One thing about time is that it keeps ticking; so, it is important that, instead of watching the clock tick, one should just do what the time does – keep moving.
The Ndokwa nation had complained for several decades about its marginalisation with scant, if any, positive response.
Despite that, they kept moving, and, in a lot of ways, had recorded successes in several areas. For instance, the area produced the first Senator in Delta North Senatorial District in the present democratic dispensation in the person of Senator Patrick Enebeli Osakwe of blessed memory; the present Deputy Governor of Delta State, Sir Monday Onyeme, FCA, is also from that area.
Yet, that the area is quite marginalised is an understatement; it is a known fact that there is no significant provision of infrastructure in most of the communities in the area. In short, there are still communities in Ndokwa land that cannot be accessed by motor cars because of lack of motorable roads, even if they are earth roads.
For decades, the only Federal Government presence in the area are Police Stations and a Prison, now called Nigeria Correctional Centre, at Kwale.
The situation was so bad that the people were described as very peaceful, with firm faith in “waiting for the coconut to fall” philosophy, rather than climbing the coconut tree and plucking the ripe, and even the unripe, ones.
Ndokwa people are peace-loving, strong believers in the Almighty God (Chukwu Abeme, as He is more commonly called) and are very patient.
One of my friends, Hon. Uche Uraih, Ph.D, will always say, “Fidelis, every flower has its season,” and it seems that the season of Ndokwa people has come with the coming on board of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the Governor of Delta State as the area produced the current Deputy Governor of the state and the Federal Government’s presence (beyond Correctional Centre),is about to be felt by the people with the approval of a Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Kwale.
On Thursday, August 15, 2024, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Sir Monday Onyeme, FCA, on behalf of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the people of Delta State, presented a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for the Federal University to the representative of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman.
That ceremony formally signifies the need for the Federal Government to commence the development of the university.
It is worthy to state that the history of slave trade cannot also be complete without the mention of Aboh or Ndokwa in general. Olaudah Equiano, (the renowned former slave) who, as a child, was captured and sold into slavery from Ashaka in the present day Ndokwa East local government area of Delta State. He was the first slave to buy his freedom in London and was one man who worked seriously for the abolition of slave trade.
No doubt, Aboh, boomed as a trading town and great naval force before the arrival of the Europeans, and, in 1905, a formal colonial administrative office known as the Aboh Native Authority was established in Kwale. In 1952, it was renamed Aboh Division with its headquarter remaining in Kwale. The people are still complaining that while defunct Asaba Division was split into six local government areas, the then Aboh Division was split into three (the marginalization don tey).
Today, Kwale is the headquarter of Ndokwa West local government area of Delta State and plays host to several oil and gas companies. The area also hosts the largest Independent Power Plant (IPP) project (in Okpai) that is generating electricity to power many parts of the country; yet, the area remains in darkness, in terms of electricity, and lacks a lot of amenities.
For a long time, because of its huge contributions to the Federation Account, most people obviously believe that the Federal Government should do more for the people, especially in the area of providing basic amenities as electricity supply and motorable roads, among others, but since such was not visible, the Delta State government embarked on the construction of a bridge across the Ase Creek, an area which hitherto had a Pontoon that ferries heavy equipment of oil and gas-prospecting companies.
The Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori-led government has shown commitment towards the completion of the bridge; so, the joy of the people of the area was palpable when they heard that the Federal Government had approved a university to be located in the area; it is the first major Federal Government’s presence since independence as the Correctional Centre in the area pre-dates Nigeria’s independence.
Deputy Governor Monday Onyeme, FCA, beamed with smile all through when he received, on behalf of Governor Oborevwrori, the delegation of the Federal Government which paid him a courtesy call that fateful Thursday to collect the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for the university, saying, “we want to, first of all, on behalf of government and the good people of our dear state, thank the Federal Government for finding us fit to host a Federal University; this has been the dream of our people for many years and we are happy that it has come to fruition.”
Obviously, as an Ndokwa man, he was happy that such a project is coming to the state during his time as Deputy Governor.
Ndokwa is blessed with vast land to the extent that almost every community in the area is willing to donate land to government for development projects. This stems from the fact that most of the communities lack government projects and most of the amenities in some of the communities came as a result of communal or self-help efforts.
With the coming of Governor Oborevwori and the fact that his Deputy is from the area, there is hope that it is now time for the flower of Ndokwa people to once again, blossom and their coconut, which is also very ripe, to fall.
Speaking during the handing over of the land documents for the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Kwale, to the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Onyeme said, “we thank the Federal Government, especially, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, for finding us fit to be host to a Federal University.
“The establishment of a Federal University has been the dream of our people for many years and we are seeing it come to fruition.
“The sites given to you, the temporary site, which is 15 hectares, and the permanent site that is 200 hectares of land and, of course, we have also approved the use of the General Hospital, Kwale, as a take-off site for the teaching hospital.
“The state government is very willing and eager to partner the university to ensure a smooth take-off of academic activities and I want to assure you that the state government will work with you 100 per cent for you to succeed.
“What I will beg the Federal Ministry of Education to do is to keep the university on its toes, to push the university so that, together, we can move faster.
“On behalf of the government and the good people of Delta State, we hand over the documents showing and approving that Delta State and the good people of Kwale in Ndokwa West Local Government willingly and freely, without encumbrance, have given this parcel of land for the temporary and permanent sites for the use of Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Kwale, to you.
“This Certificate of Occupancy for the temporary site is 15 hectares of land and the Certificate of Occupancy for the permanent site is 200 hectares.”
He emphatically stated that there are two sites for the university- the temporary site, which is 15 hectares of land, and the permanent site, which measures 200 hectares of land.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who was represented at the occasion by the Director of Education, Mrs Rakiya Ilyasu Gambo, thanked Governor Oborevwori and Deltans for their commitment to the effective timely take-off of the university.
She disclosed that she and members of her team were impressed with what they saw during the site inspection, disclosing that they visited the temporary and the permanent sites of the university as well as the General Hospital.
The days ahead hold a lot of promises for the people of Ndokwa and Deltans in general and we look forward to the speedy take-off of the university and expect more government presence in Ndokwaland, an area that is blessed with peaceful, accommodating people and is quite rich in oil and gas resources.
Certainly, with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Deputy Governor Monday Onyeme on the saddle of governance in Delta State, the state is in safe hands.
God bless Delta State.
FIDELIS EGUGBO, IS THE SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANT, MEDIA TO THE GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE
