DR Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan of Delta State turned 54 years old on Wednesday this week. In this encounter with Vanguard, he speaks on the journey so far, the challenges before him and his quest in transforming Delta State. Excerpts

THE year 2008 must be a special one for the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who was born October 22, 1954 and turns 54 years today. The story of the unassuming "Warri boy", who tapped rubber and fished in a rural setting like every other child from the creek community with no minute idea of presiding over the affairs of the oil-rich state bespeaks that of a man of destiny.

Undeniably, if it were feasible for men to alter his life story, some people would have stopped him from becoming the Governor of the state.

Governor Uduaghan of Delta State

However, Uduaghan, who lives and dreams the old Warri, a united and progressive Delta State, understands the mighty and invisible hands of the Almighty in his life and, since 2007 when he assumed office, he has been doing his best to glorify Him, change the landscape of the state and sit on a table in the presence of his "enemies".

Low key

A statement, last week, by his Communications Manager, Mr. Paul Odili, said he would want to celebrate his 54 years sojourn on the earth planet quietly and there should be no mad rush for the placement of advertisements in the media by his genuine admirers and praise singers alike.

Anybody who comprehends the character of Dr. Uduaghan and the code he has brought to governance in the state would not have expected otherwise.

What you cannot take away from the Abigborodo, Warri North Local Government Area-born Uduaghan is his strength of mind and loyalty in his life endeavours.

Perceptible watchers of political affairs of the state will tell you that the second factor propelled him to where he is today, but religious pundits will almost certainly swear that God used the latter, other recognized and mysterious factors to actualize His wish in his life.

What shaped his life?

Nevertheless, his tutelage in the hands of disciplinarian grand-mother and his diligent father prepared him for the success he has recorded so far in his career as a medical doctor and a politician managing the affairs of Delta State at the highest level.

Coming to the application of these virtues in the governance of the state, it is clear that Delta is less fractious than it has always been known to be, the reason being that Uduaghan understands that everyone in Delta should see each other as belonging to one family and capable of resolving whatever problem is stopping them from developing and becoming an economic giant.

Warri spirit

Two things account for this - as a Warri boy, Uduaghan is nostalgic about the Warri of old, when ethnic conflict and disagreements were relatively unknown, everyone lived together as brothers and sisters, and it hardly mattered who you were and where you come from.

He also believes very strongly that it's possible to rekindle the spirit of peace and togetherness of old.

This mind-set is at the base of his Peace and Security agenda of his government.

And, so far, he has applied the necessary skill with a sense of humility to achieve his objective, such that even those who were implacably hostile to him have changed their position - a case of one's enemies being at peace with him by the reason of favour from above.

As a chief executive of the state, Uduaghan has shown passion for development of all parts of the state, particularly the riverine area, and that accounted for the massive funding of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).

He has taken sizeable interest in the funding the state Micro Credit Scheme and is putting aside about N600 million for the Youth Agriculture Empowerment Scheme for unemployed youths in the state.

As a medical doctor, his government invested massively in the free maternal healthcare scheme for the rural poor and this has gone a long way in reducing maternal and infant mortality rate in the state by over 50 percent.

No more business as usual

As an astute manager of resources, Uduaghan shocked those who thought that, under him, Delta was going to be business as usual. He has so tightened areas of leakage and ensured that due process is followed in government business.

The implication is that the state is getting more value for money and there is now a growing awareness that government is no longer a means through which people can come to amass wealth.

To show his seriousness, he has signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Commission bill and will soon announce the membership of the Commission. He has also sent the Public Procurement Bill to the Delta State House of Assembly and has promised to sign it into law as soon as it is passed by the lawmakers.

In the last 17 months he has been in power the state, he has neither taken any bank facility nor encouraged deficit financing by the Delta State government. His mantra is that the government and the people must live within their means.

'Details man'

As a practised bureaucrat, Governor Uduaghan is known as a 'details man' who reads through every document that comes to him. He has a firm hold of government and understands the levels of control in the civil service.

He is not the sort of person you can hoodwink or blindfold to commit himself by drafting memos and proposals with the intention to mislead the government and, or defraud the government. His eight years in the previous government as Commissioner and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) has benefited him immensely in knowing how the government works and how to turn things around.

He is very much detribalized and, so far, is keeping to his promise to Deltans that every part of the state would get their due. In appointment into offices and positions, Uduaghan made sure that every part of the state was represented.

In fact, in Government House, Asaba, until late last year, he was the only person of Iteskiri origin in Government House. Senior positions were occupied by people from other ethnic groups until following the exit of Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, who was appointed Commissioner for Energy from his previous position as Chief of Staff. An Itsekiri, Mr. Solomon Areyenka took over from him.

Fresh panorama

What has opened a new vista for Deltans is that the Warri boy has a clear vision of where he wants to take the state to and that, if resources are available, the hope of quicker transformation of the state is not far-fetched.

Dr. Uduaghan explained where the state was yesterday, where it is today, where he would want it to be tomorrow and the way he thinks it could be done when he inaugurated the State's Vision 2020 Council and Steering Committee, headed by eminent Deltan and boardroom expert, Dr. Gamaliel Onosede. The report of the working group is being expected.

His words: "We have returned stability to the creeks through the Delta Waterways Security Committee and this has made our waterways more secure and oil businesses that previously felt threatened by the volatility in our state, have returned.

