When you took over as governor of Delta state in 2007, certainly you had a vision of where you wanted to take the state to. Now at the twilight of your administration, how well will you say this vision has been achieved?
We have done very well. First, what is our vision? Our vision was that of peace and security, infrastructural development and of course, human capital development dovetailing into empowerment, and we pursued those things very vigorously. I’am sure today you are aware that there are no incidents of security challenges. In terms of peace and security, we have doing better now, there are better infrastructures. If you were here in 2007, first where you are now ( the new government house), we would have not been here. So many things we have now were not there. We now have a lot of things that were not there then.
The airport was not there, many roads were not there and our schools- you must have seen some of our schools and hospitals that are wearing a new look. So we have a lot of things that were not there in 2007. Of course in terms of human capital development, our pro-poor programmes of free maternal health care, free healthcare for under five children, assistance in education with various scholarship scheme for post graduate study for First Class graduates, they were not there. And of course, we also have micro credit scheme which has directly impacted on the lives of 111, 000 Deltans which also has multiplier effects.
All those things were not there before, but they are all there now. So we have gone far, but the development we are talking about does not really have a terminal date, it does not end with my tenure. Whoever is coming will improve on it and that is what we expect. That is why some of us are concerned about our successor. So a lot has been achieved and I am happy and satisfied that we’ve done this much.
Growing Delta state economy beyond oil is one of your cardinal programmes. But how have the current drop in international prices of oil and consequently, the reduction in revenue accruing to the states affected your programmes?
Yes, it has affected the programme, but if our objectives can still be achieved. I am happy that what is happening now is happening to some extent. Yes, it is not nice, it should not have happened, but it is a wakeup call for all of us to redirect our minds. And this is the call we have been making for several years now that we must look at other areas of the economy apart from oil and gas. The price is getting to $40 per barrel and that is a big challenge to most governments that depend on oil revenue.
Nigerians must accept that the oil being a volatile commodity is a commodity we cannot rely on for economic development and we must accept to move to other areas. And I am happy that we are coming up gradually, maybe we need to move faster to areas of agriculture and other investment strategies that we need to put in place as a government. So it is Nigeria beyond oil- the economy of Nigeria when the oil is not there. Those are the things we must strategise on. But like I said, it’s not something that has a terminal date, but at least, as we go along, we are able to reassess ourselves what achievements we have made.
So, how well would you say you have done in your attempt to diversify the economy of Delta State beyond oil before the crash of oil price?
That is the summary of my achievements because everything we have been doing since 2007 is about preparing Delta for eventuality, that is preparing Delta for when there will be no oil or when the price will drop as it is happening now. We have made a lot of progress. Some things are just basic, that you need to put on ground- you need to have good roads, you need to have power, you need to have access to the ports. These are basic things you need to have before you now begin to think of how well you have done. Those are the things that we are concentrating on now. But in doing that, the investors are also taking interest and they are having discussions with us and I believe the next governor will enjoy that goodwill that has been created from Delta beyond oil and it has a lot of national appeal. Many people believe that is the way to go.
Your administration has been taking over the rehabilitation of some major federal roads and some months ago, your commissioner for works said the federal government has failed to reimburse you the billions you’ve spent on these roads. How many federal government roads has your government embarked upon, and what is the total amount they are yet to reimburse you?
They have not reimbursed the state any kobo. We have a 148 kilometre Asaba-Ughelli dualisation- that is a federal road, we have 36 kilometres Ugbenu-Koko road. That one is very swampy. So, we have those two major roads. Of course we have the Effurun-Eku road- that is about 31 kilometres. So we have those three major roads that are federal roads. Collectively, the contract sum for these roads is over N80 billion because some of them are in a very swampy terrain, especially the Koko-Ugbenu road. But we haven’t gotten a kobo. We have made several efforts, but of course, the answer from the federal government has always been no money, no money, no money.
What informed your decision to embark on rehabilitation of these roads considering that it is costing the state so much?
They are economic roads. They have economic benefits for the people of the state. Let me take the Ughelli-Asaba dualisation for example. You know, one of the biggest markets in Nigeria is Onitsha market and many of the traders import their goods either by sea or by air. Yes, the Onitsha end of the Niger River has been dredged but it can take very small ships, so most of the importers bring their goods through Lagos ports. But the closest port to them is Warri port. We actually went to discuss with them in the market, their group called OMATA and one of the complaints they had is that the road between Warri and Asaba is too narrow for their lorries. That is why we thought we should expand it so that they can now have access to the port in Warri.
The State House of Assembly passed a law decreeing death sentence for kidnapping which used to be very rampant here, but you refused to sign the bill into law, unlike some other state governors. In spite of that, cases of kidnapping seemed to have reduced. How were you able to tackle the problem of kidnapping?
Those governors who signed the bills, how many have they killed? Why are we deceiving ourselves? But like I did say that time, there are other ways of handling criminality other than death sentence. The thing is, first of all, we’ve been able to sensitise our people, we sensitised our traditional rulers, we sensitised the religious leaders, we sensitised the various communities, we sensitised even landlords, it is like know your neighbours type of operation, know the type of people who live in your area and all that.
Two, we have been able to provide information to security agencies. We have a way of getting information. Then we also had the area where they (kidnappers) have a lot of concentration, where they have their structure, like the Kokori area. And using the security agencies- the SSS, the Police and the Army, we are able to go after them. Of course, you know that their chief, Kelvin, was arrested. His number two was arrested and number three was also arrested. A lot of them were arrested. Although once in a while, the members still try to rebuild but we still go after them to abort it. So we have two aspects: one, engagement, two, law and order.
For the law and order, we are using the security agencies. And of course, some of the properties like buildings were identified and we brought them down. That is what some other states are also using now, we started it- myself and Obi (former Governor of Anambra State) at that time. That also helps to reduce cases of kidnapping. But let me say that this state has had the highest number of prosecution of cases of kidnappers than any other state. We have a lot of them that have been sentenced by the various courts and they are in prison custody. Our judges have become very bold in doing that. Other judges are afraid to sentence them, but our judges have been very bold and that has contributed to the reduction of cases of kidnapping.
One other area your government has done well and has been earning glory for Nigeria is sports. What informed your interests and investments in sports?
First of all, as a person, I’ve always been interested in sport. But that is not the issue. The issue is that a foundation has been laid during the old Bendel and that foundation was laid by General Samuel Ogbemudia. We must never forget him when we talk about sport in this area. And of course, by the time I took over from my predecessor, he had also built on that foundation, especially in the area of infrastructure.
He has constructed many stadia. What we did was to complete some of the uncompleted stadia; we rehabilitated some and also tried to develop the athletes. Now, the fear of every athlete is what happens to him or her after his days of glory. If you look carefully, a lot of them, even to pay their rent is not possible because they were not prepared for the future.
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