ESEURHOBO CHARLES OBRUCHE
I do not know how or when it will come about, but I know Ogboru will one day become the executive governor of Delta State.
What is it that has informed this conviction of mine? Well, the answer lies in a dream I had sometime in the past. In the dream I saw a large crowd of people rejoicing openly on the streets. In my curiosity I proceeded to find out what the matter was, and I was made to understand that Ogboru had been declared the winner of the gubernatorial election in Delta State. I must assert here and now that I am not a politician. I am a political activist.
I got to know about the name “Ogboru” for the first time far back in 1984, during my secondary education days as a student of Abraka Grammar School. With the passage of time, I came to understand that the Ogboru family, which owned the only supermarket in town, was the richest family in Abraka. It was years later, after I had long left the Grammar School and the town, that I got to know the man Great OvedjeOgboru as one of the Ogborus. It was at that time that I also came to the realisation that this same Ogboru was a shrewd, extremely wealthy business tycoon.
Once, while he was still in his self–imposed exile, he granted a journalist an important interview. His answer to one of the several questions he was asked convinced me, and I guess everyone else who read that interview, that Chief Ogboru was someone with a combination of business and administrative acumen. The question had to do with the secret of his success as a businessman. Ogboru, in his wise response, said his success as a businessman revolved around his firm policy of putting the right person on the job, irrespective of his personal relationship with that person. He went on to explain that he did not hire someone to work for him simply because the person in question was his friend or relative, but because he or she possessed the relevant qualification. Now, that is in line with what Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, once said. Here is what he said: “The question, ‘Who ought to be boss?’ is like asking, ‘Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?’ Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.”
Ogboru is not one of the typical Nigerian politicians. He is the quintessential politician. He is like the typical European or American politician, whose manifesto and modus operandi are rooted in transparency and accountability. Ogboru is a noble administrator who believes in putting square pegs in square holes, and round pegs in round holes. On the contrary, the typical Nigerian politician is an ignoble administrator who believes in putting square pegs in round holes and round pegs in square holes. He does not care a hoot about the adverse retrogressive effect this mismatch of pegs and holes has on the larger society. All he cares about is acquiring material wealth by looting the public coffers. One such typical Nigerian politician, who was formerly agovernor of Delta State, is now languishing in a British prison, after being convicted for the misappropriation of state funds in the neighbourhood of two hundred and fifty million dollars. That was money meant to better the lives of Deltans, which just one man embezzled, thereby plunging millions of Deltans in the ocean of pauperisation.
Ogboru means well for the well-meaning people of Delta State. But the truth is that even though the good people of Delta State, who are desperate for change, have voted massively for Ogboru all these years, he has been shoved aside by the satanic political orchestration that has emanated superfluously from a combined team of corrupt state incumbents and their cohorts. The fundamental reason this cabal of political gangsters works around the clock to frustrate Ogboru on all sides, is that they have so many skeletons in their cupboards, and are scared stiff that Ogboru would expose their political and financial shenanigans should he eventually take up the reins at Government House, Asaba. But why get scared or worried? Proverbs 28:1 says it all, ”The wicked man flees when no one pursues…”
Inasmuch as the incumbents at Aso Rock and those at Government House, Asaba have belonged to the same party from the inception of this political dispensation in 1999 till date, there is no reason to believe that the Presidency has never been involved in the satanic scheme to prevent Ogboru from actualising his gubernatorial ambition. An African proverb says, “The tongue cannot claim to be ignorant of what the teeth are chewing.”
When viewed from the spiritual perspective, it is very possible that God has predestined Ogboru to go through a process of political transformation by allowing him to suffer injustice and persecution at the hands of his political opponents, or perceived political enemies. Let’s delve into the Bible. Proverbs 3:11 -12 says, “My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline and do not be resentful of his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Hebrews 12:7 and 12:11 also say, “Accept hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?… No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but unpleasant. Later on, however, it produces the fruit of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” What these Bible verses mean in relation to Ogboru is very simple. Ogboru should review or re-examine his relationship with God. If he has erred before God, he should go back to God in repentant supplication. In 1 John 1:9, the Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Whatever be the case, Ogboru must see his ordeal within the political arena as an act of God, for the express purpose of refining him spiritually and mentally to prepare him for the onerous tasks ahead. In other words, for Ogboru to wear the crown he must first bear the cross. Edwin Hubbel Chapin once said, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls.” Another African proverb says, “The fruit of blessing grows on a tree of hardship.” And a Chinese proverb says, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Maybe I should explain this proverb. The most precious of all gems is the precious stone called diamond. Now, when diamond is excavated from the bowels of the earth it appears as a rough, ugly piece of stone. But after it is cut into shape and meticulously polished by experts in the refining process, it becomes the most beautiful of all gems. Ogboru should persevere in the face of political persecution, while remaining firmly focused on his genuine ambition to become thegovernor of Delta State. Benjamin Disraeli, a British prime minister of old, once noted: “The secret of success is constancy to purpose.”
Abraham Lincoln, the shrewd American politician and statesman, contested at several levels, in several elections, and failed. He never gave up contesting, and he was rewarded for his resilience and his relentless efforts when he eventually won at the highest level and became the president of the United States of America. Considering his ideology and his remarkable achievements at the highest political platform, Abraham Lincoln has gone down in human history as one of the greatest presidents America and the world at large have ever produced. Why did he succeed at long last? Simply because he never gave up. Sir Winston Churchill, arguably the greatest prime minister Britain has ever had, once opined: “Never give up, never give up, never give up.” If Great Ovedje Ogboru wants to become governor he must never give up the godly struggle against the ungodly forces of retrogression. Why should a man turn back after travelling ninety-nine miles in a journey of one hundred miles?
When Ogboru’s time will come I do not know, but I know for sure his time will come if he does not dump or abandon his gubernatorial ambition.
Whenever God gives me an important dream, it eventually comes to pass. And by the grace of this same God, the dream I once had of Ogborubecoming the governor of Delta State will be no exception.
ESEURHOBO CHARLES OBRUCHE
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