Jimitota Onoyume

Chief Ejaife Omizu Odebala is not a green horn in the turbulent waters of the politics of Delta state.

One thing that counts for him is his humility and accessibility. He is one politician that has maintained his major MTN line from his days as a member of the Delta state House of Assembly till date .

This twin attribute of accessibility and humility have continued to build his support base among the electorates and even political leaders.

One of his ardent supporters , Mr Andrew Irikefe who also share the above thought line , said nothing is as bad as working for a leader to win elections and he will not be there for you at the end of the day

. ” You cannot even reach him or her to give one of your children a job when it is clear that he or she is in a position to do “

Interestingly, if you called Odebala’s line a hundred times when he was a member of the House , a Commissioner in the administration of former governor Emmanuel Uduaghan or even Chairman of Sapele local government , he would pick.

I still remember a journalist in Sapele who would always call him with pay phone when he was a member of the House because he had no airtime in his phone. And he picked all the calls without grumbling.

As a member of the House of Assembly and leader of the House he was among the vocal voices. Ejaife as he was known across the state then was an issue in the House. He brought brilliance, oratory and finesse into his job as a lawmaker .

Probably he got this quality of a wordsmith from his late father, one of the early lawyers and successful one for that matter of Okpe Urhobo origin, Chief Barrister Young Odebala.

And this brought several wins to his Sapele state constituency while some slept . Several internal roads had attention from the state government. Sapele literally came alive again with massive road reconstruction work all over.

In this era of serial political betrayal Odebala is not known for such. He can be so brutally frank with his convictions while conveying them and at the same time lacing his words with some sense of humor.

” I no go fit help now o. Abeg just bear with me “, a supporter said he told him some years ago. ” And later he came to my aide. I was first impressed that I could reach him even though he couldn’t be of help then . And when later he did I was excited . It can be very painful when you cannot reach your good friends again because they are in political offices “, he said.

“Odebala has suffered betrayals in politics a few times. I still recall a particular case, it was from one of his closest aides he invested heavily in to build to the top politically. Those who knew them condemned the action of the aide. This is a story for another day. “, Frank Edema said.

“But Omizume as some of us close to him call him, does not have any strain of betrayal in his blood. If he is with you, he grows with and even ready to sink with you. “, he added

“I have heard the word several times that powe corrupts, but not with Ejaife. He sticks firmly to the deal even in his most comfortable times. A quality many in the race lacks .”, he said

“I was told of one in the race from Delta central that is shamelessly and embarrassingly arrogant. During campaigns his lines are open to all but after elections you can’t connect him again. “

“He has occupied public office where he exhibited this quality to the shame of those who were warned to beware of him when they supported him. “, he said.

I have been privileged to come close to the high and mighty in several sectors of the nation’s economy, including politics. So I related with Edema’s view to a large extent

All I can safely say from my lens is that arrogance is largely a product of inner emptiness. The high and mighty with something to offer are usually very humble.

One of Odebala ‘s supporters and member of his People’s Democratic Party, PDP, who simply have her name as Felicia said

“Ejaife is not the type that tells you he knows all. He is always ready to put all alternative views on the table for critical appraisal. “

“When he announced his intention to run for the governorship election in the state I told myself that he is among the few in the race determined to take the state to greater heights when elected.”