‘He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.
……………Holy Bible ( KJV) John 8:7b
BY Obaro Obru Egboro

Hurray! Delta State is 23.

There have been a flurry of fire-works, inter-denomination religious services, and such other events to herald the coming of age of one of the frontline states in the country because of her enormous contributions in terms of petro-Naira and other such varied contributions. There is no doubt that we have a lot to celebrate as a mark of statehood especially with the vast network of infrastructural developments traversing Delta  since it was severed from Bendel State, in 1991.

The story of Delta started on the 27th August, 1991 when it was created by the Ibrahim Babangida  administration. The high stock of developments in the state were made possible by the doggedness of persons who have sat at the helm of affairs  at one time or the other. Some of these persons were so domineering that Delta  is still missing them with nostalgia, hence the need to pay tribute to a personality that created so much impact in the socio-political terrain of the  state.

James Ibori

The state had  no impact so elaborate and wide spread till he ventured into the Delta project with all the braggadocio that characterised his electioneering activities. Everywhere you turn in the state his achievements stand out like Egyptian pyramids.
From the inception of the state to date, a total of  six  governors, military and  civilian, have ruled the state.

Of the lot, the echo of the regime of  one keeps reverberating because of the foundation he laid and his fundamental style of governance that was an empowerment whirlwind. That governor is Chief James Onanefe Ibori. The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond possibility into the impossible, and nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.

This was the mien of Ibori, the fifth  governor of Delta  whose regime covered the period 1999-2007.  Retrospectively, he laid the foundations of the Uduaghan-led administration.  This reflection or tribute as the case may is not meant to vouch or hold brief for Ibori in respect of what did or did not do, but  meant for us to put on our thinking caps in Delta  and allocate to him all the honour due to him as we celebrate or buffet today for the ‘little’ role he played in our collective match towards the Delta  of our dreams.

The Odidigboigbo, as he was fondly called, dominated the social, political, and economical landscape of Delta  from 1999—2007 with giant strides, building monuments which traversed the state irrespective of senatorial districts. He was a detribalised Deltan and made a lot of land mark developmental statements in the geography of Delta. The monumental Bomadi bridge which has changed the history of the Ijaw from that axis is a testament to behold, and the Ijaw are very grateful to him for that unique insight of giving Bomadi and environs vehicular civilisation.

He began the spade work for the Asaba airport, choosing the present location. He embarked on the construction of the numerous road networks in Warri metropolis, in an effort to bring back the glory of Warri as we used to know it as an oil city. In Asaba, we remember him for the Nnebisi, Okpanam, Summit-Illah roads, engineering of the Core Area Layout  (G.R.A), Commissioners’ Quarters, Ibori Golf Course and a comprehensive  networks  of roads in Delta North amongst other growth catalysts.

Space will not permit us to elaborate on others such as bridges, schools, hospitals, housing complexes, empowerments and scholarship schemes. Yes, there were wide scale employment/ empowerment of youths in the state and businesses grew monumentally. His regime was a programme/project carnival with developmental monuments or testaments to behold.

This vociferous, sagacious, effulgent personality of the central senatorial geopolitical zone is a rugged player that should be remembered in the Delta project as we celebrate statehood.  This apostle of resource control has had a distinguished work career with Mobil Nigeria and with political beacons of achievements which stand out as an impressive profile. He represented the voice and determination in a country in search of courageous, fearless leaders who have enough political will to navigate the murky polarized political landscape of Nigeria.

He is an advocate of true federalism and this exemplary display of guts on this issue was always echoed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the then Vice President. The man, James Ibori represents the face of certainty, the shape of things to come and how they ought to be. He is a man with uncommon footprints, a voice that cannot be gagged even by presidential bravado, because the young man has an image that is larger than his geographical domain.

Cognitively, Ibori‘s footprints are so large that they have become stone cast imprints in the history of the state. No governor before him affected the people as much as he did. A man of history so vilified because of human errors that are common in our clime where we all pretend to be more Catholic than the Pope. Give some of us shouting ole today similar opportunities they will beat the record of Anini or Oyenusi. It is an incontrovertible fact most of those in authority today are not better than Ibori, if exposed.

All said and done the man is languishing in jail today and so much as some of us will shout crucify him we should also give him a place in our hearts for the much he did and also shout hosanna.  According to Jesus no man is good or perfect except our Heavenly Father, so is James Onanefe Ibori our one time governor. He fleeced our treasury according to his traducers, if given the same circumstances some of us will not only take from the till, they will carry away the whole till.

Let us give Ibori a break and pray for him as we celebrate Delta at 23  for the unprecedented impacts he created and the personalities he made including our present chief executives within and outside the state. He is our friend, brother and political leader par excellence. Some of the present administration activities in the state  have their umbilical cord connected to the Ibori regime, hence as we click glasses to wine and dine we should give a moment of reflection to Ibori for all that he inspired in our lives as Deltans. There is no doubt he had a fervid passion for Delta and her people and he meant well but human judgements and errors frizzled him off track.

*Egboro is President, Down2 Earth network (a non-governmental initiative) [email protected]