The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has pledged to restore the glory of Ijaw land when elected governor.
Omo-Agege, who is the Deputy Senate President, and his campaign train berthed at the Burutu wharf on Tuesday after a 75-minute boat ride from the Warri Club jetty. He was received by thronging crowds of party supporters and indigenes.
According to a statement by the Director of Communications and Media Strategy for the state APC campaign council, Olorogun Ima Niboro, the governorship candidate expressed sadness that the once bubbling town of Burutu had become a shadow of its self. He thus did not mince words in assuring the people of a new hope when elected governor of Delta State.
He said:” We are going to bring back the glory days of Burutu. The Nigeria Ports Authority that used to boost the economy of this town is dead and we have a governor who does not care for the Ijaw people. When (Governor Ifeanyi) Okowa was running for governor he promised prosperity for all Deltans, yet there is no prosperity here. He is a trickster. Burutu’s contribution enabled him to collect over N3.5 trillion from the federation account in the past seven-and-a-half years. How much would it have cost to sustain the Delta Timber Industry that used to provide job opportunities for people across the state here in Burutu? I am as vexed as you are over the wickedness of Okowa to the Ijaw people.
“Okowa’s priorities did not favour the Ijaw people. But the good news is that when I become governor, we will bring back DTI and make it functional again. The Ijaw nation under my government will have a State tetiary institution. We will reactivate the Burutu port. I already have the commitment of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when elected president, to make the NPA in Burutu work again. All those contributing to the economy of the State will be compensated and those not contributing will be taken care of.
“We will make sure the 13 per cent oil derivation funds are well managed for the benefit of Deltans. We are going to make DESOPADEC (Delta State Oil Producing Areas Commission) function as it should. We will attract other companies here to create jobs for our people. After I win, by God’s grace, I will return to consult you on other development projects that will make Burutu bubble again”.
Meanwhile, youths of Burutu Local Government Area have praised Omo-Agege for personally coming to their community to campaign for votes.
Led by the Delta State youth leader of the APC, Napoleon Kenerekedi, the youths likened Omo-Agege’s appearance to a similar one made over four decades ago by the then governor of the now defunct Bendel State, Prof. Ambrose Alli in 1979.
He dismissed Okowa “as a very wicked person”, saying that refused to site any project in Ijawland except a School of Marine Engineering in Okerenkoko, “because his deputy, Kingsley Otuaro, hails from there.
“Okowa has been wicked to us and we will ‘reward’ him at the polls next year”.
APC candidate for Burutu North constituency of the state assembly, Ambassador Anthony Ebitonmo said that Burutu used to be a major hub in the economy of the state “but in Okowa’s administration nothing came to us, even the said School of Marine Engineering, he has abandoned”.
The campaign rally witnessed decamping of former stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. They said they had been working for the PDP over the years.
“The PDP used us to sweep their floors and dumped us. We are tired of being used and dumped and have decided to cross over to the APC”, they said.
Among the defectors were Ambassador A. B. Idolor, Dr Gradeone Clark, Chief Alex Emekeogha and their supporters, as well as hundreds of women who expressed their dissatisfaction with the PDP.
Welcoming the decampees, the state chairman of the APC, Elder Omeni Sobotie said: “Our banner is the truth and we will continue to preach the truth across the state and nothing can deter us.
“The era of writing results is gone, they can no longer write their fictitious figures. Nobody has ever celebrated their victory here but they will join in celebrating ours”, Sobotie declared.
