In this week’s edition of The Pointer Platform, we are featuring a Veteran Journalist, a reputable Unionist, former Commissioner for Special Duties, and former Secretary to Delta State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay. As one of those who witnessed and took part in laying the foundation of what is today known as Delta State, he spoke on the challenges that played up when the State was created, and how they were able to surmount them, the ethnic crises in Warri that took the lives of many, and almost ruined the economy of the State, the progress that has been made since the State was created 34 yeas ago, and capping it with “So far so good, we have made some progress; we have done well; Delta State has come to stay.” Excerpts
As a unionist and an active participant in governance in Delta State, what is your impression of this state, 34 years after creation?
Well, talking about Delta State from the scratch will be with mixed feelings. But maybe I start from the end by saying so far so good. I say so far so good, because the state started on a distressed ground. When the state was created, not many people believed that it had come to stay.
The ups and downs were there. The process of creating the state in the first place was not too clear, and so many didn’t believe that this was the Delta State they asked for. Like we all know, the agitation was for Anioma State, Coast State, and Delta State out of the old Bendel State. At the end of the day, we got a Delta State with the headquarters situated in the Anioma area.
So, those who actually asked for Delta State were not pleased, and some of them vowed never to step into Asaba. Six months after, the administrator, Group Captain Luke Chijiuba Ochulor (Rtd.), who started the state, Ibru came in and inherited that situation of non-acceptance. And he, coming from the area that was asking for Delta State, some Anioma people didn’t find him acceptable. And so he had that hurdle to cross.
The late Felix Ibru was the most misunderstood governor in this state so far, in the sense that, whereas the man was doing everything to bring the state together, some never believed in his efforts.
I was there from the beginning. So I can tell you authoritatively, there was never truth in the story that Ibru never slept in Asaba. I am sure some of you have heard that story — that Ibru comes and goes, that he never sleeps in Asaba. The true story is, Ibru comes in on a Monday morning. Before 10 o’clock, he is in his office, and he leaves on Friday after 12 p.m.
He was a golfer, like we all know. He goes to Warri to play his golf, then play politics for the weekend, holding political meetings in his house in Ughelli. Then on Monday morning, he comes back to work.
His life was largely in the Anioma area. His two wives were from Anioma, one from Obiaruku, the other from Illah. They are all of blessed memory now.
So, for a man who gave his life to two Anioma women, there is no way he would not have believed in Anioma.
Then, the coup came, and he was barely in office for less than two years; a year and nine months. He was enjoying his first vacation as a governor when a coup d’état swept him away.
Then we had, for a few hours, I have forgotten the military captain who took over the reins of affairs as soon as the coup was announced. Within 24 hours, there was an announcement that the most senior officer in the state should take over. And so Alhaji Shehu, who was then the Commissioner of Police, took over.
Thereafter, Colonel Bassey Asuquo came, then Navy Captain Ibrahim Kefas, followed by Colonel John Dungs and Navy Captain Walter Feghabo. I think Asuquo is now of blessed memory, and Ibru, as I said earlier, is also of blessed memory. Those were the military era.
Really, the state was stagnant, so to say. I continue to say it, and I stand corrected. Apart from Kefas, who, through the advice of some of us who used to share some evenings with him, embarked on the building of what we call today the old Government House. There was really nothing you could ascribe to any other administrator for that period.
So for me, Kefas stood out as the most progressive and development-oriented governor. He took Government House out of Asiodu House on the express, where a governor was still in a three-bedrooms flat as his lounge. The Press Unit was in a caravan. The clinic was in another three-bedrooms. There were three units of three-bedroom houses: one serving as his office, one clinic, and one serving as his lounge. So you can imagine what those people passed through as governors.
But luckily, in 1999, democracy came, and Navy Captain Feghabo handed over to Chief James Onanefe Ibori, amidst the most celebrated civil servant strike in the state. Under that circumstance, Ibori took over, but it was to his benefit, because the economy was intact for him.
The ability of the last Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) was intact for him. Then, Delta was the only state where the new governor came in and met the allocation of that month intact, courtesy of the workers of this state, then under the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay.
And of course, there is no doubt that James Ibori stands out as one governor who came to this state with the mind to develop, despite all odds, though he had his own challenges.
At the time he came in, Delta State had moved to the fourth position in terms of oil production in the country.
Some of you may not know the Warri crisis that brought Warri to its knees, and virtually all the IOCs were out of the swamp, apart from the upland. Offshore, there was no oil production in this state, which almost grounded the state’s economy.
He had the challenge of resolving the crisis that started with the creation of Warri South West as a local government.
Most people may not know that, that was the genesis of that problem, naming two headquarters within three days. And those he named first became angry against the area he named later. Something that was like a play turned out to be a major ethnic crisis that took the lives of hundreds, not thousands of people, and brought Warri and its environs to a standstill.
Chief James Ibori had the challenge to resolve that crisis, which for the whole of his first four years, he could not resolve. That brought him into the second tenure, and again, it dragged some of us to the scene.
