By Theophilus Keme
It was a beautiful sight to behold at the Dome Event Centre, Asaba, on Wednesday 29th May, as His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Francis Orohwedor Oborevwori, celebrated his one-year anniversary as Governor of the state.
Although this is an annual religious thanksgiving event held every May 29th, but why yesterday’s event felt peculiar to me was the personality of the Governor, Hon. Sheriff himself, and the distinguished personalities and supporters that were present to offer appreciation to God and celebrate with the Governor.
This event was warm and receptive, and to illustrate my point, I would say it felt like a ‘one-year birthday ceremony’ of a child and mother who were initially rejected, called names, and abused as irresponsible by family and members in the community.
This was because the mother had become pregnant outside wedlock at a relatively young age, and family and community members tried to make her abort the pregnancy but failed. Thus, after nine month and the child is born, the child’s birth became a talk of the town, and the beauty stirred attraction and pride in anyone related to the mother or the family.
On the child’s one-year birthday anniversary, it was a grandiose event, and everyone celebrated with the mother and child, no longer judging her for getting pregnant.
In relation to the actual event, I believe this is understandable, especially if one is familiar with Delta state politics and the Peoples Democratic Party. If you fail to see the picture I’m trying to paint, that’s fine, but if you do, then walk with me.
One year since Governor Sheriff came into power, and it’s commendable that the Governor has been actively working in the oil-rich state. First, he offered privileges to a youthful band to join him in executing and delivering the M.O.R.E Agenda. M.O.R.E stands for Meaningful development through the provision of Opportunities for all through Realistic reforms and Enhanced peace and security for all. The key words are development, opportunities, reforms, and peace and security.
Although without being told, we all know this is a strategy by the Governor, as most of the youth and personnel on his cabinet are direct associates and relatives from either his political supporters or opposers, perhaps he did this to make each of them feel a sense of belonging in the government they didn’t initially support in the first place. (smart move).
This would mean he (Sheriff) has created a political army for himself in the rainy days of elections when members of his cabinet would retract their loyalty back to their respective principals and their principals would want to use them as bait to inflict suffering on the Governor’s political ambition (if you know what I mean).
No doubt, however, Governor Sheriff has been remarkable over this one year, and as Deltans, we can only wish and hope he maintains this zeal till he completes his tenure. So far, Oborevwori’s achievements are thriving beyond Deltans’ expectations, as he has kept and is still holding on to part of his campaign promises to Deltans. Some of these achievements include:
1. During the campaign, the governor promised to give Warri and environs a facelift; today, we see ongoing road and flyover projects across the state.
2. He has been kind in employing teachers and non-teaching staff to ensure primary schools are running across the state (to some extent, though, as we await more).
3. Through his empowerment initiatives, the Governor has made it a point of duty to give grants to Deltans who are traders and artisans to support their businesses and help sustain their daily means of livelihood (I hope he continues this till the end of his tenure).
4. The payment of outstanding promotion arrears to 23,887 workers in the state public service seems a remarkable feat we appreciate the Governor for.
5. The Governor approved funds for acquiring working equipment in 20 general hospitals across the state.
6. Governor Oborevwori helped secure legislative approval for local government councils to obtain a N40 billion bank loan to enable them to liquidate their backlog of pension liabilities.
7. Over 30,000 students of Delta State origin from 195 tertiary institutions across Nigeria received the Delta State Bursary Award for the 2022/2023 session (I hope this continues). These and many more…
It has truly been a blissful one year for the Governor, despite all the struggles and power tussles he faced. One important thing we Deltans look forward to in the Oborevwori administration is nothing but ‘TRANSPARENCY.’
Over the past years, there have been speculations about suspicious actions by leaders, making their personality questionable after they leave office. It is imperative that the Sheriff Oborevwori administration beacons on the light that ‘a good name is better than any personal selfish gain.’
