OKOWA’S NON SMART 100 DAYS IN OFFICE AND BUHARI’S SCORE CARD

One hundred days after Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa and President Muhammadu Buhari were sworn into office, there have been no much things to celebrate about.

For Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, it has been one month filled with multiple appointments since he took over as Governor.

The number of aides appointed by Okowa and their allowances in a year is enough to create more jobs and employ the teeming unemployed youths in Delta State. The only reasonable appointments made so far by him are the SSG, Principal Secretary, DOP, Chief of Staff, Special Project Directors, Executive Secretary of Vocational and Technical Board and Commissioners. The Special Advisers have been given to same cycle of men who stole the people blind for the past 16 years, which shouldn’t be.

The achievement so far recorded by Dr. Ifeanyi has been the signing of the DESPODEC bill into law and the Asaba capital development bill, which he has appointed his kinsman Clement Ofuani to oversee the Asaba Capital Development yet flood has continued to ravish the state capital, months after that appointment was made.

The Governors in Rivers and Abia have gone ahead to construct new roads and commissioned them, but Deltans are yet to see even a block of class room been commissioned by Okowa apart from seeing the vocational and technical board executive secretary, Mr Mike Akpobire going around as they go for inspection of few technical schools undergoing renovation. These commissioning could have also been done by Okowa irrespective of challenges of funds, but falling into same trap like his predecessors, he has awarded contract of N2.5 billion to the same ULO that failed to carry out the ones given to him in times past.

The prosperity message preached by Okowa in his campaign must be seen to be working and not on the pages of the Facebook and papers. But will he do well judging from this 100 days in office? Our editorial board can authoritatively say YES.

What has been working in Delta state for 100 days is only a drawing board where the government continues to draw policies without implementing it. There is no doubt that he means well for Deltans with the prosperity mantra truly his desire, but his SMART moves so far have not been smart. The body language is right, the intentions and actions are good and the zeal to perform very excellent but the will to do away with yesterday men is the albatross.

What Governor Okowa must urgently do is to downsize the number of aides he currently has, and stop the reduplication of portfolios. In the real sense of media appointments, a communication manager should have been the chief press secretary or vice versa with two other appointees of Special Assistant on Media and Special Assistant on New Media which would have saved cost and the monies channeled into other means that will be more beneficial to the state. But this is not so as he has chosen to have eight media aides whose offices are located on Delta groups on Facebook Street.

It is time Governor Okowa swung into action and provides Deltans the real governance they truly deserve.

One hundred days later, there has been no real thing to point at in the Okowa’s administration.

Buhari has been able to show that with the right person in charge, things could actually work the way it ought to even though he has made mistakes in appointment of mostly Northerners into position of authority.

His anti corruption campaign has gone a long way in checkmating the activities of public officials and individuals who may have wanted to engage in illegality. Buhari has not come with a rocket propeller in his hands that has turned things around in 100 days. He has only come with the mantra of integrity and seriousness to duty, with anyone planning to steal billions now stealing thousands. His coming has shown that stealing is now corruption.

Buhari is certainly not the messiah for his people but 100 days in office has shown that he has the magic wand to turn things around.

VERDICT:

Okowa: 50%/100