By Norbert Chiazor
Rubble and rock clatter as the metal blade crushes a mass of earth into a hard layered surface.
The motorized machine keeps roaring.It’s huge teeth endlessly chews and grinds gravel and sand across an expansive lane.Scores of on lookers stare in captive amazement.A spectacle unfolding as dawn breaks in Warri.
It is not a Rambo movie scene.Julius Berger is working in Warri.
Mega dozers are rolling on ground,in the most wondrous of construction pageantry ever in the Niger Delta.A new day in Delta.The twin cities of Warri and Effurun are dressing up to glorious elegance.
The story is just beginning.Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is staging a big show,mission unprecedented.Avowed transformation of the oil city and her neighbouring sister.
The grandeur of the emerging dream is better appreciated in finer details:
Design and Construction of Flyover Bridge from Enerhen Junction,Effurun to Marine Gate,Warri in Uvwie and Warri South Local Government Areas.
Road Expansion and improvement Works on the Section Of DSC/NPA Expressway from Effurun Roundabout To DSC Roundabout on the Effurun/Patani (East/West) Highway including, Construction of Cloverleaf Interchange at the Existing Effurun Flyover Bridge as well as two Pedestrian Bridges in Effurun.
Construction of Flyover Bridge at PTI Junction and another Flyover at DSC Roundabout,along the Effurun/Patani expressway.
No one expected it this serious and so soon.Governor Oborevwori had in his public proclamation at his swearing-in ceremony,pledged to give “special attention” to Warri metropolis.
The enormity of his undertaking was strengthened barely six months later with the signing of a N78 billon contract for the transformation of Warri and its neighbourhood.
Deltans were on tenterhooks waiting in uncertainty for Obirevwori’s promise for one reason.
The general belief is that Nigerian leaders scarcely mean what they say,as they bamboozle the people with glib political rhetoric.Call it conspiracy theory or apt observation,but the notion is widespread nation-wide.
With the full- scale commencement of work by Julius Berger in Warri axis,the people are surprised,excited and happy.Oborevwori has won in the face of admiration. A governor who talks and takes action.Integrity is everything.
The move for Warri makeover is not a cosmetic political point.The oil city is deserving of special attention.Warri is the economic jewel of Nigeria.Oil,Nigeria’s pride and wealth is embodied in the bowel of Warri area,the centrepiece of the Niger Delta.
Yet a region which is the provider of the nation’s mainstay had faced poverty and desolation since Independence.Terribly raped by man and nature,official neglect and environmental degradation had stalked the Niger Delta settlement to lamentable exploitation.
By her immense contributions to the survival of Nigeria,the proverbial giant of Africa,Warri ought to be one of the finest cities in the world.
It is thoughtful that Oborevwori had taken the gauntlet to bring outstanding development to Warri and other parts of the state as a cardinal vision of his social contract with Deltans,called M.O.R.E agenda.
While acknowledging the foundation laid by successive civilian governments in the state ,the governor’s avowed commitment to make Warri exceptionally attractive,elicits responsible leadership.
In the 1960s up to 1980s,Warri was the Las Vegas of Nigeria,as entertainment hub,social and political melting pot of Africa’s most populous nation.
Disruptive phenomena- oil exploration of activities,decades of government lethargy,social tension and relocation of multi national oil firms may have crippled Warri,but it has the innate capacity to rise again.
Birthed in glory and resilient from origin,Warri had evolved as a vibrant city of diverse culture,commerce and history,dating over 500 years.
Like the mythical Phoenix,Warri bears the fortune to surge from the ashes to grow as Ashanti,the legendary empire of greatness.Just time.
As we watch Oborevwori build Warri and more,it is now easier to believe his fiery optimism,when he told the world on his May 29th Inauguration Day:
“Warri (Delta) nor dey carry last”.
Chiazor is Executive Assistant Media to Delta Governor.
