By Festus Ahon, ASABA

SPECIAL Adviser to Delta State Governor on Orientation, Mr. Eugene Uzum has said the number of deaths recorded in the State in the 2022 flood was minimal compared to other parts of the country due to the sensitization programme embarked on by the State Orientation Bureau.

Uzum who stated this while briefing newsmen on the achievements of the Bureau of Orientation in the past seven and half years, said the State Orientation Bureau has made Deltans understand their roles as critical stakeholders in governance.

While commending the Government for creating the Orientation Bureau, he said the State Orientation Bureau has changed the mindset of Deltans and given them a better understanding of government policies and programmes.

He said: “our first engagement was in 2015 when we talked about the policies of prosperity. It was a campaign that heralded the government of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

“He came up with the SMART agenda which encompasses the goods he needed to deliver. We were able to give a breakdown of the SMART agenda so that there will be a proper understanding of government policies between the government and the governed.

‘’in 2017, we embarked on a campaign against cultism, especially in our tertiary institutions to talk about cultism and its dangers in our society. In 2018, we campaigned for voter registration across the state. The thrust of the campaign was to educate our people on the importance of their civic responsibilities.

‘’In August 2018, we did a campaign on the policies of the government in the area of road infrastructure as enunciated by the SMART agenda. Still, in 2018, we reached out to our people that were affected by the perennial flood, especially in the riverine areas and we were supported by the government to help us forestall the damages caused by the flood.

‘’In March 2019, we had a very critical sensitization on vote buying because of the state elections. The purpose of that was to dissuade our people from the mentality of vote buying. In February 2020, we embarked on a critical campaign about the dangers of trailer parking on various roads. On the back of that campaign, we believed that a lot of lives have been saved.

‘’ Also, sensitization against Covid-19 was very critical for us. There were set down protocols to follow but unfortunately, some sections of the society were looking at it as a big man illness and a lot of people were dying. But the Bureau went on a sensitization and partnered with the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, the Ministry of Health, and other federal institutions that were on ground to educate the people about Covid-19.

‘’In March 2021, we did a sensitization on drug abuse and cultism. We had to do it again because it was actually posing a lot of threats, especially in our primary and secondary schools. We also did a sensitization on the state government projects in the three senatorial districts.

‘’We also sensitized the public on vandalizing of government properties which has paid off. In June 2022, we partnered with various stakeholders to talk about the issue of paedophilia and child abuse in our society.

“In September 2022, we were alerted by NIMET on the flood which was very challenging across the country, but the records of death were smaller in Delta than what we had in other states because of the level of organization and sensitization that we did.

“In October 2022, the Bureau again did a sensitization campaign on the registration and participation in the voter process”.