By
Yemi Olakitan
Emmanuel
Eweta Uduaghan is a former Delta State Governor from 2007 to 2015 and one of the founding fathers
of (PDP) in the Niger Delta. However, he recently decamped to the ruling party,
stating increased dialogue and a better understanding of the Niger Delta crisis by the ruling party as
his reason. A medical doctor by profession, he was Commissioner for Health and Delta State Secretary before he was elected Governor. He speaks with Yemi Olakitan on growing up in
the Niger Delta, cleaning up the Niger Delta and reviving agriculture in the
region. Excerpts:
· With a
background in Medicine and surgery, why did you go into Politics?
Actually, I was drafted into politics; every human being has
a political aspect of him. In fact, man is a political animal. I was
politically aware of what is happening around me especially in government. I
used to read a lot and I was interested in what was happening around me at the
time. I was a very strong critic of government too – very, very strong critic.
I also had people look up to in government, the ogbemudias and co. way back to
the days of Awolowo. It was through, Awolowo I was able to attend a Primary
School. We had a Primary School in the Village at the time. He was then the
Premier of Western Region and he made education free for all. This was how I was
able to attend Primary School and got an education.
Later on in life when I started practicing as a medical
doctor I was also very critical about government. It was when Ibori came, it
was 1990 or thereabout, when Babaginda was still in power and there were
elections into the state House of Assembly, Governorship and all. He wanted to
contest for House of Representative. He came under NRC and he just drafted some
of us. Although I was not a politician at the time, I knew that SDP was the
party on ground in Delta state.. It was NRC versus SDP so I advised him that if
he contests under NRC he might not win. He said he was sure he could win
because he had some advisers who told him to contest and they will back him up.
We had that election and he did not win.
During the Abacha era when the five fingers of Abacha were formed,
the five political parties, he came with one of them to Delta that was the Grassroots
Democratic Movement, (GDM) Again, he drafted some of us. That was when I joined
politics actively.
He was interested in me because, according to him, the first
time he ran for a political office; it was only two of us that told him the
truth. Every other person told him, he would win and they were just collecting
his money. He appreciated that a lot and then he wanted me to be around him. He
brought me close. That was how I came into politics fully. That is my
background.
· Let’s
us flashback a little into your childhood. What was it like growing up in the
Niger – Delta?
I grew up in the village called Mostuga, real typical
village, no pipe borne water, no electricity. The only sign of civilization
there was a Primary School, and then a Baptist church. There was no access road
to the place. You have to go by boat. It was such a rural area and ironically very
exciting. I had a very fantastic childhood looking back then, everything was
just okay. There was food in abundance; there was no polluted environment. We
play around, all over the place. There was no criminality of any kind. The only incident I remembered that was close
to criminality was an incident involving one woman. She was partially blind and
was living alone. One night, she went out to ease herself and then she found
her way back to the house. As she was entering the house it occurred to her
that there was somebody in her house. So, she started screaming, people rushed
out and of course, they caught the thief. That was the only event I can
remember that came close to criminality. Nobody fenced his or her house. I was
living with my grandmother. There was no fence in any house; every adult in the
community was the father of every child, or the mother of every child. It means
that though you may have your biological children but because you and I are the
fathers of all our children, all the children could eat in my house, they could
eat in your house. In fact, they can sleep in your house or in mine. So,
discipline was easier because if any of the adults discover the children
misbehaving, they can discipline them and your biological parents will not
quarrel with the person. It was such a free community; it was in that type of
village that I grew up.
· What
would you say has changed in that community today?
