DELTA STATE

IFEANYI OKOWA: CALM, PRUDENT AND DETERMINED

Ifeanyi Okowa has made progress with his SMART Agenda standing for: Strategic wealth creation projects and provision of jobs; Meaningful peace building platforms aimed at political and social harmony; Agricultural reforms and accelerated industrialisation; Relevant health and education policies; and Transformed environment through urban renewal.

Under SMART, the Delta State governor has upgraded over 1,000 primary schools, 475 secondary schools and three technical colleges. Two of the three campuses of the state-owned Delta State University, Abraka and Oleh, have also been given a face-lift. With 65 hospitals and over 200 functional health centres, the health sector has also received significant attention, while the inauguration of the upgraded Abavo and Patani hospitals in 2016 was a significant milestone in the health sector.

In two years, the governor has pumped over N35 billion into the construction of roads across the three senatorial zones of the state, particularly in Delta North and Central districts, with over 130km of roads constructed or rehabilitated. In Asaba, the state capital, urban renewal is apace with several roads under rehabilitation. Appreciable progress has also been made on the construction of the Asaba drainage system project.

However, insecurity remained a drawback in the state with the herdsmen menace, particularly in Delta North and Central zones. Okowa also faced the onerous task of resurgent militant attacks on oil and gas infrastructure much of last year, which impacted negatively on the state’s finances, as reduced crude oil production from Delta State translated into lower derivation from the Federation Account. Although peace appears to have been restored, Delta remains the most volatile oil producing state in the Niger Delta.

The state’s debt profile was also a cause for concern in the two years Okowa has been in the saddle. With the volatility in the oil markets and attendant lower FAAC allocations, this means that the governor has to expand his internal revenue base through diverse sources other than PAYE for the state to remain viable.