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’’
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