Victor Boniface Will Bounce Back Stronger For Nigeria

Victor Okoh Boniface, born on December 23, 2000, in Akure, Ondo State, has established himself as one of Nigeria’s most promising football talents. Currently playing as a striker for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and the Nigeria national team, Boniface has captured attention with his exceptional pace, strength, dribbling ability, finishing, and relentless work ethic.

Despite facing recent challenges, it is crucial for Nigerians to exercise patience with this young star, as his resilience and determination promise a brighter future for both himself and Nigerian football.

Boniface’s rise to prominence is a testament to his perseverance and the rugged nature of African football. His early years with Real Sapphire laid the foundation for his professional journey. Loan spells at Lefke TSK and a subsequent move to Bodø/Glimt in Norway honed his skills, exposing him to different football cultures and levels of competition. His time in Norway and later in Belgium with Union SG demonstrated his adaptability and hunger for success, attributes that have defined his career.

In 2023, Boniface made a significant leap by joining Bayer Leverkusen. His performance in Germany has been nothing short of remarkable, with 20 goals in 33 league appearances, affirming his position as one of the Bundesliga’s most lethal strikers.

Significantly ,his transition to international football has been met with challenges, as he is yet to score in 11 appearances for the Super Eagles.

African football is notoriously unpredictable, with players often facing challenges ranging from inadequate infrastructure to immense pressure from fans and media. Boniface, raised on the rugged terrains of Nigeria’s football culture, is no stranger to adversity. His mental and physical toughness, shaped by years of battling these challenges, will undoubtedly serve him well as he navigates the expectations of wearing the national colors.

Despite his struggles in the Super Eagles’ jersey, Boniface has shown glimpses of his potential. His ability to hold up play, create chances, and press opponents aligns perfectly with modern football’s demands.

What he needs now is consistent support and opportunities to grow into his role within the team.

Nigerians have a history of being passionate about football, often holding players to exceptionally high standards. While this passion is commendable, it is equally important to offer players like Boniface the patience and support they need to thrive. Football careers are not linear, and even the most celebrated stars experience dips in form.

Victor Boniface’s story is one of resilience, adaptability, and untapped potential. As he continues to develop, Nigerians must rally behind him, recognizing that his journey is not just about personal success but also about representing the nation’s pride on the global stage. His struggles today are the seeds for a triumphant comeback tomorrow.

Boniface’s journey—from Akure to Europe—illustrates the depth of talent Nigeria possesses. As he navigates the challenges of international football, his upbringing, work ethic, and determination will see him emerge stronger. Victor Boniface is more than a footballer; he is a symbol of hope for Nigerian football.

With time and unwavering support, Boniface will not only overcome his current struggles but also become a cornerstone of the Super Eagles’ success.

*The best of Victor Boniface is yet to come, and when it does, it will be worth the wait*

Your thoughts.

By: Coach Uni Dan Kakwi

Sheriff Oborevwori: Garlands For An Underestimated Governor

Some persons in Delta State are yet to come to terms on how Sheriff Oborevwori emerged as Governor of Delta State. While some others believe it is by divine orchestration, majority believe it was by deft political engineering.

DELTA FRESH VISION has noted that over the years, it had become customary that for someone to become Governor in Delta State he must have undergone executive tutelage as a Commissioner and SSG. At a point it was felt the college of SSG is a training ground for future governors of Delta State. Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa both passed through this route to become Governor.

It is somewhat a miracle that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was the first Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly to become the Governor of the State, against established political traditions.

Before him no one thought it was a possibility and there was no convention to contemplate its possibility. But it happened.

Beyond the facade, we must recall that Sheriff Oborevwori became Speaker as a first time legislator in the midst of several ranking Legislators on the 11th May, 2017. Although he was not the pioneer first time Legislator to become a Speaker; Rt. Hon. Peter Onwusanya owns that distinction, Sheriff Oborevwori was however, the first Speaker to transmute from one administration to another. He served two years in Dr. Okowa’s first term and also served as Speaker throughout Dr. Okowa’s second term, making him the longest serving Speaker in the history of Delta State.

In spite of the high turn over of Speakers in Delta State it was a rare feat for Oborevwori to have survived speakership for 6 years, in the midst of Legislators who were ever ready to “devour” any Speaker that does not carry them along. It speaks volumes of Oborevwori’s team spirit which he carried effortlessly to the Executive.

Upon resumption as Governor on the 29th of May, 2023, not a few Deltans thought that Sheriff Oborevwori was going to learn on the job. Some others did not give him a chance of high performance. Some who described Oborevwori with the epithet of “Street credibility” even did so as a euphemism for lack of Governorship experience.

