Category: Opinion

One unmistakable and discernible thread that has run through the programmes and policies  of Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, is his uncommon concern and care for the welfare  of the less endowed, referred to in popular parlance as the less privileged in the society. This innate trait in the governor came to the fore once again in Warsaw, Poland at the UN Conference on Climate Change.

Uduaghan, a founding member of R20, an international organisation of sub-national governments, NGOs, corporations and educational institutions across the world committed to combating climate change, speaking at a panel discussion on “Enhancing adaptation and resilience at the local level” at the UN conference lamented the challenges of adaptation to climate change on the rural people, who are most vulnerable to the devastating impact of flooding.

His words: “What I see here is a lot of attention being given to issues in the cities and urbanization, which is important but I will like to see some attention paid to the lives of the people in the rural communities. During extreme weather event like flooding, these are people whose economic and social means are destroyed and they have a lot of difficult time getting on their feet. So the text that will emerge from this conference must reflect the necessity of providing means to improve the adaptation and resilience of the rural communities.”

The governor no doubt was speaking from experience. He saw firsthand, the havoc, sorrow and the devastation people at the bank of the River Niger suffered in the wake of the 2012 horrifying flood that submerged about two-third of Delta State. The victims, mostly rural dwellers lost houses, farmlands and in some cases loved ones to the flood.

Uduaghan informed the audience that his administration has been doing a lot within the constraint of resources to implement robust adaptation and mitigation measures as the state is prone to flooding.

“Over the past five years, my administration has worked hard in developing an integrated approach in addressing the menace of climate change. Our approach is to promote sustainable development and the diversification of the energy economy of the state. We have been

collaborating with international institutions and corporate organizations to achieve this,” he said.

He listed the collaboration with UNDP on Territorial Approach to Climate (TACC) study, which is now completed with the production of the Integrated Territorial Climate Plan (ITCP), a report that captures adaptation and mitigation strategies across all, including the rural communities. He also explained that based on the ITCP report, the state would encourage the use of energy saving stoves, to reduce the felling of trees for energy use at the rural communities. He also listed the use of energy efficient fish dryers and biogas digester that will turn kitchen waste to cooking gas as other initiatives his government is encouraging.

Governor Uduaghan stated that his administration will pursue tree planting initiatives to act as green belt in coastal communities to forestall erosion and flooding. He also talked about the recently launched Carbon Exchange Desk, explaining that it will serve as a clearinghouse for carbon credit-related transactions. Delta state is the first State in Nigeria to do this.

Close watchers of programmes and policies of the Uduaghan’s administration see foot prints of his milk of kindness and concern for the ordinary folk in all his endeavours since assuming office as Governor of Delta State since May 29, 2007. This uncommon burden for the underprivileged dots his award winning micro-credit programme that has provided economic support to over 100,000 economically weak persons, majority of whom are women, in the state. The micro credit programme which won three-consecutive Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) awards has three attributes: empowerment of the grassroots population, creating new wealth at the level and reducing unemployment in the productive age bracket. It targets the rural and urban poor, unemployed, particularly school leavers, economically disadvantaged persons, the physically challenged among others. Reports from the Commissioner of Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Antonia Ashiedu, indicates that most beneficiaries of the scheme who started as small scale businesses have grown to medium enterprises and are now exporting some of their products.

The administration’s free rural, maternal and child Medicare programmes, where urban poor and rural folks are treated free of charge are no less welfarist. Under the free rural health scheme, which has moved to about 400 rural communities in the state, over 100,000 patients have received medical treatment, including surgeries.

Data from the State Ministry of Health indicate that over 600,000 clinical attendance have been recorded under the free maternal care scheme since its inception in 2008. The scheme provides free medical care for pregnant women from conception to child birth. These include free drugs and surgeries. The result is drastic reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality. Prior to the scheme, the maternal mortality rate in the state was about 450 deaths in every 100,000 pregnant women but the figure has dropped to about 211 deaths, the lowest in the country. Similarly, the under five free medical programme of the state government that provides free Medicare for children under five years has reduced infant mortality in the state. Independent health data indicate that 110 deaths out of 1,000 for children under the age of five used to be recorded in the South-south states, prior to this scheme but that the figure from Delta State has dropped to about 23 on the average.

The state government’s urban, rural and riverine transportation schemes that provide comfortable means of transportation for the citizens at drastically subsidized prices also have imprints of a man with the wellbeing of the less privileged at heart. The Mass Transit Scheme at the moment has about 800 buses on its fleet, including 50 Marcopolo Buses, 40 school shuttle buses and nine civilian buses for tertiary institutions. The target is to increase the fleet to 1,000 buses. The state Ministry of Transport has also distributed over 4,000 tricycles at highly subsidized prices and recently 130 executive boats were given out to ease riverine transportation.

Rural folks used to rickety vehicles now board fully air-conditioned buses at little cost. Urban dwellers who were at the mercy of Shylock taxi and bus drivers now take pleasure in boarding comfortable buses, popularly called ‘Uduaghan Buses’ at very cheap rates.  Riverside dwellers too now move about in comfortable boats.

It is common knowledge that public primary and secondary schools in Nigeria today are attended by children of the less privileged. Uduaghan, aware of this and in keeping with his character, embarked on an aggressive and massive infrastructure revolution of public primary and secondary schools. Under the programme, most of the dilapidated structures have given way to modern state-of-the-art buildings conducive for learning and instruction. Governor Uduaghan on assumption of office ensured that students in public schools are enrolled for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Council on Education (NECO) examinations free, with the state government bearing the cost.

Besides, the state’s bursary and scholarship programme has afforded students of the state’s origin and indigent students opportunity to realise their dream of tertiary education. Every student from the state benefits from an annual bursary scheme but students with a higher grade point average are in addition paid annual scholarship of about N100,000 with Masters and PhD candidates receiving N200,000 and N300,000 respectively, annually. The administration also runs a PhD scholarship scheme where students of the state’s origin who make first class are granted automatic scholarship to study up to their doctorate degree and are paid N5 million every year. There are also the overseers, children of deceased civil servants, physically challenged, aviation and law scholarship schemes that the administration is running.

Statistics from the state’s  Bursary and Scholarship Board indicate that over 80 thousand students have benefited from the student’s bursary scheme between 2009 and 2012, while 1, 236 students in law school have also benefited under the period. Over 90 students have also benefited from the overseers scholarship scheme while no less than 300 have been granted scholarship under the first class scheme.

• Idama is a public affairs commentator.

Remembering especially his dismal performance in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and other unflattering outings, many Nigerians must have fretted when the BBC announced that President Goodluck Jonathan was going to favour its global audience with his reflections on Nelson Mandela’s legacy.

They need not have worried.

It was a lexical triumph for Dr Jonathan. He delivered himself with semantic and syntactic aplomb, even taking a dig at those leaders who, instead of voluntarily relinquishing office like Mandela, sit tight and plunge their countries into chaos – no need for him to name them, said Dr Jonathan; you know them — and those leaders who leave office but continually lurk in the corridors of power.

Is this perchance an indication that he intends to “play Mandela” by seeking neither a second term nor an elongation of his current term?

In whatever case, I hope he is not scheduled to be in the same room anytime soon with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. I can assure him that Mugabe, one of the most gifted polemicists in Africa and indeed anywhere, will respond in kind at the earliest opportunity, and most likely with compound interest.

When it came to naming an example of those who, according to Jonathan, vacated office but carry on as if they are still in power, I was stuck. Can you help?