Tunde Olusunle and Dan Okereke
8 November 2009
analysis
If Chief Onyema Ugochukwu needed a reminder of what the ordinary Abian expects of him, the treatment he got at a recent party rally in Umuahia Central will help steady his walk through the slick trail of Nigerian electoral and judicial politics.
Thousands of supporters mobbed him like a hero and his best efforts at giving what he may have prepared as a rousing speech were mercilessly drowned by cheering voices of excited party men and women.
A shy and unassuming man, Ugochukwu soaked the deafening cheers with commendable aplomb, even as he must have wished for the crowd charming skills of his idol and kinsman, the late Dr Michael Okpara, Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, the great orator, humanist, party organizer and visionary administrator who laid the solid foundation upon which the economy of Eastern Nigeria, without mineral resources, grew faster than some Asian and Central European countries in the 60s.
A devout Methodist Christian of the Old Order he will have much to thank God for preserving his life, anytime he gets his chance of a meeting, because having faced innumerable danger at several fronts in his remarkable life, he is entitled to believe that the Almighty is biased in his favor. Thankfully, his belief in the potency of prayers or in God's sovereignty has not been encroached by the development and deployment of a scientific mind.
On this occasion of his 65th birthday, we join his numerous friends, associates and well wishers across the country and beyond, in wishing him many more years of meritorious service to our nation in particular and humanity in general. In their preface to Andre Maurois's biography of Benjamin Disraeli, the Editors of Time Reading Program, while applauding English stylist Lytton Strachey, set an artistic principle that "a historic figure must be evaluated for himself, not merely as an interesting symptom of his age". Symptom of this age of political corruption he certainly isn't.
As impressionable, idealistic young Nigerians, we are intrigued by the Onyema Ugochukwu narrative. Here is a man richly endowed by his Creator with an incredibly intelligent mind, deep perception and an uncommon persuasion of moral appropriateness. The Ugochukwu we know is an unapologetic moral idealist who views every social and material phenomenon from the right or wrong prism.
It is very easy to detect and detest a sanctimonious skew to his inquisitiveness but at the end of every mission, it becomes clear he has exercised superior judgment. His unique sense of functionalism makes him question the rationale for every action of man, which must be ethically situated. Cerebral, urbane, charming, well-groomed and disarmingly courteous to the big and small, Ugochukwu's cosmology is indeed universal, and humanity is his true constituency.
On numerous occasions, those who have encountered Onyema Ugochukwu holding court amongst his kinsmen in his beloved Umule village, during his days as an editor or administrator in Daily Times of Nigeria; at State House Abuja as a presidential aide; at NDDC as chairman or elsewhere as a politician, will testify to the fact that his focus is farther: he would readily subsume his personal interest for the larger national interest.
Ugochukwu trained as an economist and first took appointment with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a research officer but he would locate his bearing in the newsroom of one of Africa's most notable newspapers.
Folklore has that his mother's serious concern that lawyers would one day die of hunger if all men became righteous, forced him to abandon studying law for economics. Embarrassed by his decision, an uncle who first mooted the idea of his studying law now went to his mother and explained to her that "do you know that Onyema is going to the university to learn how to be a miser?"
The poor woman soaked in misery all day. Maybe the uncle had clairvoyant powers, because Onyema Ugochukwu does not suffer spendthrifts gladly. No budget will escape his dreaded red pen as many would testify from his Daily Times, Presidency and NDDC days, a trait laced with a healthy loathing for extravagance and inattentiveness. But on his love for his people, there is no holding back. Ugochukwu is at heart a villager. Umule has benefitted immensely from his generosity.
The Ugochukwus are a pillar of support for the community, a typical African village but one which has not lost its innocence. Inside the Ugochukwu family compound proper is the African extended family tradition at work. The bond of family is strong here.
Everyone looks after the other. They work together, pray together, eat together, and share their gains and pains together. His younger sibling, Ude, a successful corporate lawyer is his sounding board and although both would laugh it off, probably his closest confidant. His charming wife of 30 years, Joyce, a medical doctor and mother of his four children, two boys and two girls, is never too far from his side.
Great men usually descend from humble origins and Ugochukwu's Umule origin is the root of his many ossified beliefs and personal best practices - the sense of honor, dignity, the audacity of principled conviction, traditionalist chauvinism, industry and friendship. His personal life is uncomplicated; he views extravagance with the contemptuous snigger of a family accountant.
His politics is issues-driven and impersonal, the progress of the larger community being his main passion, which is why he is at home with anyone, be they his political associates in the Campaign for Abia Rebirth [CARE] or the new generation of young politicians he is encouraging to step out and claim their rightful place in local and national politics.
