By Francis Ewherido
Last week, I promised to do a follow-up article to breakdown the MUGA (Make Urhobo Great Again) Manifesto. But before I do that, let me remind you of the MUGA team for the Urhobo Progress Union forthcoming election: President-General, Chief Simeon Ohwofa; Second Vice PG, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo; General Secretary, Mr. Patrick Origho; Asst. General Secretary, Dr. Benson Uwheru; Publicity Secretary, Prof. Sunny Awhefeada; Treasurer, Prof. Dicta Ogisi; Financial Secretary, Prof. Rose Aziza; Legal Adviser, Dr. Brown Umukoro; Assistant Publicity Secretary, Chief Veronica Ajuebon and Auditor, Mr. Matthew Ogagavworia. In the past, some Urhobo patriots thought they could make Urhobo Progress Union do better by getting a great Urhobo personality as president general. That is good, but not good enough. You need a team of visionary, selfless, courageous, innovative and ideas-driven Urhobo patriots, who have integrity and will be servant leaders of Urhobo Nation. That is what the MUGA team is all about.
Now, the manifesto. One, unity, peace and reconciliation. I complained to a prominent Urhobo-born professor recently that some prominent Urhobos in our circle only see the “Urhobo ovuovo” (Urhobo is one) motto as a hollow ritual. They do not reflect it in their actions. We need people in UPU who can kindle our spirit of patriotism and make Urhobo ovuovo a core value. That is the MUGA team for you.
Next is unity. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We need unity first in the UPU executive, then in Urhobo land. A divided UPU cannot give us a united Urhobo Nation. Unfortunately, we have had to deal with a divided UPU in the past. The UPU is what binds us as Urhobos and must remain united. Without unity, the Urhobo Nation will be there for the picking. We have seen it severally before. We must stop the ugly occurrence with a strong UPU executive.
The next item is peace. Without peace, there can be no development. Urhobo needs development and inevitably peace to achieve this development. This automatically leads me to another manifesto, security and community development. Nigeria is going through a difficult time in terms of security. I foresee a situation where states and ethnic organisations, like UPU, will play a greater role in the security of their land. Urhobo must be proactive and be ready. The MUGA team is ready. Urhobo has had its fair share of insecurity. We have cases of kidnappings, banditry, ritual killings, communal clashes and armed robberies. Some of the perpetrators are either Urhobos or Urhobo collaborators, while others are non-Urhobos. We need a strong UPU to work with state government, local governments, security agencies, etc. The goal is to make Urhobo safe for our people and all who live in our midst.
Every Urhobo person ought to be law-abiding. It’s not proper to go about terrorizing your own people. If you decide to follow that path, you should also be prepared to face the consequences. As we say, “adj’omo egb’akon eduo. Rek’odue ebirugbenu vwo rhurhanye” (you can’t stop a child from growing protruding teeth. He should, however, grow enough lips to cover them). As for non-Urhobos, we are very welcoming and hospitable people, but criminals are not welcomed in Urhobo land. They will become stumbling blocks to our quest for development. The MUGA team-led UPU will collaborate with the various governments, security agencies and various kingdoms to ensure that our kingdoms are uninhabitable for criminals. This is the way to go if we want peace and development in Urhobo land. The MUGA team is equal to the task.
Another important item is economic renaissance and investment drive in Urhobo land. This is pretty obvious. Once you have peace and security, the next ingredient for economic renaissance and investment drive is vision. Without vision, the people perish. Luckily, we have men and women of vision in this team. We have people who are successful business men and women and know how to attract investment. I have worked with Chief Simeon Ohwofa, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo and Dr. Benson Uwheru. This area is their ohwo soup and usi. Though I have not worked with Mr. Matthew Ogagavworia, this is also his terrain. You have to acknowledge the capacity of Prof. Dicta Ogisi, a renowned academic and financial management expert, known for integrity and fiscal prudence. Or is it Dame (Mrs.) Veronica Ajuebon? She holds a PhD in Educational Planning and Management. She is a businesswoman with interest in many other ventures. Of course, as an educationist, her business includes ownership of top-flight private schools in Port Harcourt and a branch in Warri. She will definitely add a lot of value on many fronts to the MUGA team-led UPU executive. Other members of the team bring something of value in this area. This is one area that gives me a lot of joy.
In addition, the immediate past UPU PG, Olorogun Moses Taiga, set up a committee to establish a microfinance bank focussed primarily on making our ewheya and ighele (women and youths) have access to loans to set up or upscale their businesses. I was the vice chairman of that committee. The dream was not materialised before the term of Olorogun Taiga ended, but the dream also didn’t die. Some of the subscribers to the project are in the MUGA team. The investment of all the subscribers is currently being managed by an incorporated company, Okugbe Investment Company. I am excited because I know this team can use this investment company to raise more funds and drive investments in Urhobo land. Many more Urhobos will come on board. The trust and credibility are already there. I said it in an earlier article that the Central Bank only delayed the birth of the microfinance bank. It will come to fruition. If I may just add, Chief Simeon Ohwofa is a major investor and director of a microfinance bank, so his experience will come handy.
I am going to take the next two items in the manifestoes together. We have the education and cultural revival, and ICT, youth and women empowerment. When I saw education and cultural revival, I was filled with joy? Have you seen the works of Prof. Rose Aziza, Prof. Sunny Awhefeada and Prof. Dicta Ogisi. The prefix of professor tells you that they are igbu r’ebe. In addition, Urhobo language and culture are the oil with which Profs Aziza and Awhefeada eat their boiled yam and unripe plantain. The Urhobo Nation already knows the enormous work and literature Profs Aziza and Awhefeada have put together on Urhobo language. As someone who is committed to the promotion of spoken and written Urhobo language, they are assets to the Urhobo Nation in this area.
Then add Dr. Ajuebon who has a PhD in Educational Planning and Management. Mr. Patrick Origho is a former Delta State Head of Service. All the civil servants, including teachers and principals of government-owned schools, were under him. We have not talked about the other PhD holders like Dr. Brown Umukoro and Dr. Benson Uwheru. Other members of the team have at least a university degree or two degrees. There are issues you don’t belabour. This team knows the value of education.
The next item on the manifesto is diaspora collaboration. Some parts of the world that got it right with diaspora collaboration have hit a goldmine. We can have the same in Urhobo land. Urhobo blood runs in the veins of most of our people in diaspora I have met some of them in the US and Europe. Some of them identify with you once they know that you are an Urhobo and you look genuine.
The last item on the manifesto is agriculture and rural transformation. I am not surprised because majority of our people are farmers. We have very soil in Urhobo land most of our people live in the rural areas. Chief Ohwofa is farming personified. He got his first degree in agric-biochemistry and nutrition from the University of Ibadan. He worked as a marketing/sales representative with J. L. Morisons (Now Morson Industries) and later joined Roche Nigeria Limited (The Nigerian Subsidiary of F. Hoffman-La Roche, Switzerland) where he became the head, feed industries, and vitamins division, before resigning to start Nutrivital Limited, where he is the chairman/chief executive officer. Forget other titles and businesses where he has interests. Professionally, Chief Ohwofa is first and foremost about agriculture and food. Every other thing is an addition. He is widely known nationally for his expertise in agriculture and animal science.
When you look at the people in this team and the challenges facing the Urhobo nation, you see a marriage vision, mission, purpose; people who understand the task at hand, have the requisite skills and tools to accomplish the task, and the courage and ability to get results. Delegates, over to you; vote for the MUGA team and make Urhobo great again.
Francis Ewherido is a chartered insurance practitioner and proud son of Ewu Kingdom
