DAY A MILITANT ALMOST KILLED ME IN THE CREEK –GOV. EMMANUEL UDUAGHAN

He has been telling the story now for almost four years. Whether in the snows of Davos in Switzerland, where world financial eggheads often gather to brainstorm on the way major economies on the globe are headed, or in the shifty weather of London, or in the blistering heat of Dubai or Africa, his message is the same: Africa is the next destination for the world’s economic salvation; Nigeria, the epicentre; and Delta State, the crust.

When Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, a medical doctor-turned politician began to preach the gospel of Delta State Beyond Oil, few years back, the aim was to help the state he serves as chief executive, to use the proceeds of oil to cure the curse of oil. And by extension, help Nigeria halt its hurtle towards mono-economy. Many scoffed at him at the time. But now, the pessimists have been converted. It’s very likely he will surely win more converts when the World Economic Forum holds in Abuja, in a few weeks’ time.

Although he is ever so passionate about using the proceeds from the hydrocarbons that despoiled the Delta region to turn his state to a compelling economic destination in the world, Governor Uduaghan bared his mind when he spoke with me in London recently.

He spoke about growing up in Mosogar, his agrarian homestead in Delta State, the day a militant almost shot him in the creek, his inspiration and motivation, and what generally defines him and his actions.

Here are excerpts from the encounter: 

Despite the pressure of governing a state as potentially volatile as Delta, despite the frenzy we see about your administration trying to leave worthy legacies at the end of your tour of duty in Delta State, you still maintain a cool and calm exterior. What’s the magic?

As Christian, I don’t believe in magic. I believe in God working His will in my life, and generally in the affairs of men. So, to answer your question, I believe it is God, and the inner peace He alone gives.

Doesn’t it also have to do with your training as a doctor; to keep calm and remain expressionless even when it is clear a patient is about biting the dust?

Well, as a doctor, you are trained to maintain your calm even under extreme difficulties. But the calmness does not translate to callousness, or insensitivity. It doesn’t mean doctors don’t have emotions. We have. We are humans. But as a doctor, as a leader, you are to inspire hope. If you, as a doctor or leader, maintain a forlorn outlook, who do you want your people to turn to for inspiration?

But like I said, what you referred to as a calm disposition under pressure derives from the inner peace that only God gives. And the realisation that the people you lead appreciate the efforts you are putting to make things better.

Apart from the God-factor, and the people’s appreciation of your efforts…

Well, the way I look at life, the more you are agitated and show it, the more mistake you make. And the more people would want to annoy you. In this our business, there are a lot more persons who want to get you agitated, annoy you, than those who really want to work with you and support you. And once you give people the impression that you are not in charge, of course, they would continue to do things that will annoy you. That is why I hardly respond to people that criticise, because, for me, they are distractions.

Most of the persons I try to learn from their leadership styles are from the Bible. One of them is Nehemiah. Nehemiah had a challenge, which was rebuilding the walls. He went to his boss, and he was given the opportunity to go ahead. And as he was planning, he had Tobias and Sanballath who were ready to distract him in all ways. But he was focused on what he wanted to do. It is not as if he didn’t know they were there. But if he had paid all his attention to them, he would have been distracted from his goal. So, I don’t leave room for distractions.

Did your mother have any influence on you?

My mother was a very prayerful woman. She prayed mostly for God’s protection and blessing for her children. I don’t think she had a set mind that her child was going to be a governor. She just prayed for the success of whatever I was involved in. She taught us well.

You moved through the ranks to become governor. How has that impacted your governance style?

Well, it was like I was being prepared, because having served previously as a commissioner, it became easier for me when I became governor. It became easier for me to identify the issues and try to strategise on how to deal with them. But in terms of preparation, I think God prepared me from birth for this position I am holding now. The things I experienced growing up prepared me for this. That is why most times when I have to give account of what I am doing, I usually relate it to some of my birth upbringing and experiences in life; because there is nothing that is happening now that you cannot relate to one aspect or the other.

A huge irony, though pleasant, played out yesterday when you delivered your lecture at the Institute of Directors at Pall Mall yesterday. You shared the same podium with General Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of State, who you queued in the sun for hours to welcome when he visited Benin. Looking back, how does that come to you now? 

