The romantic marriage between the Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and his aide, the Executive Assistant on Communication, Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, may have clashed.
The crumbled relationship is coming on the backdrop of perceived denials of Oghenesivbe from getting juicy packages from the governor like his Ika colleagues in the government by what he termed “negative influence of some tribal bigots” who do not want a non Ika to dominate the media space in Okowa administration.
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Executive Assistant to Delta State Governor on Communications, Olorogun (Barr) Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, JP, has said that there are some greedy tribal bigots in Okowa administration who have been influencing Senator Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, to either pretend not to recognize his huge efforts in the discharge of assigned responsibilities or to ignore it completely.
Okowa’s Eac made the disclosure in an inclusive interview with a national radio in Lagos on Sunday morning, 26th December, saying that resigning his appointment as Eacgovdelta will definitely come last if Okowa failed to do the needful by attending to his little and reasonable official requests tabled before the governor and the state government, wherein he copied appropriate senior government officials.
Reflecting on his five years in Okowa administration as EACGOV, Oghenesivbe, a member of the International Communication Association, m.ica, and Rotary Club of Asaba Central Distinguished Services Award recipient, further disclosed that he helped a great deal in media management through repelling of critical media attacks on the governor and the government by deploying strategic political communication strategies which had enabled the governor to have the conducive environment and peace of mind to deliver dividends of democracy to the good people of Delta State, from 2017 till date and still counting.
Oghenesivbe told his highly heterogeneous audiences nationwide via the national network radio interview that he had to reject an offer by President Mohammadu Buhari and the APC National Government in 2017, appointing him as the Board Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, NITT, Zaria, so as to provide uncommon media management services that would enable the governor to govern the state with little or no media attacks from the major opposition party and his detractors.
Lamenting his decision over the NITT juicy job, Oghenesivbe said Okowa failed to do for him what he did for his colleagues from Delta North Senatorial District, for deliberately refusing to elevate his official status being the only senior communication aide from Delta Central Senatorial District, maybe due to the negative influence of some tribal bigots who do not want a non Ika to dominate the media space in Okowa administration.
He noted that the same envious tribal bigots senior government officials within the system prevented media aides of the governor from attending the State Government sponsored capacity building programme, Delcom 2021 organised by the office of EACGOVDELTA, adding that they refused to slow down in their collective efforts to silence him in Okowa administration.
He said after four years of service, Okowa elevated his colleagues in the media, orientation and information units with juicy packages, but failed to elevate him after nearly five years of excellent service as Executive Assistant on Communications, taking all the media bullets and public insults for Okowa and the administration as a result of his unblemished loyalty, commitment and absolute dedication to duty and in the defense of government and the governor’s reputation.
“My boss, His Excellency the governor of Delta State is a good man, but there are some envious and crooked tribal bigots around him, influencing his actions and inactions towards me despite the huge efforts that I have made to safeguard the media space for government and the governor through regular deployment of strategic political communication and information management strategies in the past five years.
“As an active Eacgov and senior government official, I have no official car, no Secretary and no media assistants attached to my office, no driver. And no provision in my package to employ personal assistant, and I have to do everything all by myself but my other colleagues enjoys all of these facilities.
“Two streets in my town of Kokori; Okpe street and Agbonmeyerin Street, which my boss, the governor agreed to construct and rehabilitate. The Scope for the roads have been done by Ministry of Works and long submitted for approval but all efforts made to commence work failed but other roads projects were approved and work have since commenced in other districts.
“The Okpe street and Agbonmiyerin streets are very strategic in Kokori Town and my people will be very happy that in my time as EACGOVDELTA and in Okows’s tenure, these two popular streets we tired, and the credit will go to the governor; but the file has been kept in view and I am not happy about it becaude I am aware of other developments elsewhere via some other appointees in the state. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander.
“I introduced the Delta State Communication Capacity Building Workshop, (Delcom) to further train media appointees of government, media partners in the state, social media influencers and bloggers, and this strategic effort had converted over three hundred persons to support and project government programmes and achievements in the media space and still counting. I had to bring on board some notable media persons from the opposition parties to assist in projecting Okowa administration and the government.
“I have been working under strange conditions which I do not want to mention here, and majority of the people believe that the governor has been funding my office heavily with millions of Naira, whereas the reverse is the case. I am really tired of peanuts here and there that won’t reduce stress in my official duties.
“I do not want to speak negatively about a government I have laboured day and night to defend publicity, made enemies with people we had no personal misunderstanding except for doing my job to protect and sustain the integrity of the governor and government reputation, a rare loyalty feat that my colleagues could not offer the governor and the government.
“In all of these, I swallowed lots of insults and abuses from Okowa detractors and media team of the major opposition party, the APC, but my boss, the Governor, have not been able to find adequate time to do the needful by elevating my official status to balance the equation in line with the principles of equity, justice and good conscience.
“A good governor should necessarily be the governor for all Deltans in words, in actions and in actions. I have no doubts in my mind that governor Okowa will finish strong, but in finishing strong he would need to do adequate justice, and apply good conscience to all concerned.
“Resigning will be my last option and I pray and hope that the Holy Spirit and those who truly love the Governor as well as genuine Stakeholders in his administration will prevail on him to ignore the deceptive tactics of some tribal bigots and dirty schemers around him, and to use his God given Christian mind to positively consider my little and reasonable requests,” Oghenesivbe said.
