By Norbert Chiazor
“Who are you supporting for Governor?”
“Sheriff of course”
His soft voice coos with precise finality.
A pin drop silence…
Then his lips parted in a dainty smile,as he reclined to a huge seat and acknowledged a good bye.
What exclusive epiphany! I pondered,as my excited legs swaggered downstairs from his office, breathing briskly with “infinite pleasure” like Mungo Park on the discovery of River Niger, “great object” of his mission
That was on one Tuesday morning in 2021.A time the matter of succession was in closet,classified.
May 29,2023,he took Delta by storm.Senator Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa bowed out and Rt.Hon.Sheriff Oborevwori sat in government House.
“No gree for any body” a sociolinguistics colloquial coinage denoting ‘stand your ground’ seems to be an old lingo in the psyche of Okowa long before it became Nigeria’s trendy urban sloganeering of 2024.
Unyielding,the first Anioma Governor of Delta rode to power in 2015 against all human predictions,embracing history by divine force.
In power,he stood audacious in style and left some vivid impact in legacy.Asaba and several other quarters across the 3 senatorial districts ,bear him out as architect of modern Delta.
Resolute,he passed the baton to a favoured hand.Today there is a new Sheriff in town.
Okowa’s philosophy of “no gree for anybody” earned him friends and more expectedly enemies,throughout his eight years and beyond.
Indeed,Okowa saw “pepper” staving off both the fiercest and the most frivolous petitions on planet earth.He overcame by amazing awe.
Days back,a group came out demanding probe of the immediate past governor, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,EFCC.
This is not a peculiar odyssey.
Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan was confronted from all fronts,battling election and duty demons,the only governor in the state to be sacked and reinstated contesting three times.
Chief James Ibori had sleepless nights fighting orchestrated graft wars,went to jail and came back in 2017.
Rt.Hon.Sheriff Oborevwori shocked the world some days ago,revealing that he went through 38 court cases to become governor.The highest in the country among his 2023 peers.
That is Delta.Nigeria’s most fertile land of litigation.The hard field of feud.
Delta is the most difficult state to govern in Nigeria.Every Deltan is a lawyer or journalist.Here you are either a litigant or watchdog.
There is a fake dimension to the calling which gives it ludicrous colouring.
Lawyers and journalists,who neither went to any law school nor journalism class.
They are everywhere in every corner- Urhobo,Isoko,Itsekiri,Ijaw and Anioma land.The intensity of practice may differ from place to place but the pseudo practitioners are all present,with imaginary wigs and pens!
Even some of the real ones in Law and Press vocations in Delta can sometimes play the devil’s advocate in the guise of enforcing social order.
Caveat emptor.Please beware! This is not an apologia in veneration of corruption.Who ever started the crusade,kill corruption before it kills Nigeria deserves Nobel prize.
Every political leader must be held accountable for misrule.Good governance and people-centred democracy can only thrive with service not grabbing in rapacious greed.
Nonetheless,there is often a tragic angle to social crusade against elite corrupt tendencies in plural Delta.The tone of the message and messenger can be the opposite of intended crusading mission- wayo! Deception.
Here the con man is out to mar not make.With sole purpose to get power or money,all self aggrandizement.
Okowa is not a saint.But he is not the caricature the opposition paints. Bold,meticulous and pioneering,he set precedence for enduring multi ethnic relations and did his best to give a stronger Delta.
In critcizing or calling out Okowa,we must remember to acknowledge his Olympian role in history.
Love him or hate him,he is brilliant,a special breed,with amazing quickness of understanding.
That best explains why he ensured a sensible Sheriff succeeded him.
I know Sheriff.Born on the solid city of Warri,you cannot intimidate him.
He grew up rocky,rocking his world,to conguer and rule.
Truly the footsteps of Governor Oborevewori have been stomping enthusiasm in Delta state since May 29th 2023.
The good news on Julius Berger working on mega bridges in Warri and Effurun infrastructure care in other places,payment of #5billion promotion arrears to civil servants, #40billion local government pensioners’ lifeline,social welfare packages for Deltans and supreme court story are omen of success.Sheriff is on a solid track.Doing well governing.
Okowa laid a concrete foundation.
Oborevwori is on with M.O.R.E.The agenda of Meanigful Development, Opportunities for All, Realistic Reforms and Enhanced peace and Security.
Oborevwori the all pervading “Ukodo” merits kudos.
Okowa deserves praise not probe.
‘No gree for anybody’
This is 2024!
Chiazor is Executive Assistant, Media to Delta Governor.