18 months down the line, Governor Oborevwori has proved all skeptics wrong.
One early imprimatur of Oborevwori’s bold venture was his decision to engage the construction giant, Julius Berger to construct three bridges, Cloverleaf and road expansion projects in Warri/Effurun metropolis at an ambitious cost of N78Billion Naira. It was the first time any Governor of Delta State would use Julius Berger for construction job in the State. It signaled his administration’s resolve to admit only quality jobs as a testament of his ingenious M.O.R.E Agenda.

This singular decision flustered the APC and some of Oborevwori’s most vitriolic political opponents.

Some apologists even pooh poohed the Julius Berger projects, predicting that it would not see the light of day. Today, a visit to Warri and Effurun construction sites by Julius Berger would reveal a sprawling evidence of architectural wonder, far away from the staleness of the oil city to a glistering spectacle of beauty and resplendence.

Governor Oborevwori also made it clearly, in the early months of his administration that Delta State was not going to be an abode for shoddy jobs that does not conform with government’s specifications. He proclaimed a zero tolerance for cutting of corners, thereby setting the template for projects that would stand the test of time.

One other area that has confounded endemic skeptics and professional critics is Oborevwori’s resolve to run a government without borrowing. As ambitious as the 2025 State budget of N979 Billion there is no budget deficit, meaning that the budget will be financed from the Federation Accounts receipts as well as the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)

No wonder that Delta State under Governor Oborevwori’s watch, has been rated among top 10 State’s in the 2024 Governance Accountability and Transparency Index (G.A.T.I) by the Guild of Online Media Editors and Publishers (G.O.M.E.P), Nigeria.

Many Deltans do not know that Governor Oborevwori has taken it as a deliberate policy to save a percentage of all monies received from the Federation Account and IGR, which he plans to bequeath to his successor in years to come as a financial legacy.

We have a Governor who is not profligate in spending. His judicious use of State resources has become so palpable that even the blind can see it, the deaf can hear it and the lame can walk it.

Governor Oborevwori is prepared to put the State resources to judicious use for the development of Delta State and the upliftment of the living standards of Deltans and especially to take Delta youths and women off the streets through the establishment of empowerment schemes like D-CARES and MORE GRANT SCHEME and the WESAP.

As far as government business is concerned even the most inveterate cynic knows that it is not business as usual.
The plugging of areas of waste and leakages have become the hallmark of the Oborevwori administration.

The character of the Oborevwori administration can be gleaned by the decision of the Governor to do an infrastructure allocation of N2 Billion for each of the 25 Local Government Areas in the State in the 2025 State budget. This is a reflection of equity and fairness in the distribution of projects across the State.

Governor Oborevwori’s M.O.R.E Agenda is not just a slogan; it is a testament to strategic planning, disciplined resource management and a deep commitment to the well being of every citizen. Through his prudent and people-centered leadership Oborevwori has defined what it means to manage State resources responsibly and transparently.

Deltans are now beginning to understand the meaning of the promise: “I am going to be a governor for all Deltans”.
The M.O.R.E agenda has taken roots just as the ship of State is on course, with its compass set in the right direction.

The opposition has been brought to its knees through good governance. By a policy of total inclusiveness, the Oborevwori administration has shown that the PDP umbrella is big enough to accommodate all Deltans one way or the other.

Flowing from the above, DELTA FRESH VISION enjoins every Deltan in Nigeria and in the Diaspora to join hands with the Delta State Government to move the State forward. Politics is over for now and Governor has so far offered an olive branch to the opposition to help steer the ship of State to safe shores. Delta State belongs to all of us and no one should pull it down in the name of Politics.

Long live Delta State!
Long live Nigeria!!

Fred Akpewe,
Chairman.

Wilberforce Arinze,
Secretary.

Grace Akaighe,
Publicity Secretary.

Governor Oborevwori Clarifies Interaction With Ned Nwoko Over Okpai IPP Project, Assures Ndokwa Nation, Deltans Of More Devt. In 2025

The M.O.R.E. Reality Group (MRG) wishes to commend Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori for the maturity and sagacity he displayed in clarifying his interaction with Senator Ned Nwoko over the Okpai Independent. Power Plant (IPP) matter that had gained some traction in the public space recently.

We indeed, applaud Governor Oborevwori’s uncommon show of wisdom and statesmanship in the face of innuendos and flacks shot and directed at him, following the imbroglio and the impressions created that he was told about Okpai IPP and that he refused to do anything about it, thus creating the impression that he does not want the development for the good people of Ndokwa Nation on the one hand, and the entire Anioma nation that constitute Delta North Senatorial District on the other hand.

But that opportunity to tell his side of the story came when the leaders of Ndokwa Neku Union, led by the distinguished Brigadier General Mike Ndubuisi (rtd), visited the Governor, thus making it possible for him to clarify the misty aspects of the claims by Senator Ned Nwoko that went viral.

