In the life of a people, there is always a time when pragmatic leadership is really an astounding index of societal transformation, devoid of revolutionary rhetoric but based on a prolific blue-print, which underscores the imperativeness of impacting the lives of the polity positively.
In Plutarch’s great biography of Cato the Elder, he wrote: “Rome showed itself to be truly great, and hence worthy of great leaders’’. Correspondingly in our contemporary political setting, this timeless piece aptly applies to Delta State, as it is endowed with the prospects of greatness and a coterie of great leaders.
The attainment of greatness by any state depends largely on the calibre of available leadership. In other words, a leadership that takes an in-depth introspection to fashion out a productive outline, taking into consideration the hitherto deficient critical sectors and its stagnating consequences on the overall welfare of the citizenry.
Rt Hon Victor Ochei, a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in Delta State, is potentially considered a paragon of this pragmatic approach to governance, considering his realistic and holistic programme, articulated for the provision of a veritable panacea and enshrining developmental governance within the Delta State polity.
Naturally, no lofty project can thrive or blossom in the absence of security and law enforcement. Little wonder that this crucial element in developmental governance proposal was considered as being essentially strategic to the faithful implementation of his programme. To this end, education and enlightenment were posited as purveyors of peace sustenance, through fairness, justice and equity in government’s conduct, especially in the distribution of government projects and positions, in addition to strengthening the law enforcement agencies with equipment, finance and procedures for the reduction of crime rate in the state.
This comprehensive blue print ranges from highest quality, speedy delivery of fair and evenly spread projects, the provision of free qualitative education under conducive environment, training the trainers in line with the best practices globally, to the vigorous implementation of rapid industrialisation within the state as insignia of meaningful development.
It is also pertinent to observe that job creation, skill acquisition and women empowerment, which had been recurring decimals in various governments’ programmes are adequately captured, for according to him, “one of the immediate effects of our investments in infrastructural development, will be the creation of thousands of jobs in the building and construction industry in the state, without prejudice to youth and women empowerment through the building of skill acquisition centres all over the state”.
The exquisiteness of this blue-print, finds anchorage in the provision of amenities which is germane to human existence. For example, there is the idea of developing a public sector housing programme, aimed at delivering several thousands of houses to citizens according to their housing needs, rent, lease or outright buying, irrespective of profession, tribe or political affiliation, and, of course not excluding the private sector housing developers, who will be encouraged by incentives like very low interest and long term repayment plans.
The importance of water to human existence cannot be overemphasised, considering its usefulness in virtually all human endeavours. Sadly though, the provision of this precious natural mineral has remained a major challenge to successive governments, especially in the upland areas of the state with very low ground water levels. To ameliorate this plight, Rt Hon Ochei has pledged to deploy resources in building modern water supply systems, as well as modernising and resuscitating the old water works in the major cities of the state.
Arguably there could be no shorter route to entrepreneurial and artisanal excellence without constant and adequate supply of energy by means of electricity. Be it on the small, medium and large scale entrepreneurial endeavour, the imperativeness of electricity as the coefficient in the matrix of entrepreneurship and development cannot be trivialised, hence Ochei posited thus: “a government I will lead will make it an urgent priority to provide electricity to every part of the state by collaborating with the relevant agencies and companies.”
Health, agriculture and food security, as well as transportation are necessities for the sustenance of any society. On health, the cliché “health is wealth” reinforces its indispensability to human survival, which informs Ochei’s resolve to continue providing funding, equipment and finance for the efficient running of our general hospitals and health centres for the benefit of the young, elderly and pregnant women. Moreover, there will be a concerted effort at training and retraining the medical staff in the use of the state of the art equipment for maximum output.
Agriculture’s three core areas of animal husbandry, fishery and crop farming will expectedly form the bedrock of making the practise of agriculture attractive, aided by formation of many more cooperatives, availability of better yielding species, training, subsidised equipment leasing, veterinary services, low-interest loans and fertiliser as key factors in incentivising the farmers and investors. Transportation is one area which needs to be improved upon, even as the present administration in Delta State has posted an alpha performance. In the light of this, Rt Hon Ochei aspires to build on the successes recorded, especially by strengthening the capacity of the relevant agencies to attain greater heights.
Sports is a veritable tool for engaging the youth as a means of discouraging truancy, and, in fact encouraging sound health, as well as providing means of livelihood. Consequently, a world-class stadium commensurate with Delta State’s attainment in sports will be built as well as more mini-stadia will in addition to resuscitating the already existing ones. Civil service motivation will be paramount, as it is the hub of executive arm of government. Staff attitude to work will also be enhanced by entrenching excellence oriented programmes. Tourism, social security, underpinning the local government services, as well as establishing a policy development and implementation committee are also vital elements in the quest to render developmental governance to Deltans.
In summating this piece, it suffices to posit that the faithful implementation of this lofty programmes and project depends on a leader endowed with resolute, futuristic and focussed proficiency back-grounded on a robust pedigree of impressive track record, who had demonstrated a desirable competence in cost-efficient, qualitative and quantitative service delivery, active and functional peace promotion and multi-dimensional inclusiveness, while carrying all stakeholders along, for according to Warren Bennis, “exemplary leadership is impossible without full inclusion, initiatives and cooperation of followers.”
Without any gainsaying, Rt Hon Ochei, the immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, the youngest Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, a financial management expert, a law graduate, a Harvard trained educationist, a phenomenal philanthropist and a frontline gubernatorial aspirant can effectively translate these words into action.
