Nelson Egware 
A thorough assessment of the five-year development trajectory of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration in the transport sector of Delta State shows a systematic upgrade of its key components of roads, bridges, drainages, airport facilities and the state’s transport company, Delta Line.
At inception, Governor Okowa told the people that his administration would “pay a special attention to rural development because majority of our people live in the rural areas, promising to open up the rural areas, create more urban centres, develop fresh economic opportunities and reduce pressure on urban cities to boost socio-economic expansion and give rural dwellers a sense of belonging by equipping and modernising some satellite towns.”
To actualise this, the governor, awarded the contract for Kefas Road in Oleh, Isoko South Local Government and the Ozanogogo-Alisimie Road in Ika South Local Government Area. Five years down the line, Okowa’s administration in spite of the adverse effects of the economic recession and the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, has been able to record remarkable feats in line with his Stronger Delta Agenda to entrench prosperity for all Deltans, ensure good governance, peace and security including alleviating the sufferings of the people.
Nick-named the “Road Master” in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in road construction spanning over 450 roads and several drainages, his biggest achievement is in flood control in Asaba, the state capital. He awarded the multi-billion naira storm drainage contracts to check the perennial flooding of the state capital.
As at today, the whole of DLA Road, Okpanam Road, DBS road, Ralph Uwechue road and several others including the Okotomi area of Okpanam, have been rescued from the annual flooding ritual. Indeed, this is one star project of the Okowa administration.
Buoyed by the successes recorded in the Asaba storm drainage project, the governor recently awarded over N3 billion contracts for the construction of storm drainages in Warri, Uvwie and environs to check the perennial flooding in the oil city. In July 2019, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo commended Governor Okowa for his developmental strides, especially in riverine communities hitherto neglected by past administrations.
Osinbajo, who was on a one-day working visit to Delta, was particularly impressed by the invitation extended to him to inaugurate road projects in Okerenkoko and Ogulagha, both riverine communities in the state. At the inauguration of the 20.29km Obotobo I, Obotobo II, Sokebulou, Yokiri roads in Ogulagha, Burutu Local Government Area, Osinbajo said: “I want to commend Governor Okowa for his major achievements in a neighbourhood and area that has been neglected, that have not had this type of road.
“We commend him also, on several other initiatives in this Ogulagha Kingdom in particular, because this has been a very peaceful community and it is host to several of our oil and gas assets.
So, it is really a special pleasure to inaugurate these roads and also thank His Royal Highness, Elder, Capt. Joseph Timiyan who has maintained the peace in this neighborhood and who has shown true leadership by the way he has conducted the affairs of this area.” Governor Okowa, while expressing his appreciation to the Vice President for inaugurating the roads, said he was encouraged to embark on the Ogulagha road projects, when he was informed by the traditional ruler of the communities that all his people wanted were roads. He said: “I never knew that there was such a road until the king told me. When I called the king and asked him ‘what can we do for such a peaceful community,’ he said roads.
Thank God we have been able to achieve this. We give God the glory.” The people of Obomkpa, Issele- Uku, Onicha-Olona, Idumuje-Uno, Ukwu-Nzu, Issele-Mkpitime, among others in Aniocha North, Irri, Oleh, Ozoro, Iyede, Emede, Owhelogbo, Ellu, Ofagbe, Ikpide-Irri all in Isoko North, Isoko South and Ughelli, Amukpe, Afiesere, Ofuoma, Oteri, Abraka, Orerokpe, and several other communities in Delta central all have stories to tell of Okowa’s footprints in road construction into their various communities.
The story is not different in riverine communities of Burutu town, Ogulagha, Yokri, Obotobo, Sokebolo, Okerenkoko, Ogidigben, Koko among others. While also constructing feeder roads, he is continuing the construction of the Ughelli-Asaba road dualisation project. A trip to the project site along the Sector C, which includes from Asaba to Oloh- Ossisa revealed massive construction work currently ongoing. The over 450 road projects awarded across the 25 local government areas have indeed, endeared him to the masses. While some of the projects have been completed and inaugurated, some have been completed and awaiting inauguration while others are at advanced stages of completion.
Commenting on peace in the oil bearing riverine communities, Governor Okowa noted that the prevailing peace in the oil rich riverine communities was due to his administration’s huge investments in the upgrade of infrastructure in the oil bearing communities. According to him, “they are beginning to see a lot of things in the proper direction and they are happy about it. Secondly, we have done a lot of construction of infrastructure in the various riverside areas, which has enabled them to buy into the programmes of peace that we have.
