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Tag: Delta State

  • INEC express concern over uncollected PVC’s nation wide

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday expressed deep concerns over the non-collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) by eligible voters across the country.

    The commission said over 17 million PVCs were yet to be collected with about eight months to the elections.

    National Commissioner of INEC supervising Delta, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states, Dr. Muhammed Mustafa Lecky made this known in Asaba-Delta State during a meeting with representatives of registered political parties in Delta State.

    Lecky said about seven million PVCs were not collected from the 2014/2015 registration exercise, adding that since the commencement of the Continuous Voting Registration (CVR) exercise in 2017, over ten million PVCs are ready and waiting for their owners to collect.

    “The commission is greatly concerned with the burden of uncollected PVCs, this is worrisome because it has an effect on the commission’s logistics planning.

    “In Delta State we have about 300,343 uncollected PVCs, both for the 2014/2015 exercise as well as the 2017 exercise. I am therefore calling on you to mobilise and educate your people on the need to collect their PVCs as the burden of collection is on the owners of the cards,” Lecky charged the politicians.

    He said the commission has taken a step further to ease the stress involved in the collection process by moving into wards for owners to have easy access.

    Read Also: INEC chairman shuns court summons

    Lecky said although the number of registered political parties in the country at the moment is 67, the number may increase to 80 before the elections, disclosing that there are over 100 political associations seeking to be registered and recognise as political parties.

    Administrative Secretary of INEC in the state, Mrs. Rose Oriarian-Anthony bemoaned the lack of physical structures for state chapters of political parties, and urged defaulting parties to put structures in place as the commission will be embarking on another round of verification exercise.

    “Well every one of us here know that it is given for any party registered in the state to have a physical structure with full complement of party executives at the state capital as it is obtainable at the Federal Capital, Abuja where the secretariat of each of your respective political parties is situated. It is my hope that those who are yet to comply have done so, since our last meeting as there will definitely be another round of visits in due course,” she said.

  • Oshiomhole, new Delta APC leadership and 2019

    A fractious and acrimonious relationship between leaders and governorship aspirants of APC in Delta State threatens the potential victory of the party in the next governorship election. The crux of the matter is who becomes APC governorship candidate in 2019. Before that though, the issue of zoning the governorship ticket must be resolved. As an unbiased observer from Delta North Senatorial District of the state with some knowledge of theoretical politics and 20 years of local experience in Delta State, I will make a honest effort to strip away the myths, egos and pretentions, without fear or favour, for according to Salman Rushdie “A poet’s (man of conscience) work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep”.

    I begin by naming some of the most important antagonists in this unfolding internecine tug of war, and exposing their strengths and weaknesses. They are mostly men of exceptional individual accomplishments, who, when united, should be an unstoppable political force in Delta State:

    Chief Otega Emerhor,  Rt Hon Victor Ochei, Chief Great Ogboru, Chief Hyacinth Enuha, Hon. Cairo Ojuogboh, Senator Omo-Agege, Dr Iyke Odikpo, Prof Pat Utomi et. al.

    Everyone of these men advances a seemingly good argument why he or the aspirant he supports is the best candidate to fly APC flag in the 2019 governorship election, especially those from Delta North Senatorial District who  posit that allowing them fly the flag would guarantee votes. From my critical assessment of the situation, if a candidate from Delta North Senatorial District is given APC governorship ticket, PDP and their candidate will easily win in all the local government areas in the state. Let’s leave selfish projections and face reality for once: PDP is the most popular party in the state and through relentless but false propaganda,  Deltans have been made to believe that APC is a northern and Moslem party while PDP, the only party that has governed them since 1999 is their defender. Meanwhile, the incumbent governor is from Delta North Senatorial District and most voters from this area do not have any reason to exchange him for another candidate from the area. Anybody saying otherwise is merely involved in a flight of fancy.

