AT a time when political office holders seize every opportunity to travel overseas, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has blazed the trail of ensuring quality utilization of what we have locally. Most of us did not know that a cosy, comfortable training centre that can also serve as a tourists centre is located within what one can described as an extended state capital territory.
It was last Thursday, when we joined all the political appointees, Permanent Secretaries and some key players in the state civil service at African Institute for Public Policies, Onicha Ugbo, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. The place was less than twenty five minutes drive from Asaba. As such, you can forgive me if I say that it is within the extended capital territory.
The choice of venue gives strong indication that Governor Okowa would not only ensure prudent management of resources, but, will also encourage private investors in the state. The location, though, not too far from Asaba, is still far from the hustle and bustle of the city, a place one can comfortably say is devoid of noise from the outside world, apart from the chirping of birds. Even signals from mobile telephone companies were not effective in the area, making it such that you can learn without any form of distraction.
It was the opening ceremony of a “strategic executive retreat” which had “Revamping The Ethos Of Governance And Business” as its theme. To say the least, it was a typical case of recognizing what one has as resource persons where flown in from their different abodes through the Asaba International Airport.
The choice of venue for the retreat made it a serious event as there was no room for window shopping, tourism or jamboree as some people may call it, if the participants had been taken to Kenya, South Africa or different parts of the world for a similar ceremony.
It was really about recognising what one has and Governor Okowa did not mince words at the occasion when he observed that the place was ideal for such retreat because, it is close to Asaba though, far enough to avoid the noise of the city.
To him, the two-day retreat would be a regular activity as it afforded participants the opportunity to brainstorm and be abreast with the policy direction of his administration; encompassed in the SMART (Strategic Wealth Creation, Meaningful Peace Building Platforms, Agricultural Reforms And Accelerated Industrialization, Relevant Health And Education Policies And Transformed Environment Through Massive Urban Renewal) agenda.
Apart from the idea of keeping the participants abreast of the policy direction of his administration, definitely, the retreat was an opportunity for the participants to know themselves, believe in themselves and see themselves as belonging to one family that Deltans are looking up to, to change their fortunes and the fortunes of the state positively.
The journey to Onicha-Ugbo from Asaba was significant, too, in many ways. The participants were made to park their vehicles at the Government House premises in Asaba, while they joined buses provided for the journey. Governor Okowa and his Deputy, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro were also in the buses which, of course, gave room for the first avenue of open interaction devoid of official toga.
Governor Okowa took time to explain his challenges and the progress he has made as the Governor of Delta State for about four months and summed it up with the fact that though there is financial crisis, government cannot give excuses for not getting it right for Deltans.
Governor Okowa said, “Our vision is to take Delta State to the status of a pace-setter in the nation by building an enduring legacy of wealth and prosperity. In all that we do, we must think along this line and if we must achieve the SMART agenda, we must think smart and thinking smart means you are not just going to go through the regular processes; but in your quiet time, think of ways of effecting changes, for that is how we can make the desired change. We must provide the leadership and the leadership must be convinced within itself to do the right thing and that he or she is committed, otherwise there will be no progress.
“I believe that in going forward, we need a revamped public service. It is important that we first discipline ourselves and I hope that by 2016, we would have been able to put processes in place to truly revamp the public service to ensure that it passes integrity test. We need to be sure that those who are put to head ministries, departments and agencies are those that are trusted and I believe that it lies squarely on the Head Of Service to drive this process.”
“Ideally, Permanent Secretaries are supposed to be the key drivers in our various MDAs, but for you to drive a process, you must be prepared to truly be a driver of the process. If your conviction is not about the people but about money, then there is failure from the beginning. No matter how good a commissioner is, if you have a very difficult Permanent Secretary working with him, there will be problems and I believe that our Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries should work in such a manner that they are able to create synergy in their various ministries. This is important because, we want to see team work and if in the future, we begin to see transfers and cross transfers it is not about punishment, it is not about seniority, it is going to be about where you fit in best, to create positive change and offer service and wherever you find yourself, you must be ready to take that place to the top once you know what to do. I have heard of key ministries but all ministries are key, depending on how well you carry out your duties. You should be ready to think outside the box or remain in the old ways, but, we must realize that for this government to succeed, we need to partner with the private sector in several areas. But in all these, we need strategic thinking and I believe that, in our daily processes, this must come to the fore at all times. I pray that we will stay on course in the process of making government work.”
On issue of revenue, the governor said, “revenue generation is very important if we are going to succeed; oil price has dropped very badly; and there is a challenge nationally and a very huge challenge in the state because, as the revenue reduces, our salaries remain the same. This month, by the time we got our receipts, the lowest from the FAAC (Federal Accounts Allocation Committee) allocation we barely had enough to pay salaries and that shows you how bad it is. So, we need to do a lot in terms of Internal Generated Revenue (IGR).
“In the first and second quarter of this year, we have had a drop of 30.7 per cent in revenue and I believe that in the third quota, it is dropping further and an oil revenue loss nationally of N372 billion which has directly affected the non-oil revenue which also dropped to N107 billion. Oil is the driving force of the nation’s economy; so, while the oil revenue is down, it has also affected non-oil revenue drastically.”
Join hands wherever you are, in whatever you do to ensure the success of Governor Okowa’s administration. If he succeeds, we all can comfortably say that we have succeeded as Deltans or residents of Delta State.
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