Senate.
“So, what this means is that without you, there will be no Senator Omo-Agege, so I am grateful from the depth of my heart.
“However, in the course of my service in the Senate, I made certain promises. I promised to leverage my office as the Deputy President of the Senate to bring development to the whole of Urhobo land, and today in every local government area including Ughelli South here in every community and village here, there is no place that my impact has not been felt.
“I tried very hard to make sure that every village and community is given and entitled to street lighting. If there are one, two, or three communities that haven’t gotten street lighting will get theirs in the coming two to three weeks.
“The promise I made was to light up Delta Central. That was a promise made and that’s a promise kept. I also decided that it was not enough to put street lighting, that we needed to boost the electricity supply and as a consequence of that, we made sure that we supplied and installed transformers in almost every community.
“We still have some incoming. In two to three weeks’ time, they will be available for those who haven’t gotten theirs.
“I also made a promise that we needed to refurbish our schools, and as a consequence of that, we selected certain schools. Primary and Secondary and we refurbished them.
“Some of them were renovated while we built new blocks of classrooms for them. Didn’t we build in Ughelli South? Our witnesses are here.
“That was not enough, I also promised that schools in every local government will have at least one or two ICT Centers. Ughelli South, don’t you have yours? At least I knew I put up one in Ewu, Usiefrun, Otokutu and all over Delta Central.
“And I also saw to it that when I saw our children studying in schools and heard of some of them sitting on the floor, I said that was not good and we arranged for school furniture to be supplied to those schools. Didn’t we, do it?
“And in some places especially the riverine communities, one of my visits to Egbe-Ode because I have a family relationship there in the course of the campaign and I noticed that most of the graveyards were being washed away into the river, and I promised them that I will bring shore protection to that place. And we brought a project worth N1.2b to that place.
“I also promised that we should put a jetty at Okwagbe. Is that not so? Has that been installed? Not only that in the course of my service in the Senate, as we were being asked to approve the establishment of schools, in Katsina and other states, I told them I came from somewhere also that as we are approving that of Kastina, mine should be approved also, and that was why I was able to bring the Federal Polytechnic Orogun which will serve the whole of Delta State.
“If you go to the boundary between Eku and Abraka today, we also got the approval of the Federal Government to install an Oil and Gas Industrial Park. Are you aware? When that Oil and Gas Industrial Park is complete, that project is way bigger than the Polytechnic. It’s a project worth N40b”, Omo-Agege added.
Meanwhile, the State chairman of APC, Elder Omeni Sobotie, has warned against intimidation of APC supporters in the state, stressing that anyone who made threats on the life of any party faithful will be arrested by security agencies.
Sobotie stated that APC was coasting home to victory in the forthcoming elections in the state, urging other PDP members to dump the party for the APC ahead of the elections.
Receiving defectors at the rallies, the Delta APC chairman told the new members that they had made the right choice by dumping the PDP, adding that the party will win with a high margin.
Other speakers at the events included former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Chief Monday Igbuya, the senatorial candidates for Delta Central and Delta South, Chief Ede Dafinone and Hon. Joel Thomas-Onowhakpo; serving member of the House of Representatives and candidate of the party for Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency, Rev Francis Waive; Olorogun Ima Niboro, Dr. Chris Oghenechovwen, Comrade Michael Akpobire, Olorogun Mrs Faith Majemite, Olorogun Eunice Okoh, Madam Alice Ogba and leaders of the party who all expressed strong conviction that the party will win in the state.
