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Nigerians have been asked to brace up for a bleak future as the coming of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president-elect, will not change the fortunes of the people. Rather the lies, nepotism and deceit that characterized out going President Muhammadu Buhari will continue.

Funkekeme Solomon, Senior Political Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, stated this while speaking on Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) Television.
Noting that the same set of people that chaperoned President Muhammadu Buhari and drove his agenda that have left the country divided than before are the same persons that now surround Tinubu, Solomon said the President-elect shares in the lies and deceit that characterized Buhari’s nearly eight years in power.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) on which Tinubu rode to power is an amalgam of desperate power seekers driven entirely by their penchant to loot the national treasury and maintain a stranglehold on the levers of power without any thought to better the lot of the people”, he said.

But he had cheery news for the people of Delta State. He said that in Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, there is a governor-elect with a deep passion to better the lot of people.
“In Sheriff Oborevwori, Delta has a man coming prepared to take the State on a great leap forward. He was a councilor in Okpe, a community leader in Osubi and Speaker of the State House of Assembly for the past six years. He knows the extent of achievements of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and the areas to follow up on. He has never been alienated from the people, he grew up in their midst and he will hit the ground running”, Solomon stated.

Noting that the representation of women in elected positions decreased after the 2023 elections at all levels, he said Oborevwori will take affirmative actions to more women hold greater positions of authority.

On the defection of some Delta politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in others days before the gubernatorial election, the Senior Political Adviser said it was indecorous and naive of the politicians. “Politics requires integrity and loyalty on the part of all stakeholders. They were not strategic in their thinking. But the people knew better”, Solomon said.

He advocated a fundamental review of the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and its parent ministry, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. “Right now, those running the NDDC panders more to the interests of politicians in Abuja than attending to the demands of the Niger Delta people. By now, we ought to have a university built and funded by NDDC.

“The focus on just building roads, most of which are hardly completed, is wrong. The agency should be supporting businesses of the legion of entrepreneurial young men and women from the region. Special attention should be paid to equipping them for the numerous opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

“Concentrating on roads is a pedestrian approach to addressing the developmental challenges in the region”, he said.