…As Monarch Adopts Governor As Okpe Prince
By John Oghojafor
After playing host to a local government headquarter for more than half a century, Orerokpe, the cultural home of the Okpe people of Urhobos in Delta State, remains a rustic country side town with little or no transformation over the years. But all that began to change in the past fifteen years or so when the present monarch, HRM Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe kingdom mounted the throne. Today, the headquarters of the Okpe kingdom and, indeed, the entire Local Government Area, has become a cynosure of all attractions as it boasts of the best network of macadamized roads in the state, courtesy of the Gov. Okowa-led administration.
And as if the state government has just woken up to the realization and importance of Okpe kingdom in the political definitions of the state, the Okowa-led administration has taken a giant leap to transform Orerokpe and other communities in Okpe Local Government Area. One of such transformation was the construction of an ultra-modern multi-million naira market located at the outskirt of Orerokpe.
Completed within the first two years of the Okowa-led administration, the imposing edifice boasts of over a 100 open stalls, 28 lock-up stores, 4 offices, 16 toilets, one cold-room, a storage room, one open hall and a water borehole to provide succor to the traders and others that will patronize the facilities.
Other features of the market include a reinforced concrete underground water tank, a steel elevated potable water tank, power supply facility, external flood lights, a platform for yam tubers storage, among others.
Addressing the Okpe people shortly before the commissioning, Governor Okowa advised the people to put the facilities to maximum use in order to justify the resources committed into its construction as well as using it as a platform for wealth and job creation in the area.
He urged the Local Government Council administration to manage the facility effectively, adding that the state government built and handed the market to the Council free of charge as a way of extending development to the grassroots.
He also advised the Council administration to ensure preference is given to traders who are relocating from the old market in the town, urging that the process of allocating the stalls and shops in the new market must be fair and the fees affordable for the traders.
Also commissioned by the governor were two strategic roads in Okpe kingdom, the Okuetolor-Arhagba road which has been a source of nightmare to the people living in that axis and the Kpokpogri-Okuovo-Opuraja road projects which were completed in record time.
Earlier, while at the palace of the Okpe monarch, HRM Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe kingdom, the royal father thanked Governor Okowa and his administration for the gesture, adding that the Okpe people had never had it good. According to the monarch, for nearly 20 years, the people of Okpe had not witnessed project commissioning as is the case with the Okowa administration, adding that as a way of appreciation, the governor’s second tenure as far as Okpe people are concerned, it is already a fait accompli.
The royal father however, ordered that traders in the old market including those using containers and make-shift attachments as shops in the town must relocate their businesses to the new markets to maximize its use.
Fielding questions from newsmen in his country home, Opuraja, after the commissioning, the number one leader of the PDP in Okpe Local Government Area, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire reiterated the remark of His Royal Majesty, Orodje of Okpe kingdom to the effect that for nearly twenty years, Okpe has not witnessed project commissioning of the present magnitude under Governor Okowa.
Oyovbaire who described Governor Okowa as a humble and very understanding, stated that if he (Okowa) had the kind of resources that were available to his predecessors, he would have transformed the Okpe and Sapele Local Government Areas and, indeed, the entire state into something else by now.
He said: “The young man (Okowa) is a very humble and understanding man. If he had the resources of the first governor, for example His Excellency James Ibori, if he had the resources of those 1999 to 2014, Okpe and Sapele would have achieved a lot because he is very understanding.”
The Professor of Political Science noted that for all that Governor Okowa has done and is doing for the Okpe people, he would surely be given Okpe people support in the pursuit of his second term bid.
Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the commissioning of the market, the Okpe Local Government PDP chairman, Chief Efe Uko thanked the governor immensely for keeping to his promise to build a modern market for the Okpe people, adding that he has made the people of Okpe proud.
The party chairman, urged Governor Okowa to go home and sleep as far as Okpe is concerned on his second tenure, adding that on to whom much is given, much is expected.
On the entourage of the governor were the Deputy Governor, Hon. Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, the Commissioner for Works, Hon. James Augoye, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Barr. Mary Iyasere, Hon. Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Asupa Forteta, the Okpe Local Government Council chairman, Hon. Prince Godwin Ejinyere, among others.
Also present were the House of Assembly member representing Okpe, Uvwie and Sapele Federal Constituency, Hon. Evelyn Oboro, Chief Ighoyota Amori, Chief Tom Amioku among others.
In a related development, the traditional ruler of Okpe kingdom, HRM Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe kingdom, has announced the adoption of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as a prince of Okpe kingdom.
The monarch announced this when the governor and his entourage paid a courtesy call on him in his palace in Orerokpe in continuation of the second phase of project commissioning and Town Hall meeting across the state.
HRM Orhue I, noted that for keeping his promises which he made during his electioneering campaigns, the Okpe people were very grateful and appreciate him for his kind gesture.