In Plutarch’s great biography of Cato the Elder, he wrote: “Rome showed itself to be truly great, and hence worthy of great leaders’’. Correspondingly in our contemporary political setting, this timeless piece aptly applies to Delta State, as it is endowed with the prospects of greatness and a coterie of great leaders.
The attainment of greatness by any state depends largely on the calibre of available leadership. In other words, a leadership that takes an in-depth introspection to fashion out a productive outline, taking into consideration the hitherto deficient critical sectors and its stagnating consequences on the overall welfare of the citizenry.
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| Hon. Ochei |
Rt Hon Victor Ochei, a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in Delta State, is potentially considered a paragon of this pragmatic approach to governance, considering his realistic and holistic programme, articulated for the provision of a veritable panacea and enshrining developmental governance within the Delta State polity.
Naturally, no lofty project can thrive or blossom in the absence of security and law enforcement. Little wonder that this crucial element in developmental governance proposal was considered as being essentially strategic to the faithful implementation of his programme. To this end, education and enlightenment were posited as purveyors of peace sustenance, through fairness, justice and equity in government’s conduct, especially in the distribution of government projects and positions, in addition to strengthening the law enforcement agencies with equipment, finance and procedures for the reduction of crime rate in the state.
This comprehensive blue print ranges from highest quality, speedy delivery of fair and evenly spread projects, the provision of free qualitative education under conducive environment, training the trainers in line with the best practices globally, to the vigorous implementation of rapid industrialisation within the state as insignia of meaningful development.
It is also pertinent to observe that job creation, skill acquisition and women empowerment, which had been recurring decimals in various governments’ programmes are adequately captured, for according to him, “one of the immediate effects of our investments in infrastructural development, will be the creation of thousands of jobs in the building and construction industry in the state, without prejudice to youth and women empowerment through the building of skill acquisition centres all over the state”.
The exquisiteness of this blue-print, finds anchorage in the provision of amenities which is germane to human existence. For example, there is the idea of developing a public sector housing programme, aimed at delivering several thousands of houses to citizens according to their housing needs, rent, lease or outright buying, irrespective of profession, tribe or political affiliation, and, of course not excluding the private sector housing developers, who will be encouraged by incentives like very low interest and long term repayment plans.
The importance of water to human existence cannot be overemphasised, considering its usefulness in virtually all human endeavours. Sadly though, the provision of this precious natural mineral has remained a major challenge to successive governments, especially in the upland areas of the state with very low ground water levels. To ameliorate this plight, Rt Hon Ochei has pledged to deploy resources in building modern water supply systems, as well as modernising and resuscitating the old water works in the major cities of the state.
Arguably there could be no shorter route to entrepreneurial and artisanal excellence without constant and adequate supply of energy by means of electricity. Be it on the small, medium and large scale entrepreneurial endeavour, the imperativeness of electricity as the coefficient in the matrix of entrepreneurship and development cannot be trivialised, hence Ochei posited thus: “a government I will lead will make it an urgent priority to provide electricity to every part of the state by collaborating with the relevant agencies and companies.”
Health, agriculture and food security, as well as transportation are necessities for the sustenance of any society. On health, the cliché “health is wealth” reinforces its indispensability to human survival, which informs Ochei’s resolve to continue providing funding, equipment and finance for the efficient running of our general hospitals and health centres for the benefit of the young, elderly and pregnant women. Moreover, there will be a concerted effort at training and retraining the medical staff in the use of the state of the art equipment for maximum output.
Agriculture’s three core areas of animal husbandry, fishery and crop farming will expectedly form the bedrock of making the practise of agriculture attractive, aided by formation of many more cooperatives, availability of better yielding species, training, subsidised equipment leasing, veterinary services, low-interest loans and fertiliser as key factors in incentivising the farmers and investors. Transportation is one area which needs to be improved upon, even as the present administration in Delta State has posted an alpha performance. In the light of this, Rt Hon Ochei aspires to build on the successes recorded, especially by strengthening the capacity of the relevant agencies to attain greater heights.
Sports is a veritable tool for engaging the youth as a means of discouraging truancy, and, in fact encouraging sound health, as well as providing means of livelihood. Consequently, a world-class stadium commensurate with Delta State’s attainment in sports will be built as well as more mini-stadia will in addition to resuscitating the already existing ones. Civil service motivation will be paramount, as it is the hub of executive arm of government. Staff attitude to work will also be enhanced by entrenching excellence oriented programmes. Tourism, social security, underpinning the local government services, as well as establishing a policy development and implementation committee are also vital elements in the quest to render developmental governance to Deltans.
In summating this piece, it suffices to posit that the faithful implementation of this lofty programmes and project depends on a leader endowed with resolute, futuristic and focussed proficiency back-grounded on a robust pedigree of impressive track record, who had demonstrated a desirable competence in cost-efficient, qualitative and quantitative service delivery, active and functional peace promotion and multi-dimensional inclusiveness, while carrying all stakeholders along, for according to Warren Bennis, “exemplary leadership is impossible without full inclusion, initiatives and cooperation of followers.”
Without any gainsaying, Rt Hon Ochei, the immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, the youngest Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, a financial management expert, a law graduate, a Harvard trained educationist, a phenomenal philanthropist and a frontline gubernatorial aspirant can effectively translate these words into action.
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