    We may have strong or credible aspirants from Delta North like Hon. Ochei or Prof Utomi, but the fact is that the alignment of forces greatly disadvantages them. Utomi for one would have made an excellent governor like Obaseki of Edo State, but Deltans have known nothing but profligate and mediocre administrators for the last 19 years, and an intellectual with a manifesto of good management, international investment etc would be strange to them, especially as Prof Utomi would not be throwing away money during campaign.  I know the voters of Delta State of today – they will shun him. Hon. Ochei, is an ebullient mobilizer of votes. But anybody who saw his defeat in the last election would understand that you can mobilize best by swimming with the tide; sailing with the wind, as elections in Nigeria are won by building alliances around a trending perception like tribe, religion region or section, or a candidate, not by individual charisma. And it must be noted that for Ochei and Ojuogboh, this election is personal, whether they deny or accept it. They are out to avenge the unprovoked humiliation Governor Okowa has meted out to them since 2015.  I’ll be astounded if they continue to pursue the APC ticket seeing that it would be worthless to everyone in APC since they stand zero chance of winning the general election even if given the governorship ticket for free. And their humiliation would continue with an Okowa victory. My hope is that they realize this sooner rather  than later and support someone from Delta Central Senatorial District, for this is the only area that APC has any realistic chance of winning the votes to end PDP’s misrule and looting of our dear state. I will explain.

    People are moved by emotions more than facts and figures. All over the country today, PDP is stirring emotions by pushing religious, ethnic and sectional sentiments.  If the Delta State APC candidate were to come from Delta Central Senatorial District where nearly 50% of voters in Delta State reside, then voters there will have a candidate they can regard as their own and have a reason to support a party they may not ordinarily vote for. They would think about more infrastructural developments, appointments etc coming to their area and vote APC.  If APC picks their governorship candidate from Delta North Senatorial District, they might as well not field a candidate, for the defeat they will suffer will be total and humiliating.  Even with a candidate from Delta Central, there is still no guarantee of victory, only a foundation for a difficult path to victory.

    I believe that a first class brain like Chief Tega Emerhor must know this, so was initially baffled by his opposition to a candidate from Delta Central, but from recent comments from him, I have come to realize that here is a man who may have given up on the chances of APC winning Delta State and is now only fighting to protect his position and influence: influence to nominate board members and other appointees from Delta State and be called “Leader”. He has been heard repeatedly posit that since Ogboru only joined APC after him, he should not be ambitious to the point of seeking the party’s governorship ticket since he didn’t help “build” the party. That argument is untenable since history is replete with instances of political parties inviting reputable persons from outside to become their candidates and help them win elections. Gen. Charles de Gaulle of France, Gen. Eisenhower of the US, Gen.  Obasanjo here in Nigeria are a few examples. From all indications it would seem that Chief Otega has put his personal interest over and above the need for APC to win Delta State in 2019. This is deplorable and the new leadership of APC must act now to restore hope.

    Critical objective thoughts and sacrifice are what is required for APC to win Delta State. The imperative of freeing Delta State from the iron grip of James Ibori’s criminal dynasty must be treated like a liberation struggle, in which there should be no room for sentiments or for the use of the oppressor’s tactics, for the so-called “zoning” arrangement that Delta North members so often refer to was nothing but a ruse by Ibori to install his cousin Emmanuel Uduaghan as governor in 2007. If Ibori had favoured Oscar Ibru for instance, he would have promoted another decoy to support his choice. Delta North leaders must take a cue from what Asiwaju Bola Tinubu did in 2014/2015, when he supported a northern candidate and even sacrificed a personal consolation vice presidential slot in order to achieve a Muslim/Christian ticket that helped guarantee APC victory.

    What should be paramount in their minds should be APC victory not the zone producing the governor. They should recognize that Delta State would live for decades, and it would not be the end of the world if Delta North Senatorial District does not produce the governor in 2019, since there will be many more years and opportunities in the future for us in Delta North to produce a governor of Delta State. They should pause and think about the consequences if South Africans had been fighting over whether the majority Zulu or the Sotho, or Xhosa should produce the first black president of the country in 1994, instead of recognizing and reinforcing the leader of the struggle and concentrating on the liberation of their country.

