By Uruemu Ododofor
Politics in this part of the world has for a long time be defined by a devious colour of brute force and gangsterism, a phenomenon that has robbed the game of the finesse, fidelity and exotic qualities of progressive political ideals which are the driving principles of government in the developed world. We have lived for too long under the illusion that politics is a game for social deviants, men and women who have no contract with honour, people of banal value for integrity and the rugged products of the world of the occult. We have blamed the system for too long without giving thought to how, over time, we have chosen the Biblical Barabbas as against Jesus Christ, a man who possessed all that is needed for the world to be a better place for all. More often than not, we have made the wrong choice for the wrong reasons. For this our politics and society have suffered greatly.
The Late Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido was a chip from the mould of the best materials in political progressive drive. He gave the Urhobo nation the best representation ever because his was a popular mandate. He therefore was committed to the social contract he entered with the people by reason of the mandate he operated for two years in the senate. As Ewherido passed on to the great beyond on June 30, 2013, the Urhobo people of Delta central have another opportunity to send an equally patriotic Urhobo to represent them in the senate to help build on the legacy of exemplary leadership of the late senator.
Sir Richard Odibo, a scion of the Odibo family of Egini, represents a true definition of two key words so fundamental to the building of the best democratic institutions the world over but unfortunately in short supply in the Nigeria political environment. These words are humility and integrity.
Odibo, whose life and conduct in private and public relations with people and groups, can only be defined by the enduring values of pure fidelity to any course he is committed to, has proven over time that we still have men who can resist the power of bribe and corruption to stand for truth and what is right. In his well over 25 years odyssey in the murky water of Nigeria politics, he has maintained an unblemished record of corporate and political uprightness. He has served as Supervisory Councillor for Health in the old Okpe Local Government Council and was Director General of the Great Ovedje Ogboru Campaign Organisation in the 2011 elections. That is after serving as Vice Chairman of the defunct Alliance for Democracy in Delta central between 2002 and 2005. He is one of the most consistent apostles of the Great Ogboru “Ship of Hope” which yielded quite a great harvest in the 2011 polls with a Senator, two House of Representatives seats and 9 seats in the Delta State House of Assembly as visible evidence of hard work across Delta State. Sir Odibo has over time, resisted the lure of government patronage in form of appointments, designed to make him abandoned Great Ogboru, but had resisted all, electing rather to remain in his private business than abandon the course he believes in and for which many people have lost their lives. Odibo is one Urhobo patriot that cannot be lured to sign any document that could delete one dot of honour from the prestige and value of the Urhobo nation, not for any reason under the face of the earth.
His father, the late W.T Odibo paid a lot of dues in the service of Urhobo land and humanity in general. His record of service particularly to Urhobo is evident for all to see. Testimonies abound of how the Late W.T Odibo built bridges of friendships across ethnic nationalities all in attempts to secure better honour for Urhobo. He was a good friend of General S.O. Ogbemudia, the then Governor of Bendel State; his relationship with and contacts among the Uvwies, Okpe, Agbon, Agbarho, and Ughelli elite class of his time, amongst several others, was a study in community service per excellence. The name W.T. Odibo, like T.E.A Salubi, Ogboko Edewor of Eku, Governor Uloho of Ughelli, Jereton Marierie of Evwreni, Esiso of Agbarho etc is hard currency across Urhobo land.
Richard Odibo inherited most of those qualities that made W.T. Odibo a national icon in service to humanity, and had always applied same in dealing with people. His humility and philanthropic gestures are transparently peculiar. As a Knight of the Anglican Church just the same way Senator Ewherido was a Knight of the Catholic Church as well as Senator Adego Eferakeya, Sir Odibo is a committed Church man, serving in various capacities in the Anglican Church with his ever charming, sometime boyish smile, and disarmingly so.
