By Gab Ejuwa

The Man with the Golden Gun is a film produced from a novel of the same Title and penned by the prodigiously prolific and fecund Ian Flemming, the British fiction writer who also chalked up many other titles. to his name, which became hits for the James Bond series, which various productions,  featuring screen icons like the ageless Sean Connery and the viscerally stylish and sex-symbolic Roger Moore, have been enjoyed by generations of film goers and Television buffs all through the modern and the post modern times. The film obviously celebrated the mind-blowing martial artistry and cinematographic stunts of James Bond as a thriller epic hero and agent for the British espionage establishment. 

In a related development  there is a new title in Nigerian politics, especially among the senators of the upper legislative chamber, known as _The Man With the Golden Heart_ , making waves among the Nigerian masses, especially of the Niger Delta extraction, whose popularity within a short while would be rivalling the former film title.  And the man behind this sobriquet and engaging notion is non other personality than Joel-Onowakpo Ewomazino Thomas, JOT, The distinguished Senator representing the Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

For us to put in perspective the trajectory of his political, economic, social, psychological, spiritual and indeed philanthropic, impulses and initiatives, public and private, and determine by empirical palpations and exemplification the justification or otherwise of this endearing title, we shall have to cast our minds back to the very beginning of his socio-activist precedents and antecedents. 

To start with, recently the amiable senator, news has it, empowered over one thousand members of his immediate Constituency, the Delta South Senatorial District, at an unforgettable event held at Oleh Township Stadium in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State. The highly commendable input witnessed the distribution of over 7000 bags of rice, along with various other empowerment packages, aimed at radically improving both the quality of life and the life expectancy of the peope.

Other items on display included Grating machines, grinding machines, deep freezers, sewing machines, cutlasses and machetes for farmers, safety boots, hand gloves, insecticides and pesticides, life jackets, fishing nets, hooks and outboard engines , especially for the coastal areas, a replication of which he had previously done for both farmers and hunters plying their trades all through the literals. There were also various starter packs that were tailored for various skill acquisitions and had been distributed to various beneficiaries from the 8 LGA’s under his Constituency, presented in the presence of traditional rulers, community leaders, youths and women groups and other stakeholders. 

What was even more, the charitable initiative was the amiable senator’s fifth empowerment programme since assuming office eighteen months ago, an unprecedented development since the emergence of democracy, a heart – warming notion indeed when we call to mind the fact that he disclosed that even more remedial initiatives are in the pipeline. 

And when it comes to the predominant and predominating issue of Senatorial legislation, Joel-Onowakpo  Ewomazino Thomas has no doubt acquitted himself convincingly well, throwing himself into the hallowed job of legislation without inhibitions, some of which included: the Federal Medical Centre, Oleh; The Information Technology Institute, Oleh; The Federal School Of Nursing and The Federal Polytechnic are the bills in various stages of reading and passage in both Chambers and to be signed by the President into law would no doubt boost the quality of life and life expectancy. 

And talking about already executed projects, it is ineffaceably on record that, in fulfilment of his electoral promises and in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, JOT has accomplished the construction of the ICT Centre in Emede, the clarification of Aviara/Irri Road, the construction of internal roads in Ozoro, the construction of rural roads in Emeda, the supply and installation of 500KV transformers to the Constituency, the construction of Ayakoromo Road, the construction of internal roads in Bomadi and Esama, amongst many other the emergency repairs of internal roads in Ellu, Olomoro and Koko, the rehabilitation and equipment of Emede Health Centre, the construction of skill-acquisition centres in Oleh, the supply and installation of all-in- one solar lights in Gbaramatu, Oporoza and Patani.

Quite apart from these sundry activities, programmes and initiatives incidentally checklisted in valorisation and validation of the social interventionist mindset of Senator Joel-Onowakpo,  it stands as an articulate testament to his philanthropy that his ELOMAZ FOUNDATION  bestirs itself all year round lading orphanages and suchlike with essential goods giving scholarships to students of both secondary and tertiary institutions in Delta States and paying examination fees on behalf of indigent students and generally putting smiles in peoples faces.

From all these indications, and going by the sheer quantum of his philanthropic learning and profession, both in public and private, there is no iota of doubt in anyone’s mind that distinguished Senator Joel-Onowakpo Ewomazino Thomas comes across to one as the Santa Claus of his people in Delta South, qualifying indeed as he eminently does all the time, as the man with the proverbial Golden heart.