A RESPONSE TO MR. CHIKE OGEAH, DELTA STATE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ON HIS CALL FOR PATIENCE

Chuks Erhire


Dear Mr. Ogeah,

I am constrained to respond to your statement in page 12 of Vanguard of Tuesday June 12, 2012 urging Deltans to be patient with Uduaghan. I must confess that very many of us has refrained from responding to your very many falsehoods fed to Deltans, this in the belief that you are almost like an alien who has little or no understanding of the issues your position has constrained you to address – a position to my mind, you were never prepared for in the first place. I decided to do this today because you chose a sacred day like June 12, a day I believe that people like you contributed significantly to truncate to insult our sensibilities. More so, it has been said that “to leave an error un-refuted will lead to an intellectual immorality”.

I sincerely believe that apart from the deliberate attempt at impoverishing and pauperising Deltans, you and your co-travellers in the Uduaghan cabinet may have thought that all Deltans has suddenly lost their sense of reasoning when you said that “the governor was not interested in playing to the gallery to win cheap popularity but has a vision to provide for the people, projects with longer gestation period that would impact positively on the present and future generations to come”.

I find it very disturbing that the people we thought we could trust can hoodwink their principles to the extent of allowing principles to play robot to the samba dance of opportunism. I believe that is important to just let you know that Deltans are not as gullible as you people think we are.

On a very serious note Mr. Information Commissioner, can you summon the Asaba people that lives in DLA road, Okelue Street, Ebenuwa street, maduemezie street, Odiachi Street, Chukudumebi street, the street by Sizler’s, Parkinson street, Nmunkwo Quarter in Asaba, the street behind Zenith bank in Ezenei avenue, and all the adjoining roads off the popular Nnebisi road and tell them to be patient at a time that many of them cannot drive their cars to their homes? Can you say that to the school children who have to almost walk naked out of their homes because of the large pools of water that has taken over their streets? How about the angry car owners whose meagre salaries now goes to the mechanic who has to fix their cars every now and then because of the high degree of dilapidation of the streets under review?

Can you go to the streets of Agbor and tell the residents of the town now turned to an ancient city to be patient with a government that has demonstrated its clear lack of focus on how to address the infrastructural challenges of the State? Can you say that to the people of Ika South that lives in Aliagwu, Ewuru, Aliagwai, Ozanogogo, Oyoko, Obi Ayima,Obi-Agbor, Ekuku Agbor, Abavo central and Igbogili communities who cannot drive their cars to their communities because of the high level of dilapidation of their roads and with every other infrastructure in a state of disrepair?
Are you aware that there is no access road in the entire kwale town once the rain comes? Do you know that you cannot get to Ogume through Kwale once the rains are here? Do you not know that a journey from Obiaruku to Eziokpor is reminiscent of the route Okonkwo took on his trip to his mother’s kinsmen in Chinua Achebe’s famous book, “Things fall apart”?

Do you realise that the Oko communities just a few kilometres from Asaba is still wallowing in anguish, neglect and reckless abandonment with all their roads crying for attention? Do you know that if this government was focussed enough to construct a road from Oko to Abala that the trip to Aboh from Asaba would have been reduced to barely 20 minutes?

Can you stand before the people in a town hall meeting in Warri city or Udu LGA and urge the slaving mass of the people swimming in the artificial rivers in their streets to be patient with this administration and hope to escape without being lynched? Mr. Chike, as commissioner for information, how many times have you gone round the State to get firsthand information on the challenges in every city, town and village? How many times have you commissioned people to carry out perception analysis of the government that you speak for? I believe that to come out every now and then to peddle falsehood and say only things that will suit the hearing of your paymaster is to say the least a total disservice to the people of this State who you claim to serve.

Does a serious Governor need 8 years in office before constructing street roads that are less than 500m? Can Mr. Chike show to Deltans the projects the government has on ground as pointers to their plan to build for the future? Can a governor who has not been able to meet the needs of the present generation, dream of meeting the needs of the future generation?

Perhaps, we may need to ask if the Mariam Babangida road is the example of the projects signposting Uduaghans dream for a greater tommorow. There can be no greater testimony of the type of vision the governor has for the State other then the quality of job done on that road built only in 2008 but yet has become completely comatose. Mr. Chike, does the Ughelli Asaba dual carriage way awarded in 2008 have a completion date? Maybe it is a project for the future.

The Governor would need to take a trip to other States just within the South- South Region to see how not to govern a people. It is painful that the other South- South Governors Mr. Chike is vilifying as executing only short term and quikfix programmes have put in place solid strategies for the development of their States. Do we need to mention that Gov. Oshiomole has turned around the infrastructure in the nooks and crannies of Edo State? How about Godswill Akpabio who within his first four years in office has turned every town and village around, with the quality of the infrastructures competing with those you will find in Europe. Do we need to mention Hon, Rotimi Amaechi who stunned the nation with his unending list of high impact projects (completed and commissioned) and achievements in every sector in his State during the BRACED Commission summit hosted by this State!

Do we need to inform you Mr. Information Commissioner, that, the people in Ogwashi Uku are living in the brinks as there is no potable water and electricity? Does it occur to you that the state of affairs will have a very negative impact on the quality of graduates from The Polytechnic at Ogwashi Uku. Will it require a million years for a serious government to put in place a strategy to address these two all important basic necessities of life and for once rescue the Ogwashi Uku people from this anguish?

I challenge you to open the gates of the Delta Broadcasting Service and DRTV in Asaba and Warri respectively and allow Deltans an unfettered access to the State media and see if you can escape with your half truths reminiscent of the propagandist agenda’s of the military dictatorship in Nigeria.

Let me conclude by letting you know that come what may the Uduaghan administration shall come to an end in 2015 and when that happens you will become a stakeholder like us. I sincerely hope that you will not say that you were only doing your job?