While Ibori was said to have stolen over $250m from the state’s purse, for which he was convicted by a UK court and imprisoned, Uduaghan’s tenure was marked by a high level of brigandage, to the point where he even borrowed over N50bn from the capital market a few days before leaving office. Because of the dangerous practice of party continuity and the shrouded nature of Delta State’s finances, nobody can tell exactly how much Uduaghan embezzled from the coffers of the state.
Okowa has taken the blemished art of state capture to a whole new level, borrowing hundreds of billions to allegedly fund his desperate but failed ambition to become the vice president of Nigeria. By the time he would be leaving office in May, it would take a detailed forensic audit to know how much was stolen from Delta State. Despite this level of abuse of the state’s financial resources, there is no significant achievement to show for it. For a state that earns more federal allocation than Rivers State, Akwa Ibom and all other oil-producing states, Delta is too backward in terms of development compared to these other states.
It goes without saying that voting PDP back into Dennis Osadebay House will spell doom for Delta State, as Sheriff Oborevwori, Okowa’s appointed successor and stooge, will not only cover up his tracks but would likely outdo his master when it comes to plundering the state’s resources. After all, the goal of any disciple is to be better than his master. The irony of this whole thing is that he would also do it, while pulling religion as a wool over people’s eyes; the same way Okowa has done in the last eight years. Pensioners have not been paid since 2015, insecurity in the state is alarming, the roads are terrible, no jobs for the youth except the cosmetic ‘empowerment programmes’ that are usually heavily advertised on major TV channels, without any corresponding economic benefit to the state.
Why Omo-Agege Cannot Be an Alternative
But for the recent developments in our national politics, it would have been all doom and gloom for Deltans if their choice had been between Oborevwori and Ovie Omo-Agege of the APC. For anyone who has followed the latter’s political trajectory, one thing that has been consistent is his broken moral compass and a desperation for power beyond what can be considered normal. He is alleged to be one of those who introduced thuggery into Delta State politics, and we saw that play out at the national level in 2018 when his thugs successfully broke into the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and stole the mace, the legislature’s symbol of authority. It was not surprising that his party rewarded him a while after with the position of Deputy Senate President for that ill-advised action.
Omo-Agege’s thuggish behaviour in 2018 was not the first time he was getting engaging in activities that underscored his questionable character, as he also faced criminal trial in November 30, in the USA, for crimes ranging from forging a cheque to lying in his application for a driver’s licence. According to a Sahara Reporters investigation, he was arrested and made to face a four-count amended charge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court with Case number BA11133, and some of the criminal charges included forgery, perjury and fraud. He was found guilty and convicted by the court, and on April 12, 1998, the Review Department of the State Bar Court issued an order suspending Omo-Agege from practicing law in California for two years effective May 30, 1996. Since he committed the crime with the name, Augustine Omo-Agege, he had to abandon his first name, Augustine, and started using his middle name, Ovie.
But having a very questionable character is not the only reason Omo-Agege has no business contesting for governor of Delta State. In the last four years, Omo-Agege has worked closely with Ahmed Lawan to establish a rubber-stamp Senate that has provided all the legislative backing for Buhari’s excesses. The president’s mindless borrowings have always been approved without any recourse to common sense, thereby putting Nigeria in a very precarious fiscal position. He has also been silent about all the atrocities being committed by Fulani killer herdsmen against Deltans, maybe as his way of trying to ensure he does not upset the power brokers in his party. In addition to all these, and as a sign of his narrowmindedness when it comes to development, the few things he has managed to attract to Delta State in his capacity as DSP were only sited in his hometown Orogun, without even trying to expand it to other areas of the Urhobo nation. Now, imagine if Delta is unfortunate to have such a character as governor. He would do the same thing at a larger scale, forgetting that he was elected to serve as governor of the entire state.
The former President-General of Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), Chief Joe Omene, once remarked that Omo-Agege is the worst politician in Delta State and described him as a very greedy and self-centered man. He went on to say that Omo-Agege would be worse than Okowa if Deltans are unwise to vote him as governor, seeing his track record of betrayal and lack of integrity. For those who always think about voting the lesser evil, it is apparent at this point that Omo-Agege cannot be regarded as a lesser evil to Okowa or Sheriff. This is the reason why we must look elsewhere for the kind of leadership Delta State needs.
