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By Engr Ebite Emmanuel

My people of Delta, hear me with clear ears.

A sitting governor said his “only priority” is to deliver a president in Abuja by 2027.
At the same time, our farmers in Ndokwa, Ika, Aniocha, can not go to the farm. Fear has replaced fertilizer.
Our mothers travel with prayer, not peace, because kidnappers now collect toll on our roads.
Our graduates in Asaba, Warri, Sapele queue for jobs that do not exist.

Honestly speaking, when your “only priority” is outside Delta, you have told us without shame that our security, our farms, and our children’s future are *”SECONDARY”*

*1. LET US AGREE FIRST: SALARIES MUST BE PAID*
When they say “what about teachers and civil servants?”, they are right. Pay them.
Teachers must eat. Nurses must feed their children. Pensioners must not beg.
Paying salary is not achievement. It is an obligation. Section 14(2)b of our Constitution says: *“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”*

So yes to salaries. Yes, to pensions. Yes, to overhead. We agree 100%.
Now let us do what they refuse to do: *Open the books. Do the full math. Not emotions. Math.*

*2. DELTA’S BUDGET HAS 2 LEGS*
*Leg 1: RECURRENT* = Blood. Keeps govt alive monthly.
Salaries + Pensions + Overhead + Maintenance = ₦180bn – ₦230bn/year
This pays every teacher, every civil servant, every running cost.

*Leg 2: CAPITAL* = Muscle. Grows Delta’s future.
Roads + Hospitals + Schools + Jobs + Security = ₦250bn – ₦540bn/year
This is what should remove stones from our path.

*3. THE MATH THEY WILL NOT PROJECT*
*Delta Annual Revenue FAAC + IGR*: ₦480bn – ₦720bn/year
*Minus Recurrent Cost*: ₦180bn – ₦230bn/year
*= Balance for Capital Projects*: ₦250bn – ₦540bn/year

That ₦250bn–₦540bn is the money that should build Delta after all salaries are paid.

*Now compare what the capital leg delivers:*
Ughelli Otovwodo Flyover: ₦39.3bn
Agbor Uromi Flyover: ₦59.7bn
Warri/Effurun 3 Flyovers + Road Expansion: ₦78bn
*Total Visible Big Projects: ₦177bn*

*The Question That Ends Debate:*
If capital balance = ₦250bn minimum… and visible projects = ₦177bn…
*Where is the remaining ₦73bn yearly?*

If capital balance = ₦540bn maximum…
*Where is the remaining ₦363bn yearly?*

Where are the 25 LGA cottage hospitals?
Where are the 270 ward skills centers?
Where are the irrigation dams for farmers who can not farm?
Where are jobs for the graduate in Warri?

*4. THE POETRY OF PRIORITY*
They will show you 2 flyovers and say “See, we are working.”
My people, a cup of water is not an ocean. It only proves someone is hiding the ocean from you.

A leader is not the man who builds a bridge for cars while people drown under it.
A leader is the man who first removes stones from your path before asking you to walk his road to Abuja.

Flyovers are good. Roads are good. But flyovers without farms, roads without jobs, projects without security, are sculptures in a graveyard. Beautiful, but dead.

Okowa used our commonwealth to chase Abuja power in 2023. Today, the pattern repeats for 2027.
Presidential ambition is good. But it does not feed the child in Ika. It does not protect the farmer in Isoko.

*5. THE FINAL WORD: NO ROOM FOR COUNTER*
So when they ask “what about salaries?”, answer with love and logic:
“Yes, pay every worker. That is ₦180bn–₦230bn. We agree.
But after you pay them, Delta still has ₦250bn–₦540bn left.
That money belongs to the child without a school desk.
To the mother who cannot farm.
To graduate without a job.

Don’t use salaries to cover missing capital.
Don’t use recurrent to bury capital.
Don’t use concrete to blind us to calculation.”

*CONCLUSION*
Delta does not need a governor whose “only priority” is Abuja 2027.
Delta needs a governor whose first priority is Delta 2025.
Secure our farms first. Employ our youths first. Protect our roads first.
Then, and only then, talk to me about 2027.

Don’t mortgage Delta. Don’t trade your tomorrow for their today.
Delta first. Delta always. Delta forever.

• Engr Ebite Emmanuel O, is Son of the Soil, Auditor of the People’s Trust. Voice for the Voiceless.

8TH June, 2026