DURING the zenith of the resource control struggle under the Obasanjo administration, a northern politician took the advocates of resource control to task, asking them what they did with the 13 perc ent derivation fund given to them. No reasonable answer was given and the Niger-Delta governors were hiding under the veneer that the way the money was used was none of the business of the said northern politician. Today, as economic crisis strangulates the nation, that message continues to haunt the leadership of the Niger-Delta states especially Delta State.
Recently, the 26th anniversary of the creation of Delta State was not marked and it was a reflection of the state of underdevelopment akin to the singing of a dirge. Inadvertently, the Okowa administration passed the message to Deltans that there was nothing to celebrate. The abandoned multibillion Naira leather factory at Issele-uku and the unending construction of Okpanam road are vivid testimonies of the decay and rot in the state. There are other gory sites of neglect reminding Deltans of a drifting leadership.
Recently, the 26th anniversary of the creation of Delta State was not marked and it was a reflection of the state of underdevelopment akin to the singing of a dirge. Inadvertently, the Okowa administration passed the message to Deltans that there was nothing to celebrate. The abandoned multibillion Naira leather factory at Issele-uku and the unending construction of Okpanam road are vivid testimonies of the decay and rot in the state. There are other gory sites of neglect reminding Deltans of a drifting leadership.