After netting a degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Lagos in 1981, Sir Odibo worked as Administrative Officer at the Delta Steel Company, Ovwian-Aladja in 1982 in the hey days of the company when even SPDC workers found better jobs in the steel plant. He rose to become Principal Administrative Officer before he voluntarily retired in 1992. He is today Chairman/ CEO Odrich Limited, an oil servicing company that is into procurement, marine and engineering services. He also is Chairman of Philard services, all based in Effurun, Delta central. He has attended several professional courses in General Management, Political administration and Human Resources Management as well as other invaluable courses related to career building. Odibo is an Old Boy of the prestigious Government College Ughelli, where he is believed to have ingrained the best of life values and principles in his approach to life.
Inspite of his aristocratic background, Sir Richard Odibo has continued to embody humility in everything he does, which many people mistake for weakness. He is not proud but attributes all that he has attained and achieved to God the source of all wisdom and grace. He is a wonderful family man who has successfully seen all his biological five children through University education, with three already with masters degrees. Numerous non-biological “children” of this gentle and highly respected leader have also graduated from different academic institutions.
Sir Odibo as a politician has been consistent in working with the only trusted and vibrant opposition led by Chief Great Ogboru to evolve a stable polity where the Urhobo Nation could assume her pride of place, never wavering, humble but resolute in his firm belief in the change project for Delta State. His dynamic administrative acumen provided the basis for a viable Campaign Directorate of the Great Ogboru Gubernatorial race for a new political order. His dedication to the change project, his purposefulness and efficiency in his endeavours, his precision in action, and his sheer guts in mapping out a victory agenda for the Great Ogboru unrelenting challenge to improper political leadership have given hope to many across Delta State.
After the 2007 charade called election that brought Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan to power as Governor of Delta State, Sir Richard Odibo was unlawfully arrested and extrajudicially incarcerated by the powers that be for months in Abuja. Sheer brute force and executive recklessness were applied on him to break his spirit and resolve to continue with the struggle to liberate Delta State. He survived this heart-rending experience in detention and came home to continue with the struggle. The mafia gangsterism exhibited by the PDP in foisting an illegitimate regime on Delta State, as we all know, resonated further with arrest of key players in that election as well as members of the Great Ogboru family. Richard Odibo held on to his friend and brother, Chief Great Ogboru and vowed never to let go despite the affront on the PDP’s claim to democratic governance and respect for the rights of the individual. He took his travails with philosophical calmness and came to his people to continue the struggle to entrench true democracy in Delta State. It was that inhuman experience that pushed this gentle giant to put in extraordinary efforts as Director General of Ogboru’s Campaign to virtually oust them from Urhoboland. He reached out to a vast network of friends and Urhobos worldwide and convinced all who heard his convincing arguments that it was time to route out whatever that has any shade of oppression. Odibo articulated a clear victory road map and achieved it for Ogboru and Urhobos, as it were.
Sir Odibo, like his late father, W.T.Odibo, has given so much to the struggle to make Delta state a better place. His covenant with society is to serve humanity with great humility. He is an asset to Urhoboland.
When this writer heard of the news that prominent political leaders, including the very Urhobo leadership establishment, are considering Sir Richard Odibo to run for the vacant senate position, I prayed in my spirit for it to be true. This man has demonstrated great commitment to the growth and pride of Urhobo as a nation. This unassuming, less ambitious man will do Urhobo a greater deal of pride if sent on this mission to represent his people. He will devote all his energies to the cause and Urhobo will be better for it. He is a patriot like the Late Ewherido. He is always calm and very diligent in all he does. He is very highly rated on the scale of integrity and this he would apply to his service of Urhobo.
No doubt, Odibo is not in the mould of naive political desperadoes who without shame, railroaded Ewherido’s so-called political ‘family’ to ‘endorse’ them to replace the Senator, even when the Senator was just reaching mother earth! Thank God he is not a money-miss-road overnight politician who has no single record of support for Urhobos or promotion of Urhobo causes.
Urhobo needs a man of honour, integrity and wisdom again at the Senate. One without any blemish. Even those who may be tempted to challenge Odibo will testify that he is more honourable than them in every leadership index. Let us give him the opportunity to deploy his humility and patriotic energy to serve humanity on this national call for service to Urhoboland.
Mr Uruemu Ododofor from Oghior, Udu LGA is a public affairs analyst based in Asaba, Delta State.
