Many people in Delta state do not understand the promises of Olorogun Barrister Kenneth Gbagi, foremost governorship aspirant in Delta state. Many see his promises as too huge to be true. Hence, they dismiss his promises as usual of some politicians who make promises but never fulfill them when they assume office. But Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi is not making promises of what he cannot do but he has done them before now.
Gbagi has told Deltans that he would transform the state, build industries and revolutionize the economy of the state. He has said he would make each local government viable to the extent that they would not depend exclusively on the state government for their funding. He has said he would build livable houses for all low income earners and make everyone comfortable.
He has said that youths in Delta would be moved from the streets and given means of livelihood. He has said that he won’t use government money to purchase cars for his use but will be comfortable with his private vehicles. Gbagi has made series of promises and he is standing by his words.
He exemplified this doggedness when he was member of the federal executive council during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He revealed that when he was in Jonathan’s FEC, on a single day he presented a memo to establish 13 universities, 14 polytechnics and 16 colleges of education. He also established girl-child school and Almajiri schools within one year. One of such universities is Federal University, Otuoke in Bayelsa state. Otuoke is country home of Goodluck Jonathan. Another is Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun Delta state.
He explained that most members of the federal executive council then did not see why he should present such number of schools in a single memo. To them it was an impossible task that cannot be realized. But they were wrong. Unknown to them, the memo of Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi formed part of the legacy projects of the then administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
In one of his interviews with Sunday Independent, Gbagi said: “One of the legacy projects of former President Goodluck Jonathan was the establishment of 13 federal universities across the six geo-political zones.” He added: “Nigeria has what it takes to be better than a lot of countries in the world. Our problem is shortsightedness.
“It will interest you to know that I did not discuss the establishment of the universities with anybody. Not even the then president. The only person who was privileged to know what was on my mind that morning was my permanent secretary of the ministry, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi.”
He continued: “I called him and gave a firm instruction that I wanted to create some federal universities. You must first and foremost remain selfless to serve society better. Till date, one of the problems we have in this country is selfishness and it is hindering us a lot. I told my permanent secretary that early morning that we needed to establish one university each in every state of Nigeria where a federal university didn’t exist.
“Secondly, I wanted to establish one polytechnic each in every state where none existed then. Thirdly, I wanted to create 16 colleges of education in 16 states where such did not exist. I took the demography of the country and I realised that some states had a compliment of a federal university, a federal polytechnic and a federal college of education while others had nothing or something.
“The memo, which I presented to the federal executive council, was for the establishment of 13 universities, 14 polytechnics and 16 colleges of education. Though some ministers opposed the memo on the grounds that the demand for such a large number of universities could cause a ‘financial revolution’, majority of the ministers present at the meeting endorsed the memo.
“I made the point so clear that we needed more universities in the country and that the new ones should be given N10billion yearly for 10 years to develop and fill the yawning gaps in tertiary education in the country and move Nigeria forward.
“In my memo, I gave statistics for South African population and schools, London population and schools, Indian population and schools, U.S. population and schools, and finally pointed out that Nigeria still needed additional 147 universities to cope with the size of its population and students.
“I also made it clear that while the nation created WAEC, NECO, JAMB and made students to pass all the examinations, there were not enough admission spaces for them in the existing universities in Nigeria thereby creating a deficit of 842,000 admission spaces, which are taken up by neighbouring countries of Ghana and other African countries. That was how the proposed universities were created.”
From the foregoing, one can understand that Gbagi is a man of action. He meant every word he said and he stands by it. His promises to Deltans may look huge, he is determined to execute all of them as soon as he assumes power if given the mandate by the people of Delta state. One thing the people of Delta must understand is that there is money in the state. And Gbagi is determined to utilize the money for the good of all residents in the state.
Deltans should also know that Gbagi is not looking for money to feed his family. That is out of it. He has made provision for that, even up to the upcoming generations. His desire now is to make life good and comfortable for the people of Delta state. He has the skills, the willpower and the capacity to drive the needed development in the state. If he could develop 43 higher institutions in a system where he is not in full control of the resources, certainly, he would do greater when he assumes full control of the resources of the state. And Deltans would be glad he did.
