Ifowodo and other members of the Board have been saddled wish a responsibility to not only bring development to the Niger Delta but also to engender peace and security, and right the wrongs past successive governments had done to the people. Given their various pedigrees, this is the time Ifowodo and his colleagues have to put in their wealth of experience, patriotism, conviction and sense of moral rectitude to bear on their jobs.
When President Muhammadu Buhari recently appointed Ogaga Ifowodo, lawyer, rights activist, writer, poet and scholar as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Commissioner representing Delta State, it did not come as a surprise. It was an action that had been waiting to happen because Ifowodo, as poetic as his name sounds, has over the years demonstrated an uncanny candour, strength of character and courage of conviction. And he is a man not just in touch with the socio-political and economic realities of modern day Nigeria, but was also in the trenches during the military era as a student union leader, rights activist and writer.
Given the current fuzzy situation in the Niger Delta, with the milliant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, bombing oil pipelines and installations on a daily basis as a way of pressing home their demands, Ifowodo’s appointment is not just timely, it seems a step in the right direction to calm agitated minds, frayed nerves and palpable angst.
Right from his days as a students union leader at the university of Benin, Ifowodo has shown that he is a man who not only has a deep love for the masses but also as one who stands defiantly for social justice, human rights and good governance.
Indeed, Nigerians will never forget in a hurry how the then young Ifowodo and his colleagues in the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) inspired the Anti-SAP riots in the country during the Ibrahim Babaginda military regime. Nigerians will never forget in a hurry how as the Secretary-General of the University of Benin Students’ Union, Ifowodo led his fellow students to bring the university authorities to their knees.
Ifowodo has since then been fighting for the rights of the common man through his interventions in the nation’s political landscape, through contributions to national discourse via his weekly essays in reputable national newspapers and online magazines such as the Vanguard, Premium Times and Sahara Reporters.
Ifowodo is a man of action, not of mere words; even though he has an unusual gift of the garb. He demonstrated his rare strength or character and courage of conviction recently when daring the consequence of his actions, he swam against the tides by joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Isoko Federal Constituency in Delta State, knowing full well that the party was not on ground at the time. Had Ifowodo not been a man with very strong convictions, he would have opted to join the other party just to secure electoral victory and feather his own nest.
A writer, poet and scholar, Ifowodo, through his award-winning poetry collections such as Homeland and other Poems and Oil Lamp has shown he is a writer with strong social and political commitment, in the mould of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Odia Ofeimun and Niyi Osundare. His social and political concerns and motifs are explicit in his works.
As Ifowodo prepares to take his job offer, given his love for the masses, pedigree, and public spirited approach to service, one is sure that a round peg has found its complimentary hole.
And, of course, Ifowodo not only has an uncommon love for his people, but has also shown that he matches his words with action and vice-versa. It was because of his patriotic zeal that he resigned his job as Assistant Professor at the Texas State University in the United States in order not only to participate actively in politics in Nigeria but also to join hands with men and women of goodwill, people with a sense of moral rectitude, to better the country and improve the life of an average Nigerian.
Though many Nigerians are apt to see the Buhari administration and its much-vaunted promises of change as a false dawn, what with many feeling the unbearable heat of the economic crunch, his appointment of Ifowodo and other distinguished Nigerians on the NDDC Board shows perhaps he means well for the country.
However, the task ahead is onerous, given the downturn of the economy, the crass underdevelopment of the Niger Delta, the daily attacks being carried out by the Niger Delta Avengers as well as the public angst and outcry.
Ifowodo and other members of the Board have been saddled wish a responsibility to not only bring development to the Niger Delta but also to engender peace and security, and right the wrongs past successive governments had done to the people. Given their various pedigrees, this is the time Ifowodo and his colleagues have to put in their wealth of experience, patriotism, conviction and sense of moral rectitude to bear on their jobs.
As development experts are wont to say, Ifowodo and his team have to speak the ‘language’ of the people, bridge the ever widening gulf between the top-bottom and bottom-top approaches to development, complete abandoned projects that dot the Niger Delta, know what the people need, listen to them and hearken to their desires. And above all, they must get in touch with the various militant groups and ensure that there is peace and security in the region.
As Ifowodo prepares to take his job offer, given his love for the masses, pedigree, and public spirited approach to service, one is sure that a round peg has found its complimentary hole.
Nehru Odeh, journalist and author of The Patience Of An Embattled Storyteller, writes from Lagos.
