Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan was just a good man. He was an incredible man of peace, a man who could do anything including daring death to achieve peace. I don’t know how many people in this world would stake their lives, be ready to die for peace to reign. Uduaghan did so as governor of his people. He revealed one instance in the story he told himself that I reproduce here today as part of my tributes to him. It was in a thanksgiving service to mark his birthday after leaving office as governor of Delta State. It was published October 29, 2016 in Vanguard. I present the story today for you to appreciate my description of him as an incredible man of peace. The story titled MY CLOSE SHAVE WITH DEATH also points to his humble background and the humility that made him remarkable. Read about Uduaghan, who called himself the village man who became a medical doctor and later a governor. Read also the second story on him from my archives, a story I reproduce not only in memory of the great achiever but also for the attention of the current Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori who may pick interest in fulfilling what Uduaghan considered for the Illah community while hosting Super Eagles when they won the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa. The headline was ILLAH IN THE EYES OF UDUAGHAN. Of course another chapter of Uduaghan’s life was his love for sports and efforts to develop it. He once asked our Queen of the tracks, Mary Onyali what he could do to get Blessing Okagbare on the podium. Mary told him to place Blessing on a special training allowance. Uduaghan did so. And Blessing truly justified the investment in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and other international championships with podium performances. Uduaghan lifted sports not only in Delta but also in the country. We leave that for another day. Read the avalanche of tributes since he passed on and you will agree that a good man has joined the stars. Now, read about Uduaghan’s close shave with death as told by the man himself in a Thanksgiving service.
MY CLOSE SHAVE WITH DEATH — Uduaghan
SIR Tony Obuh described him as an accomplished man of peace in his goodwill message on his facebook page last weekend. Sonny Areh, his media assistant, had also posted, on his facebook page, a birthday message to Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, the immediate past governor of Delta State. He turned 62 last Saturday.
What followed was an avalanche of birthday and goodwill messages.
There were some in the newspapers too. And so the goodwill that marked Uduaghan’s two tenures as governor is still on the high. And people showed this at a thanksgiving service at the Guiding Light Assembly Church at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, last Sunday.
Uduaghan was at the church to thank God for His mercies all these years. People turned out in numbers in the church where the pastor preached about the Holy Spirit. The word of God was good. And the people reveled in it. As the service was about to end, the pastor invited Uduaghan to make a brief remark after the church had prayed for him and his family.
When he was done, the pastor prayed that more good things would continue to follow him.
Uduaghan recalled one moment, as Governor of Delta State when he was caught between life and death and God saved his life. Part of his testimony went thus:
“There are two things associated with governance. I call them the two Ps. They are Power and Pain. You see a governor and you marvel at the power he commands. He can order the arrest of somebody, he moves in a convoy, he has so much power that he earns tremendous respect everywhere. People see the glamour and the glitz, etc. But they don’t see the pain. There’s pain in governance. You can only rely on the grace of God to guide and guard you.
”When I came in as governor in 2007, the violence we battled then in Delta was more than what is happening now with the Avengers, etc. Kidnapping was high and expatriates were leaving. Militancy was more than what we have now. President Yar’Adua called me and said ‘what’s going on? These things are happening in your state.’ I told him that there were kaytwo ways to handle the militancy in Niger Delta. I asked that the Federal Government should do their own and I would do my own. We set out to work. I had to go to the creeks. We had to dialogue with these people.
”I remember one Sunday, my family and I had prepared to go to church and I received a call that they were going to burn Chevron terminal. The facility they planned to burn was so huge the impact would have been terrible for our oil production. I told them I would come after church service but they insisted I should come immediately otherwise the militants would destroy the terminal. I had to leave.
I told my family to pray for me at the church. It was just one of my trips to the creeks. I took helicopter and then did the final journey by boat. And you know that when you go on such trips to the creeks you don’t take escorts or when you take them they don’t carry guns. I went with only my ADC. No guns. It was a huge risk but one that I had to take to engage them and stop the blowing up of the oil facilities.
”It was a terrible place. I got to the place and after discussing with the militants they told me that there were higher authorities further inside that I must meet and that what I had just done was a preliminary one. They were all armed to the teeth, fierce-looking and ready to pull the trigger. You could imagine how dangerous it was in that terrain. I continued the journey further into the creeks to meet their superiors.
I got there and they led me into a room. They were kind enough to offer me a seat. With their guns, some pointing at me, they sat on the floor while we held talks on why they should spare the oil facility. I spent hours with the them. I finished with them and left for the journey back home.
”While on the boat going back, we noticed one speed boat racing to where we were. They caught up with us. We didn’t know if it was another group but they caught up with us and one of them pointed his AK 47 at me and put his finger at the trigger. It was terrifying. It was a moment of life or death within seconds. You could see the anger on the face of the militant, who pointed the gun at me. He wanted to shoot.
It was terrifying.
There was nothing I could do but to pray silently. I was praying. Silently, I prayed and I waved the white handkerchief (peace signal) I had. The man steadied the gun at me. Suddenly another speed boat from nowhere dashed in between and and after some seconds they all sped off. ‘I believe that The Holy Spirit appeared in that white handkerchief and saved my life and I live today to give this testimony.
”There were other terrible encounters one had as governor but people would not know about these pains. What they know is the glamour or power they associate with you in governance. I thank God for what he had done for a village man like me. I come from a village setting where there were no roads, no electricity, no facilities, just village life – our parents were farming and fishing for us to go to school.
