By Shola O’Neil and Elo Edremoda, Warri
The Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration in Delta State has received more knocks, following the Good Governance Awards event organised by traditional rulers to honour selected leaders in the state on Thursday.
Immediate Past President of the Isoko Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Agbefe Sebastine, in a chat with newsmen, Friday, faulted the governor, as well as the traditional rulers for presenting what he described as “frivolous and selective awards in the name of good governance”.
Sebastin further called on the traditional rulers council to withdraw the awards and apologize to Deltans and particularly, former governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
According to him, the current government has no legacy project on ground that Deltans can point at.
Wondering what the yardstick for good governance is, he recalled the efforts of Dr. Uduaghan in bridging the peace gap among ethnicities across the state, as well as notable projects executed by his administration.
“In the years of the Warri crisis that saw lives, properties and the economy of our domain destroyed, one man was saddled with the enormous task of leading the peace delegation of the government. That individual tried as much as possible to reach out to all who were aggrieved and peace was given a chance.
“By the mid 2007, the same man became governor and continued with his peace building efforts. He lived up to his calling, built bridges across community gulfs, which saw improvements in intra-communal relations.
“Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan, a taciturn individual, is not one to blow his horns or selfishly add feathers to his own caps. He rather chooses the option of tireless result oriented service in the interest of the state.
“The league of traditional rulers that chose to be lopsided at choosing their awardees is quick to forget how egalitarian Uduaghan was as a governor for eight years. If he was an ethnic bigot, the airport that gulped billions of Naira would have been in Abigborodo, his home town. The man chose to do it otherwise because of his quest to develop the state on equal footing,” he said
Listing other projects embarked by the Uduaghan-led government, including the zero-to- five child and maternal care, Sebastine added, “it is therefore callous, myopic, divisive and ruthless to sideline Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan from the selected group of awardees that the traditional rulers across Delta State chose to recognize.
“Uduaghan will not beg to be so honoured, but for whatever the threshold for good governance, the man has gone far and above the standard set by the group.
Emphasizing the recall of awards, he stated, “I want to challenge the Delta state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, who orchestrated the frivolous award charade to mention one legacy project that Deltans can remember him for.
“We are aware that Chief James Onanefe Ibori brought Oghara Teaching Hospital and built four “Unity Bridges” among others. In like manner Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan built Government House Asaba, Delta and Asaba Malls, Asaba International Airport and host of others.
“If Dr. Okowa fails to mention a legacy project, the ethnic leaders should recall those awards and do the needful. They should apologize to Deltans, and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
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