The Delta State Government has said it will channel its improved financial position into projects and welfare programmes aimed at putting more money in the hands of residents and strengthening the local economy.
The State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing journalists in Asaba.
Aniagwu said Governor Sheriff Oborevwori had directed the government to intensify programmes that would ensure that the benefits of economic reforms were felt directly by households.
He said the administration would achieve this through infrastructure projects, workers’ welfare, empowerment programmes and investments designed to create jobs and support local businesses.
The commissioner, who was accompanied by the Executive Assistant to the Governor on New Media, Felix Ofou, said the government was being careful to ensure that increased revenue was invested in ways that would stimulate economic activities without fuelling inflation.
“The governor has directed that we intensify efforts at rolling out programmes that will indeed improve the purchasing power of our people,” Aniagwu said.
He said the planned massive renovation of schools across the state would serve both educational and economic purposes.
According to him, contractors, artisans, suppliers and traders in communities where the projects are located would benefit from the government’s spending.
“When we renovate these schools, the contractors will not come from the moon,” he said.
Aniagwu explained that building materials such as cement and roofing sheets would largely be purchased within the communities, allowing money spent by the government to circulate among local businesses.
He said the business owners who benefit from the projects would, in turn, spend their earnings on their families, children’s education and other needs, creating a chain of economic activities.
The commissioner also disclosed that the state government was working to make the proposed 13th-month salary for civil servants a permanent policy through legislation.
He said the initiative was not designed to simply “throw money around” but to increase workers’ disposable income and encourage spending within the economy.
“Once this fund gets to the hands of the civil servants, that civil servant is also enabled to spend money in certain directions. That way, government would have been able to take the benefit of the reforms from the macro level to the micro level,” he said.
Aniagwu said the government had also directed agencies responsible for job creation and empowerment to begin identifying potential beneficiaries.
He listed the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer, Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development, Ministry of Youth Development and Ministry of Science and Technology among the bodies involved.
According to him, beneficiaries would receive business support, training and new skills to enable them to become economically productive.
Aniagwu said road construction remained another major part of the government’s economic strategy.
He explained that roads linking communities and opening up economic corridors would make it easier to transport people and goods while reducing difficulties faced by businesses.
The commissioner said the government was also exploring investment opportunities identified through the Delta State Economic and Investment Summit.
He disclosed that the administration was particularly interested in investments in poultry feed and other agricultural inputs.
According to him, local production of such inputs would reduce the amount of money leaving Delta State to buy them from other parts of the country.
He said it would also create opportunities for farmers, investors and other businesses while strengthening the state’s agricultural value chain.
The commissioner also explained that the government’s decision to construct additional residential quarters for medical personnel, particularly doctors, was partly aimed at tackling the shortage of critical health workers.
He said providing decent accommodation for medical personnel could help the state retain skilled workers and reduce the pressure caused by brain drain in the health sector.
Aniagwu said the administration’s investments in education, healthcare, roads, housing and empowerment were all connected to its broader plan to improve the living conditions of residents.
He stressed that the government’s improved revenue and liquidity would not be used for indiscriminate spending.
Instead, he said the resources would be deployed to projects and programmes capable of creating lasting economic benefits.
‘Reforms have grey areas’
Aniagwu acknowledged that the removal of fuel subsidy and other reforms introduced at the Federal Government level had created economic difficulties for many Nigerians.
He, however, said while some of the reforms might have been necessary, their implementation had also produced challenges that required intervention.
“We are convinced that efforts are also being made to address those grey areas, just as we are doing in Delta, so that the benefit of this removal can move beyond the macro level and come to the micro level,” he said.
The commissioner urged Deltans not to allow their current economic difficulties to determine their expectations of the future.
He said the state government was working to create a stronger economic foundation that would enable residents to become more financially stable.
As political activities ahead of the 2027 elections intensify, Aniagwu said the Oborevwori administration would remain focused on governance and projects rather than politically motivated cash distribution.
He said the government’s priority was to ensure that economic growth in Delta translated into better living conditions and increased purchasing power for residents.
“We are not going to get involved, because it is political season, to just be throwing money around,” he said.
