DELTA GUBER: The Eagle has landed - Amaechi Udemba

The eagle, one of the most attractive birds in the World is renowned for its power, intelligence and courage. The Americans in 1782 adopted it as their national symbol to, in a manner of speaking, separating the boys from the men in World affairs. The eagle also occupies a prime and prestige position in our Coat of Arms, as the leading black nation in the World.

If a metaphor is permitted, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa's ground breaking declaration to run for the office of the Governor of Delta State, has separated the wheat from the chaff, as the eagle symbolises for the nations and individuals.

Through his stellar deliveries of all political assignments since 1998, Senator Okowa's towering influence on the political space in Delta State coupled with his intellectual humility, his uncommon ability to wait at the Lord's apponted time is in climes with the eagle wings of 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide as it glides through the air patiently waiting for the precise moment to strike.

No less evident is his eyes for details. No one is impervious to Senator Okowa's critical eye. His modesty of exposition and generosity of mind toward those who even sought to humiliate him politically are some of the rare qualities that has made him most attractive from the lots aspiring to govern Delta State just like the eagle.

Therefore, when on Monday, October 20th 2014, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa unveiled his 5 point agenda before a capacity crowd at Arcade ground in Oshimili South Local Government Area, under the aegis " Prosperity for all Deltans", it was a convocation of the renowned, the ordinary people and the mighty in society. Without doubt, every political event of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, just like the eagle renowned for its courage and power of attraction, draws plethora of persons who have kept the Peoples Democratic Party on a winning spree since 1999.

His 5 point agenda of - Employment generation and wealth creation , agriculture and industrialisation, health and education, security and peace building, and environment and urban renewal, aptly captures the mood of the people in the arena who came from the 25 local government areas to share in Senator Ifeanyi Okowa's welfarist programme.

The man whose name has become a refrain on the lips of the people of Delta State since his foray into partisan politics, said his focus on employment and wealth creation, agriculture and industrialisation, is to stem the tide of unemployment that has reached an epidemic proportion. Hear him: "we shall partner with the private sector and create the enabling environment for industries to grow, support agriculture and agribusiness, encourage and support skills acquisition while deliberately growing commerce"

Drawing from his stint as one - time Commissioner of Agriculture, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has rich understanding of the role of agribusiness in an emerging economy such as ours. Therefore, by seeking to deepen the vibrancy of the informal sector, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, if elected as Governor of Delta State, intends to transform hitherto sleepy communities into centres of economic activities with under - lays of a hybrid of industrial Agro - allied and service-propelled economic substructure that are not only self - sufficient, but in the long run, export dependent.

As a practiced strategist, Senator Okowa knows that it is not the role of government to prop up private enterprises, but rather to manage the economy well to maximise the opportunity for individuals and businesses to generate wealth. And that may have accounted for his drive to make available competent work - force to execute the goals and objectives of the employers via the Polytechnics and Technical Schools.

His emphasis, therefore, on specialisation for Polytechnics and revamping the Technical education should be seen in this light. The whole idea is to ensure that there are available skills with requisite competencies to kick - start the informal and ultimately recreate the middle class.

In an increasingly angry World, people's fuses are short and they can go off at the slightest provocation. Mindful of this, his well articulated cardinal programmes aimed at shielding people from the vagaries of life through the engagement of a Delta State Stakeholders forum for regular discourses on peace and security, effective support for all security agencies, etc is vintage Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

But as Sophocles said, "All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride." Senator Okowa has his flaws, but lack of courage, pride and the absence of political will to get things done isn't part of them, and that is why the goodwill of Deltans has remained his strongest political assets.

Therefore, if we share in the truism that he who has the people with him indeed has God, the time to give teeth to dreams of socio - economic transformation is here. Under his administration, propriety will drive governance in Delta State.
Amaechi Udemba, is a public affairs analyst based in Asabar

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