A community leader and development advocate, Comrade Mulade Sheriff, has implored the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, to ensure the urgent development of coastal communities for them to have something to celebrate come August 27, 2020.

Comrade Mulade made the call in Asaba during the occasion to mark ‘Delta State at 28’, urging the state government to give Deltans, especially those in the riverine communities, a valid reason to celebrate

According to him, 2019 that made a political history in the state and the country is yet to witness a sustainable development.

He stated that coastal communities remain “underdeveloped, neglected, abandoned and ignored”, adding that the Ijaws, Isokos, Itsekiris are in need of sustainable template for infrastructural development across the riverine areas.

He urged Governor Okowa to give the impoverished coastal communities their own agency, saying that the people have been grappling with infrastructural deficit for too long.

He added that 28 years is long enough for a child to become a productive adult as the state is overdue at 28 to have most of the rural communities in the coastal areas linked to some cities that enjoys relative development, insisting that the abandoned and neglected communities remains the economic power of the state and Nigeria.

He also called for collaboration among the various stakeholders in the Delta, saying: “It is quite important that we pay attention to the developmental needs of our communities and be fair when rating the performance of any Governor.”