Ugochukwu's illustrious career in the Daily Times spanned twenty eventful years during which colleagues and subordinates illustrated him as a thoroughbred professional, an editor's editor, merit-driven, man of integrity etc. Ugochukwu would team up with Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi and Dr Chidi Amuta to make Daily Times the newspaper of quality it was then. Younger elements remembered that Ugochukwu would not meet any visitor until he had first gobbled all the news in all the newspapers stacked high on his table. God help the reporter who missed a good story.
Even more significant for the Nigerian media, especially for media-government relations under the military, was Ugochukwu's great efforts at promoting dialogue between men of the pen and the sword.
One testy case was the arrest and incarceration of Mr Chris Mammah, then editor of The Punch. In the aftermath of the aborted Gideon Orkah coup in April 1990, The Punch, had published a cartoon depicting Nigerians' reaction to the news that Orkah's coup has been crushed as moody and despondent. The bosses of the Directorate of Military Intelligence were not amused at all and they clamped Mammah in detention for his mistimed sense of humor. These were the heyday of frosty, even hostile media-military relations.
Ugochukwu, as President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, mobilized his members to reach out to contacts in government to set Mammah free. He initiated a pattern of dialogue between the two mutually suspicious to ease tension and improve relations. Those were the days of Generals Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, Halilu Akilu and Kunle Togun.
Ugochukwu became the first editor of Business Times and brought a new definition to business reporting in Nigerian journalism. Under his tutelage, Ndu Ughamadu, Kunle Bello, Emeka Odo and Wole Olatinehin flourished and became authorities in financial/business journalism in their own right. Ugochukwu did not merely edit a great, readable business newspaper; he introduced editorial activism into the pages, championing causes for frugal spending, accountability, judicious use of oil revenue, economic nationalism, and so much more.
Later, he was posted to London to edit the West Africa magazine and after four years on the saddle, handed the title to Mr Ad'Obe Obe, another of the country's celebrated editors with whom he would cross paths later in the State House. On return to Nigeria, Ugochukwu was appointed editor of Daily Times, fulfilling the prophesy of the iconic Alhaji Babatunde Jose, 'father' of Daily Times of Nigeria.
It was under Ugochukwu's watch as General Manager, Times Publications Division, that the group recorded the highest profit in its history. How did he manage that feat? Somebody should call him to write us a memoir to guide today's younger media managers.
Ugochukwu's lifelong zeal to help build a solid national economy saw him serve meritoriously on the Board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. But it was as President of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association, Lagos Branch that he got the real chance he always desired to make a lasting contribution. On the day he took over the reins of the Association's leadership, he inherited a N12,000 deficit, which his predecessor, Professor Pat Utomi, another 'Great Lion' of Esteem, graciously paid from his personal pocket.
But by the next financial year, the Association had earned N600,000 and N1.2m the following year. The Alumni Association set up a scholarship scheme for indigent students, as well as a foundation to revive the moribund bakery factory in the Nsukka campus, alongside other commercial ventures.
Ugochukwu's foray into national politics in October 1998 was as controversial as it beamed a searchlight into the workings of his inner mind. Close associates say he will never shirk from a tough decision just because it could be misunderstood. His career as a chronicler of history must have taught him that time educates better than gut feeling.
When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo accepted to run for President, he naturally inherited the structures of the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Campaign Organization which had laid out Directorates manned by such personalities as Professor Babalola Borishade, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, Professor Tunde Adeniran, Chief Yomi Edu, Dr Haroun Adamu, etc. When it came to the headship of the Media Directorate, such familiar names as Dr Patrick Dele Cole and Dr Stanley Macebuh were suggested but Obasanjo preferred to send the other gentlemen to other tasks.
General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, a long time friend of Ugochukwu's from his Daily Times days who was a key figure in the 'Obasanjo for President' project and later in the Obasanjo government was instrumental to Ugochukwu's emergence as Head of Media Directorate. But it was not a quiet choice.
Ugochukwu's romance with Obasanjo was seen as treacherous by many of his Igbo kinsmen who believed the Igbo Nation should deploy all its human resources to back a Presidential candidate of Igbo extraction. It was an absolutely courageous decision, maybe adventurous but certainly risky.
Ugochukwu and his team toiled to sell the Obasanjo brand across the country; today few people remember that it was not the easiest sales pitch, especially in the South. Once in power, Obasanjo always felt he owed Ugochukwu a favor. The National Orientation Agency, NOA, was excised from the Federal Ministry of Information and placed under Ugochukwu as Senior Special Adviser to the President on National Orientation and Public Affairs [NOPA].