    Now coming down to the Delta Central candidate who has the potential to win for APC.  As it stands today Chief Great Ogboru is the only one. Twice in 2010 Deltans freely gave him their total support, PDP only returning Uduaghan via two of the most unconscionable cases of election rigging in the history of Nigeria. But there have been attempts to cast Ogboru in bad light in view of the fact that he was unable to successfully assume office after the votes Deltans gave him. This is a classic case of blaming the victim of a crime.  All Deltans were twice robbed of their electoral victory in 2010/2011. And Ogboru is the ground zero, the epicentre of this daylight robbery. If our votes were stolen by PDP, he is the chief mourner in this tragedy and deserves our understanding, sympathy,  and forgiveness  for his shortcomings.

    So, for an APC victory in Delta State in 2019, Comrade Oshiomhole must do what Genghis Khan did with the Mongols in the 19th century by stopping their fratricidal conflicts, uniting them, then focusing and directing their aggression towards the external enemy, and created in the process, the largest contiguous empire in human history. He must call these leaders and aspirants together, know those posturing, discern those with big egos and recognize those who can win votes. He must then proceed to lay down the law. And if need be, leave the door open for the exit of those who have put their egos and personal interest above the need for APC victory in Delta State.

     

  • Tony Elumelu foundation donates N500m to empowerment schemes

    The Tony Elumelu Foundation has donated N500 million in support of the Delta State Wealth Creation programmes

    Its founder, Mr. Tony Elumelu who led some beneficiaries of his foundation on courtesy call to Governor Okowa, on Thursday in Asaba –the Delta State Capital expressed joy that within three years of being in office, the administration has impacted a lot on the lives of the people both in terms of provision of infrastructure and encouraging the jobless to be wealth creators through different skills acquisition and entrepreneurship programmes of the administration.

    He said, “This is homecoming for me, I want to thank the Governor for everything he is doing in our State, there is a lot of improvement and from the airport to this place (Government House), we have seen a lot of projects.”

    He added, “We are happy that within these few years, you have programmes where the beneficiaries have become employers of labour, we are going to create specific programme in Delta State and we are committing the sum of N500 million to the programme, the money will be from the Foundation, the UBA group, Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, among others.”

    Governor Okowa commended Mr. Elumelu for his empowerment programmes, especially Africans, through his foundation, disclosing that his administration has created a lot of entrepreneurs through different skill acquisition and empowerment programmes.

    Governor Okowa urged the federal government to emphasize the need for Nigerian youths to go beyond acquisition of education certificates to include the acquisition of relevant skills that will enable them to be self- employed.

    Read Also: Tony Elumelu Foundation backs private sector economic growth

    “We must be looking seriously at technical education to enable our children acquire relevant skills, as a government, we are changing the narrative when it comes to empowerment programmes, empowerment in our state has gone beyond just buying items for the people, but requires equipping the people with relevant skills that will enable them contribute to the growth of the society,” he said.

    He urged well to do individuals to assist the poor in the society, asserting, “Assisting those who cannot help themselves in the society is the way to go for us to have a better nation.”

    High point of the event was the sharing of success stories by beneficiaries of wealth creation schemes of Tony Elumelu Foundation and the State’s interventionist schemes.

  • Oshiomhole’s comment to unseat Okowa is ‘Empty Boast’ – PDP

    The Delta State PDP has described as “empty boast” comments credited to the APC national chair, Adams Oshiomhole of using Federal might to unseat Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in the forthcoming general elections.

    It will recalled that Oshiomhole in a statement  which read partly stated that, “One of my principal reasons for accepting  to run for the national chairman of our great party is because I want to pay back Gov. Okowa of Delta State in his own coins. Earlier in 2016 he used Delta State money to fight me in order to install his party in my State, in 2019, I will be fighting, and knocking and even biting him with federal government might to ensure that PDP dies a natural death in Delta State.”

    Read Also:Okowa denies backing Atiku’s Presidential ambition

    But in a press statement made available Monday to The Nation, the PDP publicity secretary, Ifeanyi Osuoza said the comments credited to the APC chair was “a sad reflection of the political immaturity and emptiness of the ruling APC that a major preoccupation of its chairman was deploying the nation’s money and might of the federal government to settle a score in a vendetta like manner that smacks of malice and dangerous intention.”

    The party stressed that with Oshiomhole’s “arrangee” emergence as new APC chair, it has become more confident of coasting home to victory in 2019.

