Daily Independent (Lagos)
Victor Ugborgu
18 November 2008
Lagos — Doyin Okupe, a medical doctor by profession, is generally considered a rare breed in many circles. Though many expected he would "marry" his stethoscope and administer drugs to patients in the hospital, Okupe dropped his medical certificate and plunged into the murky waters of Nigeria's politics, ostensibly, to be more relevant to the Nigerian people.
The doctor-turned politician, who also gambled into construction, is presently at the centre of the controversy over rural road construction in Imo State that is currently tearing the state apart. He is said to be the chairman of the controversial Romix Construction Company. The company allegedly entered into a deal with the government of Achike Udenwa in 2006 to construct a 4-kilometre road in each of the 27 local government areas of the state at a cost of N56 million. Okupe was allegedly arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for failing to carry out the contract as bided by his company.
However, Okupe would likely face another reality of life as he appears in an Imo State High Court for allegedly issuing a dud cheque of N11.8 million to Achez Oil Limited. He was said to have been arrested and detained by the anti-graft body on May 5, over this matter. He was said to have been released on the condition that he would settle the deal with his client by paying N2 million by the end of May, and the balance in August this year. Again Okupe ate back his promise as he reportedly paid only N2 million as at November in contravention of the agreement with the EFCC and his client.
While the EFCC external solicitor, Kevin Uzozie said the matter would come up in court when all the technical issues in the matter had been concluded, analysts believe that the move would go a long way in putting the contract records straight.
Okupe was the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), candidate for the House of Representatives in 1983. He also tried to chair the National Republican Convention (NRC), in 1993 and aspired to be governor in Ogun State in 2002. Even though those attempts were futile, he became former president Olusegun Obasanjo's first senior special assistant on media and publicity between 1999 and 2001. A barrage of criticism trailed that appointment, because it was seen as an aberration, for a non-professional to man the Public Relations department in government circles.
Despite that, Okupe was not a failure in the reckoning of many. He was said to have always fed Obasanjo with home truths throughout his tenure. For instance, there was a time the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), declared a stay at home order. While Cabinet Ministers gave Obasanjo the impression that the strike was a total failure, Okupe was said to have opened the windows in one of the rooms and asked the 'Ota farmer' if he could see any single soul in sight to convince him that the strike was real.
Since then the Iperu-born Ogun State indigene has been in one controversy or the other, and prefers to throw banters here and there in order to remain politically relevant. Recently, Okupe joined issues with the national chairman of the PDP, Vincent Ogbulafor over the party's "unquantifiable service to Nigeria" in the last 10 years as the largest party in Africa. "That is total nonsense talk. You should aspire to be the most effective party in Africa not the largest party in Africa alone. And PDP must restructure or else be prepared to die. It will get to a point that a political tsunami will take place and you will be swept away," Okupe replied Ogbulafor.
Okupe, who studied medicine at the University of Ibadan, was born on March 22, 1952. He was once the medical officer, General Hospital, Lagos and managing director of Life Communications, publishers of defunct Life Mirror magazine, Nigeria's first health newspaper.
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