Over the years with the advent of the oil companies, a lot
of our land and our waters have become polluted. It started with the oil
companies who were not regularly maintaining their facilities and all that. So,
the pipelines burst and they pollute our water, land and air. Later, our own
activities, people who are doing illegal bunkering, illegal refineries e.t.c.
have polluted our land, water and air. When
I was growing up in the village, you could go to the river, put your hands into
the river and bring out fish. You can also throw your net, catch some fishes
and go home to cook your Banga Soup to eat your Starch. Our food was fresh. It was
nutrituos because we had what we needed fresh from land and water. The river
was very clear, you could drink it and if you put it in a pot, it becomes very
cool, and you don’t need a refrigerator. We used to use the sand in the river
to brush our teeth. That is why in those days, even the old people had good
sets of teeth, looking fresh and strong. They used simple things like chewing
sticks and sand to brush their teeth.
· What
can be done to reverse the situation?
Well, it is important to know that in developing in Nigeria,
we must look at other areas beyond oil. Oil has been the mainstay of our
economy. This is why we must develop other areas of the economy. When I was in
office; I had this vision of Delta beyond oil which is not a small project for
a few days of my tenure. We must continue to work on Delta beyond oil. One of the areas we can look at is
Agriculture. Yes we have a lot of land, water and all that. The first point to
start is how we can clean up our own environment because we are living in an
environment where there is so much pollution.
Cleaning up our environment is not cheap. It must require the
cooperation of the state, the Federal Government and international bodies. In
Delta state, the first thing we did was to do a study of the level of damage
done to our environment. We partnered with one of the united Nation bodies to
do the study. Today, we have the federal
Government trying to clean up the Niger – Delta starting with the Ogoni. The
Ogoni area is much more polluted. But I do not see the sincerity in trying to
do that clean up. It’s been so much politicized, so much ethinicized that even
with all the promises and all the funfair that was involved with the project
when it started, nothing much has been done. I believe we need to move beyond
that. The Federal Government need to take urgent and very serious steps to do
the cleaning up.
There also have to be very strong legislation on cleaning up
our environment. We have to put up some solid laws that will ensure that the
Federal Government takes the issue of cleaning up seriously. If oil companies
don’t clean up, they should be ready to pay some heavy fine. These kinds of
laws are important so that everybody will be serious about it. We need
legislation to stop further pollution; this should include pollution by illegal
refineries. The so-called illegal refineries should modernized and operators
should be licensed and given crude oil legally. We need legislation that will
also put an end to pipeline vandalism. Crude oil thefts as well contribute to
environmental pollution because in the process of stealing Crude oil, they
damage pipelines. Yes, there are some laws here and there but they are not strong
enough. They are not implemented. This means those laws have to be reviewed and
more effective legislature should be put in place.
· Looking
at your very humble background. How did you become so successful becoming a
Medical Doctor, a Governor and achieving so much in life?
I will attribute it to God’s grace and mercy. All of us have
our own destiny. Some were born with silver spoon. Some were born with wooden
spoon. Whatever your destiny is you will definitely get there. Sometimes we
truncate what God has planned for us with our own hands. I thank God I didn’t
truncate mine.
· There
must have been some challenges. How did you overcome them? This is very
important because young people can get some inspiration whenever this is
published.
Let me say this, though I grew up in the village I had a
grandmother who was very discipline, we had no clock but we follow the cocks
that crow early in the morning. There are three cockcrows. The first cock crows
you have to get up between that times you are getting up another one will crow.
That tells you time is getting near, it’s almost time for you to live the
house. The first cockcrow tells you to get up. The second one is a reminder. If
you are the slow type you move faster. If you are the fast type, you probably
would have gotten ready by then. The third one is for everybody to live the
house. Most farmers live the house by the third cock crow.
As a young boy when I live the house, I am living with some
adults farmers. The women are going to the farm, the men are also going to
their rubber farm to tap rubber. I will follow them to the rubber farm and by
the time you finish tapping, it will probably be day break. You don’t need your
headlamp by that time.. The women would have roasted yam or plantain. The men
will now go to the farm where the women are working and that is where we all
eat our yam or plantain with red oil. This was usually my breakfast and every
one elses’. When you are through with
food you then go back and start pouring your rubber into a certain bucket. If
you want to put timing to it may be by 7:00am we would have finished all those
things and that is when we can go home, take your bath and go to school. My
grandmother was so discipline so that despite all these we were usually the
first to get to school.