Recall that sometime in September this year there was a trending viral video in which Senator Ned Nwoko declared that he met and requested the Delta State Governor to assist in the step down of 100 megawatts to be produced by the Okpai Power Plant, for the benefit of Delta North, but that the Governor refused. The occasion was the visit of the Senator representing Delta North to Brigadier General Mike Ndubuisi (Rtd) in his home town.

The video pitched the media Aides of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori against the media Aides of Senator Ned Nwoko in a raging media battle that dominated the public space for several months. To worsen the situation, Senator Nwoko reportedly told Deltans that he equally told Governor Oborevwori to intervene in the water distribution content of the Ogwashi Uku Dam project but that the Governor equally refused.

Another project which Senator Nwoko told Deltans he discussed with Governor Oborevwori but that the Governor also refused to assist, was the proposed coastal road project linking Asaba-Oko-Ase-Patani. Senator Ned Nwoko had told his supporters that Governor Oborevwori’s refusal to do the coastal road project prompted him to approach NDDC to include the coastal road in their 2025 budget.

These assertions by Senator Ned Nwoko created a prolonged impression that Governor Oborevwori did not like the Ndokwa Nation and was even neglecting the whole of Delta North in his developmental projects.

To set the records straight, it is on verifiable record that no fewer than 27 projects are currently going on and in different stages of construction across the three Local Government Areas of Ndokwa Nation.

It is also on record that the 2025 budget of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration has allocated N2 billion for each Local Government on road infrastructure alone and has assured of enhanced development in the coming fiscal year 2025 with the budgetary provision of N50 billion for road infrastructure in the 25 Local Government Areas of the State.

There is also another N200 billion earmarked for road construction as provided for in the 2025 budget already passed by the State House of Assembly.

The appropriate opportunity for Governor Oborevwori to correct the erroneous impression of neglect of the Ndokwa Nation and Delta North Senatorial zone by extension, was thus presented, when the same Brigadier General Mike Ndubuisi (Rtd) led the Ndokwa NEKU Union to pay a courtesy visit to the Governor.

The Governor told the visiting team that he never held any discussion with Senator Ned Nwoko at any time concerning the Okpai IPP project nor any other project whatsoever. Governor Oborevwori revealed that the only thing Senator Ned Nwoko came to discuss with him was appointments for some of his constituents, which he granted.

Hear the Governor: “Sometimes as a Governor you will hear and see some things but choose not to respond. I saw a video that went viral where the Senator representing Anioma Nation, Senator Ned Nwoko, said he discussed the Okpai IPP with me. The only time that Ned came to see me was to solicit for appointment for his people which I granted. When I saw the video, I just smiled. Maybe he didn’t know that the video would go viral.”

The M.O.R.E Reality Group believes that the clarification of and assurances by Governor Oborevwori on the matter ought to have been sufficient to clarify the issue and reassure the people of Ndokwa Nation and indeed Delta North that the Governor means well for them, and for all Deltans, but then we were taken aback when our attention was drawn to a recent publication by the Directorate of Communication, Office of the Distinguished Senator Representing Delta North Senatorial Zone, titled: “Senator Nwoko reacts to Governor Oborevwori’s claims on Okpai IPP, appointments, Ogwashi Uku Dam, others”, in which they said Governor Oborevwori’s clarification that he never discussed the Okpai Power plant matter with Senator Ned Nwoko “are a perplexing distortion of events, and for what it’s worth demand corrections.”

According to the tedious, long-winding and sometimes convoluted and duplicitous write up: “Senator Nwoko has consistently engaged with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other senior party leaders, including: The Deputy Governor; Elder Moses Iduh, Engineer Dan Osai, former Party Chairman, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. The Senator has engaged the Governor on this project repeatedly, alongside other pressing developmental concerns critical to Delta North, including the Ogwashi-Uku dam, as well as the Asaba-Oko-Okpai-Aboh road. Despite repeated conversations with the Governor on these matters, no progress has been made, and no assurance was given.”

Apparently, what becomes glaringly obvious from the desperation of the publicists engaged and contracted into the self styled Directorate of Communication in the Office of Senator Ned Nwoko, is the crass ignorance they exhibited by claiming that “Senator Nwoko has consistently engaged with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other senior party leaders, including:
The Deputy Governor, Elder Moses Iduh, Engineer Dan Osai, former Party Chairman, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.”

In their pedestrian logic to reduce a matter of such developmental magnitude to a ridiculous level of flippancy and political grandstanding, they forgot that Senator Ned Nwoko, in his typically ubiquitous spontaneity and sometimes staccato exuberance, couldn’t have “consistently engaged” all the afore mentioned top PDP stalwarts without splashing it all over the media and making heavy populist political capital out of such meetings.