It was a privilege to be chosen to go and line up on the street, with our mini flags, to wait for the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. Gowon was young then, and he was the head of state. He was coming to Benin City. I think Ogbemudia was the governor then. And he was to stop in Benin City. So, some of us were brought from Warri, to join students in Benin City to wait in line and wave to him. I was excited that I was one of those selected.  We lined up, and as he was passing, we were all waving. That is why when I see him now, I still remember that period with some nostalgic feelings.

Before we started this interview, you said you were going to the creeks, before the amnesty, to talk to the boys (militants). Can you recount one of the most frightening moments that you have ever had in your life so far?

There were lots of them. But the one I would say was very challenging was on a Sunday. I was called up by Chevron, because there was to be an attack on their tank farm. And I had to intervene. I couldn’t go to church. They gave me their helicopter, I flew to their outfit in Escravos, and I had to use boat to get to where they said some of the youths were gathered in the community. But before I went, I had told the Joint Task Force Commander that I had to go and talk to some of those boys. Because if you are going to go and engage these boys, you don’t go with any military persons, you don’t go with any guns. That day, I went with my ADC; and he was not carrying a gun. Not even a bullet.

So, we went into the community and we had a long discussion with them. And they agreed not to do it. As I was going back to sit inside the boat that took me to the creek, I saw a military boat that just came from nowhere and crossed our way. The man inside was holding a gun, and was saying I should put up my hands. I had to obey. He was shouting while I put my hands up. Fortunately, another boat pulled in. That one had a captain, and blocked him. Apparently, it was like they didn’t get the message, while the other people got the message that the governor was coming. That is the kind of risk we are talking about.

Why I keep mentioning that is that, in some of these crises that we have, I believe that the governor has a responsibility. Yes, you are not in charge of the security agencies, but you can influence them to do something. But, in doing that, one area in which the governor must play a big role is intelligence gathering and engagement. I find it difficult sometimes when people say I don’t know who is causing crises in my state. That just shows that you are not on ground. Most of the times, even if the people are coming from outside, they must have internal collaborators. So, it is for you, as the governor, to have an intelligence network. Even at the time when kidnapping was high, we knew it was one boy, Kelvin, who is now with the State Security Service. We knew his name, his community, what they were doing and how he was moving.

And if what is required is very risky, you don’t have to run. Because for me, the day you take an oath as a governor, that oath is like a suicide mission. Because all the things you are taking oath for is to ensure the security of lives and properties. And for you to do this, sometimes you have to take risks. If it comes out fine, so be it. But if you say you cannot take risks, you don’t want anything to happen to you, but things can happen to others. I find it a little difficult to understand.

Nigeria has been battling Boko Haram insurgency that is making the country to be viewed as insecure at the global level. As someone who has been involved in tackling insecurity in the Niger-Delta, how do you respond when you are bombarded with questions on this during your trips outside Nigeria?

The two biggest challenges in selling Nigeria to the outside world is security and corruption. They always put them on the table. And when they now narrow it down to your state, they are specific; which is kidnapping. But what we also do is to let them know what we are doing, and what we have done, i.e. the level of kidnapping before and now, which has reduced. We also try to tell them some of our processes in government that has reduced a lot of the loopholes that we use to have in the area of corruption. We also let them know that each country has got its own challenges and that we are doing everything to overcome the present security challenge in Nigeria. Of course, people everywhere can relate with those efforts that government is making.

The whole world knows now that kidnapping has become big business in Nigeria. Now, when you or your government have to intervene to get a victim released, doesn’t government pay ransom to the kidnappers?

Me, pay ransom? Never!

Even when a big man or members of a powerful and influential family are kidnapped in your territory?

I say, never! I don’t negotiate with criminal elements. When I talked about going to the creek the other time, it was not that I was going to negotiate for criminals. It was militancy then. It was some communities and youths versus the government. They were saying: government is not doing this for us; government is not employing our people; government has not built infrastructure; we are not enjoying the oil money. Those are the things we went to talk about. Even the current president (Dr. Goodluck Jonathan), went to the creeks when he was vice-president.

