Oborevwori and Inclusive Governance: What the Non-Indigenes' Award Means

By Monday Uwagwu 

Long ago, African sages held that like the soothing iconic light of the moon, the healthy pregnancy cannot  for long be cupped .

And how correct they were to have so held!

Well,  like the iconic illumination of the moon and the protruding effect of the healthy pregnancy,  good deeds share the same fate: they cannot be hidden for long.

And this fact has been roundly demonstrated of recent by many interest groups and organizations which have had , for a plethora of related reasons, to honour the Governor of Delta State,Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, who himself walked into the history books on his inauguration as the first Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, DTHA, to be elected the Governor of the state during the pendency of his Speakership, as well as the longest serving Speaker of the House by holding the exalted position of Speaker for two consecutive Assemblies ( sessions).

In fact, the awards  have come from virtually all the major wind directions- the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, The Pointer newspapers group, ThisDay and Arise Television organization, New Telegraph, Silver Bird media group (  2023),  the Bill and Melinda Gates $400,000 Award for Primary Health Care ( PHC) infrastructure development, and now  the Community of Non- indigenes resident in Delta State, the last of which is in discourse today.

Last Wednesday, during a solidarity visit to Government House,Asaba, an amalgam of Non- indigenes resident in the state handed Oborevwori an award for Most Inclusive Governor for year 2025.. By its application year, it is the first such award to Oborevwori for the fiscal year ,2025.

 At the event, the leader of the amalgam of Non- indigenes resident in the state, Prof. Chinwuba Ike, said the honour was dual...a vote of confidence on the governor for what he termed his evident giant strides in infrastructure development across the state, and the award for his inclusive approach to governance.

Inter alia, Prof Ike, who said he spoke on behalf of the 150- strong leadership of the group, said the group  presented Governor Oborevwori with the 'Most All-lnclusive Governor Award 2025' in recognition of his inspiring achievements and opportunities extended to all residents of  Delta State 

Prof. Ike disclosed that the achievements recorded by the Governor had won him several awards which he listed to include the THISDAY/Arise Television Governor of the year 2024, Silverbird Governor of the year 2023, New Telegraph Governor of the year 2024 on infrastructure as well as the $400,000 Bill and Melinda Gates award for infrastructure on Primary Healthcare (PHC). 

He added; "we the 150-man strong leaders of the non-indigenes community in Delta State, comprising but not limited to the Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, South-South States, Yoruba and Middle Belt States, feel highly delighted to pay you a solidarity visit today, the 12th of March, 2025. 

"For nearly two years now since Your Excellency mounted the saddle as Governor of Delta State, the leadership of the non-indigene community drawn from all over the 25 local government areas in the state have noted your giant strides in the areas of infrastructural development, human capital development, education, healthcare, security and the general wellbeing of Deltans. 

"We have come to the realization that leadership is truly measured, not just by policies and projects but by the depth of compassion and fairness extended to all, regardless of origin or background. 

"It is, therefore, with immense gratitude and deep appreciation that we assemble today to acknowledge and celebrate your exemplary leadership as Governor of Delta State. 

"By your administration's policies, actions and personal disposition, you have affirmed that Governance is about people, not just place and that leadership embraces all". 

While saying that the Non-Indigenes Community in the state had decided to reciprocate the Governor's kind and magnanimous gestures by playing active roles in both the governance of the state and other equally important issues ahead of the 2027 general election process, he disclosed that they had set up strong machinery to mobilise all their members across the 25 local government areas to participate in all the Governor's efforts at expanding the frontiers of development in the state. 

He, therefore, requested that the non-indigenes community in the state should be officially recognized as a pressure group that could be incorporated into the Governorship campaign organization when the time comes for the 2027 Governorship election, adding that this would enable them to fully participate in the election as stakeholders. 

As is evident, the rest is history.

The  event for the award of Most Inclusive Governor Award  by the community of Non- indigenes resident in the state,  to Oborevwori may have come and gone.

However, its  importance /overall significance, will, like a pebble cast in water by midday, trigger many  ripples, some of which, like the memory of the elephant,  may linger for a long , long time afterwards.

And what are the effects of significance, did anyone ask?

Well, the first is that it is the first such honour and award to the governor for the year 2025.

The importance of this, in numerical and cosmological terms cannot be over emphasized, having regard to the fact that number 1( one) is the first whole number in the English numerals.

It is considered exceptionally unique because of its ability to divide itself and every other number in the English numerology.

Cosmologically, the number 1   (one) has long been linked by one of the world's s best known mystics  and Mathematicians, Pythagoras ( of the Pythagoras Theorem fame) who said number one is the number of God.

Another factor of importance regarding the significance of the award is its novelty;

  it is the first time in the history of the state, and may be all of Nigeria, that a sitting governor  would be honoured for running an inclusive administration.

This is particularly important because, in a Third World setting as ours, partisan politics is a high heel contest and the  prevalent winner- takes- all -syndrome allows the victor to take  the dispensables of office as his or her booty which he dispenses as per his/ hef whims and caprices.

 By its importance, the award, coming from those who truly understand the pain of  exclusion and the benefits of inclusiveness, stoically speaks volumes to the positive that Oborevwori represents in relation to the stereotype politician of the developing world hew.

This positive difference has been evident in his equitable distribution of democracy dividends to competing interests, the appointment of Non- indigenes resident in the state into  important political  and other positions and his permeable membrane approach to partisan politics.