A lot of roads have been constructed in various areas – Okerenkoko, Oporoza, Ogulaha. These are all oil-producing communities, including Burutu. In Ogidigben, we are also doing road construction and these are things they never saw before, and because they saw development brought into their place, they began to see the need to cooperate with government to ensure peace for more development to take place.”
During the inauguration of the Aviara-Araya-Okpare-Okpawa road, Irri College-Uzere road and the Owhelogbo Abbi road in Isoko South and Isoko North local government areas, the council chairmen, Itiako Ikpokpo and Emmanuel Egbabor, thanked the governor for not restricting developments to the urban areas.
In their separate speeches, they both commended the Okowa administration for not restricting his development programmes to cities, but, spreading projects across rural areas in the state. The Esama of Ukpedi Kingdom, Ughelli South Local Government Area, Olorogun Okiemute Okwagbe, also commended Governor Okowa, for awarding a contract for the construction of the Ekakpamre-Okwagbe road project and Owhahwa-Otu-Jeremi Road.
He noted that what Governor Okowa did was in fulfillment of his electoral promises to Deltans in general and Okwagbe community in particular, describing Governor Okowa as a detribalised leader with a vision to make Delta truly great.
The people of Okere-Urhobo Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of the state were not left out in pouring encomium on Okowa over road infrastructure in Okere-Urhobo Kingdom. The President General of Okere- Urhobo Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Okumagba, made the commendation and also expressed appreciation to the governor on behalf of the people of Okere-Urhobo Kingdom for the construction of 11 roads in Okumagba Layout and in Otor-Orere the traditional headquarters of the ancient Okere-Urhobo Kingdom.
The Odogwu of Okpanam, Chief Peter Dunkwu, said that the community shall remain grateful and supportive of the Okowa administration because of the government’s active involvement and developmental strides in Okpanam, especially in road construction in various parts of the community and its environs, which are currently ongoing and visible for everybody to see.
The story is not different for the people of Uduophori in Patani Local Government Area, where Governor Okowa again broke new grounds to provide access road for the people. While the road has been completed, the people of the area are overwhelmed with excitement and appreciation to the governor for the vision and courage to embark on a project in such a difficult terrain to alleviate the sufferings they pass through in accessing their ancestral home.
The state government also made significant intervention on rehabilitation of failed sections of vital federal roads in the state to alleviate the pains, which road users experienced in the past.
The rehabilitation of failed sections of the Warri-Benin highway and the Benin-Onitsha highway readily comes to mind. The Okowa administration has committed resources to the rehabilitation of Federal roads in the State.
In September 2019, while inspecting failed portions of the Warri-Benin highway being rehabilitated by the State government, Governor Okowa called on the Federal Government to re-assess all roads constructed over 20 years ago with a view to reconstructing failed ones. He noted that most federal roads across the country were aging hence the Federal Government should re-assess such roads and intervene promptly. According to him, If the Federal Government failed to act fast, the country would be overwhelmed one day by the magnitude of failed roads, stressing that his administration was intervening on deplorable Federal roads, because they were critical infrastructure for socio-economic development.
The state’s transport company, Delta Line, was established from the defunct Bendel Line. Over the years, the huge investments and grants from the state government to the company yielded no returns as the company was constantly run aground. Worried by the comatose nature of the company and accumulated huge debts, the Okowa administration intervened and took far reaching measures to reposition the company for profitability.
Few weeks after its divestment from the transport company, the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a private transport company, God Is Good Motors Limited to manage the company. During the signing ceremony in Asaba, Governor Okowa expressed confidence that the partnership will benefit the people. He explained that since inception of the company, it has not rendered returns to the state government despite series of recapitalisation.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Peter Mrakpor, signed the agreement on behalf of the government, while the Chairman of God is Good Motors Limited, Mr. Chidi Ajaere, signed on behalf of his company. According to the governor, “we have just witnessed the signing of MoU between the Delta State government and God is Good Motors Ltd, which is a Private Public Partnership arrangement that will entail God is Good managing Delta Line, our state-run transport company to make it the best for our people and a company we all can be proud of.”
Ajaere assured that with the track record of the transport company, Delta Line would be repositioned to use the best technology to serve Deltans and humanity better. He said that the people would get better services through the new deal.
The benefits of the reposition are in full swing with the recent inauguration of over 60 buses for Delta Transport Services Limited (Delta Line), renovated terminals and improved services. As Governor Okowa reiterated, “obviously, we are scaling to a new height and our people are happy, I thank the management of GTDC for effectively running the operations of Delta Line.”
In the last five years on the saddle, Governor Okowa has revolutionised the transport sector in Delta. These are just tips of the iceberg of massive and verifiable infrastructural development going on in the transport sector of Delta State and it is expected that the state will continue with this tempo of development in the years to come.
•Egware writes from Asaba, Delta State
