The Sheriff Oborevwori administration of Delta State has presented spectacular events, some of which defy human logic. Oborevwori himself emerged governor after surviving as many as 38 court cases, which were veritable land mines strewn on his part to stop him from becoming the chief executive officer of the state. As a man destined to govern the state, he weathered all storms, and today, no one is in doubt that he didn’t become governor by chance but through divine orchestration. The 18-month-old administration of Sheriff Oborevwori, with its M.O.R.E agenda mantra, presents features that are distinct from those of his predecessors in ways that are deliberately remarkable:
One distinctive feature of the Oborevwori administration is its emphasis on quality projects. The administration has thus hired reputable construction firms like Julius Berger, CCC Construction Company, Levant Construction Company, SETRACO and tested homegrown construction firms like Obakpor Engineering Limited to execute its high-profile construction projects. While Julius Berger is handling the construction of three bridges, cloverleaf, and road expansion projects in Warri/Effurun metropolis, CCECC is handling sector C of the 167 Kilometer Asaba Ughelli expressway including the complex Obo bridge at Ogwashi Uku. SETRACO is handling the ambitious Trans-Warri Ode 20.95 Kilometer Itsekiri road with multiple bridges and spurs. Also, Obakpor Engineering, a reputable indigenous firm, is handling the Orere bridge in the Ughelli South Local Government area.
Remarkably, Governor Oborevwori pays personal attention to these projects to complement the efforts of competent commissioners and government engineers who oversee them. Besides, he has the spectacular habit of setting aside monies for projects while still under construction to avoid project abandonment. To this end, all the projects bequeathed to it by the Okowa administration have either been completed or are at varying stages of completion.
Right from inception, Governor Oborevwori made it clear to contractors that his administration was going to have zero tolerance for shoddy or substandard jobs. He made it clear that contracts were going to be awarded to only competent contractors in line with the M.O.R.E agenda of the administration. To this end, he appointed a competent civil engineer as the Special Adviser for Project Monitoring and Audit and a strong team of project monitors to ensure compliance. The governor ensures that monies set aside for projects have value just as he abhors cutting corners or use of out-of-specification materials for projects. He is a good manager of men and resources and he exhibits these good traits in the management of state resources. Since mounting the saddle as Governor of Delta state, he has not borrowed a kobo to finance Government projects. He works within means and ensures that government obligations to contractors and civil/public servants are met as at when due. Oborevwori has consistently plugged all areas of waste or leakages while also ensuring that Government does not indulge in reckless expenditure that gives the impression that his government is a “Father Christmas.”
In line with the M.O.R.E Agenda, Governor Oborevwori started early by recruiting 3000 teaching and non-teaching staff across the 25 local government areas of the state. The Governor also ensured that students of Delta State origin, numbering over 60,000 in tertiary institutions across the country, received their 2022/2023 bursary while also approving a 25% reduction in acceptance fees in the four state-owned universities. The Governor has so far done three tranches of palliative distribution to widows, the aged, and vulnerable segments of the society. The state’s MORE GRANT SCHEME has recorded tremendous results as thousands of beneficiaries in targeted trades/artisans have been empowered. Meanwhile, direct beneficiaries of the Delta COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (D-CARES) had exponentially increased from 36,353 to 110,841 within one year of the Oborevwori administration. The Delta State government, under Oborevwori’s watch, is poised to create 50,000 jobs with the introduction of Special Agricultural Economic Zones with special strategic partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the African Development Bank, and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA ), amongst others.
Also, the Oborevwori administration has given financial assistance to students of Delta State extraction in seven Nigeria law schools across the nation. This is in addition to the payment of N14.5 billion as pension obligations to retired workers in the State. As a workers-friendly administration, he has not only paid the outstanding promotion arrears of civil servants but also promptly approved a minimum wage of N77,000 Naira for civil servants in the state. Perhaps no government before it in the state has given youths the opportunity to participate in high levels of government as the administration has done. The administration lived up to its campaign promise by unprecedentedly giving several youths opportunities to serve as members of the state Executive Council. About 30% of the state commissioners are below 40, and this is replicated in the number of youths who are EAs, SSAs, and SAs. This policy has brought a lot of succour to youths in the state and increased capacity building, youth empowerment, and succession planning in governance.
The government of Oborevwori is very women-friendly. To foster gender inclusiveness, he directed the state PDP to ensure that when a man emerges as chairmanship candidate in the local government election, the Vice Chairman must be a woman. The Governor also directed that at least three women must emerge as councillors in each of the local government councils. The last local government election, therefore, produced more women in that tier of government than any administration before it since 1999. This policy again has engendered inclusion and peace in the state.
The administration promised to run a government of inclusion and has so far lived to its promise. To create an atmosphere of inter-party harmony and cohesion, Oborevwori appointed several opposition party chairmen to serve in his government. That aside, the governor gave appointments to non-indigenes in the state and gave the non-indigene community in the state a special status, thus fostering a unique opportunity for them to participate in the affairs of government.
The government has deliberately created ethnic balancing by ensuring even distribution of patronage and resources to the different ethnic nationalities in the state. At no time before now has the different ethnic nationalities experienced this type of inter-communal peace in the state. For the first time since 1999, the Ndokwa Nation produced a Deputy Governor. An Itsekiri man is the state chairman of PDP, while an Ijaw man is the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. An Isoko man is the Chief of Staff while an Ika man is the SSG. The Aniocha/Oshimili Federal constituency has produced the Senator representing Delta North in the Senate. The Political lines have fallen in pleasant places, and no community is left out.
The Isoko people were recently pleasantly surprised when Governor Oborevwori facilitated a new faculty of basic medical sciences in the University of science and Technology Ozoro and also approved immediate building of a new faculty building to accommodate students into the new faculty.
Such is the spirit with which the governor creates community peace and security. The aforementioned political craftmanship perhaps explains the reason why Oborevwori had the distinction of being not only the longest-serving speaker in the Delta State of Assembly (May 11th, 2017–May 28th, 2023) but also the only speaker in the history of the Assembly to have transmuted from one administration to another.
- Akpewe is a Senior Media analyst.
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