I remember when I eventually had a Beetle car and how my wife prayed for us to have a better car, a better air conditioned car possibly a Mercedez Benz. And she used to sing a song about this. Today, God’s blessings have gone beyond owning a Mercedez Benz car. And if He could do it for a village boy like me He can do more for you all here.”
Applause greeted this and the pastor prayed that good things would continue to follow Uduaghan.
“You’ll preach and touch lives even if it is not from the pulpit,” the pastor told him. And so, that was how quietly Uduaghan marked his birthday with a thanksgiving service.
Many turned out for him including former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi. They still admire him. He made peace his trademark throughout his tenure. He was a symbol of humility. He liked sports so much. He played and still plays tennis.
As governor, he would even officiate as an umpire while others played. He was that humble. He worked tirelessly for peace in Delta and towards the end of his eight-year tenure he made unbelievable sacrifices for the interest of peace. Nothing can be more apt than Obuh’s description of Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan as an accomplished man of peace. Many Happy returns.
Ilah in the eyes of Uduaghan
There was something unique about the reception Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan held for the Super Eagles while celebrating their 2013 Nations Cup feat.
Some of the names Nigeria adored long before the present generation were invited. Some of them were already in their 70s and only few who were of the old generation could recognise them.
There was George Oganwu, the first university graduate to play for the Green Eagles as they were called at the time. Then Owolo, Ebiwan Didiare, Godwin Etemike and Jossy Dombraye.
Stephen Keshi and Sylvanus Okpala are old enough to have watched Dombraye in the 70s but I’m not sure they saw George Oganwu play. It was emotional when the presence of these veterans was announced and they were asked to stand for recognition. Oganwu was called to speak. He interjected humour while speaking but made a point that touched all in the hall.
‘’Our own Austin Ofokwu was being buried here in Nigeria, the same day George Best was being lowered to mother earth in England.
While we watched on CNN, Sky News, BBC and other cable stations on how they were burying the former England star, our own star died and was buried unsung. We must begin to celebrate our heroes so that the younger ones would want to emulate them.’’
Austin Jay Jay Okocha was in the hall and sat close to me. ‘’Time is coming when we would be like this man and they would be inviting us to make such speeches,’’ Okocha said, smiling and appreciating what the Delta State Government was doing.
At the October 30 sports summit held in Asaba in 2012, former 400m world champion Bert Cameroun of Jamaica awed the audience with some of the things that have made Jamaica great in track and field.
He spoke eloquently on mentoring and revealed that even the history of their past heroes is taught in schools. Jamaican heroes are invited to events and schools to give motivational talks. They are adored and the young ones strive to emulate them. It was against this background that Delta invited these past football heroes from Delta to be part of the reception held for the Eagles. The players were rewarded with cash. Keshi got cash, a house and the Asaba Stadium named after him.
The governor recalled that the feat achieved by Keshi had only been achieved by Mohammed El Gohary of Egypt. He is late now. He won the Nations Cup as a player and as a coach. Keshi has stepped into his shoes and now a living legend in African football. Uduaghan felt justified to so honour Keshi whom he also told that with time he would be invited to be part of a programme his government has already started. Delta is already implementing the report of the 2012 summit which emphasized on sports in schools and local communities. The Governor’s Cup, a football competition among secondary schools is now in the knock out stage. The school that wins will earn cash, a bus and a foreign trip for a youth competition. Delta is also starting a similar thing in track and field with the Awoturo Eleaya Cup. Cult heroes in track and field will play a role. Christian Chukwu, Davidson Onwumi and Jay Jay Okocha all gave motivational talks at the kick off of the Governor’s Cup in Asaba.
Back to the reward night for the Eagles. When Uduaghan stood to speak, he first reacted to the points Oganwu made. Oganwu is from Ilah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta. Uduaghan recalled that Austin Ofokwu that Oganwu remembered hailed from Ilah. He also mentioned Pa John Ojidoh, a veteran sports administrator who at his young age coached track and field, football before becoming an officiating official in athletics and a referee in football.
‘’Pa Ojidoh may not be strong now otherwise he would have been here today,’’ Uduaghan said of the 86 year veteran who still finds time to comment current sports matters. Ojidoh was reacting to developments during the Nations Cup. On January 16, few days to Nigeria’s first match at the Nations Cup, I visited Ojidoh at his home in Ilah. On a sick bed, he spoke on sports, recalling dates in such a manner that marvelled me. His body may be weak but his brain was still sharp.
It was my first visit to Ilah and when I told him that I liked the town he cut this way: ‘’It’s a peaceful place. The white men, the missionaries came here in 1888, before they got to Asaba. Ilah produced the first black and non priest (Lay) to be Principal of the famous St. Gregory’s College in Obalende, Lagos. His name was Paul Amenechi. His younger brother, Patrick was first Nigerian to obtain First Class Honours in Chemistry at the University of Ibadan. Ilah produced the first West
African female Architect in Joy Ugboda, an elder sister of Mrs Ifeajuna. Julius Chigbolu set British and Commonwealth High Jump record in 1954 with a jump of 6.94 mark. He was from Ilah. We can go on and on about the people of Ilah. Austin Ofokwu, a one time captain of the Eagles came from here. Stephen Keshi is from here and before Keshi was Mathew Onyema who was Eagles captain in acting capacity. I wish Keshi wins the Nations Cup so that he can be among the greats from Ilah.’’
And when this happened and Uduaghan was hosting the team he commended the feat from Ilah people and spoke of a possibility of citing a football academy in Ilah. He respects the potentials the town churns out and hopes that there could be more stars from Ilah. That will be commendable. It is a town that has produced stars and ready to continue if the academy comes to town. Oganwu is interested and wishes this to happen.
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