*How a former village boy is transforming Delta State through good governance

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, South-South

THERE are four things about the 59-year-old Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan that have baffled  his political associates and foes since he became Governor of Delta State in 2007. The first is the supernatural talisman that follows him like a shadow, his native intelligence, calmness in the face of trouble and bold spirit.

Uduaghan’s talisman is his strong faith  in God as the ultimate dispenser of power and defender of his true children. Whether his father got a heavenly inspiration before naming him Emmanuel, “God with us” is not clear, but the spirit behind the name has followed him till date. The second is his wisdom in handling affairs, third is his disposition/attitude to life and fourth is his ability to take radical/revolutionary actions.

How Uduaghan packed the above qualities, which tally with the five qualities of a good political leader – honesty, compassion, integrity, confidence and flexibility could be a subject of research in the Leadership Training Institute, which he plans to establish, God willing, after leaving office in 2015.

But the Ugo of Okpe land, a veteran politician and friend of the governor, Chief Paulinus Akpeki, presently Commissioner for Housing in the state, told Vanguard in Asaba, last week, “One thing is clear, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has deployed native intelligence and other qualities effectively in the running of the state.”

Akpeki who is familiar with the first civilian governor of the state, Olorogun Felix Ibru and worked with Chief James Ibori, who handed over to Governor Uduaghan, said, “I can tell you 100 per cent that Uduaghan is a blessing to Delta state.”

Dr. Uduaghan once told Vanguard in an interview that all he hoped in 1999 was to be a personal physician to his cousin, former governor of the state, Chief Ibori,   but he found himself being appointed Commissioner for Health and later, Secretary to the State Government, SSG.

By the way, Emmanuel Uduaghan grew up under a disciplinarian grandmother, who took him at the age of three years from his father, a polygamous policeman  to live with her in Mosogar. His workaholic nature was nurtured in the village.

By the second cock crow at dawn in those days (5.30am), he was already up with a bush-lamp heading to the plantations to tap rubber. It wass either farm to plant and uproot cassava or fishing later in the day on return from school. The itinerary was work, work, work and little play on some occasions.

“I was brought up in a place where there was no facility, it is a town called Mosogar, no development, no power, pipe borne water, no hospital, not even dispensary at that time. What we had close to development was a school and a church,” the governor said.

“I can recall that despite the rural nature, we were able to feed three times a day because everybody was a farmer, fisherman among others, and so, there was no issue of hunger. Because there was no hunger, nobody was angry. And without anger, there was no violence because it is the hungry man that gets angry and becomes violent,” he added.

Uduaghan, however, noted  that down the line, the oil companies came and the issue of pollution of water came up, making it difficult for the people to fish and because there was no longer fish, they could no longer have three square meals a day. His words, “That is one of the reasons you see violence today in the Niger-Delta.”

Reminiscing on the good life in the village before the advent of oil companies, he said on Sunday at Government House, Asaba, “It dawned on me as governor that something must be done about provision of infrastructural facilities in the communities and planning for a state without oil. That is how the idea of Delta beyond oil was born.”

His other experiences as a child  in Mosogar and Oghara, where he completed his primary education were to shape his life later.

He was unhappy seeing pregnant women passing  through trauma  during delivery and introduced free maternal care for women when he got opportunity to be governor to alleviate their pains. He also  refused to marry more than one wife and has a compact family of four, a boy and a girl, now married, including him and his wife, because he did not want to live the polygamous life his cop father lived.

Uduaghan learned the rules of the game of politics and governance within eight years under the James Ibori administration and by the time he decided to take a shot at governorship, he had a clear focus. It would no longer be business as usual; he  wanted a drastic change in the ways the affairs of the state were conducted.

With his spartan childhood under the tutelage of his disciplinarian grandmother in Mosogar and later with Ibori’s mother, Mrs. Comfort Ibori in Oghara, where he finished his primary education, it was obvious to him that God was the one ordering his steps. So when he informed Ibori in 2007 that he would like to have a shot at governorship, he was not deterred when Ibori told him that the fact that they were cousins and his Itsekiri origin could work against him. Rather, he said he would leave the matter in the hands of God.

But he was happy that Ibori noted that his experience as Commissioner and SSG were advantages he had over others.   Luck was on his side during the PDP gubernatorial primary and aborted run-off between him and his friend, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who he appointed  SSG after his victory in 2007.

A faithless person would have buckled under the strident tirades of powerful Deltans over his election, which continued till the end of his first tenure. But God was with him. It was the native intelligence learned from his grandmother that made him navigate around many burning matters as governor and came out stronger. Those who underestimated his political savvy soon found out that he was on top of the situation.

He was disqualified from  the governorship primaries of his party but he succeeded in upturning the disqualification at the Appeal Panel, headed by two-time governor of defunct Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia. In the same manner, he won the support of his biggest antagonists on assumption of office in 2007 who became his followers  and ardent supporters today.

In the words of Akpeki, “Any child that stayed with an old woman must have good wisdom and that is where Uduaghan stands today. It is this wisdom that has prepared him to govern Delta; he would always tell you  he got this wisdom from his grandmother. It has actually helped him in the governance of the state because that is what made him to talk to a lot of people and assemble a good team.

He came into governance when there were problems everywhere. But with wisdom, he was able to ensure that peace returned to Delta state. Today, you cannot say that peace has not returned fully in state, but we are working hard to eradicate crime,” he added.

Governor Uduaghan’s Communications Manager, Mr. Paul Odili, who spoke on the boss’s attitude and disposition said, “He is a man that is fascinated by ideas. He is a risk taker; he did some risky things by simultaneously in 2007 embarking on the airport project, Independent Power Plant, IPP, Asaba road network, investment in Delta State University Teaching Hospital, dualisation of Ughelli-Asaba Road and Warri Industrial Business Park, WIBP.

He is also a good listener and a very passionate person and does not constrain you when he gives you a job to do,” Odili added. “Uduaghan is a man who works with those in his team, but can also get outsiders to assist if he feels like. He is an intellectual and methodical person and if he decides to ignore things, it is just that he wants. Otherwise, he is a very detailed person, I guess that being a medical doctor, it has to be so.”

Chief Akpeki, who expatiated on Uduaghan’s compassion, says of his leadership style, “His politics is that of inclusiveness, politics without bitterness and politics of respect. He respects elders, his humility cannot be equaled.

If Uduaghan were a wicked man, most people today who are even in government won’t be there because it was glaring that these people were against him to come into power. But some of those people today are benefiting so much in this government and they are in government.

I can say without any contradiction that if it was  some of them that came into power, with what they did to Uduaghan before coming in as governor, they will not let him near Government  House. But look at Uduaghan, he opened the door to everybody and he will tell people,” why take Panadol for another man’s headache.”

Chief Akpeki went on: “I have personally told him and I thank him for bringing everybody on board because I still repeat and I want to say that some people today who are in government and who also benefit, even though they are not in government, some of them would have been crazy today if Uduaghan had ventured not to  bring them in.

Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Barrister Richard Mofe-Damijo said, “What I have noticed about Governor Uduaghan is his calmness. If you know the politics of Delta state, the pressure will unsettle you if you are not a focused person.

It is very difficult to manage the delicate interest of the ethnic groups, but the man is calm in handling all these things.”   RMD said Uduaghan’s ability to take criticism in good faith is a quality that has set him apart from others, adding, “His worst enemy is praising him now because they have seen that he means well for the state with his Delta beyond oil vision and he is determined to finish strong.”