So, he had his challenges. But in spite of that, he stands out tomorrow as one governor who really developed, who laid the foundation of the State. For me, I call him the father of modern Delta.
Eight years after, he handed over to a medical doctor in 2007, in the person of Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan. He also did his best.
Today, we have the road that we are passing from Asaba to Ughelli, courtesy of Dr. Uduaghan, because he initiated it. If not, the first flood of 2012–2013 would have cut the Anioma area out of Delta State in terms of geographical location, but for that road. Today, the present government under His Excellency, Gov Sheriff Oborevwori has done so much to see to its completion.
Dr. Uduaghan also brought about the Asaba International Airport today, started and commissioned to his credit. He also put in place so many other human development projects, free medical services for pregnant women and children up to the age of five, payment of bursary, and automatic scholarship for first-class students. Those are the things you can credit to him, and I’m sure there are products of those endeavours all over the place today.
Well, fast-forwarding. Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa took over, another medical doctor. Again, he started his own projects, completed some of those of his predecessors. Today, we have an ultra-modern, world-class Secretariat, courtesy of Dr. Okowa.
So, everyone of them has done their best. So if you ask how far, I started by saying so far, so good. We could do more, and I’m sure Governor Sheriff Oborevwori will do more. It’s like a race.
I’m sure he would want to be seen as the governor who beat Ibori to the game of development. He is doing very well.
Nobody can say today that Asaba has not been developed. Asaba can no longer cry of being marginalized, whether in terms of development or appointments. We’ve come a long way. Above all, the unity of the state has come to stay. Even those who didn’t believe in it before are today looking for plots of land to buy in Asaba and build houses. As a matter of fact, to the best of my knowledge, there are no empty lands in Asaba anymore.
Some of us who were there at the beginning were naïve. We didn’t want to acquire land. At that time they were looking for who to give land to build. But today, there is no empty land left. There is no difference between Asaba and Anwai, or Ugbolu anymore.
In those days, when if you were travelling from here to Anwai, it was like a journey. I remember one night, we were going to Illah for a burial, and the three vehicles we drove in got stuck after Ugbolu. We had to trek the whole night because the vehicles could not move on that road.
But today, yes, the roads are better, life has come into the whole place.
So, Delta State has come to stay. The unity is there. The proper Delta, the geographical Delta, people are looking for Anioma women. That is the way to build the bond, because you can’t starve your in-laws. So, once there is intermarriage between two ethnic groups, know that the problem is half-solved.
Above all, we are doing business together. Some of us have investments here, all over Asaba, even those who didn’t believe in the State.
I had believed from day one in the State. That was why, from the very day I came here, January 2nd, 1992, with Ibru, I’ve not left Asaba till today. I was the first non-indigene to build a house in Asaba, and it is in Asaba GRA.
When I built my house in the GRA, for two years I couldn’t pack in, because there was no neighbour. The whole place was a forest. But today, the whole place is a city.
You made mention of the Warri crisis. Realizing that you played a major role as Commissioner, Special Duties, back then, how do you feel knowing that a similar crisis is brewing there again?
It is not an experience one would want to recall. It’s like the average Igbo man who was of age between 1966 to 1970 would not want to hear of war. Anybody who was of age from 1997 to 2004 when the Warri crisis was resolved, will not want to hear of another crisis.
It was a very difficult experience.
Navigating through the creeks, bringing those boys—the fighters—out of the trenches, was not an easy thing. I had sleepless nights, but I believe in strong tasks, especially when you give me the free hand to navigate.
When James Ibori appointed me, unsolicited, to become his Commissioner, I was wondering what portfolio he was going to give to me. If you remember, I was sworn in November, while Other commissioners had earlier been sworn in in September. So on November 17, when he swore me in, I was wondering what he needed me for. Because of my background as a journalist, the thinking was that he was going to send me to the Ministry of Information. But I prayed against it, because they were my colleagues. How was I going to boss them? And of course, I left after 20 years in service. Some of them who were still there were my seniors. So was I going to start bossing them? I prayed against it. But that was not what he had in mind.
So, God answered my prayer, but He gave me what I didn’t dream of. And the only brief I had was, “Macaulay, help me solve the Warri crisis.” That was the only brief I had. And he called, he said, “SSG, put him in the Security Council.”
And that’s how I packed my bags and moved to Warri.
When I got to Warri, the curfew was from 5 pm to 6 am. The New Year vigil that was people used to attend overnight, they used to attend it from 3 pm to 5 pm. So there was nothing like New Year’s vigil or crossover.
“On the fourth day, I resumed work in Warri. I was sitting in the office, reading about how I was going to manage these people. When my director came to call me, he said, “Oga, we no dey stay office reach this time o. Warri don close.” And really, when I came out, you could see Okadas (Motorcycles) on high speed.
But going straight to your question: getting the Itsekiris to agree to sit down with the Ijaws was not easy. But I remember the late Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II. He gave me all his support. He was the first to give me a committee to work with.