    Part of the statement reads, “We will not only trounce him and his federal might convincingly in Delta State but also work assiduously with the rest of our party men and women to dethrone and retire their presidential candidate.”

    Continuing, “Nigerians are not fools and they will no longer be deceived .We are all living witnesses today to the reality that Nigeria is even worse off than it was in 2015”.

    “We are a country in mourning every day as the massive deaths of Nigerians continue on a daily basis with reckless impunity. APC has failed completely as a political party and has battered Nigerians in the most terrible and unforgivable way possible. Nigerians have never had it so bad and in the midst of all these untold hardship and unexpected suffering, we have all realized that we made a grave mistake in 2015”.

    The PDP urged Nigerians to disregard the open threat by new APC chair branding him as a “crude, unstable, pugnacious, distasteful, and abrasive”.

    It said the comment by Oshiomhole was “a futile attempt to engage Gov. Okowa in his belligerence and play his politics of rhetoric”.

  • Okowa denies backing Atiku’s Presidential ambition

    Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has denied backing PDP presidential aspirant Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on his presidential ambition in the 2019 general elections.

    He said as a Governor he is not expected to endorse any presidential aspirant.

    Okowa said although the former vice president made statements that have endeared him to many Deltans, delegates from Delta State at the forthcoming PDP convention “will be allowed to exercise their discretion in their vote”.

    He said, “When he talked to Deltans, it was obvious that he made a lot of statements that interested our people and as I did say he is a friend of the state and if his programmes continue to interest the people,I will not be able to hold back the hands of the people.”

    Okowa who spoke at an interactive session with reporters on Wednesday in Asaba- the Delta State Capital said another PDP presidential aspirant Sule Lamido who visited the State recently was also well received, adding that Lamido has many loyalists in the State

    He said he hoped all PDP presidential aspirants will begin to talk to each other as not all of them will get into the final stages.

    Read Also: ‘Okowa has done nothing to get our votes’

    On the statement credited to new APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole that his major task is to destroy PDP, Okowa cautioned politicians to exercise decorum, adding that he does not like grandstanding.

    He said,” Everybody has the right to play politics but they have to be very careful with the choice of words they use. The people want to hear what will please them and nothing else”.

    On the alleged sack of Delta Line workers, Okowa, said they were not sacked but relieved of their work after all incentives and benefits were being paid to them.

    He said, “Delta Line is a commercial venture and it is supposed to make money for itself but overtime the government has been pouring money into it but the return is millions of debts.”

    Continuing, “The only workable vehicles were only 80 and the rest were at different mechanic workshops across the state. And a situation were 5 drivers are attached to one vehicle is not acceptable.”

    “We all agreed that Delta Line workers should be relieved and they left with what is entitled to them. They are being owed 8 months and gradually, we are paying them all and the new management will retain about 120 workers.

    On rumor that 500 DESOPADEC workers have being deployed to the Delta State Traffic Management Agency, DESTMA, Okowa have denied knowledge of such deployment, adding that he was only aware of some of staff of DESOPADEC who were not working but were deployed to Post Primary schools for teaching

    He expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work on the section A of Ughelli/Isoko/Asaba road by the contractor  handling the project, adding  that the work will recommence during the dry season

  • APC pressure group urge Oshiomhole to wade into Delta crisis

    An APC pressure group, Progressive Minds in Delta State APC, on Wednesday urged the National Chairman of the Party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to wade into the crisis rocking the party in the State with a view to reconciling the warring factions.

    The group in a communique issued after its meeting, also congratulated Comrade Adams Oshiomole and other elected members of the National Working Committee, NWC on their election and thanked President Mohammadu Buhari for providing purposeful leadership for the party.

    In a jointly signed communique, its chair, Ovouke Oshasha expressed worry over the leadership tussle in Delta State APC, especially after the wards, Local Government and State congresses.

    It said in any human aggregate there were bound to be quarrels, but stressed the need for all leaders of the Party in the State to together and work for the growth of the APC in the State.

    Read Also: Why I want to govern Delta State, ex-Tinubu aide

    Part of the communique read: “We the Progressive Minds humbly appeal to the current national leadership of our great party, All Progressive Congress APC, to urgently resolve the present political crisis among our leaders in Delta State APC, because united we stand divided we fall.

