Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
Academic activities in Delta State-owned universities were not affected by the eight-month long strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria because the state government had provided adequately for its universities.
Delta State Governor and Vice-presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, stated this yesterday in Asaba at the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Day celebration.
According to him, the four Delta universities did not down tools with other federal and state public universities simply because his administration had provided what the striking ASUU members were agitating for and demanding from the owners of those institutions.
Okowa noted that the state government paid the same development-oriented attention to all other sectors as it does the universities and the education sector.
At least 2,000 kilometers of roads and nearly as many kilometers of drainages have been constructed across the state, the governor stated. The governor said that the roads were constructed in the riverside communities hitherto described as hard-to-reach or even as no-go areas.
He explained to the CAN leaders that his administration had provided huge number of infrastructure in the state, adding, however, that he was not particularly keen on celebrating the projects with fanfare associated with inauguration.
Okowa said: “Obviously, there are a lot that have been done in the state, but many times, I am not moved to inaugurate projects except if they are very huge projects.
“The reason is that you spend monies when you want to inaugurate projects. Those monies spent on inauguration of projects can be put back to do other things for the state. So, occasionally, we commission projects.
“But in terms of quality of roads in this country, I am not sure that any state has done the number of roads we have done in this state. We have done over 2,000 kilometres of roads.
“Even in our riverine areas, we have constructed roads. When we were starting the secretariat, people criticised us but today, I feel civil servants are happy for it.”
On the theme of the celebration, “His Birth, Our Hope,” Okowa said the birth of Christ is the hope of all Christians, adding, “For Christ to truly be our hope we must learn to walk in him.
“If we want to reap the benefit we must learn to work with Christ, that is, working with everything we have been taught.
“As a state, we are grateful for the prayers of our Christian fathers and for their great impact on the government.
“We owe all our successes and achievements to God. When I look at where we came from and where we are today, we must give thanks to the Lord our God.
“We are proud that Delta now run four universities and they are functional and when other universities went on strike, all our universities were working.”
In his remarks, Chairman of CAN, Delta State Chapter, Senior Apostle Sylvanus Okorete, commended Okowa for the construction of the Christian Centre in Asaba.
He lauded the cordial relationship between CAN and the state government and urged religious leaders in the state to give their full support to the aspiration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to become the first Deltan to be elected Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Okorote noted that the state secretariat of CAN being built and furnished by the state government has over 2,500 seating capacity, adding that the magnificent project would promote inter-denominational worship of God.
He implored Deltans of voting age to ensure that they collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs) and vote in the forthcoming general elections in the country, even as he urged Christians to worship God with contentment.
The CAN Day celebrations was attended by dignataries, including the Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly and PDP Governorship Candidate for 2023, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori.