I also remember the late E.K. Clark. Though it took us time, we quarreled, but finally he gave me his team, and that was how we started the negotiation at the Navy Barracks in Warri, because they had the only secure place where you could hold such meetings with the presence of the Navy inside their yard.
And while we were doing that, you would hear the explosions across the river. People were dying, and properties were being destroyed. Then I started moving into the creeks. I had two very helpful young men, and today they are very successful. These two young men helped me navigate the river because they knew the river. So most times, when I was going into the river to meet with some of the youth, they were the ones who stood in front of the boat. So I cannot talk about the success, or how we brought that Warri crisis to an end, without remembering these people.
But the greatest credit goes to the man who gave me the free hand, then Gov James Ibori. He never called me one day to say, “How are you doing it, or what are you doing?” So, at any time I went to brief him, I asked him, “Why don’t you ask?” He said, “What’s my business? You are doing it, and you are getting results. So, what am I going to tell you?” And that was the further challenge to do my best.
So today, hearing that a similar thing is beginning to come up is disturbing. If you follow up, I’d issued one statement earlier, calling on them not to try it because of the financial implications. Secondly, the world has gone more sophisticated. One man can bring down the whole of Warri in less than 24 hours. It was not as sophisticated back then. I remember when each of them were buying their machine guns and all that. It was a gradual thing. But today, with the porosity of our borders, you can bring in all the submachine guns, submarines, the consignments, everything overnight.
I don’t think that is what we want. And realising the fact that, as a result of that crisis being brought to an end, and the follow-up of returning peace to Warri, returning nightlife to Warri, that was why most of those young men you see today, who were wearing just slippers and were like nothing, are today millionaires and billionaires. I see them every day. Of course, they know me, and they still give me that respect. If we hadn’t resolved the crisis, they wouldn’t been where they are today. They wouldn’t be the millionaires and billionaires they are today. So I don’t think they want to encourage this crisis to come up again.
So my advice is, let us not even go there. Let us not even try it. Because the maturity of those leaders who were there then, we were able to appeal to their conscience.
I remember the late Ogiame telling me one day: “My colleague, whatever you want me to give you, tell me, I will give you in terms of support, because I am tired of burying my subjects.”
That was a very heavy statement for a monarch to say. “I’m tired of burying my subjects. Tell me what you want, and I will give you.”
And the day E.K. Clark and I nearly fell out, after I spoke to his conscience. He called me back. “My son, come back.” It was like a command. Because when I finished talking to him, I was going out of his house. I was tired. He said, “Give me two days. I will give you a team.” And really, within those two days, he sent his team, headed by Chief Wellington Okirika, while the Itsekiri side was headed by late Gabriel Mabiaku, who was then the Iyase of Warri. And that was how we started.
That level of maturity is not there today. We have more people who are thinking of themselves. And no leader should think of himself. A leader should think of his subjects. You don’t lead your people to war and come back with casualties; you are not a good leader.
So, I plead with them, and I will continue to plead with them: Let them not go there. It will be too early to destroy whatever gains that we have made. It is less than 20 years since we resolved that crisis. Let’s not go there. It won’t pay anybody.
In April this year, the structure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State collapsed into the All Progressives Congress (APC). But before that, a few persons, yourself included, appeared to have seen tomorrow and had left the PDP for the APC earlier. Why did you choose to leave?
I do my things not after consulting with human beings, but after a long time of consultation witht my God. I’m not telling you I’m not a sinner; Christ did not come for the righteous. I have my shortcomings. But I don’t do anything without first going to God. I go on my knees. I talk to a few people whom I know can pray, to help me pray along.
And it was when that prayer was answered and I was told, “Move.” Divine inspiration, yes. But based on what I had perceived. You see, one thing that you must keep in this world for yourself in your lifetime is your integrity. Once your integrity is trampled upon, run away. Because if you mortgage your integrity, you can never gain it back. My integrity was at stake at one stage. Having reached the level I reached in the state, then, I didn’t see any reason why I should allow my integrity to go down. It was based on that that I went to God. And the answer was: leave.
Secondly, you may say this sounds selfish. What was I really looking for in the state? There was nothing left for me in the state to look for, other than to help people. Should I now mortgage or compromise my hard-earned reputation and integrity, because I want to help people?
So those were the issues.
Since the APC is now the leading party in Delta State, and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori automatically emerged the leader of the party, what’s your take on the romoured relationship between the governor and some persons, like the former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege?
Well, let me put it this way: In any relationship, you may have initial ups and downs, and the mistrust may be there. It takes time to wipe it off. It takes time to build confidence in one another. That is the period or the stage we are now in. But I think we will get out of it.
In politics, there is nothing permanent. So I believe and expect that, as soon as possible, all stakeholders should be able to put their differences aside for the interest of the state. I believe in peace, and I can assure you that all will be well in the end for the good of the State.
