Crying A River For Political Showboating: Omo-Agege’s Crocodile Tears For Ndokwa, While Suppressing Them At NDDC
The Oasis Reporters
December 5, 2022
According to information available in the media, Ndokwa sons and daughters as well as other Deltans read that “the Delta State gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has assured the people of Ndokwa nation that President Muhammadu Buhari will assent to the bill establishing the University of Agriculture, Aboh in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of the state”.
Good news!
He said the bill establishing the institution has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and is now awaiting the president’s assent.
Omo-Agege, who is the Deputy Senate President, stated on Saturday when the ward-to-ward campaign train of APC visited Aboh and other wards in Ndokwa East Local Government Area.
The lawmaker said that the proposed establishment of a university of agriculture in Aboh was not a misplaced priority, considering Ndokwa nation’s contribution in oil and agriculture to the development of the country.
Now, the news begins to get more interesting because, Ndokwa nation has indeed contributed enormously to the Nigerian economy in terms of oil and gas.
Besides, Ndokwa nation is the only oil producing local government area in the entire Delta North senatorial district. Historically speaking, the grossly underdeveloped Ndokwa nation has been very strategic to foreign diplomacy, oil politics, security of the people of Nigeria and it’s eventual peace and progress.
History scholars would readily tell you that when late Col. Emeka Ojukwu felt desperate enough to internationalize the unfortunate and lamentable civil war in Nigeria (1967-1970) and bring attention to the starvation the people of the former Eastern Nigeria were facing, he ordered a military invasion of Okpai in Ndokwa East local government, held the Agip oil workers who were mainly Italians hostage, then made his famous broadcast.
You may read Professor Chinua Achebe’s last book (There Was A Country ; published September 27, 2012) for more details.
That singular act drew the Pope’s attention to the civil war and helped changed the dynamics of war politics and all that goes with it.
Fast forward to Nigeria’s glorious democracy days.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo became president in 1999. He noticed that Nigeria did not make any serious attempt to build more power plants for electricity since the last time he was in office in 1979 as military head of state (an interval of twenty years)
Within that twenty years, Alhaji Shehu Shagari had been president. Followed by then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, then General Ibrahim Babangida, General SANI Abacha and General Abdulsalami Abubakar as military heads of State. Nigeria’s population kept growing exponentially, yet the leaders neglected to increase power generation. Despite receipts of huge oil dollars inflow.
Obasanjo saw the huge scandal and decided to ask the oil companies operating in Nigeria to generate electricity from country’s enormous gas reserves.
Guess what. Only Agip Oil in Okpai, Ndokwa East put it’s hands to the plow, or let’s say, it’s engineers to the turbines and produced power to the grid from Ndokwa nation.
Guess what again.
All the megawatts of electric power produced at Okpai in Ndokwa east was evacuated to light Abuja up. Ndokwa nation was neglected and they are still in gross darkness.
So Ovie Omo- Agege adds that Ndokwa nation remains the only federal constituency in Delta State without a higher institution.
See the institutionalized injustice to Ndokwa nation?
Then while lamenting the underdevelopment of Ndokwa nation by the Okowa-led administration, he promised to put an end to the political marginalization and infrastructural neglect of the area.
Omo-Agege further berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government for abandoning the all important Beneku Bridge which connects several oil producing communities in Ndokwa East Local Government.
But then, see who is lamenting.
Ovie Omo-Agege was a prominent front line chieftain of the PDP before he saw crass opportunism that made him move over to the APC.
He equally says thus:
“I want to tell you that all of the punishment and wickedness visited upon the people of Ndokwa East by Okowa will stop on the day of the election. I am very pained anytime I think about Ndokwa East Local Government Area and see your sufferings and the amount of neglect. I shed tears.
“I know how much Ndokwa East Local Government contributes to the economy of Nigeria and I know how much comes to Delta State because of Ndokwa East contribution. And I wonder what the people of Ndokwa East did to Okowa that he has decided to treat you with so much hatred?
“Just one day alone, Okowa and his stooge established three universities, no one was established in Ndokwa nation because of the hatred he has against the people of Ndokwa nation,” he said.
According to him, “The most painful part is that his stooge, who is the speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly presided on the day these three universities were established. He couldn’t even ask Okowa to place one in the Ndokwa nation because the two of them have so much hatred for the Ndokwa people.
“But let me assure you that the suffering and neglect are over; and that is why I as your son working with your Senator Peter Nwaboshi came together and we ensured that the bill for the University of Agriculture is established in Aboh.
“And as I speak to you, that bill establishing the University of Agriculture has been passed by the Senate and House of Representatives; and we are going to make sure President Muhammadu Buhari signs it.”
Did Omo-Agege not say a while ago that he shed tears at the neglect of the Ndokwa nation?
Well, he did.
But as a very influential Deputy Senate President who has the ears of the presidency, how come he oversaw the nomination of a non Ndokwa East person, Lauretta Onochie as the Chairman of the NDDC ?
Is that not deepening further, the marginalization of the Ndokwa nation?
In the entire Delta north senatorial district, only Ndokwa nation produces crude oil, gas and electricity. Other parts of Delta north do not as of now. Lauretta Onochie hails from Aniocha. And she’s going to represent the Ndokwa nation and Delta state !
And this was facilitated by Ovie Agege and the Senate led by the APC.
This is why the people believe that the tears he shed must have been crocodile tears, meant to display political showmanship. Good reason why both the PDP and the APC have to be rejected in Delta state to teach them a lesson. The oppression is getting out of hand.
Let the people try new hands. Enough of the deception. Enough of the fooling of the people. Enough of sweet talking
Luckily, Labour Party has an Ndokwa lady on the gubernatorial ticket. A ticket that is more gender sensitive. Professor (Mrs) Julie Nwabogo is the deputy governorship candidate of the party, running with Ken Kawhariebie Pela as governor. They should be given a chance.
Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com
