A Nigeria-born, Dutch Environmental Rights Activist, Mr. Sunny Ofehe has formally declared before a mammoth crowd his intention to run for the office of the governor of Delta state come 2019 under the platform of the All Progressive Congress, (APC), even as he lamented the failed governance in the state.
Declaring his intention to the APC leaders, elders, youths and other stakeholders on Sunday, at the Ekwerigbe primary school playground, Ozoro, headquarters of Isoko North council area of the state, Mr. Ofehe who hails from Iyede town of the local government, told the people that his top priority would be the strengthening of institutions that would grow the socio-economic development of the state.
The activist turned politician who was flanked by top officials of the party in the local government and the state and some foreign investors, disclosed that, he would not promise Deltans construction of roads, schools and hospitals because according to him they are the minimal basic amenities any government world over can offer her people.
While saying, there are foreign investors who are willing to plug their resources into his economic agenda in Delta state if elected into office as a governor, Ofehe, lamented the under development of institutions across the state, adding that “I weep for the infrastructural deficit in my state, Delta.
“Every day I wake up in the city called Rotterdam, I weep for Delta state. We are in a state that have four under functioning sea port. We are in a state with two major truck terminal that export crude oil out of this country. We are in a state that is the second largest producer of crude oil in the country and we are in a state with the largest gas reserver that have made Nigeria the largest exporter of crude oil allover the world but what we seeing is poverty.
“What we see is institutional failure. What we see is lack of education. What we see is failure in our health care system and all of that can be summary to be product of bad leadership, corruption. Delta state is the gate way to South West and South East, so whether by air, by sea or by land you cannot access this region without passing through our state. We are not suppose to be where we are today but because I have seen how things work.
“European development is not a rocket science, it borne out of patriotism, dedication and respect for equal rights and that’s why I have offered myself to serve you and to serve with a simple slogan, the FixDelta because our state is broken and we need to fix it. And we need to fix it not only by my power but we need to fix it together. We need to bring in international collaboration and we need to bring in national unity and we need to bring our people together.
Isoko nation, as my mentor has said has been marginalise for too long but we want to stand up and say we have what it takes to produce the next governor of this state. I have come with some of my friends who are into business, they are investors. They represents a consortium that we are trying to build internationally, they represent every segment of our economy.
“As a Governor, we will revamp our marine sector. In this state we can have a ship building yards. In this state we can have dry docks. In this state we can have state-of-the-art vessels that are owned by individuals. Private consortium, small, medium and large scale entrepreneurs will be empowered and my government will be the first to look into civil society organizations.” Ofehe stated.
The governorship hopeful, assured all Deltans that the history of development in Delta state will be rewritten for the betterment of everyone, saying the state has collapsed following the continued enthronement of bad leadership.
Speaking at the public declaration, the commissioner representing Delta state in the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), Mr. Ogaga Ifowodo who canvassed support for the Not Too Young To Rule Bill recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, said that Ofehe as a tested and proven rights activist, he has been well prepared to run and steer the mantle of leadership of the state and therefore urged Deltans to vote Ofehe as governor come 2019.
Speaking in the same vein, Dutch national, Pepijn van den Hoogenband, CEO TRINCO Development who led other multinational companies Chief Executive Officers to the public declaration, likened Delta state to Holland, saying that if Ofehe is given the chance to be elected as governor come 2019, Deltans would be shock of the huge infrastructure and institutional development that would spring up in the state, adding that “Ofehe’s blueprint is achievable if the people actually needed development and a departure from the old order.”
“As a Dutch man, we don’t support anybody everywhere because we are a very critical country and we take critical look on your person and we do background check before we stand by you, so if we are here with Sunny Ofehe it show we trust his integrity and we trust he has the capacity to receive what we have to offer the people of Delta state.”
