Gbagi, Delta’s Best Bet as Okowa’s Successor, Says Jibunoh

By Omon-Julius Onabu

Internationally renowned engineer and environmentalist, Dr. Newton Jibunoh, has said that Delta State could not afford to have anyone succeed Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in 2023 who cannot keep up with the tempo of social and economic development of the state.

Jibunoh, who was nick-named ‘The Desert Warrior’ due to his persistent global campaign against desert encroachment, said he was convinced that former minister of education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, would be the suitable person to step into the shoes of Okowa as the next Governor of Delta State.

He said that the people would be fortunate to have the long-standing entrepreneur as governor in 2023 because Gbagi has the capacity and capability to industrialize the state.

Speaking when the governorship hopeful visited him at his Akwukwu-Igbo country home in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, to intimate him about his gubernatorial intentions, Jibunoh, said, “From what I know, for what you have been and for what you have done, Delta State will be very lucky to have you as Governor”.

He asserted that the governor Delta needs after Dr Okowa was “one that knows what it takes to build on the achievements of the incumbent, to industrialize the state; and fortunately, the state has it in Gbagi, who has the right connections to bring in fellow industrialists and turn the state to a real construction site.”

The octogenarian and founder of Nelson Mandela Garden Asaba, further said, “You (Gbagi) have a partner in me, not because you are here amongst my people, but because I know who you are.

“We have to fix Nigeria, but first of all we begin to fix Delta State. Once you fix Delta State, the rest will come in because we cannot continue like this”.

“I believe Gbagi has what it takes to change the narrative and I can tell you that he is a man of integrity”

Chief Jibunoh, who noted that his friendship with Gbagi dates back over 40 years, observed, “So, I am talking from experience of the person I know, interacted with and I have shared a lot of our problems in this country with. So, if I am not in the position to testify to that, tell me the person who will?

“He has been a wonderful entrepreneur. I can testify to because I have seen and been to some of the things he has established; things that touch the minds and souls of the people of this country. I have seen him get involved with the affairs of those things that we need that will be able to sustain the country; and, I think Kenneth Gbagi is a man I can do business with”.

Earlier, Gbagi told the Akwukwu-Igbo monarch and community leaders, women and youths in his palace “In this state called Delta today, I have what it takes to change the narrative positively.

“My older brother the governor (Okowa), it is my prayer that he succeeds and I call on Deltans to support him so that he can finish strong. I say it every time, were we to have followed his footprint in the last 24 years, development in the state would have gone a lot faster and better than where we are today. But I appreciate the fact that he has taken it from where he met it to the enviable height that we are today.

“It is my belief, I will build on from where he stops. I urge the royal father to join hands in prayer that as the governor finishes, he will hand over to me so that we will continue with everything he has done after he has left plus more that we know.

“Were it not for the person of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, a man of character that God brought at an auspicious time in 2015 to save the state, I do not know what would have happened to the state by now.

“We have different gifts; I am an industrialist who is going to commence industrialization of the state from where the governor will stop in 2023.

“Having waited for another Delta Central turn, governorship has gone round from Delta Central to South and now North, I do not need to come and convince Uncle Newton that I want to contest for governor. I can tell you that without equivocation.

“Obviously, this Delta that we are today is not the Delta of our dream. Uncle Newton, I have come to intimate you and to plead with you sir to speak out unless you want to leave it worse than you met it.

“We have a duty to change this land for the better and beyond where our parents left it for us. We owe Delta state the duty of making the place better than we were given.

“I believe very strongly that with what we have in Delta state, being bigger in size, population, raw materials and mineral wealth, in fact, bigger than 42 countries in the world, that we have what it takes to have surplus for all of us, if we can be organised, coordinated and put ourselves together without deceit.”

Meanwhile, as the consultative train of the ex-education minister continues its tour of the state, youths under the canopy of ‘Gbagi Grassroots Movement’, led by Comrade Oke Emuesiri Ogah, on Sunday at the aspirant’s Oginibo country home, officially asked Gbagi to go ahead with his plan to contest Delta governorship seat in 2023.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Ogah described Gbagi as a “tried, tested personality who has proven himself with sterling leadership qualities and character to become governor of the state.”

“We believe that you are not that kind of politician that will get there and begin to gather wealth for himself. We believe that when we give you the full support and you get there, you are going to industrialize Delta State and that will lead to the creation of jobs for the youths.”