Mr Charles Aniagwu says as the Commissioner for Information in the last two years, he had the privileged of informing Deltans and indeed Nigerians across the globe of main achievements of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration in Delta State.
Mr Aniagwu stated this while answering questions at the hallowed chamber of the Delta State House of Assembly during the screening of seventeen nominees for appointments as Commissioners and Members of the Delta State Executive Council.
Similarly, Dr Barry Gbe, immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning has scored Dr Ifeanyi Okowa’s led government high in its strategic policies and plannings geared towards the actualization of the Stronger Delta mantra of the administration.
Dr Gbe also made the remarks at the hallowed chamber of the Delta State House of Assembly while answering questions raised by the legislators during the screening of the Commissioner nominees as forwarded to the House by the governor.
Mr Charles Aniagwu who was the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor before appointment as Commissioner for information in 2019, told the lawmakers that he is proud to say that Delta State has always been in the news in the last two years.
He attributed the development to the sterling performance of the administration, including the sound synergy between the executive and the state legislature.
Mr Aniagwu who was asked to give a brief of his activities when he was the Commissioner for information and the improvement he would bring if reinstated, also acknowledged the enormous support he got from the Assembly through the instrumentality of the House Committee on Information, ably led by the late Majority Leader, Tim Kome Owhefere, who represented Isoko North before his demise.
The former image maker stated that it was also a responsibility to make friends for government, saying that even those that stood as enemies against the administration were reached to change their mindsets about the government.
Going forward, Mr Aniagwu said if given the opportunity to serve again as commissioner for information, the responsibility is to advance the frontiers of what the government is doing, taking a look at the SMART agenda which has culminated into building a stronger delta, would be his focus.
Answering question on what should be the economic focus of the state government in the remaining two years vis-a-vis the Stronger Delta vision of the administration, the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr Barry Gbe, said 2020 was a year that cannot be forgotten in a hurry as a result of the negative impacts of Covid 19 pandemic to governance across the globe.
Dr Gbe however explained that as some one who has in the past six years been involved in raising money for the state as a member of the Board of Internal Revenue and appropriating the resources as Commissioner for Economic Planning, he can score the state high in revenue generation and management despite the obvious challenges.
He said rationalized budgets that will take care of all outstanding, especially on going projects and those newly introduced like the creation of new universities and technical colleges was needed to place the state in a sound footing.
Dr Gbe maintained that driving the strategic economic trust of the state government towards achieving the Stronger Delta agenda of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa should be of great concern of all critical stakeholders, including the Delta State House of Assembly.
The two Commissioners designates highlighted other areas of achievements recorded by the Okowa’s administration and sought the support and understanding of Deltans in moving the state forward.
There is no doubt that Mr. Charles Aniagwu revitalized the information flow and productivity in the Ministry of Information and its Parastals specifically the DBS and The POINTER Newspapers which witnessed physical and and technological upliftment. The morale boost at Newspaper House has never been that high.