    “We want you as our new national leader to use your good office to advice or warn media aides of our political leaders in Delta State to stop further negative publications.

    We need all the leaders in Delta State APC to grow the party and win the 2019 elections in Delta State.

    “Also, we appeal to our leaders to warn their followers against any action that may not be in the interest of our party generally and which may hinder the success of APC in Delta State”.

  • Three killed in Delta community cult war

    At least three persons have been confirmed killed in the Ovwian/Aladja Express Junction area of Udu council area of Delta state as some suspected rival cultists engage each other in battle.

    Besides the killings and further threat to the lives of residents and those who go through the very busy area, an outskirt of Warri metropolis, normal economic and other daily activities have been sacked by the panic that trail the cult war.

    The Nation gathered that trouble started on Monday when some unknown gunmen felled one Godwin Uwe, a notorious cultist who has been on police wanted list for a number of murder cases.

    Residents and those doing business in the area had initially assumed the fight to be a leadership tussle among members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), but matters wore more dangerous colour when the shooting got more serious.

    A source living close to the area, who gave his name as Bernard, said the fight was a leadership tussle among those operating the Ovwian motor park.

    “They dropped (killed) one person Monday, they have dropped almost tow today. It’s all these agbero (touts) boys; I think they said they are fighting over positions. The place has been a no go area since.

    Read Also:Delta community boils over recognition of monarch by government

    Police have taking over the whole area already..

    “The whole of the area has been locked up by the security since, so nobody can open shop there today. When I passed there Tuesday afternoon, they have packed the corpses from the place”, he said.

    Meanwhile, confirming the development, the Police Public Relations of the Delta state police command, Andrew Aniamaka (DSP), related the whole situation to cult rivalry, adding that the situation had been kept under control.

    “So far we have three people down, I am not aware of any wounded; as at yesterday somebody died and two others were killed today. It’s cult related, it’s between these Viking and Arrowbagers, even the person killed Monday, one Godwin Uwe, has been on a list of persons wanted in connection with cases of murder. He’s one of the
    kingpins of one of the cult groups; he’s been in hiding for a while and looked like the other group got him. As we speak there’s calm in the area and in the division.

    “Nobody has come to identify the two persons who were killed today. What we’ve discovered is that these groups strike and retreat, in other words, cult members from the area employ the services of those from outside to come and do their fight, after which they disappear”, Aniamaka said.

    When asked if the fight had any link with the NURTW in the area, he said “we’ll investigate to know if such (NURTW) rivalry has culminated into cult clashes”.

  • Navy sensitises Delta community against oil theft

    The Nigerian Navy has introduced community sensitisation into its fight against oil theft and illegal refining of crude oil, starting with Ugbodede community in Warri South council area of Delta state.

    The Navy, led by the commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, engaged the community over the weekend at the town hall, during a meeting with some council officials, as well as members of the community.

    Ugbodede, an Itsekiri enclave, which is host to a crude oil wellhead, divested by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) few years ago, had allegedly become siphoning point for crude oil thieves.

    Addressing the gathering, the commander noted that while the illegal activities are carried out by strangers, they are done with the connivance of some community members.

    He therefore, charged the people to ensure their area is secured from perpetrators of the illegal act, just as he warned that his command will not hesitate to clamp down on all players, including community members, if caught in the act in the future.

    “The ongoing war against illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism is not just about protecting the wealth of the nation but also the wellbeing of the people in the various communities where these criminal acts are being perpetrated.

    “I’m aware that these criminal acts are being perpetrated by outsiders who invade these communities with their equipment and expertise but I also know that they carry out these crimes in connivance with community indigenes, especially their leaders and youths who they sometimes engage on the job.

    “I’ve come here today to appeal to you all to be more alive to the responsibility of securing your community from those strangers carrying out this crime. I would have engaged a more drastic measure but I was advised to come and talk to you all first.

    Read Also:Navy seizes 100,000 litres of illegally refined diesel, arrests eight in Calabar

    “We (Navy) were here not too long to dismantle the pipes and valves used by these criminals to carry out the siphoning of crude oil from that wellhead in your community but report reaching us revealed that the people perpetrating this illegality in your community are back in business again,” he said.

