Foremost Delta environmental activist and national coordinator of Centre For Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), Comrade Chief Sheriff Mulade, has commended the state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, for yielding to the yearnings and needs of the riverine communities by creating a ministry that will fill the gap of development deficit in the area.
Comrade Mulade who spoke to journalists in his office on Thursday expressed gratitude to the governor over what he described as a welcome development that has been long expected.
He said; “I am so elated and want to thank and appreciate the governor for being proactive to the call of the riverine people and for taking a bold step in expressing his feelings and concerns about the riverine area by creating this agency or ministry to cushion the development deficit in those areas”.
Mulade recalled how Oborevwori, as the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly supported and welcomed a proposal he initiated for the creation and establishment of an agency or ministry to be called Coastal Area Development Agency (CADA), but said unfortunately, the executive led by the immediate past Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa didn’t give it needed support.
“I am not surprised because then as Speaker, he gave a lot to that proposal because he knew and understood the plights and pains of the riverine people”.
Reiterating the importance of the ministry, Mulade noted that the riverine areas have suffered a lot even when it is the life wire of Delta state and Nigeria economy.
He added that Governor Oborevwori was able to achieve this feat because he had community leadership qualities and understands the plights of those living in those areas.
The Ijaw born environmental activist, however, appealed to the state governor to make the ministry one of the statutory ministries backed by laws enacted by the Delta State House of Assembly, maintaining that if not backed by law, subsequent government may abolish or change its name.
“It is very imperative that this ministry is backed by law as a ministry or agency supervised by a commissioner. I am calling on the governor to as a matter of urgency, send an executive bill to the Delta state house of assembly and create the ministry as a statutory one to enable it stand firmly.
“This legacy established by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has made his name written in gold for the people of the riverine areas, and should be given all necessary supports that will make it stand the test of time”, Mulade said.
