AT 68, Dr. Peter Otunuya Odili has packed in that relatively old age, a record of achievements that is the envy of his peers. Born on August 15, 1948 in Ogba, Egbema, Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, his parents, Chief Philip Celestine and Princess Janet Okwei Odili, may not have imagined the great heights their then little child was destined for. But as the legendary Professor Chinua Achebe would say, a chick that will grow to be a cock is known the day it was hatched.

That wise saying became manifest in the boy, Peter, when he enrolled in St. Michael’s School, Oguta II and Sacred Heart School, Onitsha between 1953 and 1960 marking the commencement of his intellectual quest that saw him pass through the famous Christ the King College in Onitsha and the prestigious University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus where he studied Medicine.

After his mandatory internship at the University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin, he moved on to be a Resident Staff Physician, Medical Consultation Centre, Port Harcourt, between 1979 and 1980. Given to entrepreneurship, he went into private medical practice by establishing PAMO CLINICS in 1980. He served as its Resident Clinician-in-Charge between 1980 and 1982.

He still needed to add sheen to his academic laurels. For that reason, he went in pursuit of a specialist programme at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. It was an opportunity for him to horn his skills and he grabbed it. The knowledge so acquired made his proficiency in Medicine much sought after in Port Harcourt and around the country and even beyond.

It was in demonstration of his acumen in the medical field that Odili was a personal nominee of then President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, to a 10-member roundtable committee charged with the responsibility of formulating the methodology for addressing the HIV / AIDS crisis in the workplace in Africa.

Was medicine his last bus stop? No. He is too versatile to be so pigeon-holed. He believed he possessed leadership qualities that must be made beneficial to his people. Public service, for him was the appropriate way to prove that he can replicate his knowledge of medicine in the field of politics and governance. But the military were still in charge and he bided his time.

In 1988/89, Odili was elected member and leader of Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly and was elected to the National Constitutional Conference, where he served as the Chairman of the Conference Committee on State Creation. In 1992, he was elected as the Deputy Governor of Rivers State. At the peak of the struggle for the laying of the foundation for the Fourth Republic, Odili first served as National Vice Chairman (South- South) Democratic Party of Nigeria,DPN; and later as National Secretary.

He was Founder and Leader of Rivers Platform, 1998; Founder and Leader, Restoration Team as well as the State Leader of Peoples Democratic Party,PDP; elected Executive Governor of Rivers State in 1999 and served two terms. It was in that capacity that he took the country like a storm and became a reference point in the nation’s political calculations. He was at various times the National Chairman, PDP Fund Raising Committee (2000); and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Housing and Urban Renewal (2001).

Even his ardent critics concede to him that his sojourn in office garnered stellar propensities that have till date remained a yardstick for measuring performance in that resource – rich state. Before him and just as Port Harcourt, the capital of the state was, on paper, a federal territory, most part of it were not connected to the national grid.

The National Independent Power Project, NIPP, that later became a federal fad had Odili, in his capacity as governor of Rivers State, as one of its pioneers. Before him, also, Government House, the seat of the Governor, was not better than a guest house and that’s being charitable. He built a grand and befitting edifice that is the cynosure of the people’s eyes.

Other landmark projects and policies of his administration are there today as Odili’s legacy of excellence in governance. They include the free HIV treatment designed to achieve some of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, his intensive commitment to mother and child healthcare, investments in banks, the Eleme petrochemical industry and the now aborted Port Harcourt refinery deal. One will not forget to mention that by sheer strength of character and personality, he was able to tame trouble makers and secured lives and property in the state.

It is widely accepted that among his many attributes, Odili is a philanthropist per excellence.  Journalists in that state will not forget his N25 million donation to the NUJ National Secretariat Appeal Fund, a land for NUJ House and insurance cover for working journalists.

One positive part of the Odili phenomenon is his large heartedness as well as his proclivity to mentor successors.  But it has also led to some personal regrets as captured in his autobiography, Dr. Peter Odili:    Conscience And History – My Story.  A close associate of his commented that an area that one could easily empathise with the Governor is his expressed disappointment over the numerous betrayals by those he so trusted and brought up socially, politically, financially, academically and even religiously. Regardless, the former governor has remained the issue in the politics of Rivers State. One may agree or disagree with him. One is either for or against him but there is no room for neutrality on matters of Odili’s politics.

Dr. Odili is married to another achiever and distinguished professional, Her Excellency, Justice Mary Ukeago Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court.  Their marriage is blessed with four children.

Mr.James Ume, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Abuja.