    Speaking further, Commodore Dewu warned “this would be the very last time I’ll be coming to engage you all in discussions, when next I get information that your community is being used to carryout out this crime without resistance or alert to security agencies, I won’t be this nice.”

    The community had become a beehive of activities for members of the syndicate that specialise in crude oil theft, operating within the axis who ran long pipes through the community before clamping valves on the Wellhead from where they siphoned tons of crude oil barrels daily.

    Responding, the Trust Chairman of Ugbodede, Mr. William Cheke, called for deliberations with the management of NPDC in order to reason out a workable solution to the problem.

    Cheke, who commended the NNS Delta and council officials for the forewarning rather than taking the community unawares, assured that his people will seize allowing outsiders to come into the community to carryout illegal bunkering activities.

    “Let me assure you Sir, that with this visit today it will no longer be business as usual for strangers who infiltrate our community to steal crude oil. Let me say that from today, illegal bunkering has officially come to an end in Ugbodede community”, Cheke promised.

  • Football fan slips into coma while celebrating Eagle’s victory

    The victory of the Nigerian Super Eagles turned sour for residents of Enerhen suburb of Uvwie, Delta state on Friday as a 60 year-old football fan slumps and slipped into coma while celebrating the team’s second goal against the Iceland team.

    Emmanuel Emogware was watching the match along with other football fans at a barbing saloon at Omoru Street, Sedeco area of Enerhen when, during the euphoria of celebrating of Ahmed Musa’s second goal he slumped.

    He was rushed to several hospital, where doctors reportedly rejected him.

    Read Also:Buhari hails Super Eagles’ victory over Iceland

    “At one of the hospitals the doctor there collected money for consultation, but later said they should take him somewhere else.”

    “They tried several hospitals but doctors either refused to take him or demanded for money first. Someone suggested Ufuoma hospital in Agbarho. But while rushing him there they were caught up in traffic around the DSC expressway.”

    At the time of this report on Saturday morning, friends and relatives of the man were said to be running around looking for money for his treatment.

    A source in the area told our reporter that the man, who is popularly known as Papo, was a football lover and did not miss any of the matches.

    “We are appealing for well-meaning Nigerians to help this peaceful man at this critical need.”

  • Okowa commissions multi-million Naira market in Delta creeks

    Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has commissioned several projects in the riverine communities including the Burutu multi million naira markets in Burutu L.G.A.

    The Governor who was accompanied by his Deputy, Kingsley Otuaro and top government functionaries, at a town hall meeting in Burutu ,  stated that his administration was committed to executing developmental projects in the riverine communities of the state.

    Some of the projects he commissioned and inspected during the visit include, Burutu township roads, Obotobo-Sokebulou road, Burutu ultra-modern market, among others.

    “There is a lot of challenges associated in constructing roads in this area, the contractor handling the 18.9 kilometre Obotobo/Yokri road had to get a mobile asphalt plant and with the pace of work, we hope to come back very soon for commissioning,” the Governor said, adding, “I will like to be remembered for the commitment of my administration to developing riverine communities.”

    Read Also: Okowa Calls for private-public partnership

    Continuing, “It is my hope to bring people at the federal level to commission projects at the riverine areas.”

    Okowa decried calls for the establishment of more institutions of higher learning in the state, disclosing that he was committed to ensuring full accreditation of courses offered by the existing institutions in the state for the benefits of the students and Deltans in general.

    While commending the high turn-out of people for the town hall meeting despite the difficult terrain of the area, Governor Okowa commended the people for keeping the peace which has made it possible for development activities to take place.

    Chairman of the local government council, Hon. Godknows Angele  said the people of the area will reciprocate Governor Okowa’s commitment to developing the area by re-electing him in  2019 to continue with his good works.

    Others who spoke at the occasion thanked the Governor for attracting development to the area which was hitherto, avoided because of its difficult terrain.

    Earlier, the Governor and his entourage paid a courtesy visit on the traditional ruler of Ogulagha kingdom Carp. Joseph Timiyan.

    The traditional ruler thanked Governor Okowa for initiating several people oriented projects in Burutu.