If he could allow the brief meeting he had with the President General of Ndokwa Neku to be blown out of imaginable proportions in the media, one then wonders how “consistent engagements” with the leaders of PDP, including Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, could have happened or taken place so quietly that not even a squeak or whiff of such engagement was publicized by the usually loquacious Directorate of Communication at the time they took place.

Of course, the whole of Nigeria is very aware of the Senator’s engagement with the Minister of Power and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), as well as the meetings with oil and gas companies and conducting site visits, including his bill on the floor of the Senate on the State of Okpai Power plant step down controversy, and most importantly his crusading advocacy for the creation of Anioma State, all of which were and have continued to be lavishly and copiously given comprehensive publicity in the media and public space.

So, how did we then miss these his “consistent engagements” with the top PDP stakeholders and the leaders including the Delta State Governor in the media when they happened? Indeed, it is inconceivable that Senator Ned Nwoko, who does not do things quietly and always loves drama in all his engagements, would discuss with Governor Oborevwori or former Governor Okowa for that matter and it did not get media attention? It is quite unbelievable and simply exposes the extent to which the Senator’s media vuvuzelas would go to twist and manipulate a simple matter with negative propaganda for cheap political mileage.

And by the way, in what form, manner or procedure were those “consistent engagements” conducted? At least, one expects as it is standard practice, just like he did on the floor of the Senate, that a distinguished and responsible Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should exhibit more maturity, seriousness and decorum in addressing such developmental matters with his own State Governor and party leaders instead of the uncouth, off-handed, garrulous, spur-of-the-moment flippancy, with which he presented the matter before General Ndubuisi. And one even wonders how he has been “consistently engaging” the other leaders too.

It smacks of a disturbing and unacceptable lack of respect for the office of the Governor of the State, and speaks volumes of the poor and shabby exhibition of leadership that should be condemned outrightly and not encouraged.

We are nevertheless partially assuaged by the fact that the Senator’s media directorate was humble enough to admit that on their own volition that “It is encouraging that the Governor’s 2025 budget earmarks ₦200 billion for road infrastructure. We remain hopeful that these proposed projects will be accommodated within this allocation, as they are critical to the development of Delta.”

However, we take very strong exception to the claim by the Directorate that, “Regarding State appointments, from the outset of Governor Oborevwori’s administration, there has been a noticeable effort to undermine Senator Ned Nwoko’s position.” Indeed Senator Nwoko’s media team should be ashamed to make such a damning and diminishing claim of their principal in the public space as it not only de-markets the Senator’s reputation considerably, it also greatly undermines his political stature and exposes him quite recklessly as a weakling who neither has the clout nor capacity to influence critical decisions in his own political constituency.

We want to believe that this is a faux pas committed quite unintentionally by the media directorate in their overarching desperation to evoke empathy and rehash the victimhood narrative of his endured marginalization in his own political party and within his own Senatorial zone. This is not only unfortunate and laughable, but also most importantly, reveals the fact that there must be a maverick way and manner the Senator is going about whatever he is doing that is not going down well with the collective interest and objective of his fellow party leaders and faithful.

Interestingly, while it is acceptable to suggest that Senator Nwoko contributed to the electoral successes of the Party in his Senatorial zone, it is also germane to strongly remind his directorate of communication that the party and indeed some of the leaders they have chosen to vilify, were greatly instrumental in both the choice and emergence of Prince Ned Nwoko as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is a well established mantra in political circles that “Party is Supreme” and the interest of the party should always be put in consideration first before individual interest. Senator Ned Nwoko himself is a big beneficiary of the party’s decisions.

Finally, the MORE Reality Group (MRG) is quite happy and satisfied with the maturity and political brinkmanship Governor Sheriff Oborevwori exhibited, by opting to use the platform of the visit of the high powered Ndokwa Neku Union delegation led by the well respected Brigadier General Mike Ndubuisi (rtd), not only to clear the air on his interaction as Governor of Delta State, with Senator Ned Nwoko on the Okpai Independent Power plant matter, but also to assure Ndokwa nation that the MORE Agenda will deliver development to Deltans including Ndokwa nation.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori himself aptly captured the magnitude of the meeting thus: “Today, I had an excellent audience with the leadership of the Ndokwa Neku Union, led by the President-General, Brigadier-General Mike Ndubisi (rtd), during a courtesy visit at Government House, Asaba. We discussed critical road infrastructure, education, empowerment, job opportunities for our youths, the progress we have made so far, and our future plans.

“As a government committed to inclusiveness, I assured the delegation that the Ndokwa nation is not and would not be neglected by our administration.”

The Delta State Governor has spoken. The MORE Agenda is fully on course.

Signed:

Anthony Oghenetega,
Chairman.

Apollonia N Odibei,
Secretary.

Loveday Bekederemo,
Publicity Secretary.