Gov. Okowa of Delta seeks collaboration with Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs
FeaturedNigeria April 28, 2016 Dianabasi Effiong
Gov. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa
From Diana Okon-Effiong, Asaba
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has called for sustained collaboration with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the public and private sectors to ensure development of infrastructures.
Governor Okowa made this appeal when the Minister of State, Ministry of Niger Delta, Prof Claudius Daramola paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba.
Represented by his deputy, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, the governor said that his administration required the cooperation of public, private sectors including Ministry of Niger Delta to successfully deliver on its mandate.
He said that the ministry had enormous responsibility for total infrastructure development and upgrade of Niger Delta region following the crash of crude oil price in the international market.
“The SMART matrix of this administration which has to do with various reforms, is hoped to create wealth and provide job opportunities for the teaming unemployed youths in Delta State especially through Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP),’’ he added.
He said his administration expected the people of Delta to acquire technical skills so as to empower themselves.
Okowa commended the ministry for the more than 40 projects currently on-going in the state
He said that it was heart-warming to know that modalities have been put in place to ensuring that the Oil rich Niger Delta area would undergo a clean-up exercise to make the area more habitable and comfortable for indigenes.
The governor promised the continued collaboration and partnership of the Delta State Government, adding that his government was worried by recent spate of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta Area.
According to him; the state government has continued to do all within its power through the peace building platform in ensuring that youths in the area embraced dialogue as opposed to resorting to acts of vandalism of infrastructures in the oil industry.
He observed that the various projects of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in the state, when completed with also consolidate the state government components of the property agenda for all Deltans through the SMART matrix.
According to him, the state government SMART matrix involves strategically creating of wealth and providing job opportunities for the teeming and unemployed youths in the state.
He also noted that the SMART matrix also involved various reforms in the Health, Education sector and transforming the environment through massive infrastructural development, as well as building peace platform aimed at providing socio-political and economic security for the state and the people.
Earlier, in an address Daramola noted that hs visit to the state was borne out of genuine desire to develop the area and improve the lot of the people, most of whom have been impoverished and abandoned in the past.
Daramola assured that the current policy in place is a complete departure from the past, as it intends to involve all stakeholders in projects identification, formulation and execution.
He noted that the Ministry has no less than 40 ongoing projects covering a wide range of communities within Delta state.
He said the project which ranged from land reclamation and shoreline protection, erosion control, to skill acquisition centres, housing scheme and management training for ex-agitators had attained significant milestones and nearing completion.
He also assured that the federal government was desirous of addressing the problems of the Niger Delta region once and for all and appealed to the state government for the provision of land for the Ministry to build a state office.
Dianabasi Effiong
