By Emem Idio, Yenagoa

YENAGOA- THE Bayelsa State government has been urged to properly immortalize the First Civillian Governor of Old Rivers State, Chief Melford Okilo, in view of the unparalleled achievements and precedents he set when he was governor between 1979 and 1983.

The Head, Environmental Rights Action, ERA, Niger Delta Resource Centre, Bayelsa State Alagoa Morris, Chief Nengi James, Second Vice Chairman of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, and a retired varsity don Ebipaudo Saepre-Obi, made the calls in their separate remarks at the 14 Memorial of the former parliamentarian and governor held at the Emakalakala Town Hall, in Ogbia Local Government Area, on Tuesday.

Describing Okilo as a leader who saw tomorrow, they regretted that the naming of a road in the state capital after the statesman was not enough, adding that the late political icon deserves far more as the footprints of his achievements were still visible in present day Bayelsa and Rivers States, more than three decades after he left office.

The Head, Environmental Rights Action, ERA, Niger Delta Resource Centre, Bayelsa State Alagoa Morris, said there was the need to have an Institute of Good Leadership and Democratic Studies in Emakalakala, hometown of Okilo, to espouse the leadership ideals and philosophy which he practiced and promoted.

Morris said:”Okilo was a leadership development icon, till today we are still seeing his footprints in every parts of Bayelsa State and this is a testament to the fact that he did not run government as those who came after him.

“Here we are talking about a man who started the first independent power project (Gas Turbine), a man who first build a university of science and technology and many other feats. In the area of environment, he quite a lot in the area canalisation, shoreline protection, sand filling of lands and all that, we cannot exhaust all what he has done, he was an institution that is why we want his name to be properly immortalized with a structure.

“That is why because of his selflessness we are calling on the Bayelsa State government and our federal lawmakers that in their demands for institution, we want a situation whereby we will have in Emakalakala an Institution of Good Leadership and Democratic Studies, we want an institution to be associated with him in terms of democratic leadership and good governance, that is the concept of Okilo-ism.”

In his remarks, Chief Nengi James, Second Vice Chairman of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, said it is instructive for Governor Douye Bayelsa take measures to properly immortalize Okilo as the used Okilo political party National Solidarity Movement, NSM, to win a councillorship seat in the second republic.

He equally called on the Bayelsa state government to collaborate with the Rivers State counterparts to take over the annual Melford Okilo memorial celebration, adding that something worthwhile must be done to immortalize Okilo.

On his part, the King of Ogbia Kingdom, HRM Charles Owaba, Obanobhan III, who admonished politicians to emulate Okilo’s ideals and philosophy, described Okilo as an epitome of development whose works are still visible everywhere in the present Rivers and Bayelsa States.

One of the son’s of sage, Mr Otio Okilo, the Young Progressives Party, YPP, candidate for the Ogbia Federal Constituency, described his father as a phenomenon, enthusing that the children are him humbled with the accolades and encomiums poured by the different speakers about their late father.

He said growing up with his father he was unknowingly undergoing mentorship in how to become a better politician, saying that if he does not put to use all he has learnt and embodied in him would be a waste.

Senator Melford Okilo, the first Governor of Old Rivers State now Rivers and Bayelsa States, and a one time senator representing Bayelsa East Senatorial District between 1999-2003, died on July 5, 2008, at the age of 75.