Oborevwori: History Beckons

By Annabel Ogheneganre

The election of Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori as Governor of Delta State has brought to light, the quest of the people of Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie, otherwise called OSU to be governor of the state. This is the first time a man or woman from any of these three LGAs would be attaining this feat and history will not be kind to him if he wastes the golden opportunity and decides to play the good or bad guy at the expense of the genuine expectations of his OSU people and the entire Urhobo nation.

Two paths are ahead of Sheriff Oborevwori as he takes the oath of office on May 29. Sheriff may wish to swallow hook, line and sinker every of the suggestions, opinion and directives from Owa-Alero in the coming administration. He may chose to inherit all of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa’s enemies and allow his boys run the government for him to prove the opposition right that his government is Okowa’s third term. It is up to him to decide what to do with the opportunity before him. He may also choose to be a man of himself, take responsibility for the successes and failures of his administration and work out his own salvation without necessarily cutting ties with Okowa. The ball is in his court.

Those close to Sheriff Oborevwori may decide to offer selfish advice to give them access to the state till without allowing him to make impact. Sheriff should understand that the electoral system is undergoing serious and drastic changes that can easily make incumbent who fail to meet public expectations kiss the dust. Oborevwori should endeavour to review some of the decisions taken by Okowa and not allow the negative profiling of some innocent political players as enemies take the centre stage of critical thinking without given such ‘victims’ the chance to prove themselves. Some of those whom Okowa rightly and wrongly profiled as enemies of his government are one of the reasons why the 2023 general election was difficult in Delta State. Oborevwori must beware of the ides of March.

As things stand, a flurry of suggestions and opinion on how the next administration should run are on his table. Let me dare suggest from the outset that those power-brokers under Okowa who have been made should not be allowed to preside over the next administration. He should build his own men and take the necessary risk to make a name for himself instead of operating under the shadows of Okowa in everything he does.

Those billionaires Okowa made in the last 8 years cannot be his boys in anyway. While keeping them in his administration in advisory capacities, they must not retain the gravity on which his administration revolves. It is the ordinary people that Okowa ignored that made things difficult for the PDP in 2023. And 2027 promises to be tougher and the time to prepare is now.

Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori should understand that over 95% of those being accused of having been involved in anti-party activities in the 2023 general elections had no issues with him. It is possible they worked and voted for him. But most of the other candidates, who had issues with the electorate, opened the doors for the enemy to enter. He should be circumspect in handling the issue of suspension and expulsion of party faithful many of whom would be wrongly accused by those who are privileged to be close to him and the party hierarchy. The accusations and counter-accusations are centered around the question of whom to be favoured by the coming administration. It is not about any love and passion for Oborevwori. Again, I repeat, Oborevwori should beware of the Ides of March.

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Just as it has been proven beyond any doubt that the end of one election is the beginning of another, Sheriff Oborevwori should handle the issue of anti-party like the tsetse-fly that perches on the scrotum. Those you drive from the party today or whose rights and privileges are abridged today may be the building block of the opposition if not properly handled. Every votes count in modern elections. Some of the aggrieved party men, who are said to have worked against the party may be won over if the issues that fueled their bahaviour are addressed in an atmosphere devoid of hostility. If the current tempo is sustained into 2027, PDP may face graver opposition except the issues on hand are properly handled. The next time anybody around Oborevwori complained of anti-party behavior against any party faithful, he should do well to investigate into the reasons for the complaint before taking action. Many victims are out there without a voice or avenue to defend themselves against selfish instigators. PDP cannot be built this way particularly when there are many vicious enemies within and everywhere.

The 2023 general election should give every great thinker the opportunity to ponder on the prospect of the PDP in the years to come. The leadership of the party should understand that something is definitely wrong somewhere to have provoked the degree of defections ahead of the polls. Hundreds of party faithful surrendered their appointment letters and took a walk into the unknown. They were fed up with the system and never really cared what could befall them as they walked into the deep darkness of opposition politics. PDP should do internal overhaul and post-trauma surgery of her affairs instead of hunting down aggrieved souls. The ball is in Sheriff Oborevwori’s court to heal open and hidden wounds or allow the cancer of political grievances fester unhindered by the antics of power-hungry office seekers, who want others destroyed for them to rise.

Because he wants to be the superman of the 2023 politics, Okowa has decided to severe relationship with Chief James Ibori. Sheriff Oborevwori must work hard to heal old wounds, mend fences and build bridges that could strengthen the party. The era of the governor and party Chairman determining common councilors at the expense of the opinion of party leaders in the respective LGAs should be done with. Like I said in an earlier piece, the Local Government Council Chairmen, whom Okowa trusted and planted could not save him in the 2023 presidential polls. If he had allowed the system to throw up those Chairmen in line with the opinion of the party leaders, the results wouldn’t have been different but at least, some of the leaders would have no reason to be angry with the system.

History beckons on Sheriff Oborevwori to do things differently, make the system work for the people, spread joy all over the state like the street boy he is and give everybody their dues. He should understand that many of those being accused of anti-party behavior may be innocent after-all. He must think deeply before destroying anybody on the recommendation of his trusted guys. He had no enemies prior to the polls and wouldn’t start to have some now. Politics is deep and those in the business of profiling others now may not be very clean as they appear. The healing and re-building process for the party should begin knowing full well that there is also the tribunal to contend with. In everything he does, Oborevwori should know that there is an Omo-Agege around the corner waiting to bare his fangs at the slightest opportunity. The emergency political prophets cannot save the situation when the chips are down. The price of war is usually higher than peace. I have said my own!

Annabel Ogheneganre of the Urhobo Voice Newspaper writes from Garki, Abuja. (Please send reaction to [email protected])