Okowa Phenomenon At Play As PDP Increases Campaign Tempo ~ Truth Reporters

 

BY FIDELIS EGUGBO

In marketing, there are products that are not marketable no matter how they are packaged, branded, and even advertised, but there are also, products that are generally acceptable to the people no matter how they are presented.

During the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who is the State Governor and leader of the party in the State made it obvious that the most acceptable person should emerge as the candidate of the party. He made it clear that he had no favourites as democracy provides that the people should test their popularity.

The Governor’s decision could be said to be based on the fact that since 1999 when the present democratic dispensation was born, the PDP is rooted in the State and most of the politicians in the State at one stage or the other have a stint in the party in the State. So, it was a situation that whoever emerged as a candidate in the PDP would likely emerge victorious in all the elections because, the primaries of the party were seen as the main contest.

Yours sincerely, as a member of the Media Team of the Campaign Council, followed closely, the campaign of the PDP in Delta North Senatorial District and the acceptability of the party in the Local Governments visited was just wonderful. The campaign train started with Aniocha North, home to the Senatorial Candidate of the party in the district, Prince Ned Nwoko. Aniocha North is also, home to the Minority Leader of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ndudi Elumelu and parades a lot of top government functionaries. So, it can be taken for granted that the PDP will have a smooth sail in that Local Government Area as the reactions from the people of the area, also, made it obvious that the PDP was on ground.

From Aniocha North, the campaign train naturally berthed at Aniocha South, a Local Government that has produced key figures for the PDP in the persons of Chief Chris Agbobu, a former Minister and also, the President of World Bank, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was also discovered by the PDP and brought to save Nigeria from the financial crisis which the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government’s lack of direction truncated and brought Nigeria to its knees through hyper-inflation and heavy foreign debt burden. This is why most Nigerians are happy that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was the Vice-President when the Country’s debts were canceled has teamed up with a thorough, focused, result-oriented administrator, Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa to rescue Nigeria through the PDP platform and put it on progressive course again.

So, the campaign train was in Aniocha South and toured all the Wards for two days without any ugly incidents but, rather, smiling faces at the places visited with assurance from the people that, “Aniocha South is PDP, PDP is Aniocha South.” While the Chairman of the party in the State, Olorogun Kingsley Esiso joined the campaign train at Aniocha North, the Director-General of the Campaign Council, Rt. Hon. Funkekeme Solomon gave a great boost to the campaign at Aniocha South as his presence electrified the campaign. 

Naturally, PDP Chieftains, Chief Godwill Obielum, and Chief Nkem Okwuofu are regular faces at the campaign grounds playing elderly roles.

That Governor Okowa is grounded politically, no doubt, was evident at the campaign venues. In Aniocha South, his administration has so much patronised a renowned Architect, Kester Ifeadi.  Architect Ifeadi, I can still recall vividly, came into Delta State as a technocrat when Chief Benjamin Elue was the Deputy Governor to Chief James Onanefe Ibori. One may not go into details about his activities in the State, but I can still recall his passion when he introduced the Organisation for the Advancement of Anioma Culture (OFAAC) to us which we keyed into.  Architect Ifeadi, who is the brain behind several project designs is from Aniocha South and naturally, a lot of cultural displays took place when the campaign train visited his hometown, Ubulu-Okiti.

One key road that Deltans begged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to complete is in Aniocha South Local Government Area, that is, the Ogwashi-Uku/Ubulu-Unor road and it came to fruition. There are other several projects the administration executed in the area which further made them to be committed to the umbrella political party.

So, when the local government campaign chairman, Hon. Collins Iwebunor and the Chairman of the party in Delta North Senatorial District, Elder Moses Iduh spoke, their voices were drowned by the chanting of the people asking them to relax as there is no other political party in the area apart from the PDP.

One person whose charisma can never go unnoticed is the Deputy Governorship candidate of the party in the State, Chief (Sir) Monday Onyeme. Chief Onyeme’s philanthropic activities go before him so, at every of the campaign ground, most of the people who have heard so much about him but have not seen him in person, would always try to see him, in most cases, they go in groups to greet him and in his characteristic style of not discriminating, he will greet the old and the young, women and men and of course, beaming with smile.  Chief Onyeme told the people why they should vote for Governor Okowa as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the PDP, Prince Ned Nwoko as the Senator, and return Hon. Ndudi Elumelu as a member of, the Federal House of Representatives.

That Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is loved by the people is an understatement. He represented the District as a Senator before emerging as Governor, so, the people are eager to send him back to Abuja with confidence that he will attract a lot of developmental projects to the District and the State in general as the number two citizen of the Country.

One cannot but also, forget that a Chieftain of the PDP in Delta North Senatorial District, Barr. Sam Osasa, laid his mother to rest during the period of the campaign at Aniocha South, so, expectedly of politicians, they moved in their large numbers from Ubulu-Unor which was the last place of campaign at Aniocha South straight to Ndemili to join Barr. Osasa in celebrating the life and times of his mother.

The days ahead promises to be more carnival for the people of Delta North as in the next few days, the campaign train will move to Ika Federal Constituency, home of the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the party and Governor of Delta State, Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

PDP’s Local-Government-to-Local-Government, ward-to-ward, unit-to-unit, family-to-family campaigns cannot be matched by any political party in the State. The party can afford to do such because, they have projects, programmes that have been executed to campaign with unlike other political parties, so, unlike other political parties too, the party will retain its track records of massive electoral victory in the 2023 general elections.

- Fidelis Egugbo, the writer is the Special Assistant, Media to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State. He is also, a member of the Media Team of the PDP Campaign Council for the 2023 general elections.