The people of Delta State riverine communities have called on the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa and the Delta State PDP governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to consider the establishment of the proposed Coastal Areas Development Agency, CADA, to enable them to get block votes from the riverine areas of the state.
The people who spoke under the auspices of Coastal Communities for Development, (CCD) gave the charge in Burutu, headquarters of Burutu Local Government Area of the state on Monday, January 16, 2023, while speaking with newsmen on the importance of infrastructural development of riverine/coastal communities ahead of the 2023 general elections, with special focus on Delta State.
The group noted that the Bill for the establishment of CADA is not new to both the Delta State Governor and the Speaker, because the Bill had been submitted and re-submitted before Dr. Okowa and Hon. Oborevwori by a renowned Delta-born development advocate, Comrade Mulade Sheriff, National Coordinator, Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, a foremost non-governmental organization, NGO, in a letter addressed to them personally, and to the State House of Assembly on several occasions.
While buttressing the role and importance of the Bill to coastal communities in the state, CCD said CADA, when established, would bring real expansion, infrastructural, economic, human capital, educational, health and mental development to riverine dwellers in Delta State, irrespective of their ethnic differences.
The group urged Okowa to direct the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly and other members as a matter of urgency, to consider and give speedy passage to the establishment of the Delta State Coastal Areas Development Agency, CADA.
The spokesperson of the group, Hon Friday Egberike, said if CADA is established before the 2023 general elections, it would give the riverine people a real sense of belonging that will stimulate support and votes for any political party that includes the establishment of CADA in their manifesto in the forthcoming elections both at the state and national levels.
“This gesture would give us a sense of belonging under the current administration’s development strides ahead of the general elections slated for Saturday, February 25, and subsequent elections in 2023, if they wish to get block votes from the riverine communities of the state,” said Egberike.
He further noted that CADA, when established, has the capacity for addressing the environmental, ecological, human capital, infrastructural, educational and health needs of the coastal communities of Delta State.
The Coastal Communities for Development asserted that about 50% of Delta State voters live in the riverine areas and their mandate is for only the candidate who is ready to establish CADA and or will sign a concrete social contract for the establishment of CADA for riverine development.
The group also called on all riverine communities in the state especially the Ijaws and Itsekiris not to be carried away by political deceit of politicians claiming to bring development to the area.
