Mr. Sunny Ofehe, the governorship candidate of the Youth Progressive Party (YPP) in Delta, has said that he will make the state the seventh-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa if elected to office.
Ofehe said this on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The candidate, who decried the alleged waste of public funds in Delta by past administrations, described the state as rich in terms of human, natural, and another potential.
“Delta is supposed to be the seventh-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa if our true potential is harnessed in a way our people can benefit from the God-given natural resources that we have.
“But unfortunately, that is not the case. But if elected to office as a governor; I will ensure that this is achieved,’’ he said.
Ofehe said due to its highest number of higher institutions in the country; Delta is endowed with robust human capital potential which he said he would turn to wealth as a governor.
He added that the state created in the 90s had not fulfilled its full potential as witnessed by the decay of infrastructure, poor health delivery system, and bad road networks.
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“Delta has the highest number of tertiary institutions in the country which therefore means that it boosts human capital development.
“But Delta today is a shame. Its existing factories are dilapidated, and there are bad roads everywhere. If it rains just for 30 minutes; the capital city is always flooded.
“The state was created in the 90s and what we see in that state is a complete collapse of system and institution, and this is why I am offering myself to serve so that all those systemic failures can be corrected,’ he said.
He promised to check the tide of insecurity in the state, create an enabling environment for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and create jobs for the unemployed youths.
“I believe that with my exposure internationally and the contacts which I have built over the last 26 years I have stayed in Europe. I can comfortably increase the FDI portfolio coming to the state.
‘’Also my experience within the Civil Society organization will help to boost their participation in the day-to-day governance of our people,’’
He promised to encourage private sector participation to bring back the moribund companies in the state; adding that his major focus will be agriculture.
He said this became imperative due to the need to make food affordable and available to residents of the state and make it an export hub of agricultural produce.
“My major focus will be agriculture. There is a need for us to go back and invest hugely in agriculture because we need to make food affordable and available for everyone.
‘’This will come in a way that we will become the export hub of agricultural produce. We have mangroves, flatlands, and arable lands and everything you need for agricultural involvements,’ he added.
Other areas he promised to invest in are our primary healthcare, free medicare, and security among others.