Utomi: Delta is Like a Land Ravaged by Locust

Sylvester Idowu 
A renowned economist and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Pat Utomi, has attributed the backwardness of Delta State to poor governance, noting that the state today has become a land ravaged by locust.

Speaking during a reconciliatory visit to some APC leaders in Delta Central hosted by Dr. Veronica Ogbuagu in Warri, Utomi lamented that the state could have become the Dubai of Africa, considering the resources that accrued to it.

He blamed successive administrations since 1999 for the sorry state of Delta, asserting that they jettisoned great ideas which were freely offered to them to transform state and wasted several opportunities.

“Each time I look at my state, all I feel is shame, all Delta elites should be ashamed of what has become of their state. With all the resources that the state is blessed with, we have nothing to show more than decayed infrastructure.

“To change this narrative; APC in Delta State must reconcile and reconstruct its strategies if we really want a better Delta, if not, history will hold us all responsible for not acting when we should,” he said.

In her remark, Ogbuagu, a former Commissioner for Education in the state, corrobating Utomi’s view, said that Delta State is very sick, due to poor leadership and followership, stressing that the people celebrate incompetence and mediocrity.

Bemoaning the poor state of things in the state, she noted: “If nothing is done to change the state of things in Delta, the generation to come will spit on our graves, because Delta has become a failed state.”

While appreciating the need for unity in the APC, Ogbuagu said there cannot be any meaningful reconciliation until the “illegal” Delta State executive of the APC is dissolved and an all-embracing caretaker committee is put in place.

Some of the leaders with Ogbuagu include: Chief Philip Eyagomare, Chief Omonigho Ogbakpah, Chief Pius Oseruvwoja, Hon. Amos Utiri, Alhaji Sadiq Musa, others are Deaconess Igho Akpode and Hon. Erikefe Peters Mukoro.