As the ruling PDP grapples with the crisis of leadership following the defeat of its presidential candidate, the Buhari band-wagon effect will certainly reverberate on next Saturday’s gubernatorial elections, where the pendulum is expected to sway in favor of opposition APC party candidates. It is simply logical that political correctness will push some States to align with the party in control of power at the center of government. But between political correctness and visionary leadership which one do Deltans want? It will not only be a triumph of common sense, but that of visionary patriotism for the people of Delta State to vote the PDP candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as their next governor. Voting Okowa will be a principled and unpresumptuous exemplar of the time-honored maxim by former US House Speaker, Tip O’Neil who once mused that: “All politics is local”. Delta is rising; let Okowa take it to the next level.
With the governorship election just a two days away, it is totally obnoxious for campaigns to be reduced to the trivial absurdity of “joining the winning party”. Without mincing words, voting a candidate simply because he belongs to the “ruling party” is a great disservice to Nigerian democracy. In any event, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, won a pride of place for himself for his exploits in governance, underscored by people-oriented programs and policies. He was not a member of the ruling party but he has been generally acclaimed by friends and foes for daring to be different in the area of quality and visionary leadership characterized by rapid and massive infrastructural as well as human capital development of his state. Lagosians are not likely to forget Fashola in a hurry. To the people of Delta state; distraught and overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of PDP’s rudderlessness, Okowa is a lesson in contentment that a man’s party is not better than his character or record in public service.
The enlightenment that was magnanimously exuded in the choice of Okowa gives cause to question why a party that scored a paltry 48,910 votes as against the PDP with 1,211,405 votes should win. In more practical terms, victory for the APC in the Delta guber poll will stand logic on its head. One of Okowa’s enduring enviable qualities is that his sojourn in politics has been an illustrious career built upon rock-solid grassroots endorsement. From the defunct Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM), where he was the state secretary, to PDP Chairman of Ika North East Council from where he was appointed Commissioner for Water Resources by then governor, James Ibori, before moving to the Ministry of Health. In 2007, Okowa contested the primary against Uduaghan and he was coasting to victory when he suddenly withdrew in deference to his master Ibori who supported his kinsman, Uduaghan. He was later appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) by Uduaghan. Critics say he used his supporters as bargaining chip and abandoned them, and some have still not forgiven him.
In 2011, Okowa resigned to contest the Delta North senatorial seat. Against all odds, he overwhelmingly overran his opponents even after a re-run was instigated three times. At the senate, his pedigree saw him emerge as Health committee chair. As commissioner under Ibori and Uduaghan, he was a dedicated and versatile public servant, always looking for the best hands to move Delta forward. His popularity grew and for his hard work and honesty, he was conferred the title of Ekwueme of Ika Land (meaning a man who does what he says).
All things considered, Okowa is an embodiment of humility and decency; unencumbered by primitive accumulation and conspicuous consumption. He neither schemed, nor sought power for its sake. One of the lessons from his life is that, the real leader is one who is neither vengeful nor intimidating, but one whose altitude is determined by his attitude; one who has been elected by destiny to take responsibility for a people. It was therefore clear to all and sundry that he was an unstoppable candidate for the Delta governorship given his antecedents and pedigree.
Notwithstanding the intrigues of the PDP governorship primary, Okowa defied the odds to triumph against Uduaghan’s anointed successor, Tony Obuh; former Permanent Secretary in Government House, and David Edevbie backed by the powerful Urhobo Progress Union. He combined political sagacity and personal integrity to secure a resounding victory that confounded even his most ardent detractors. More than the observing public knew, the intrigues that made possible Okowa’s candidacy as the PDP governorship standard bearer were both surprising and stupefying. From start to finish Uduaghan made no secret of his preference for someone other than Okowa. At first, he went for his trusted ally, Obuh, who had served as his permanent secretary. However, his last minute u-turn to David Edevbie, former principal private secretary to late president Musa Yar’Adua was understandably on the strength of fears that the Urhobo nation needed to be placated with the governorship ticket to win the votes for the PDP. But Okowa won, largely because of his wide political network across the state.
Nonetheless, Okowa’s next hurdle was his choice of running mate. Two (Ijaw and Isoko) of the three ethnic nationalities in the south senatorial district to which the deputy governorship had been zoned were in contention. In one masterstroke that doused the inferno, Okowa picked Kingsley Otuaro. The decision was hailed by all and sundry including the Delta For Equity (DFE) group, whose chairman, Chief John Eseoghone, said in a statement that: “In the face of the seemingly irreconcilable intra-party differences among leaders of these brothers whose unity is crucial to Okowa’s victory in the next election, it could only have taken a political personality with good wisdom, leadership qualities, a unifier with an eye for fairness to take what could have been adjudged a fair decision, that is the selection of Kingsley Otuaro as deputy governorship candidate of the PDP.”
Okowa’s dignified composure and sagely attention to cultivate the disposition of statesmanship and maintain an eloquent taciturnity of servant-leadership, was, no doubt crucial in uniting the party after the acrimonious primaries. The dearth of people-oriented leadership, mindless impunity, an insensitive, self-centered political class, deficient in ideology, bereft of merit-based recruitment mechanisms, and mindlessly driven by convenience rather than conviction is the bane of a nation so endowed, yet so cursed. No wonder citizens celebrate leaders like Okowa who dare to be different; who make service delivery to the people their top priority, for they are oases in a desert of inept leadership.
At this point, Okowa’s record like his life is an open book. It is inconsequential whether he is an unapologetic PDP zealot, because in range of vision and depth of conception, he towers above his contemporaries; he is endowed with the gift of steady application and will rather control events than drift with the tide. He is highly cerebral, clear-headed with clear conscience and radiate sound knowledge of the problems facing Delta State. Above all, Deltans should be interested in the content of his character and its application to service not in his party. The people of Delta State have a manifest rendezvous with destiny; the choice is clear: vote Okowa for Governor! Anything else will give a bad name to Democracy as a government of the people by the people and for the people.
