So we have tried to prepare the future of athletes in this state. For those who win gold or silver medals, they are automatically absorbed into the civil service. So that at least, even when they stop competing, they are sure that they are working, they are receiving salary and are sure that when they retire, they are sure of receiving pension. So for life, they have something going for them. That has encouraged most of our sportsmen and women. But beyond that, we have also invested in a lot of training on some of our athletes. One of the things that affect athletes is struggle for money and they get burnt out easily.

However, as the governor of Delta, I discovered that Delta people love sports so much, that if you lose, people are not happy with you. If you win, everybody in Delta is happy with you. All those national sports festivals that we won, all those competitions that we won, each time we won, you will be amazed with the calibre of people that call me. In fact, one of the first persons that will call me is Chief E.K. Clark. He is usually one of the first persons that will call me to congratulate and thank us.

Another person is General Ogomudia, the former Chief of Defence Staff, even people who are not from Delta, like Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie. He will call me. They are all happy that we won. So if we are winning in Delta, it’s like we are wining for Edo/Delta. They are all happy. So, we just have to continue. And that is one advice that I will give to whoever is going to take over from me, that he should also pay attention to the area of sports because that is one thing that those of us from this area will love to hear.

Your investments in health has also been recognised nationally and internationally. You have done well in the health Millinnium Development Goals and your maternal mortality rate is below national average. Is this passion for investment in the health sector borne out of the fact that you are a medical doctor?

It is possible, my profession is part of it, but it is also part of our overall strategies that a healthy mind will equally develop a healthy set of persons. You know, when we talk about human capital development, one of the strategic areas is health. The combination of health and education are two key areas that we can use to improve the society. You can construct all the roads, you can construct all the bridges, but if you have an unhealthy population and uneducated population, those things will not just make meaning.

So we try to lay some emphasis on health, especially on maternal and child health because that is where if you fail to miss it, you have damaged the life forever. If a woman is pregnant and she doesn’t take care of it properly, the outcome of the pregnancy could be a problem to the society. So when you’re talking of deviants in the society today, when you are talking of criminals and all that, sometimes if you go back to what happened to them when their mother was pregnant, you may find out that something may have happened to the mother during pregnancy that has made the son to become an armed robber or a criminal. So that is why it is very critical to take care of that segment of the society.