The school was very far from home and we had to treck. So, I
had a grandmother, who was very discipline, she was always very firm with
punctuality. I took that with me till today; there is nobody that grew up with
my grandmother that won’t be punctual. She was very strict.
Although, she was not educated, she ensures that I took my
schooling seriously. If the Headmaster reports you to her that you have done
anything wrong she will discipline you on her own. So, you have double
punishment. She had a very bid cane. I will say God also granted us grace. As
young as we were in Primary School we were very competitive in class. I
remembered that there were three of us then, one girl, a boy and I, we were the
most competitive one in class. One of us will come first, the other second and
the last is the third position in the class. We alternated it like that. So, if
you came second or third this year, you are determined to come first next year.
We always wanted to overthrow the first person. I think it is important that
young people should imbibe a healthy competitive spirit. This is essential for
achievements and success in life. All
these combined together to help me later in life. I didn’t understand until
much later in life that all those things were important. My father who was in
the police at the time was very interested in education, although I was living
in the village. He would ride to the village every Sunday. He used to come to
the village from Sapele. When he comes like that the first thing he wanted to check
were my books and all that. There were somethings my grandmother will not
understand but he understood them. If I didn’t do well he will report me to my
grandmother who would flog me. So, I
had people around me who were very interested in education. The fact that they
didn’t have to pay because of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Policy made education
paramount in our lives. Later, when I moved to secondary school, my uncle in
Lagos was also very interested in education. He took me to Lagos from the
Village School and I entered Federal Government College. What we should take
from this is that parents should show a lot of interest in their children
education. It is not enough to just pay school fees. Both fathers and mothers
should show active interest.
· It’s safe
to say that your grandmother played a major role in your education. Was she
able to witness some of your Success?
Yes, she is late now but she witnessed the day I become a
medical doctor. It was the happiest day in her life, when I became a doctor and
I went to the village to see her she said she had been waiting for me. i said
why mama? She said when she dies, she believes I will be the one they will call
and that I should never put her in a freezer because she is not ice – fish.
(laughter)
· Did you
keep that promise?
Of course, we didn’t put her in a freezer she was embalmed.
We never took her to the mortuary she didn’t like it.
· Let us
talk about your achievements as Governor. What would you say is your most
cherished achievement as Governor of Delta State?
I came to Government at a very turbulent period in the
history of Delta state. There have been some disagreements between the various
ethnic groups – the Itsekiri, Ijaw and Uroboh. The issue of location and
relocation of local Government headquarters sparked off a crisis that
culminated into the Niger – Delta Crisis that we are still trying to manage
today. Starting from when I was Commissioner. For Health and Secretary to the
state Government. I had played a very active role in mediation. As Governor, I
even went into the creeks to negotiate with the boys. I had no security aid
with me and yet they didn’t harm me. It was risky though but I did that.
Although there was a time I almost lost my life. I had gone into the creeks to
negotiate with the boys and I was coming out on a boat when I met some heavily
harmed soldiers waiting by the shore. They were going to shoot. Although, it
had been announced that I was going in there, the Army knew but obviously not
all of them was aware and I almost lost my life. I just raised my hands up with
the people that went with me. I had no security so It was all Gods mercy on me.
I will say my most important achievement was conflicts resolution, management
and peacekeeping and it is still ongoing.
· So, why
are you defecting to APC?
I decided to join the ruling party
because of President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s effort in tackling the
crisis in Niger Delta region. This administration is a departure from the past
when the military used to harass our people with their might and power. The Buhari administration has embarked on
various engagements processes that have led to agreements and brought real hope
to the people of the Niger Delta. This approach by the APC-led federal
government has pointed us in a direction that is progressive and developmental.
This is what we can build on. It is a
major achievement of the Buhari government that I want to follow up. This why I
want to work with that party. Politics is about service to the people.
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