PROLIFIC SUNDAY PEOPLE: OLOROGUN O’TEGA EMERHOR OON, OPINED: '' AM THE BEST MAN FOR DELTA 2015''

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CERUTTI MEDIA TEAM
*youngchief@yahoo.com

OLOROGUN O’TEGA EMERHOR OON. APC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FOR DELTA STATE 2015 is astute banker , philanthropist and businessman ans is  a man that needs little or no introduction before taking his place of pride in Niger Delta and the Country at large
He was guest to CERUTTI MEDIA Prolific Sunday people column and he tells his story of  why he want to be Governor. For Growing up in an average Nigerian home, he  had parents that struggled to put me through school. HE  knew what it meant when a merit federal scholarship came his way. That taught him the interdependency that should exist in a society!
According to him: ‘This circumstance shaped my life for good. Though I was a brilliant student, won my scholarship on merit and went on to earn a first class honors degree in accountancy; though earning a first class made my getting a good job quick and easy, I still knew none of this would have been possible, but for the government scholarship.
‘My work career, my business career, my humanitarian activities and now my involvement in politics have all been shaped by my realization early in life that we need a society that can stand up for the not so strong, not so well positioned, not so well endowed!
‘So this has brought in my quest and desire to serve others and give them the same opportunity that I had. I believe I can do more than I have done so far, through the platform of the Executive Governorship of Delta State with a population in of excess of 4million. Please seat tight and enjoy the excerpt

Q:After a very successful career in banking, the public service and business, what is the major drive behind the Delta State top seat?Thank you for this question. The truth is that politics in A:Nigeria is populated by professional politicians that have no background in managing anything including businesses. It is for this reason that public sector institutions like the State being managed by politicians do not measure up in delivering services and the dividend of democracy to the electorate in Nigeria. Because people with business backgrounds shy away from participating in politics, their experiences are hardly brought to bear in developing the state or the country. My motivation therefore is to bring my rich background of successful management of businesses to management of state resources. Delta state in particular needs a turnaround expert like any failing business would.

What is Olorogun's candid view of His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan tenure as Governor of Delta State?Today’s Delta state is not the Delta state of the dream of the Delta electorate. What we see prevalent after the 16 years of PDP in Delta State is high level unemployment, poverty and misery, dilapidated infrastructure, and an economy that is driven by receipts from the Federal Government. Governor Uduaghan has run the state like any other PDP governor would, working within the PDP framework of government. We in the APC are coming in, thinking outside the box. We believe the resources at the government’s disposal cannot be sizeable enough to meet the demand of economic growth required by Delta. We tend to use the resources at our disposal to trigger partnership and investor participation such that we enlarge the pot of resources available for economic development. In this wise, we tend to emphasize public private partnerships in addressing the deficit we have in various sectors of the state’s economy including infrastructural development; industrial development; and meeting the housing deficit in the state.

What are Olorogun's plans to sustain the supposed fast driving vision of - 'Delta beyond Oil'.The idea of Delta beyond oil is an excellent idea; the reason being oil is a depleting asset that will one day be exhausted. So dependency of it is fraught with economic risk. It is therefore critical for that dependency to be reduced and other sources of revenue urgently developed. We believe that when we take over the reins of affairs in Delta State our first duty is to access and determine the status of what is on ground. But like I have said earlier in this interview we are coming to run Delta State thinking outside the box. The receipt that comes to Delta State based on our oil revenue cannot sustain the development needs of the state, and this is what I believe Delta beyond oil also represents. The implication is that we must identify and explore other viable sources of revenue for the state. We must explore our vast agricultural resources; we must drive industrialization of the state; we must partner with the private sector to come and help in jumpstarting economic activities in the state. All these acting together will surely provide a supplementary alternative to oil revenue dependency.

) What can be said to be the major problems causing mass unemployment and stagnation of the lives of Delta youths, despite the immense natural resources and human potential of the State. We now have an emergency with youth unemployment in Delta state. The truth is that other than government as the employer of labour in Delta State, there is no other significant employer of labour and no conscious attempt has been made by the PDP government in the past 16 years to encourage industrialization. Meanwhile, Government employees are less than 10% of the employable population. The situation is such that you are either a government worker or self-employed. Majority of people, because they cannot access capital to set up their businesses are left unemployed. Which is why, one of the very first schemes we want to implement once we come on-board is to jumpstart employment and take a substantial number of youths off the street in what we have tagged an Empowerment Fund Scheme. We will earmarkaN10bn empowerment fund to address youth and women unemployment as well as to fund small and medium scale enterprises. This fund will be used to support viable business initiatives of the youths, women and SMEs and provide vocational training for youths leading to capacity building. We believe that in no time this fund will help to address substantially the issue of youth employment.

) On the 13th of March, 2015 Olorogun O'tega Emerhor shall meet with Business Leaders, Corporate Citizens, Investor Groups, Chambers of Commerce, and Non-Governmental Organizations in the U.S to explore attracting business opportunities to Delta State, Nigeria. We will love to hear five reasons from Olorogun why foreign investors from America and the world at large must think Delta first when they think of coming to invest in Nigeria or Delta State in particular.Delta state potentially provides the best attraction for intending investors in Nigeria. Under our government we will provide first of all, an enabling environment that will guarantee peace, security and safety for our intending investors. Secondly, we would be restructuring our internal processes to make the state investor friendly and reduce bottlenecks that will allow investors to hit the ground running. Thirdly, our government will actively be receptive to provide land and other infrastructure; and funding guarantees. We would also be able to link investors with credible local entrepreneurs for who we can stand as surety. We would as well be in position to partner directly or indirectly with investors as well as help in securing Federal Government licenses for specific businesses as may be required.

 On the 14th of March, 2015 Olorogun O'tega Emerhor WAS  hosted by the Nigerian Community in Atlanta Ga., especially indigenes and friends of Delta State, Nigeria in a 'MEET DELTANS IN DIASPORA' Forum. Why must all Deltans at home and abroad support Olorogun as the number one choice over the other gubernatorial candidates.This election is between the two major national parties, which are the APC and PDP. Although we have the Labour party candidate contesting, he is an appendage of the PDP, working for the PDP, and not really competing to win the Governorship seat; but to deliver the presidential candidate of the PDP party.  I am the best man for the job. Like I have said before, none of the other candidates is bringing anything new to the table. I am a turnaround expert with a business background, coming to run Delta state and deliver dividends of democracy to the stakeholders. I am indeed here to serve’’