KEN UGBECHIE

Presenting Delta State 2023 budget before the State Assembly, Thursday, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa caught the picture of a valedictorian. Resplendent in his well-cut suit, he showed no emotion. Yet, it was his Appropriation swan song. The very last budget he would be presenting before the Assembly. In his word, he was presenting the N561.8 billion budget in “an atmosphere of hope and uncertainty.”

Hope for a better and stronger Delta and uncertainty amid a global financial meltdown that has ripped through the economies of nations, rendering some prostrate. But Okowa kept hope alive in his speech. His words were carefully engirded in candour. The resonance of his voice through the solemn Assembly ambience cast a kaleidoscope of hope and pleasant expectation among his audience. You could sense the timbre of hope above the tenor of uncertainty.

Though a budget speech, it read more like the report card of an alpha-grade student. In his seven and a half years as the chief servant of Delta state, Okowa has been an outstanding service man. A man dwelling peacefully among his people. A people appreciative of a leader whose badge is a mix of humility, service and studiousness. And standing before the Assembly men and women amid a platoon of politicians, journalists and other members of the public, Okowa reeled out his trials and triumphs. How he has remarkably added value to the state far better than where and when he took charge. He coursed through education, healthcare, infrastructure development, agriculture and social security.

“I wish to announce that the projected Budget outlay for 2023 fiscal year is N561,820,596,524 (five hundred and sixty-one billion, five hundred and ninety-six thousand, five hundred and twenty-four naira) showing an increase of 17% from 2022 Budget.

“Essentially, the goal of the 2023 Budget is to ensure that the gains of this administration are consolidated and expanded. Ongoing projects must be completed while new ones must come on stream. Notwithstanding the persistently challenging external conditions, it is incumbent on the leadership to address the socio-economic needs of our people and ensure that their legitimate aspirations are realised. To successfully do that requires that we must be conscious of the decisions we make and guided by the obligation to carefully weigh every available option in the light of our fiscal realities vis-à-vis the demands of good governance.

“It is our reasonable expectation that the 2023 Budget will significantly address current structural challenges of the economy, improve the business environment, accelerate economic development, engender inclusivity, promote social harmony, and ensure seamless transition to a new administration.”

Governor Okowa did not just perform the ritual of presenting a budget complete with statistics and figures, he seized the moment to tender the score card of his government since 2015, capping it with the unveiling of the performance of the 2022 budget. He opted for the road least travelled. While some state budgets, and indeed the federal budget, are rendered in fuzzy and foggy dialectics in obvious act of concealment and cover-up, Okowa kept his account open, preferring to come clear with his employers (Deltans) than engage in fatuous sophistry and tomfoolery.

It is the nature of Okowa; a man who would suffer shame for his error than take glory in crookedly contrived victory. He admitted that there were drawbacks as he strove to reconstruct the state and shift the people’s value-orientation by giving hope to them, particularly the youths. He did not claim to know it all. He reeled out the challenges of governance within the context of a depressed and contracted global, nay national, economy. Despite the global socio-economic storms with concurrent impact on Nigeria economy, Okowa raised the banner of hope. In seven and a half years, he did not cow to the ferocious whirlwind of economic drought. For some governors, it was a perfect alibi to justify their under-performance. Not so for Okowa. He envisioned a prosperous Delta. He understood that prosperity does not come by lofty words or pacy poesy; it comes by strategic thinking, doing, working and turning the screws, sometimes hard screws. Prosperity is not a happenstance. It is the product of efforts and productive exertions. Okowa has taken Delta through the crucible of productive engagement. And the results are boldly etched on the dashboard of the nation’s human capital index.

He engaged the youths with skills acquisition in various fields. He created jobs and turned hitherto idle youths to wealth creators. He revived once shuttered small scale businesses, diversified the state economy by herding more youths into commercial farming and sundry undertakings in the agriculture value chain.

Through no fewer than seven empowerment and entrepreneurship programmes including Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and Girls Entrepreneurship Skills Training (GEST), about 13,510 new youth entrepreneurs from previously unemployed or underemployed youths languishing in the labour market have become their own bosses and creators of wealth through targeted products and services delivery. These youths were trained and resourced with the necessary tools and working capital to establish their own businesses. And with requisite monitoring and mentorship by the Directorate of Mentoring and Monitoring, they have been able to grow their businesses from one staff enterprise to multiple staff ventures.

The impacts of these interventions and initiatives are noticeable in the high ranking of the state among those with the least number of persons leaving below the breadline. Delta State was ranked the Best State in Human Capital Development in the 2017 States Peer Review by the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria. In 2020, it was ranked the Second Least Poor State after Lagos, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Additional 223,905 direct jobs were created through other multi-sectorial programmes and initiatives in skills development, skills upgrading, entrepreneurship training, enterprise microcredit, livelihood sustenance, business support grants, market linkage support and public service jobs placement.  Add to this, a total of 1,325,750 indirect jobs created from ancillary and multiplier effects of public infrastructure works, public private partnership (PPP) investments, sector-specific programmes, community-level and local government-level projects, and youth empowerment grants and related programmes.

The governor has premised the 2023 budget on the pillars of fiscal discipline, transparency, accountability, and prudent utilisation of scarce resources.  He has pledged to finish strong by finishing ongoing projects scattered across the state. Finishing these projects would ease the burden on the incoming government as well as raise the profile of Okowa as a 21^st century leader who actioned his vision to reality; and indeed, as one who did not only know the way but also was able to navigate the ship to anchor on a safe shore. Little wonder it is tagged the Budget of Seamless and Stable Transition.

First published in Sunday Sun