From Joseph Obukata, Warri
The governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in Delta State, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, has urged youths to remain committed to the course of changing the leadership of the country from the two political parties that have failed the country.
Ofehe made the call while addressing a group of youths at Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area, urging the youths to vote out those who couldn’t tackle problem of ecological crisis ravaging the nation resulting to flooding and sacking of many from their homes.
Speaking on his aspiration as YPP Governorship candidate for Delta State, he promised to give social income to unemployed Deltans, particularly the youths, the less privileged and elders as part of his social welfare scheme for the people when elected as governor comes 2023.
He said that the move was part of his agenda to address poverty and social exclusion issues in the state.
The Netherlands-based environmental rights activist said that as a governor, he would deploy a social benefit system practiced by European Union’s countries to tackle youth restiveness, decrease inequalities and to reduce poverty in the state.
As someone who had lived abroad for over 26 years, he said that he understands the problems of Delta State more that the PDP candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and APC candidate, Senate Ovie Omo-Agege, boosting that he would floor them in a peaceful, free and fair election.
According to him, as an advanced candidate who knows what governance entails, he has already developed a sample of the microchip payment card produced in China that would be activated once he resumes office as governor to tackle issues of social welfare schemes for the less privileged and unemployed in the state.
He said that the card holder would be entitled to a certain amount of stipend that would be given to mitigate the risk of poverty and social exclusion, saying that everyone ought to be carried along in governance.
“This card, I did it in 2019. It is a symbolic representation of one of the things I will do as governor in terms of a social project for the elderly, vulnerable, women and young people. You see these chips here, when the time comes we will work with a few banks in the state and do social benefits for those of you who don’t have the means to get income”.
Urging the youths to remain steadfast to his aspirations and agenda to recreate a new Delta, Ofehe thanked them for coming out en masse to welcome him on Saturday, October 15, assuring the youths that he would not disappoint them when elected as governor.
He, however decried the leadership deficiency in the state which he said he was coming to correct.
“It is time for us to take the leadership of our state and give to our state what our state duly deserves.”
“We are blessed as a state and blessed as a people. We have enormous human resources and enormous mineral resources, but today what we see is a complete failure in leadership. And if we get it right, we can take Delta State to international glory, where you will be recognised.
“You know, we used to be proud of the Asaba textile mill that created jobs for our people and generated revenue for our state, but today we no longer have those companies.” And many other companies too have gone moribund because of lack of leadership. Look at our roads. Some of our people have been driven away from their homes because of the flood. The flood that is happening today in our state and even outside of our state did not just come by accident.
“There were so many warning signals telling us to prepare, but the government did not care about the people.” Now that the floods have taken over homes, we now have Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps where people have gone to become residents. And of course, the same government that has failed us is now pretending to love us so much by bringing relief materials to IDP camps, whereas the question is; who brought us to this stage.
“I just came here to introduce myself to you and to assure you that my leadership as the next Delta State governor will touch your lives, touch your children’s lives, even those who are yet unborn. In my policy, we will have top priority for women, especially our mothers and those who are pregnant.
“I will ensure that we not only revitalize our hospitals and maternity homes, but we will also ensure that we invest hugely in agriculture so that we can be able to provide quality food for ourselves, the state, and the country and become a global exporter of agricultural produce.”
“In my time as governor, every pregnant woman will get access to free, quality primary healthcare services and every child born before the age of 5 will have access to medical facilities and medicine.
“As I was coming here, I was not impressed. This is where the state governor comes from, but unfortunately, what I see here in terms of roads and drainage systems is nothing to write home about. My love as a governor will spread along with all the ethnic groups, all the constituencies, units, and wards, and we will evenly distribute our natural wealth in a way that there will be inclusive governance.
Whether you are from Ika, Agbor, Isoko, Ijaw, Ibo, Itsekiri, Urhobo, or Ndokwa, we will all work together as brothers and sisters, as fathers and mothers, and do everything we can to unify ourselves. We will not have ethnic conflicts. All of the tribal wars going on will be settled, and we will ensure that you get security, and we will bring back our nightlife.
“I am a young man. I have travelled far and wide. I have spent 27 years of my 50 years living in Europe. I have seen what governance is. I have seen what it takes to enjoy the dividends of democracy, and I know that my state has the highest number of tertiary institutions in this country. We are the most intelligent, talented people this country can even boast of. In my time, we will restore that glory.
While saying that politics of 2023 would not be that of “money-sharing politics”, he charged the youths not to allow themselves to be use for a few thousand naira, saying “They will share it with you, leave you impoverished, and come back in 2027” if you succumb to them.
“You are young, your destiny is in your hands. Do not let one politician come here with agents to deceive you. Ordinarily, none of the people I am competing with will come here to address a crowd like you, but I have come here because I place value on individual Deltans’ lives.
“So when I become the governor of this state, I am assuring you one thing, that I will still come here again to celebrate this moment. So stay with us, forge with us, and go around preaching the good news. For the first time in the politics of Delta State, we now have an alternative, and that alternative is the one that will lead this group to make sure we get to Osadebe House in Asaba”.