By Pleasure Onohwakpo
The immediate past member of the House of Representatives for Ethiope Federal Constituency, Hon. Ben Igbakpa has assured Deltans that the incumbent governor of the state, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori will not only deliver on his campaign promises, but will surprise a lot of people with positive results.
Hon. Igbakpa who stated this in an exclusive interview in Sapele recently, said he believed in the capacity and capability of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori to deliver the dividends of democracy to Deltans, adding that having emerged from the grassroots, he is well grounded on the needs and aspirations of the masses because of his street credibility.
“One of the reasons why I stood up to support Hon. Sheriff was because I believe he is a nobody from the street; he campaigned with the toga of street credibility, and he will understand the pain and yearning of the people because he has gone through the mill.
“Today, he is there. So, what I pray for every morning when I wake up is: God give him wisdom to listen to good counsel. This is because, once you are in a position of authority, so many things happen – seen and unseen. That is why leadership requires prayers. People should be on their knees and pray for their leaders because so many things happen such that some leaders do things they don’t know about until it is over before they realize it. So, I pray for him every day to have that discerning ability and listen to good counsel.
“I want him to succeed like no other. So, for me, I pray every day that my dear brother, the governor should listen to wise counsel and perform well. I’m highly optimistic that he will succeed. He needs all of us to do it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be through appointment first before we offer our services or advice.
“Oborevwori is the governor of the State. Yes, people could make recommendations to him. We are all politicians. There could be referencing, recommendations and even suggestions. Nobody is ruling that possibility out. But I’m very sure, Governor Oborevwori is going to surprise a lot of people with positive result. For me as an individual, all I owe him is prayers. And if there is any need to put something in his ear, I would not hesitate to do just that”, Igbakpa said.
As to whether or not he will accept an invitation from the governor to serve in his cabinet, Hon. Igbakpa stated that he will not refuse such offer, stressing that he has sufficient experience in governance both at the legislative and executive levels and would be prepared to give his service even on a pro bono basis.
The former national lawmaker whose achievement as a legislator was remarkable, stated it is better for the governor to start making provision for palliatives for Deltans in the transport sector to assuage the harshness of the petroleum subsidy removal.
Igbakpa who served as Commissioner for Transport under former governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, hinted that the provision of cheaper means of transportation is the panacea for addressing other areas of challenges associated with the withdrawal of the oil subsidy, adding that transport cost has a multiplier effects on food cost, accommodation, clothing and other sectors of the economy.
“If I have my way, I will tell His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori to draw up a programme. And that programme should involve private stakeholders in the transport sector. And he should look out for persons who are capable personnel; people who have track record of transportation. There is what we called first risk takers. Government should be first risk takers. We all know that government has no business in business. But most times, government businesses are somebody’s business that don’t flourish.
“You know, the subsidy regime during my time as a Commissioner of Transport under the administration of Governor Uduaghan, there was a certain subsidy palliative that came from the centre. Each time there was subsidy removal, the first sector that is affected is the transport sector and once it gets to the transport sector, you start seeing the multiplier effects in other parts of the economy like inflation amongst others.
“So, the first thing to tackle is the transport sector. To start with it is important to provide cheaper means of transportation. There are buses now that use gas as source of energy to provide mass transit system. Once they can get that right, they can use the savings from the subsidy removal to fund the cheap transport system, it will cushion the effect of the removal”, Igbakpa suggested.
According to him, “I’m very much in support of the removal of subsidy. My prayer is that whatever is the gain of the removal of subsidy should not go into private pockets, it should not be diverted. I know that the essence of the subsidy removal is to save some money. But when the money is saved it should be used to provide infrastructure”, he stated.
Igbakpa also commended the former President on his assent to the Electricity Reform Bill, adding that it will attract investors to the different states who would want to go into investing into power generation.
He however advised state governors to go into partnership with private investors who are technically savvy to set up modular plants in their areas, adding that power generation business is a lucrative one.
“The Electricity Reform Act will give the governors more opportunities to strive but some of the benefits would seem difficult to achieve because of the paucity of funds and the economic situation of the country. It can only be achieved through partnership. I believe that our governor should start looking out for investors to come to the state to invest in the power sector. I know that power is a lucrative business. It is capital intensive but it is a lucrative business.
“We have water, we have gas, we have many other alternative power generation sources. So, I believe that if he looks into the possibility of public private partnership, get people to come and invest in Delta State, he will get it right. This is because government cannot do it alone. Under this new law, the governor can grant license to generate power for Sapele community and environs for instance. I think there is the need to have modular form of power generation system”, he said.
Asked if he would accept an offer from Gov. Oborevwori to serve in his cabinet, he said: “I have not been approached for an offer of appointment. But if I’m approached, I’m ready to give my services to Deltans. I’ll not shy away from it. If there is anything he wants me to do in the government in which I participated in putting in place and which I also believe will succeed, I will definitely do it. Maybe I can do it on pro bono.”
