Re: Distressing State of DESOPADEC Under the PDP-led Government

…When Facts Are Turned On Their Head By The Delta APC.

We are constrained to respond with swift and responsive tenor to the hogwash being spewed in its surfeit by the opposition All Progressives Congress in Delta State, if not for anything, but to set the record straight on the steady and unhindered trajectory of interventions by the agency, ably steered by some of Delta State’s team of technocrats and leaders at the grassroots.

For a start, the noble objectives of the Commission have continued to inspire and guide every undertaking of the management since its establishment in 2007.

It needs reiterating here that, like every other agency of government, the operational ambiance has been of chequered nature, experiencing the pleasant, the hopeful, the contrived, and the challenged.

No doubt the Commission has recorded giant strides in critical infrastructure and indelible human capital development and this we have achieved with consummate passion over the years.

Since the administration of His Excellency, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, Executive Governor of Delta State, the Commission has been proactively reengineered along with a basic corporate template that coheres with international best practices.

We have stated severally that we operate a bottom-up approach whereby our mandate areas communities determine and request for prioritised projects which the Commission diligently grants and executes to the letter. This acclaimed practice has ensured that there are no abandoned projects throughout our mandate areas and a happy and fulfilled beneficiaries.

Let us state very clearly that the Governor does not interfere in the running of the Commission, instead his support and encouragement have been a tonic responsible for our modest successes.

The so called audit is an annual statutory function of the State Auditor-General, the report of which is submitted to the Delta State House of Assembly, our commission being an agency of government which cannot be above the law. The audit is actually targeted at the Management and not the staff since none is being screened. The audit is to ensure that Management is playing strictly by the rules, including a forensic look at our financial books and Payroll. Therefore, a normal statutory audit that every responsible corporate body should undergo at intervals, should not be cause for infantile innuendos.

In every sector that spans housing, education, power, water, land reclamation, transportation, health, and human capital development, the Commission has been minded to make an indelible impact in the mandate areas, all of which are well documented in print and electronic media. The APC should dare and be open-minded to watch our weekly flagship 30-minute television programme titled, “DESOPADEC WEEKLY” and also read our monthly newsmagazine, “DESOPADEC NEWS.”

At the risk of engaging in flatulent arguments and waste precious time to convince pundits with partisan bias, may we highlight some of our landmark projects and initiatives undertaken, amongst thousands of others.

Under a very difficult period occasioned by the global COVID-19 pandemic when most ministries, departments, and agencies of government were literarily in limbo, our management team was still able to brave the odds to deliver top-grade projects to our people.

Below is a slice of the intervention inventory of a people-based agency that is proudly Delta!

1. Concrete Landing Jetty at Ajigba, Warri South LGA

2. Ultra Modern Opute Hall, Ozoro, Isoko North LGA

3. Cottage Hospital, Agoloma-Patani, Patani LGA

4. Edion Hall, Orerokpe, Okpe LGA

5. 1.85km Perimeter Fencing at Oliogo Secondary School, Oliogo Umuseti, Ndokwa West LGA

6. Complete transformation of the twin communities of Obaghoro/Utonlila in Warri North LGA, comprising 50 fully furnished 2-bedroom bungalows, concrete jetties, water scheme, town hall, cottage hospital, concrete paved roads, school, reinforced steel-concrete bridge, provision of motorized fishing boats and other economic boosters

7. Fully furnished 4 semi-detached 2-bedroom bungalows and donated to the management of the National Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Warri South West LGA

8. Reinforced steel pedestrian bridge and concrete walkways at Tsekelewu, Warri North LGA

9. Fully furnished ultra-modern Civic Centre at Uzere, Isoko South LGA

10. Fully furnished visiting lecturers’ quarters, Faculty of Engineering, Delta State University, Oleh Campus, Isoko South LGA

11. Modern Students’ Hall, Faculty of Engineering, Delta State University, Oleh Campus, Isoko South LGA

12. Modern Civic Centre, Abalagada, Ndokwa East LGA

13. Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan ICT Centre, Obiaruku, Ukwuani LGA

14. Constructed Mission Road, Oghara, Ethiope West LGA

15. Constructed Famous Oborevwori Road, Okpe LGA

16. Renovation of Uzere Model Secondary School, Uzere, Isoko South LGA

17. Concrete Landing Jetty and walkway at Ugbege, Warri North LGA

18. Constructed Civic Centre at Sokebolou, Burutu LGA

19. Constructed Ozue Secondary School, Okuovo District, Okpe LGA

20. Constructed Ogiedon, Ijomi and Water Board Roads, Jesse, Ethiope West LGA

21. Constructed block of classrooms, Principal’s residence, and Corpers’ Lodge at Aboh Grammar School, Ndokwa East LGA

22. Constructed facility at Divisional Police Post, Ashaka, Ndokwa East LGA

23. Provision of 40,000 and 20,000 liters solar-powered water schemes at Obodo, Warri South LGA, Ebedei Uno, Ukwuani LGA, Uruto-Ozoro, Isoko North LGA, Uba-Egbelemeji, Koko, Warri North LGA,

24. Constructed, Onitsha, Ekane, and Egbabor Streets, Ozoro, Isoko North LGA; Ulohomuno, Eboh, Ogba Streets, Oleh, Isoko South LGA

25. Land reclamation at Izansa, Warri South West LGA

26. Constructed modern Doctor’s and Nurses’ Quarters at Naiforgbene, Warri South West LGA

27. Provision of welding and fabrication equipment at centre in Omadino, Warri South LGA

28. Constructed ultra-modern Obodo Civic Centre, Obodo, Warri South LGA

29. Construction of interlocked Mewe Omadeli Street, Swamp Road, Esisi GRA, Warri, Warri South

30. Constructed ultra-modern library facility and resource centre at Yonwuren College, Ugbuwangue, Warri South LGA

31. Completed Eight (8) Kilometers Obi-Anyima Abavo Road, Ika South Local Government Area.

And hundreds more completed and delivered projects that respond to the needs of the people in our mandate areas.

Add to these is the wave-making human capital empowerment of more than 1200 of our mandate areas women with the sum of N100,000.00 each to boost their economic trade during the COVID-19 lockdown.

We are elated to use this opportunity to let our traducers know that 160 citizens of our mandate areas will graduate next month from the DESOPADEC Skills Academy, after undergoing six months of intensive training in various skills and will become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.

What more, we are not given to vain and idle babbling. We have proofs cast in the concrete legacy of posterity. Again, we request our traducers to watch our giant strides on TV, read up our activities in print to be certain as to our irreducible commitment to our noble vision with ocean clear mission!

Signed:

Chinenye Ezonfade (Mrs.)

Head, Media & Public Affairs Unit.

DESOPADEC.