"Our infrastructural strategy has crystallized in a more specific manner and I wish to share some insights with you. As you may be aware, we are building a new international passenger and cargo airport in Asaba, the state capital, to take advantage of the growing business opportunities within the state and across the Niger, especially within the Onitsha and Nnewi axis.

In this axis is located, perhaps, the largest market in Africa, and our advantageous geographical location offers us enormous opportunities to be the ports of choice for businesses in these areas".

"The Asaba International Airport, with secondary structures, like high capacity warehouses and Asaba International Market is one loop; the second is the five Delta ports at Warri, Koko, Burutu, Sapele and Aladja.

Fortunately, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) is about awarding contracts for the dredging of the Escravos bar to make it possible for deep vessels to enter Warri port. On our part, we have taken steps to reawaken public interest in the utilization of Delta ports.

We have held talks with the leadership of the business communities from Onitsha and Nnewi. They are very enthusiastic to use Delta ports to service their maritime needs and are encouraged that we are already taking steps to remove the impediments, which have hindered them in the past", he stated

"Under pinning our strategy in this regard", the governor asserted, "is to save time and ensure quicker access to the markets, hence our plan to dualise the 160-kilometere Ughelli-Asaba federal road at the state government's cost.

It would reduce time for movement of goods from Warri port to Onitsha in just three hours. This expansion complements the Warri-Ughelli dual carriage way, being built by the Federal Government as part of the East-West road".

"Furthermore, the state government will soon be granted license for the Koko Export Free Zone, and we have awarded the contract to dualise the Koko-Ugbenu Road, which means on completion, Delta state would be virtually ringed by dual carriage ways from the west end to the south end of the state".

"What are the opportunities inherent in building these infrastructures? Simple, from the seaports or the airports, you are guaranteed a quick turn-_around time in your business activities", he said.

Uduaghan added, "The energy crisis in the country is a great concern to all and the state government is addressing this shortfall on two fronts. One is by our active collaboration with the Federal Government on its Power Emergency Programme. We have been promised some leeway when this programme comes on stream.

The other is through the state's Independent Power Plants (IPP). We have developed a business model for Delta State and it is our intention to build, in partnership with private investors, small IPP plants in Delta North to service Asaba and its environs and another in Warri to service the south and central parts of the state".

Although Governor Uduaghan stated that some progress have been by his administration, he wants the state to build an economy away from the "vagaries of the oil industry". To him, it is a major part of the arduous task before the Council and Committee.

"Oil is an exhaustible resource. Its damages to the environment and the neglect of other sectors it has created are sources of concern for this government. I have, in this respect, begun the campaign of shifting emphasis away from oil to other sectors of the economy", he added.

"Can we not do more in agriculture? What about the many solid minerals? Have we tapped the tourism potentials of the state? What do we do with the rich cultures of our people? How can we produce highly skilled people to reinvent Delta State? Why are we unable to develop industries to service the oil sector while the oil lasts? Have we explored the vast opportunities of our creeks, rivers, seas and seaports? He queried.

"Answers to these posers have to be uncommon to meet the challenges ahead. For me, the challenge is to return our people to an economy without oil, to the natural resources that abound in Delta State and the use of their skills for meaningful economic engagements", he added, noting that development plans in place in 1945-1956, 1951-1955 and 1955-1962, just like the envisioned Vision 2020, in addition to the rolling plans, SEEDS and annual budgets, which made their impacts, but, were not enough to adequately uplift the living standard of our people.

He capped it thus: "As we build airports in Asaba and Warri, create a 27-kilometre deep seaport, plan new road networks and railways, improve security, make the waterways safer, invest in agriculture, power supply, skilled manpower and ease the procedures for doing business with government, our eyes are set on making Delta State famous for being business friendly".

By the time he finished his three-page address at the inauguration ceremony, it was clear that the governor has a giant dream for the state and is focused on where he wants the state to go. What he needs are men and women of vision who don't take no for an answer, who would take up the challenge of fashioning feasible ways of tackling the infrastructure gap, poverty crisis, human capital development in the state to catch up with the fast-paced, globalized and post-industrial world.

The working group is expected to turn in its report before the end of this year for the journey to making the state the Singapore of West Africa to begin in earnest.

Niger-Delta question

Governor Uduaghan also holds very strong views about the Niger Delta question and his one of the Niger-Delta governors virtually everybody knows has brought some home-made solutions to the nagging problem of militancy.

He sees the solution to the problem in the willingness by all stakeholders to pursue economic development of the oil communities and the entire region, and he supports the creation of Niger Delta ministry, even though he believes that a far-reaching resolution will come only if the Constitution is amended to remove obnoxious laws like Petroleum Act and Land Use Act.

He also believes that the Federal Government and the multi-national oil companies should make review their equity holdings in favour of the communities, so that the people, whose environment are impacted by oil activities, receive some direct compensation and feel a sense of ownership of the oil activities in their area.

What Deltans expect

With almost one year, seven months already spent out of his four-year tenure, Uduaghan is practically cruising to the end of the first half of his first term and what the people want to see at the end of the final whistle of the second half is a completed airport project, dualized road networks, as promised, revived ports and industries that were built by his administration to provide jobs for jobless Deltans.

At 54 and in a very critical stage of his administration, nobody expects promises from Uduaghan from now on, what they want is action and, interestingly, the governor is one person who takes the adage that action speaks louder than voice to his heart.