Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state Wednesday said the outbreaks of COVID-19, EndSARS protests and the Yellow Fever currently killing people were the major setback to governance in the state.
Governor Okowa who stated this in Government House, Asaba, during a press briefing said 2020 is a year with obstacles given the plethora of challenges that the state is battling to contain.
He stated that: “There has been a slow pace of activities but we have been able to complete key projects. EndSARS protest was not about SARS alone, but about governance generally.”
Dr. Okowa said governance should focus more on youth development and empowerment. He added that there was a need to upscale youth programmes at various levels of government.
“My engagement with youth after the EndSARS has been quite revealing and we have started implementing some of our resolutions. Besides that Yellow Fever had occurred from my LGA.
“Federal government has lots of functions without delivering. There is a need to restructure the country. I believe the governors of the federation will be strong in voicing out the need to devolve more power to state and LGs.”
On the agitation by oil communities to have control over the 13 percent derivation, Okowa said such a call was not possible since it will be impossible for all oil communities to control their resources.
“If they are agitating for 13 percent to be paid to them directly, what then happens to the remaining percentage?”
He stated that the process of establishing the security outfit took a while because he wanted to ensure that everything was in place, adding that the outfit would tackle kidnapping and other violent crimes, including farmers-herders clashes.
“We set up the Operation Delta Hawk which we are hopeful will be operationalised before Christmas. The team has already been selected and trained and we have been able to get men on ground to participate.
“For them to be able to undertake such programmes, they also need the body armour, the vests which we have gotten recently.
“We are in the process of concluding installation of the communication equipment; the mast is already being provided and by the time we are able to complete the communication equipment installation, then we can truly start.”
