The people of Ozoro Kingdom in Isoko North Local Government Area have raised a clarion call to the Delta State Government, decrying what they describe as “egregious neglect, marginalization, and prolonged systemic shortchanging” of their community despite its pivotal economic and political importance to the state.
In an open letter addressed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the letter outlines a litany of grievances that reflect years of unfulfilled promises, incomplete projects, and deliberate underdevelopment in the largest and most populous community in the Isoko Nation.
Read Full Statement Below:
AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE: MARGINALIZATION OF OZORO KINGDOM IN ISOKO NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, DELTA STATE
Your Excellency,
We, the good people of Ozoro Kingdom, the headquarters of Isoko North LGA, are compelled by a deep sense of responsibility and justifiable frustration to bring to your attention the egregious neglect, marginalization, and prolonged systemic shortchanging of Ozoro Kingdom by the Delta State Government.
Ozoro Kingdom, one of the fastest-growing communities in Delta State, comprises several Communities and is the largest and most populous in Isoko nation and the second-largest community in Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State. With an estimated population of over 200,000 inhabitants, Ozoro Kingdom is blessed with about 40 oil wells with large gas reeserve with current daily production of over 7,000 barrels of crude oil (BOPD). *There have been crude oil production in Ozoro since in the early 1960s. This crude oil quota contributes huge financial resources to the Federal Government, as well as the State Government also, that has its fair share of the 13% derivation, IGR, and ecological funds, among others, accruing from Ozoro Kingdom.
Your Excellency, we wish to also bring to your knowledge that our voting strength is over a third of the total registered voters in Isoko North LGA. Ozoro people have consistently and overwhelmingly given their electoral support to every succeeding Government regime since 1999, including the 2023 Governorship election that brought you into office as the Executive Governor of Delta State. Yet, Ozoro sons and daughters have not been given any viable appointments to justify our electoral contribution towards your emergence. The records are there for you to verify.
While we appreciate you for upgrading the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, to a full-fledged University, it looks as if Ozoro Kingdom has lost its fair share of Government patronage. The few projects that have been sited in the University by successive Governments have been regarded as Ozoro’s share of Delta State Government projects, whereas the University is not only for Ozoro indigenes but for the entire Delta State and Nigeria at large.
Your Excellency, we wish to draw your attention to the fact that the only visible Delta State government project in Ozoro Kingdom, apart from the few sited in the University, is the uncompleted Ozoro Main Market that has spanned two administrations and is still not completed.
The rapid growth of Ozoro Kingdom is without basic infrastructures like roads, drainage systems, electricity, and adequate healthcare facilities. As a result, the kingdom has resorted to self-help to marginally open a few roads, which within a short time became impassable, leading to serious flooding.
A cursory look at Ozoro’s landscape, reveals a plethora of abandoned projects, a sign of deliberate and lack of government commitment to our development as a kingdom. We, the Ozoro people, challenge the Delta State Government, to prove or mention any state government project that has been completed and commissioned in Ozoro Kingdom since 1999, apart from the few in the University.
Your Excellency, what we feel as a people, is that there is a deliberate attempt to under-develop Ozoro Kingdom. This is because, what we have is an unending list of abandoned projects. Some of these projects include:
– STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Low-cost housing estate at Erovie Idheze Road Ozoro abandoned
2. Female ward project at the Ozoro General Hospital Ozoro abandoned
3. Incomplete drainages on the Ughelli/Asaba Expressway in Ozoro Kingdom
– DESOPADEC:
1. Dualization of NDC to Hospital Road, Ozoro abandoned
2. DESOPADEC Model School Erovie Community, Ozoro Kingdom, abandoned
3. Peter Okoro Street, off Owelogbo Road, Urude Community, Ozoro
4. Omuabor Lane, off NDC Road, done up to stone base, abandoned
– NDDC:
1. 132/33Kv Substation and its power line abandoned
2. The NDDC 28.6km Ozoro Township roads already abandoned
3. A 50-bed ward at Ozoro General Hospital abandoned
4. The abandoned Ozoro section of Ofagbe, Orie, Idheze, and Ozoro Road.
Your Excellency, While the Ozoro people were happy about the University’s upgrade, our joy was short-lived due to your decision to relocate half of the University from Ozoro to Orerokpe. We are still reeling from the relocation’s impact when we were dealt another blow by the deliberate omission of Ozoro Kingdom and Isoko Nation from the list of communities that will benefit from the recently approved projects worth ₦230 billion. This omission is a direct disregard and daylight robbery of our fair share of the state’s common wealth, to which we are major contributors.
Ozoro and Isoko Nation cannot be the sacrificial lamb in our own State. Our 13% derivation cannot be used to develop areas that have made no contributions whatsoever, which would be to our detriment.
To add insult to injury, our Honourable Commissioner, Charles Aniagwu, made a publication claiming that the State Government has executed 53 projects for Isoko Nation. Your Excellency, this statement lacks merit, which gives credence to the fact that, Ozoro Kingdom is being marginalized and oppressed. It’s obvious that we have no share in this Ukodo we have all cooked since 2023.
OUR DEMANDS
1. Construction of 20 kilometers of internal roads in Ozoro Kingdom.
2. Building of a teaching hospital in Ozoro.
3. Completion of the 132/33Kv substation and the power line.
4. We demand that Ozoro sons and daughters be given viable appointments.
5. Construction of a flood control system in the kingdom.
6. Completion of all state and DESOPADEC abandoned projects, as enumerated above.
In conclusion, while we commend you for your efforts in developing the state, we hope you will recognize that Ozoro Kingdom is an integral part of the state and should not be treated like an orphan. We believe our complaints and demands will be given urgent attention, as much is expected from those to whom much has been given.
Long live Ozoro Kingdom, long live Delta State
