Youths Praise Omo-Agege As First Guber Candidate In 42 Years To Visit, Campaign In Oil-Rich Burutu
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Deputy Senate President and Delta State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has received applauses as the first governorship candidate to physically visit and campaign for votes in Burutu over the past 42 years.
According to the youths of Burutu Local Government Area, they are therefore ready to reward the APC flag bearer with their votes for showing concern and camaraderie with the area long abandoned by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The revelation on how the area has been abandoned by successive PDP administrations since 1999 came from Delta State APC youth leader, Napoleon Kenerekedi, who maintained that no Governorship candidate of the ruling party has ever visited Burutu physically to campaign for votes in the last 23 years of being power.
He claimed that the former Governor of defunct Bendel State, late Professor Ambrose Folorunso Alli, remained the first and only gubernatorial flag bearer to have visited Burutu and campaigned in the area about 43 years ago on the platform of the then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), precisely in 1979.
Kenerekedi accused Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of being “a very wicked person”, claiming that the Governor refused to site any project in Ijaw land except a School of Marine Engineering in Okerenkoko, “because his deputy, Kingsley Otuaro, hails from there”.
The youth leader said the people are unhappy and angry that the Okowa-led administration has sadly shown indifference to their plight, adding; “For being wicked to us, we will reward him and his party at the polls next year”.
Kenerekedi made the remarks as the APC governorship candidate, Senator Omo-Agege, and his campaign train stormed Burutu on Tuesday and were received by a crowd of party supporters, well-wishers, and indigenes of the area.
Addressing the people, Senator Omo-Agege said it was unfortunate that the once bubbling town of Burutu had become a shadow of its former self due to neglect by the PDP-led government.
The APC Standard bearer, who assured the people of renewed hope and turnaround fortunes when elected governor, said; “We are going to bring back the glory days of Burutu. The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) that used to boost the economy of this town is dead and we have a governor who does not care for the Ijaw people.
“When Okowa was running for governor, he promised prosperity for all Deltans, yet there is no prosperity here. He is a trickster. Burutu’s contribution enabled him to get over N3.5 trillion from the federation account in the past seven and a half years. How much would it have cost to sustain the Delta Timber Industry (DTI) that used to provide job opportunities for people across the State here in Burutu.
“I am as vexed as you are over the wickedness of Okowa to the Ijaw people. Okowa’s priorities did not favour the Ijaw people. But the good news is that when I become governor, we will bring back DTI and make it functional again. The Ijaw nation under my government will have a State tertiary institution.
“We will reactivate the Burutu port. I already have the commitment of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when elected president, to make the NPA in Burutu work again. All those contributing to the economy of the State will be compensated and those not contributing will be taken care of.
“We will make sure the 13 per cent oil derivation funds are well managed for the benefit of Deltans. We are going to make DESOPADEC function as it should. We will attract other companies here to create jobs for our people. After I win, by God’s grace, I will return to consult you on other development projects that will make Burutu bubble again.”
In his remarks at the occasion, APC candidate for Burutu local government area constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Ambassador Anthony Ebitonmo, noted that Burutu was hitherto a major hub in the State economy “but in Okowa’s administration nothing came to us, even the said School of Marine Engineering he has abandoned.”
Highlights of the campaign rally included the welcoming into the APC fold former PDP stalwarts who claimed to have been working for the PDP over the years with nothing to show for their loyalty and commitment to the ruling party.
One of the decampees expressed their frustration thus; ”The PDP used us to sweep their floors and dumped us. We are tired of being used and dumped and have decided to cross over to the APC. “
Those who jumped ship to join the APC family include Ambassador A.B. Idolor, Dr Gradeone Clark, Chief Alex Emekeogha, and their teeming supporters, as well as women and youths who expressed their dissatisfaction with the Okowa-led PDP administration.
Receiving the decampees, APC State Chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie said, “our banner is the truth and we will continue to preach the truth across the State and nothing can deter us.”
He assured the people that “The era of writing results is gone, they can no longer write their fictitious figures. Nobody has ever celebrated their victory here but they will join in celebrating ours.”