In fulfillment of his electioneering promise to hold town hall meetings with various local governments, it was the turn of Ika South Local Government area to host a town hall meeting with the Governor of Delta State, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
The meeting started with the recitation of the national anthem and an address by Ika South Council Chairman. In his address, the chairman of the host Local Government, Hon. Fred Ofume welcomed the Governor and his entourage to the local government, and thanked the Governor for his good works in Ika South, which cuts across rehabilitation of schools, hospitals, construction of roads, youth empowerment programs such as YAGEP and STEP etc, and also stated that despite the numerous work which has been done, many more projects are yet to be carried out , such as the road leading to Agbor Technical College, some parts of Baleke street, the Emuhu axis of Old Lagos Asaba road, Sunny Ojugboh street, completion of the link road from Dein’s Palace to Oza-nogogo market, and creation of a road linking College of Education, Central Hospital and Alihame to Abraka Road.
The Governor in his address thanked the people of Ika South for being peaceful at all time, and thanked the Local government Chairman for his hard work in taking record of all projects carried out in the local government, and for taking notice of yet to be carried out projects, stating that the reason for the town hall meeting was for the government to interact with the people, know how far they have gone, know their lapses and how best to solve them.
Governor Okowa while listing some of the projects carried out by his administration in the last two years stated that the state has fallen from the number one oil producing state to the 4th oil producing state in recent times, hence the reason for delays in carrying out some projects. He urged Youths to embrace skills acquisition programs available to them, stating that the number of work force in the civil service has been stretched; hence there can be no employment for the time being. He stated that a total of about two thousand three hundred and sixty three youths have been trained and equipped through various skill acquisition programs in the state.
Speaking on reviving sports, he said in a bid to revive sports in Secondary Schools, public schools in the state have been instructed to hold annual inter-house sports competitions, and it has become a prerequisite that schools seeking approval to go into operation must have sporting facilities, or be denied approval. Also addressing the health sector, he promised to bring Central Hospital Agbor back to the standard level it used to be.
He urged farmers in the local Government to key into the Micro credit agency and anchor farmers program, to access loans, with the intention to pay back.
He encouraged parents to send their children to Technical schools, where they will be taught skill acquisition as well as other courses taught in other schools. The Governor informed Ika south residents to register for the health insurance scheme which will commence shortly, stating that the scheme will help in paying their health bills in the future. Speaking further, he made an appeal to parents to raise their children in the proper way, to curtail the increase of cultism in Ika land.
Speaking on security, the governor sounded a note of warning, saying that any kidnapper caught will be sentenced to life imprisonment if found guilty after trial, and any accomplice caught will have his or her abode pulled down by bulldozers. He urged the people to remain calm and peaceful in the face of the Fulani Herdsmen menace, stating that the Federal Government will soon come up with a measure to curtail the menace.
After his address, questions asked by representatives of various groups present, most of which centered on Security challenges, power supply, perimeter fencing of Central hospital Agbor, conversion of College of Education Agbor to a University were duly answered by the governor, to the satisfaction of all present.
Giving the vote of thanks, the member representing Ika South Local Government at the Delta State House of Assembly Hon. Festus Okoh thanked the Governor for the various appointments bestowed on Ika South Indigenes, and the numerous road construction projects carried out in the Local Government
Present at the meeting were the Governor, his deputy Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, member representing Ika Federal Constituency at the National Assembly Hon. Victor Nwokolo, the SSG of the state Barr. Ovie Agas, member representing Ika South constituency at the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Festus Okoh, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Barr. Chiedu Ebie, commissioner for Economic Planning Barr. Kingsley Emu, Commissioner for Women Affairs, SSA’s, special advisers, Barr, Martins Okonta, SUBEB Chairman Hon. Sunny Ogwu, Ika South Local Government Council Chairman Hon. Fred Ofume, Ika South Local government P.D.P chairman Hon. Collins Bello, President General Agbor Community, Mr. Lucky Mgbeken, King of Abavo Community H.R.H Uche Irenuma, Representative of Dein of Agbor, NLC, NUT, NMA, CAN, NURTW, Muslim community, Ika South NULGE, Okada union, Market women association, students, College of Education representatives, Onu Ika, Ika Landlord association, Physically Challenge Association, amongst others present.
