2023: Otuaro unveils campaign manifesto, promises wealth creation, jobs for youths in Delta
The Deputy Dovernor of Delta state, Barr. Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, has unveiled his campaign manifesto to the general public ahead of the 2023 governorship primary in the state.
Simply titled, “Advance Delta 2023, Build Better for Delta,” it was divided into 6 broad pillars.
In his introduction, the frontline governorship aspirant traced development from the pre-colonial era to the present day and posited that trade blossomed more during the pre colonial era than now.
In an official statement on Sunday, April 26, 2022, he promised to sow and water the economic seed of an industrialised Delta and see it manifest in a way that creates jobs and massive opportunities for everyone living, working and doing business in Delta.
ALSO READ: Delta 2023 Governorship: Otuaro declares intention to succeed Okowa
He vowed to kill mediocrity and ineptitude in public and civil service, enshrine transparency and accountability, promote excellence and professionalism etc.
In Pillar 1, he devoted this to bold economic policies for an industrialised Delta; Pillar 2 is devoted to equity, peace and security for a safe and prosperous Delta; Pillar 3 is devoted to transformational reform covering health, education, housing reform, etc.
Pillar 4 covers technology for boundless opportunities; Pillar 5 covers effective and excellence driven public and civil service for good governance while Pillar 6 takes care of renewed and revived cities and communities which cover the environment, land and housing, transportation, power, energy, electricity and water.
Read full statement below:
“One unchanging but critical component in every electioneering process is the 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬/𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. I have traversed the length and breadth of Delta in my two-decade journey as a strategic peacebuilding expert and for the past seven years as a Deputy Governor and the 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 — 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏.
“While the present administration has made commendable progress in addressing the yearnings of the people through massive investments in agro-industrial parks and road infrastructures.
“‘𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑’ 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. We need to move from a ‘𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆’ 𝐭𝐨 a 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 (𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠) 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲.
“We can’t have abundant land and mineral resources with huge agricultural and industrial potential to continue to depend on other States for basic food and household products. We have a proven reserve of mineral resources including industrial clay, silica, lignite, kaolin, tar sand, decorative rocks, limestone, etc. in addition to our veritable history of competitive advantage in cash crops such as oil palm, cocoa, rubber, and timber. We also have great potential in producing staple crops such as rice, maize, yam, plantain, cassava, etc. 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬) 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞-𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥. 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧.
“Let’s unlock our true agricultural and industrial potentials and create wealth for our people and jobs opportunities for our over 𝟐.𝟏 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧. The mills can work again — rubber, beverages, textile, and sawmill and we would do more than oil, for 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬/𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. Farmers would rejoice because their farm produces would attract greater value from buyers with an active food processing sector. We will do more than subsistence fishing and the fisherwomen in the riverine would once in their lifetime enjoy dividends from commercial fishing businesses with 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬.
“We won’t experience a shortfall of skilled manpower, supporting infrastructures with the tremendous investments of this present administration in technical, and vocational education, innovative youth entrepreneurship programs, rural integration projects, and numerous achievements over the past seven years. 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍.
“We need to rethink the 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of children exploring digital technology and improve our people’s access to quality 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 and use previous administrations’ achievements as a learning curve.
“We need to underwrite the huge backlog of unemployment as with every Nigerian State by productively engaging the talents and skills of our youth through 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
“We need to reclaim and restore our cities that are gradually becoming slums/ghettos due to irresponsible waste disposal, the menace of perennial flooding, drainage blockage, inefficient waste collection, disposal, and management systems. 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬.
“𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. We can decongest our cities with an effective transportation system and promotion of real estate development works and investment in power. 𝑼𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒍 𝟐.𝟎 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆.
“An effective and excellence-driven civil service is required to make all of these work. 𝐀 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡. This will further strengthen governance, cut waste and improve the internally generated revenue of the State, and boost the confidence of the private sector to participate in the investment ecosystem in the State.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 ‘𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹’ 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 — 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒂.
“It encapsulates my vision 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 “𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒂, 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒂.”
The manifesto in six pillars:
𝐁 — 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 that unlock the untapped potentials of 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 for an industrialized Delta which creates jobs and economic opportunities for all.
𝐄– 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 for a safe and prosperous Delta.
𝐓– 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬. These are inclusive and responsive 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 reforms and address Delta’s strategic infrastructural/industrial needs such as 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.
𝐓– 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. Leverage 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 to create boundless opportunities for young people.
𝐄– 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. It is focused on improving the efficiency of the civil service and promoting good governance through fairness, quality service, prudent resource management, equity, and ensuring the rule of law.
𝐑 — 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. It is targeted to achieve clean, safe, and organized cities and communities. Value reorientation, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability are some of the target areas.
“In the days ahead, I will be bringing you an exclusive brief of the six pillars of the ‘𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑’ deal.
“And to my delegates, your role in the coming days is a noble one and I pray you to decide forward with me so that we can together secure a ‘𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑’ 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 for Delta come 2023 even as I have presented to you a more excellent way in this preamble, my manifesto and my various consultations and interactions with you for the past months.
“Together our greatness as a State will be realized. I rely on the absolute grace of God in whose hands is the mandate. I covet your prayers and support. It is 33 days to our song of victory,” he concluded.
In all, it is a manifesto that will be difficult for any rival to beat.
