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Before the frenzy of dumping the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Delta State Publicity Secretary of APC, Valentine Onojeghuo, Esq, taunted the governor for lacking initiatives to address the very pressing needs of Deltans and ameliorate their situation. In one of the statements issued on behalf of APC, Onojeghuo declared that the “Oborevwori administration has failed, and took a swipe at Mr. Charles Aniagwu, accusing him of attempt to deflect attention from the growing concerns of Deltans and urgent issues affecting them..

Onojeghuo as an opposition party man at that time challenged the administration to formulate innovative policies and ideas to address the critical challenges confronting the state as any responsible government would do. He said:  “Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration has become increasingly deceptive, hiding behind vague and grandiose promises of future projects rather than taking concrete action today.”

Surely, he acknowledged  the flyover bridge works in Effurun, saying and pointing out that  “Apart from the Effurun flyover project, which every government  media hireling now gleefully points to, at any given opportunity, Governor Oborevwori’s administration has failed to deliver any other meaningful policy initiative to cushion the effect of the harsh economic times on the people.

Given the present situation banneronlinenews believes strongly that the time to examine the doings of the Governor Sheriff Oborevwori –administration on the occasion of marking its two years of running the government is now pertinent. It is against this background that we believe that the APC’s State publicity secretary’s concern as an opposition, then, appear to still be germane on account of certain situations that Deltans and other residents are going through.

Among such is the fact of the harsh transport environment that the people face. It can hardly be disputed that at no other time have the people suffered high intra transportation cost than the current Oborevwori administration. Deltans and other residents are passing through hard times in terms of the burden of paying high cost to transport operators across the state, and it’s unbelievable that the administration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori appears not to care about the people’s plight. Go on the roads, go to the motor parks and see how passengers seeking to travel from one point within the state to another have to be at the mercy of shylock transport operators who impose heavy charges on them. Of course, this is a daily routine, and often times, the transport operators on monthly basis hike their charges, leaving helpless and hapless passengers doomed to their fate.

The pathetic intra service high transport cost situation and the inability of the state government to come to the help of the people falls into the category of what the APC state Publicity Secretary, then as opposition party, referred to as the state government lacking initiative in formulating innovative policies and ideas to address the critical challenges confronting the people.

banneronlinenews makes bold to say that in this account, the Oborevwori administration did not do well. It left Deltans and residents uncared for as they battle for survival under the economic realities imposed by the unfriendly economic policies of the APC-led Federal Government. Indeed, the state government has no excuse for treating Deltans with nonchalance on this transport situation. It is recalled that faced with same high cost of fuel situation in the country, the Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan administration did not fold its hands and look away. It is to the credit of that administration that ideas and policies were put in place to address the critical situation of the high transport cost that was the reality in the state at that time.

While it may not be possible to go into details of the ideas and policies put in place by the Uduaghan administration to cushion the effect of the hike in fuel price on transportation, truth is that the initiative and effort culminated in helping to stabilize transportation cost across the state. Transport operators did not have the field day of exhibiting oppressive tendencies like they do now because, the state government’s initiative provided the people with alternative means of traveling at minimal and affordable costs. The intervention of the government prevailed on transport operators to maintain decorum, so much so that they became restrained from displaying ruthless tendencies of escalating charges on potential passengers.

Today in Delta State, intra state travelers are at the butt of transport operators who have gone hysterical and unrestrained in the way they impose charges on their passengers. Yet, the voters are the passengers, who voted in the Governor that promised to do more for them when he gets into office. Let it be said that the only observed accomplishment of the Ministry of Transport of the Oborevwori administration in two years is what is discernible everywhere: “The ubiquitous existence of a band of thugs, appointed as task forces, who go about molesting keke operators, and extorting money from them.

In Asaba, travelers coming into the city the through Summit Road end are curious as to why the Transport Ministry and the Delta State Capital Development Agency would not find a convenient location for Keke and other town service transport operators to situate, where passengers can come to with ease and board transport vehicles to their various destinations. The absence of a convenient location like a motor park for transport operators has left commuters experiencing the trauma of having to trek long distances after they disembark at the point of wanting to come into Asaba metropolis. And one needs to observe the pain and distress that a commuter with luggage experiences as a result. This is unfair to the good people of Delta State and other residents. In this situation the Oborevwori administration did not do well.

Banneronlinenews.com also believes that the issue that the then opposition APC raised when it taunted the governor for lacking initiatives to address the very pressing needs of Deltans and ameliorate their situation is still solidly on ground, and stands gidigba, awaiting the administration’s attention. The uncontrolled high cost of transportation ordeal of Deltans and residents is one of such situations that need Governor Oborevwori’s urgent intervention.

It is a pressing need that should be ameliorated and an expectation that Deltans want fulfilled.