This approach has been evident in the warm relationship between the person of the governor and his administration and the Presidency, now led by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which has yielded bountiful benefits for the state and its people.

 Evidence of this warmth in the relationship between the state Governor and government and the presidency finds eloquent expression in the numerous infrastructure development projects approved for the state by the Federal Government, the appointment of Deltans into key and or strategic plum posts and the recent upgrade of the airstrip at Osubi into a campus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology ( NCAT) headquartered in Zaria.

More of such  dividends of democracy are expected in the state as the relationship inches from warmth to cordiality.

Yet, there is an interesting other angle to the inclusive disposition of Oborevwori to governance and public administration.

This  was  palpably on display when, against all odds, Oborevwori, last year,  drove down to Warri to  see ailing Chief Frank Ovie Kokori, iconic labour leader and frontline member of the All Progressives Congress ( APC).

Not only did he go as soon as news broke of the ill-health of Kokori, but went there personally, rather than send an emissary. This was to drive home the point of importance attached to the personage of Kokori. Again, to the positive surprise of not a few, Oborevwori undertook to clear the medical bills of the ailing labour maestro.

Even when, against the grain of popular prayers and desire, Kokori succumbed to death on account of that ailment, Oborevwori made sure the huge presence of his administration was felt in the events lined out for  his burial.

This display of rare honest bi- partisan approach to governance and life generally, (an increasingly scarce virtue in contemporary politics in the country), was last on public display when then Governor of  the defunct Bendel State, Prof. Ambrose Folorunsho Ali of the Unity Party of Nigeria ( UPN) went to Atte in  the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, which was a stronghold of the opposition National Party of Nigeria,NPN, for a re- election campaign.

As he got there, Ali learnt that a woman had become distraught and was at the point of death

, having been in labour for the previous 24 hours.

The poor woman , being the spouse of a leading local  frontliner of the NPN, had not been taken to hospital mainly because the area was inaccessible by car or bus, hence she was left to her poor fate.

But it would appear that God and Mother Nature had a different plan.

As soon as words filtered into his ears at the campaign ground, Ali, a medical doctor specializing in Morbid Anatomy, and who had arrived the village in a heavy duty field ambulance, went straight to the home of the dying expectant woman, to the surprise of the crowd of party supporters who had come out to catch a glimpse of him as a renowned medical doctor and Professor of Medicine at the University of Benin( UniBen).

Against the  grain of the expectation of the crowd of faithful of both parties( UPN and NPN), Ali went to work on the woman and, about 20 minutes later, the maiden cry  of a new born  baby told the rest of the story...the baby had been delivered ,safe and sound, and the poor dying woman, saved the misfortune of undeserved maternal mortality.

The crowd ignited in joy and it was no surprise that, on the strength of the Ali intervention, Atte, overnight, became a stronghold of the UPN.

Interestingly, both actions of Oborevwori and Prof Ali, have to do with health and  life , the  greatest gifts God and Mother Nature  confer on anyone.

Like Ali, Oborevwori showed that when a push comes to a shove, human health (and life) should not be a weapon for  use as a political tool.

There is also another element of importance to the award.

This has to do with  the fact of the place of the award in the tally of such honours on the governor and the date of its delivery, which was March 12, 2025.

The  importance of 12 , just as number 3( three for the third month of the year, March) in Christianity, is too well known to be rehashed here .

Even the Gregorian year, 2025, the 25 th year of the current millennium, is equally of importance because twenty- five (25) is 2+5=7, which is the spiritual  number for  virtual perfection and wholesomeness.

One more element of significance is the timing. Close observers of the polity of the state

, without an iota, have noticed a recent upswing in the tempo of activities among active participants. This has created a noticeable vibration in the inner crust of the political scaffold, with multiple interests aligning and realigning, ahead of 2027 general elections.

Ordinarily, such times are not the most ideal and safe for  political players to throw their hats into the ring, so to speak. This is because, until the last trimester of the electoral calendar ( roughly a year to general elections or even less,), those without strong foothold interests hardly make iron- cast commitments, one way or the other.

But the Non- indigenes felt differently,  probably having done sufficient credible research as to which way the political ship of state was bound, and where, in that event, their interest would be  best served .

In this sense, therefore, the Non- indigenes have, by their actions, demostrated vision, courage and faith.. Such faith has foundation in the ancient wise saying that only the safe can be venturesome.

 And this is no mean statement.

For Oborevwori himself, there is plenty to take away from the honour and award..

However, for reason of time and space constraints, I will briefly  comment  on only two of the many takeaways- affirmation/ consolidation, and the challenge.

Yes, the vote of confidence and award to  Oborevwori by the community of Non- indigenes resident in the state, further affirms the Oborevwori brand and consolidates the growing broad spectrum confidence in the administration and its MORE Agenda. 

This is a great, positive development which ,potentially, can yield significant on- field political capital for the governor,his administration and his party, the PDP.

A second equally important takeaway is the challenge inherent in the award, especially for the governor.

Now that there is evident enhanced stakeholders' buy in in the administration and its abiding philosophy of cost- efficiency, the challenge, going forward, is for Oborevwori to constantly grease the wheel of his government for enhanced efficiency in service delivery, realizing that, as it is said, it is as hard remaining on the top  as it is  getting there. He cannot afford to fail.

Luckily, the street- wise governor is not inclined to failure.

After all, was it long said,  that the hunter who decapitates the boar needs not fear the shadow of its carcass?