Quickly Ugochukwu teamed up with Olusunle, now President Obasanjo's Special Assistant [Special Duties] to launch the Campaign for National Rebirth, under the auspices of NOPA. With a modest budget that would discourage any but iron-willed idealists hungry to make an impact, the campaigners toured 28 states of the federation, spreading the gospel of reorientation of the national psyche, the progenitor of latter day attitudinal change projects like the "Heart of Africa" and the ongoing Rebranding Campaign.
A landmark component of the Campaign for National Rebirth was the "Accountability Forum", a suggestion for elected officials to render regular and periodic accounts of their stewardship to stakeholders in a town hall setting. As well intentioned as the idea was, it was sadly misconstrued by Federal legislators as an attempt to put them on the spotlight. They rallied to deny it budgetary support and danced at the funeral of a concept that could have helped build capacity and trust in our democratic system.
Ugochukwu will claim his place among the pantheons of nation builders with his pioneering work as NDDC Chairman. He was determined that NDDC must not repeat the grave mistakes in conception and expectation deficit which destroyed the credibility of previous intervention agencies. The difference was in engineering a new theoretical paradigm which would at once deliver infrastructure remediation, youth empowerment, community survival, ecological sustainability, trust in leadership and belief in the sincerity of Government.
Rather than sustain the narrow focus of its predecessors, Ugochukwu's NDDC emerged a holistic and integrated Regional Development Agency which aimed at transforming the entire Niger Delta region into an interdependent, organic, socio-economic, ecological, growth community. It was important to re-educate the peoples' mind to appreciate a sense of community where goals are shared.
While the specific needs of core oil bearing communities are being addressed, it was important to appreciate the contribution of outlaying communities which hosted oil and gas pipelines and where oil workers lived or passed through. It was on this basis that a suitable revenue sharing formula was arrived at.
From its budget, Ugochukwu's NDDC allocated projects and other interventions on the basis of 20 per cent on the equality of states; 35 per cent on volume of oil produced; 10 per cent as NDDC operating expenditures; 10 per cent on income capacity enhancement; and 25 per cent for projects with regional impact.
An immediate problem facing the new Board was the containment of youth restiveness and halting the incessant vandalism of oil pipelines. The solution was the immediate implementation of "Quick-Win Projects" in due consultation with all stakeholders. Under the Quick-Win Projects, at a period NDDC was not as generously funded as the moment, 27 Model Secondary Schools were earmarked for each Senatorial Constituency; 686 blocks of classrooms were to be constructed and equipped with computers, audio-visual aids and other hi-tech equipment; 63,700 new standard school desks were commissioned; cottage hospitals, jetties, bridges and roads were constructed.
The NDDC-Mass Assisted Transport Scheme solved two problems at once - providing cheaper, safer means of transportation within and through the Niger Delta, and keeping future militants gainfully occupied. Some landmark projects initiated during his time in NDDC include the celebrated 600 metre-long Iko-Atabrikang-Opolom-Iwuochang-Okoroutip Bridge across the Qua Iboe River linking Ibeno with Eastern Obolo, in Akwa Ibom State; the Ovwodokpokpor-Oviri-Olumu-Aloba-Kiagbodo-Erhuwanrem road linking Burutu with Ughelli South, in Delta State; the Omoku-Okpassomini Bridge; the Kaiama-Sabagriea-Opokuma-Polaku road in Bayelsa State; the Ekeoba-Umudibia Road linking Imo and Abia States; numerous canalization projects; distribution of improved disease-resistant cassava varieties to farmers; free medical services [in conjunction with Pro-Health International] in 105 communities; and the 500 room ultra-modern hostel blocks in 14 universities in the Niger Delta region.
The University of Uyo got a befitting brand new auditorium, fitted with the latest technology, a contribution from NDDC friends. Ugochukwu received over 13 chieftaincy titles from grateful communities spanning the entire region, many of them several months after he had left office.
The formulation and commissioning of a Regional Master Plan for the Niger Delta is Onyema Ugochukwu crowning glory as a public officer. Recently President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, while inaugurating the new NDDC Board, ordered them to revisit the Master Plan and put it into use.
This is vintage Onyema Ugochukwu, a man of destiny, a courageous patriot, a compassionate servant of humanity and a conscientious professional and ethics-driven politician of a disappearing era who does not believe that the end necessarily should justify the means. Happy birthday, sir.
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