By Edafe Ofotokun
History is a patient judge. It does not judge leaders by the noise of politics, but by the institutions they build that outlive them.
When the history of Delta State’s educational transformation is written, one chapter will be devoted to technical and vocational education, and in that chapter, two names will be prominent: Senator Dr. IfeanyiOkowa, who envisioned it, and Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, who gave it life.
In 2020, Delta State took a bold decision that many states considered too expensive and too ambitious. The Okowa administration approved the establishment of nine new model technical colleges, built to international standards, to be sited across the three senatorial districts. They were located in Asaba, Effurun, Obiaruku, Oghareki, Omadino, Irri, Abor, Ovrode, and Patani. The idea was simple but revolutionary. It shifted Delta State’s system from certificate-chasing education to skills-driven, productivity-based education.
By 2023, only three of the approved nine technical colleges—Asaba, Effurun, and Obiaruku—had been substantially completed. The rest were at various stages of construction, steel skeletons dotting different communities, waiting for a leader with the courage to continue.
Many projects die in Nigeria when governments change. Oborevwori chose a different path. Under his MORE Agenda—Meaningful Development, Opportunities for All, Realistic Reforms and Enhanced Peace and Security—he made continuity a policy of the state.
Two years into his administration, the narrative has changed. The Model Technical College, Omadino, in Warri South, has been commissioned to the jubilation of all, with academic activities having already commenced even before the ribbon was cut. The Model Technical College, Oghareki, in Ethiope West, billed for commissioning on October 8, 2026, has been described by the Commissioner for Works and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, as a facility that “can pass for a university in some states.” The one in Irri, Isoko South, is approaching completion. This is not just about building schools. This is statecraft.
Why do technical colleges matter? Some may ask this question.
For decades, Nigeria made a costly mistake. We glorified university degrees while despising the hands that build a nation. We produced thousands of graduates who could quote theories but could not wire a house, fix a transformer, fabricate a machine, or build a modern drainage system. The result is visible: youth unemployment, reliance on artisans from neighbouring countries, and a JAPA syndrome in which even skilled labour is scarce.
Governor Oborevwori understood what many economists have preached: technical education is the fastest tool to fight poverty. As he said at the Omadino commissioning, “Graduates of these colleges will emerge not just as job seekers, but as skilled professionals, entrepreneurs and future employers.”
A graduate of Oghareki Modern Technical College will not be waiting for white-collar jobs in Asaba. He will be creating jobs in Oghara, installing solar systems, maintaining industrial machines in Sapele, or becoming a contractor for the Julius Berger projects now reshaping Warri-Effurun.
The Oghareki Modern Technical College is a university in technical form. A tour of Oghareki reveals the seriousness of the Oborevwori administration. This is not the technical college of old, with rusty tools and abandoned workshops. It is a full educational ecosystem: 12 modern classrooms, nine fully equipped workshops, science laboratories, internal road networks, administrative blocks, two hostel blocks, staff quarters, a principal’s lodge, a corps members’ lodge, a dining hall, a clinic, a spacious school hall, a football pitch, a basketball court, a generator house, and operational quarters.
It is designed to be a boarding institution to keep students focused, disciplined, and fully immersed in learning—the same model that made Singapore, Germany, and China industrial giants.
And, crucially, it was completed without borrowing. Governor Oborevwori has repeatedly stated that Delta has not borrowed a dime since he assumed office. For a project of this magnitude to be completed with prudent financial management, prompt payment of contractors, and high-quality assurance is a statement of realistic reforms.
The Historical Lens
Leaders like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore are remembered today not because they built roads, but because they invested in their people. He made English compulsory, enforced technical learning, and made merit supreme over mediocrity. The result is clear. Singapore moved from a Third World country to a First World country in one generation.
Oborevwori’s investment in 19 technical colleges—10 legacy ones plus nine new model ones—with student enrolment growing from 5,739 in 2022/2023 to over 8,003 in 2023/2024, is laying the same foundation for Delta. When enrolment doubles in the next five years and graduates flood the construction, oil and gas, ICT, and manufacturing sectors, history will be kind to him.
In the eyes of history, continuity is courage. It would have been easy to abandon Oghareki and start a new project with his own name. He did not. He commended his predecessor, Dr. Okowa, for initiating it, and then ensured it met global standards.
That is leadership maturity.
Beyond Bricks and Mortar
The legacy is already spreading. The administration has recruited thousands of technical teachers, procured state-of-the-art equipment, and increased funding for bursaries and skills-acquisition schemes like MORE Biz-Up, WESAP, and D-CARES, which support graduates of these technical colleges.
On October 8, when Governor Oborevwori cuts the tape at Oghareki, it will be more than a commissioning. It will be the handing over of a future to the children of Ethiope West—a future where their destiny is not tied to crude oil but to the skills in their hands.
In fifty years, the flyovers in Effurun may need reconstruction. The secretariat complex may be remodelled. But the technician who learned his craft in Oghareki in 2026 will still be training his grandchildren, running his company, and paying taxes to Delta State.
That is why, in the eyes of history, Oborevwori will not just be remembered as a governor who built roads. He will be remembered as the governor who built people.
•Ofotokun wrote in from Delta State.
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