Uduaghan should take
human development seriously
By FEMI SALAWU
Thursday, April 5, 2007
A political analyst, David Okotie, has outlined areas Dr.
Emmanuel Uduaghan, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Delta
State could focus on to make impact if he becomes governor on May 29.
He
advised Uduaghan to take human capital development seriously if becomes governor.
Human
development
For human capital development in Delta State to proceed
along the right course, it should be conceived and executed within the framework
of the State’s Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS). In
addition to this, it should be in line, with the Niger Delta Development Commission’s
programme for the rapid transformation of the region. At this stage it is imperative
to propose to Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan- the PDP governorship candidate, who appears
to be the most popular - to ensure he harmonizes his policies and programmes with
progressive policies and programmes of past administrations in the state.
It
is also important to ensure that all the state’s areas of economic strength
or comparative advantage are harnessed for the quick actualization of the set
goals of the administration.
For instance, analysis of the composition of the
population of the state over time has revealed that the state possesses abundant
human resources, which include highly skilled and semi-skilled labour. Given this
background, there is no doubt that one of the major strategies that has to be
deployed in pursuing the agenda of human capital development is that of working
out schemes of gainful employment through improvement in incentives to steadily
curtail the adverse effects of long periods of unemployment among a hugely pauperized
population living in the midst of plenty.
Indigenes of host communities
should be deliberately involved in the oil and gas business at various levels
to improve their livelihoods and make them stakeholders in the petroleum industry.
This is one sure way of ensuring permanent security of petroleum installations
and drastically reduce the activities of restive youths who are often used by
criminals and pirates masquerading as champions of communal interests to perpetrate
mayhem in the state.
This should also entail funding of job creation
schemes through support for local industries and graduates of Songhai –Delta
Integrated Project and other skill acquisition centers in the state.
What
Uduaghan should do
If he is elected, Uduaghan should award scholarships
to deserving indigenous students for further education. This would certainly facilitate
the timely attainment of the desired goal of rapid human capital development in
Delta State.
An Uduaghan-led government should also implement a women
development programme alongside the human capital and youth development programmes.
This would ensure optimal use of the three women resource/rehabilitation centers
in each of the three senatorial districts in the state. This programme should
also entail provision of increased access to micro-finance at grassroots level
through promotion of cooperative societies. It should also include increased access
to agricultural loan schemes specifically targeted towards women.
For success
to be achieved, the administration should tap the state’s abundant and varied
natural resources. Of course, this includes the oil and gas industry; the maritime
and aquatic industries and the agricultural industry. Apart from these, other
natural resources whose presence have been ignored for a long time should also
be exploited. They include coal, silica, clay and white sand.
In order
to make maximum impact, the new administration could work with local councils,
chambers of commerce, industries, mines and agriculture to realize the objective
of removing all obstacles that have kept investors away and therefore hindered
the state’s economic progress.
Another strategy Uduaghan should utilize
is that of actively engaging the multi-national oil and gas corporations with
attractive incentives to relocate their headquarters or decentralize their operations
in such a way that the state can benefit. This approach is important when it is
realized that Delta State’s gas reserves which has been estimated to be
higher than that of crude oil still remains largely untapped. For now natural
gas from the state powers the electricity gas turbines at Ekakpamre (Ughelli),
Sapele, Okpai and Egbin near Lagos. The installed capacity for the four electricity
plants is about half that of the entire nation.
For optimal benefits to be
achieved in the execution of the human capital development programme, indigenes
of the local communities should be involved in the oil and gas industry along
the line of the Chevron scheme.
Integrated economic programme
It
is pertinent to state that the development of a solid human capital base would
culminate in laying a solid foundation for an integrated economic development
programme. Hence, the development of key towns should fundamentally contribute
in uplifting the state’s human resources. Such a programme should lead to
the accelerated growth of important towns such as Warri, Sapele, Agbor, Ughelli,
Umunede, Kwale, Patani, Burutu, Bomadi, Orerokpe, Koko, Abraka and Oleh in order
to ensure even development of the entire state.
In addition to these investments
in the aquatic agricultural sub-sector should be made together with investments
in terrestrial agriculture. Since the state is already recognized as a leader
in the farming of cash and food crops, it is only natural that the state government
should give massive support to farmers in order to empower them as a fundamental
aspect of the human capital development programme. There should also be a massive
investment in the farming of oil palm and cassava in order to achieve food security
for the entire state. |
