Asaba ,has a perplexing identity.The capital of Delta state is fabled in history but unsung in glory.
Norbert Chiazor
Asaba was Nigeria’s first colonial capital under the British Royal Niger Company from 1886-1900.The conquest and annexation of Nigeria by British colonialists took root from the trading interest of the Royal Niger conglomerate which preferred Asaba as its pioneer administrative headquarters.
About 100 years after colonialism,Asaba acquired a new destiny as capital of Delta on 27th August 1991 when the Babangida military government created Delta and Edo ending unforgettable Bendel state.
But the epic tale of Asaba embedded in her historical pedigree scarcely match the physical outlook.A civil service city that had over the years laid slow, sleepy and sedentary.
When Senator Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa stood to take oath of office on 29th May 2015,as governor,Asaba was clearly on his mind.In his inaugural speech at the cenotaph, Okowa made a proclamation creating Asaba Capital Development Agency poised in “driving the initial process of governance”.
Waxing proactive,he authored an executive bill to add statutory power to the agency.The development organ for the urbanization of Asaba has been on the move.
Beginning with the Asaba airport opened by his predecessor,Dr.Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan, the government of Okowa has remodeled the landmark into an aviation hub,attracting widespread viable socio-economic activities.
Building circles of roads,Olympic stadium,mega drainages,legacy secretariat,star hospitals...Okowa has dressed Asaba in amazing beauty.
The coming of a bespectacled technocrat,Hon.Joan Onyemaechi Mrapkpor as Director General of Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency and Chief Ighoyota Amori as Chairman of the board has particularly given the city its brightest appeal in recorded history.
Mrakpor who shot into national reckoning with her colourful and outstanding presence at the House of Representatives between 2015 - 2019,has brought so much energy and visibility to Delta State capital development Agency.
Her ubiquitous efforts on the sanitation and beautification of the Delta state capital are on the lips of everybody.Working with a zealous team of volunteers,the Ubulu-Uku born Amazon fondly called Ada Anioma has cleared Asaba of filth,illegal structures and haphazard brisk businesses.
Today the city lay neat,orderly and attractive in social sanity.
Nagging public disorder- itinerant hawking,petty street trading,shanties and so on had disappeared considerably on the streets of Asaba. But Mrakpor’s crusading clearing of the capital city is humane with a tinge of succour and fellow feeling for those caught amid the transformation.
Shops especially for groceries and related products have been provided by the government in strategic places at affordable rent.Some of the displaced,particularly youths and vulnerable women had been engaged in diverse skill acquisition programmes with tools and funds.
The Okowa administration has truly made salutary impact in promoting orderliness and urban renewal in Delta capital.
The development is indeed for the common good of residents and visitors. Concerted action by the people,private sector and the government is all the city needs to achieve desired growth and progress.
It is particularly instructive that the new face of Asaba is not just a woman but a model of discipline,patriotism and service.
This perhaps explains why the central actor of Asaba renaissance,Joan jogs with a swagger in the line of duty on the streets of Delta capital.
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