The New Calculations in Delta Politics
Any close observer of the political trajectory in Delta State would have easily concluded around this time last year that the governorship election was going to be a two-horse race between Sheriff and Omo-Agege. But then, the Peter Obi phenomenon swept Delta State away on February 25, just like it did in many other states across the federation, and for the first time since 1999, an opposition party won the presidential election in the state by a wide margin. Political figures have since started aligning with the Obidient Movement, trying to gain electoral goodwill by association. The video of Okowa’s daughter, Barr. Marilyn Okowa-Daramola, begging Obidients for their votes has since gone viral. In that video, she had to conclude her plea by chanting “LabourParty,“ even while she was wearing a PDP t-shirt. She is not the only one who is trying to garner sympathy and votes by joining the moving train of the Obidient Movement. A video also went viral of Sheriff addressing a church congregation that refused to be Sheriffied or ObidientlySheriffied. If it is not Obidient, they don’t want to have anything to do with it. Omo-Agege has also paid a few people falsely identifying as Obidients, as he also tries to garner electoral advantage by identifying with the movement that Peter Obi has come to emblematise. Sadly, none of them has the character, competence and capacity of Peter Obi; only political desperadoes who have come to agree that their cheese has been moved are now looking for how to remain relevant in the scheme of things.
Enter Ken Pela
A graduate of Economics and Statistics from the University of Benin, Kennedy Kawarhiebie Pela was born to the family of Mr and Mrs. Solomon Pela in Oginibo, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. His father, Solomon Pela, was the first person in the entire Ughelli South region to go to the university, and ended up attending reputable schools in the United States, sponsored by the Baptist Mission. When he returned to Nigeria, he was key to the establishment of different Baptist High Schools in the old Bendel region, and was a very popular principal in Aghalokpe and Benin. He later became the Secretary of the old Bendel State and was elected to the Midwest House of Assembly. His first son, who happens to be Ken’s elder brother, was elected as a member of the Bendel House of Assembly, a clear demonstration that politics was running in the family.
In 2002, Ken contested for the local government chairman of Ughelli South under PDP and won the ticket, but he was deprived of the ticket that was eventually handed over to someone else. Afterwards, he decided to focus on building his career and businesses. Before starting his companies in the 90s, he had risen in his career as an investment banker at New Nigerian Bank and Federal Interstate Bank. In the public sphere, he served as Chairman of the Board, Delta Trust Mortgage Bank Limited between 2007-2009; Member, Governing Council of Delta School of Marine Technology between 2011 and 2014; and Member, Integrated Institute for Professional Managers. A Real Estate Developer and Wealth Creator, he is the Chairman/CEO, Etoken Ventures Worldwide Ltd; the Managing Director/CEO of ACRC Ltd; Chairman/CEO of Exusia Energy Ltd; and Vice Chairman/CEO of Citiprops Ltd.
Ken is an ordained Deacon with the fear of God, and is looking to entrench righteousness, prosperity and harmony in Delta State. He has dedicated the last few years of his life to sponsoring and training young people through school, as he believes that education is one of the biggest gifts any individual can have.
Ken’s Manifesto
Ken is looking to build a Delta that works for all. If there is one thing he desires to see, it is an era where Deltans get to fully enjoythe benefits of being an oil-producing state. He plans to pay off outstanding pensions while also ensuring that civil servants earn a living wage, which he has benchmarked at N100,000. This will attract young people to the civil service, while also having a spiral effect on the state’s economy. For someone like me whose mother has been owed her pension since 2015, despite sacrificing 35 years of her life to the civil service, Ken’s promise to clear the pension backlog and make subsequent payments promptly is something that resonates well with me.
In addition to the above, he is determined to stimulate the development of ten new smart cities in the different federal constituencies of the State. I saw the proof of concept for the ten new cities, and I was completely blown away. For someone who has seen and experienced the level of development in other parts of the globe, it is safe to say that Ken’s plan is to make Delta State the Qatar of Nigeria, driven by public and private partnerships. And indeed, who says we cannot achieve that, seeing that the city was also built with the same oil money that we have? Ken plans to make these new cities affordable and accessible to Deltans by providing them mortgages which they can repay over time, just like what obtains in civilized countries. Some of the corollary benefits of the smart cities include tourism, attraction of investments to the state, job creation, an improved life for all Deltans and so many other possibilities.
He also plans to get the ports in Delta State working again, while also creating businesses and technology hubs across the state. This will surely set Delta State’s economy on a pedestal different from other states. In the area of infrastructure, Ken is determined to draw from his experience in real estate development to ensure that the state’s infrastructure is completely transformed. His plans around youth empowerment through ICT, entertainment and sports are very laudable, and Delta State cannot remain the same again if Ken approaches governance with the same passion with which he has built his businesses and everything else he has touched.
One last thing that cannot be ignored is Ken’s belief in affirmative action (AA) for women, and a deliberate inclusion of women in his plans. Since 1999, he is the first governorship candidate in Delta State to choose a woman, Professor Julie NwabogoUmukoro, as his running mate. A professor of Semiotics at the University of Port Harcourt, Professor NwabogoUmukoro has had a stellar career in academics and has also built a solid reputation as an organizer and activist. She is the current President of the Association of Ndowka Professionals in Academia, and the President of the Fulbright Association of Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter, having been a visiting Fulbright fellow herself. One of the leading lights of the Ndokwa people, she hails from Ase in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria, and has been married for the last 42 years to Professor Matthew Umukoro, a retired Professor of Media and Communication Studies.
