WARRI/Nigeria: The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Bashorun Askia Ogieh, on Wednesday 20 October, 2021, presented the scorecard of his administration with glee, as he reeled out a harvest of projects to buttress his administration’s landmark achievements dotting the nooks and crannies of oil bearing communities across Delta State.
Ogieh laid bare his scorecard during an interactive session with journalists in Warri, organized by the Commission, to round off a 2-day Media Tour of DESOPADEC projects in Okpe, Warri South, Patani, Ughelli North, Isoko North, and Ndokwa East Local Government Areas of the state.
The visibly excited DESOPADEC boss, who was flanked by Chief Vincent Oyibode, the Commissioner representing Ughelli South, Udu and Uvwie; Chief John Nani, Executive Director, Finance & Administration; Barr Leonard Anoka, Executive Director, Social Services Development, and other management think-tanks in the Commission, said that his assumption of office two years ago put the Commission in the spotlight, even as he stated that diligent deployment of ingenuous administrative mechanisms were topnotch in addressing endemic challenges bedeviling the commission over the years.
Speaking on measures being put in place to ensure optimum staff performance in the Commission, Ogieh said, “Strict adherence to our corporate policy has inspired us in productive service delivery, resulting in an upscale in staff morale, thus leading to a boost in our operations.”
He stated that his administration was committed to creating conducive work environment and productive workforce anchored on the cardinal objectives of the Commission to catalyze socioeconomic and infrastructural development of the oil bearing communities.
His words, “on coming onboard, we upgraded our personnel/payroll system to plug all loopholes, eliminate human errors, and promote transparency among staff. We have also introduced a rebranded biometric system, to ensure our staff are dedicated to their work and earn their salaries as and when due.”
Ogieh, however, noted that his tenure was confronted with paucity of funds, saying, “we were also confronted with probably the lowest regime in the receipt of crude oil revenue from the federation account. To put it simply, we were in the trenches, though resilient enough to raise our heads above the waters to achieve our mandate.”
Continuing, he stated that the achievements of his administration criss-crossed the length and breadth of the mandate areas, traversing critical infrastructure in education, health, transportation, and commerce, including human capital development (empowering women, and vocational skills acquisition scheme for the teeming youth).
Ogieh added that the pioneer students of the innovative DESOPADEC Skills Academy, DSA, numbering 160, have just completed their six-month training programme in various fields comprising Catering and Confectioneries; Solar Energy Works, Electrical Appliances Repairs, Fashion Design and Tailoring; Hairdressing and Makeover; Shoe and Bag Making; Tiling; Interlocking and Plaster of Paris (POP); Welding and Fabrications; Information and Communication Technology; Health, Security and Environment.”
Continuing, the elegantly dressed Ogieh, in a showcase of honed oratorical prowess, read out a comprehensive list of top grade projects executed by his administration within a period of two years.
Fielding questions from journalists, Ogieh said that recurring agitations from the oil bearing communities despite the achievements made by Commission in recent times were not out of place, stating that all hands must be on deck to meet the yearnings of the oil bearing communities.
His words, “there can be no agitation that can be too much from the oil-bearing communities. There is still a huge gap that needs to be covered. When you visit these communities where exploration of crude oil takes place, you will know the level of degradation these communities are confronted with.
Ogieh called on the IOCs and indigenous oil companies to complement the developmental strides of DESOPADEC so as to addressing the huge infrastructure deficit in the communities.
Continuing, the DESOPADEC standard-bearer stated that his administration placed high premium on transparency and accountability, stating that every dime allocated to the commission was judiciously and prudently managed to achieve the mandate of the commission.
He said, “to ensure due diligence in execution of projects, we have put in place a monitoring team to ensure jobs are executed according to approved standard, and our quality projects are on ground to attest to this fact.”
The 2-day media tour of DESOPADEC projects kicked off on Tuesday 19, October, 2021, from DESOPADEC head office, Warri, and rounded off at Obodo community in Warri South Local government area.
Scores of DESOPADEC projects were visited across the aforementioned six local government areas – most of them have been completed and commissioned, while some were at various stages of completion.
The projects include the eight kilometres Obi-Anyima road in Ika South, Opute multipurpose hall, Ozoro, Isoko North, another eight-kilometre Ofagbe- Ibrede road project – linking some communities in Isoko North and Ndokwa East, an ultra-modern fully furnished Civic Centre in Uzere, Isoko South, modern market building project, also in Uzere, and landscaping, gatehouse and perimeter fencing of Urhobo House, Uvwiamuge, in Ughelli North local government area.
Others include building of the DESOPADEC Tower, a 4-storey ultra modern office complex at the Corporate Headquarters of the Commission in Warri, Warri South, Corpers lodge at Osubi, Okpe local government, multi-purpose Civic Center also in Osubi, Cottage Hospital project at Agoloma, Patani, completion and fencing of examination hall at Sanctus Rosarium Catholic School also in Patani, multi-purpose hall project at Obodo, Warri South, rehabilitated Obodo water scheme also in Warri South and the DESOPADEC Skills acquisition centre, Omadino in Warri south local government area.