But when it comes to the issue of kidnapping, I don’t go and negotiate for ransom. I never believe in ransom. What happens is this: after a person is kidnapped, the family naturally becomes very anxious. So, sometimes, they bypass us. And I always advise them that you don’t have to be in a hurry. It is very difficult for kidnappers to kill a victim. Sometimes, we have cases of victims staying for 39 days before being released and all that. The longer the time they stay with the kidnappers, the more agitated they become.

Two things happen: they have to keep the (abducted) persons alive by feeding them. So, they use money to feed them. Two, they become more anxious that these people would discover where we are. But with time, they release them. So, it is actually the relations, or employers that gather money and pay. But my own government does not pay; and I have not seen any government that has paid. My uncle was kidnapped, and I didn’t pay because if I had paid for him, they would come for my sister and aunty! (General laughter).

In recent times, you have been involved in a flurry of project commissioning. You have been moving from commissioning one project to another. And this is at the twilight of your administration. Why is that?

What actually happened was that, in our own strategy, we needed to plan first. And what I tried to do in the first few years was to complete some of the projects I met on ground and also plan for the state; not just an eight year plan but a plan that would take us for about 50 years.

Of course, we have started the execution for some time now but it is just now that people are beginning to notice what we are doing. During our decision stage, no one knew what we are doing. But now that we are in the execution stage, people are now starting to see for themselves. Of course, we don’t want to leave any project uncompleted.

Everywhere you go, you promote the gospel of ‘Delta Beyond Oil’. What are the kernels of the initiative?

It is about developing Delta beyond oil. It is about dealing with the economy of Delta as one that is sustainable. Like I said, the way Delta is, it is not a city state.

And with the complexity of Delta, you cannot concentrate on one and ignore the other. Yes, Asaba is the state capital, so, you naturally do a lot more there. Yes, Warri and Effunrun are major areas, so you do a lot more there than in other towns. But your hands must be felt everywhere in Delta. So, it is about building an economy that is not entirely dependent on oil. And with the nature of Delta, there are other natural activities spread across the state.

What are you doing to guarantee continuity?

The plan is on ground. That is why it took us quite some time to do the initial execution. And for anybody who would now come to Delta and say let us change the whole thing and start afresh, I think it would be very difficult. Changing things is a norm because people don’t have what I call a ‘documented plan’. Like if I am going, I would hand over the documented plan. I don’t see anybody now coming and saying this is not a good programme. The question is: what does the person want to offer? Or is somebody coming to say we don’t want to deal with security or infrastructure issues? Or, we don’t want to deal with human capital development issues… So, what does the person want to deal with? Maybe the person might change the name. But whatever the person wants to do, it is already in that plan. And it would just be convenient for the person to continue from where we stopped.

What major challenges do you encounter in your ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ initiative?

Well, the major challenge is money. Let me explain this. Yes, we get something more because of our 30 per cent derivation. We also have some of the biggest challenges. As a state receiving 30 per cent, you pay more in terms of salaries than other states. Of course, the minimum wage is more than the national minimum wage. Then, we also have a terrain that is much more challenging. We have two extremes of terrain. We have the central and the south side. We have the very mashy terrain, where sometimes you have to excavate rubbish for up to five metres, then sand-fill before you can construct anything-whether house, roads, or anything.

Then, in the upland, we have a terrain that is difficult to handle, because of erosion problem. So, when you are constructing a road on this side, you must also be thinking of drainage and see that the drainage is properly channelled. If not, the road will not last. So, the bottom line is that, at the end of the day, the cost of construction in Delta State and many Niger-Delta states is much more than that of the other states in the federation. The cost of laying the foundation for these infrastructures alone is enough to build ten schools in other states. The costs of our projects are much higher because of the kind of terrain that we have. So, funding is a big challenge.

The other challenge that we are having is as a result of the fallout of the Niger-Delta crises. We have a lot of youths that are unemployed. Apart from the fact that they are unemployed, they also have a mind-set of wanting to get easy money. They want to have their own share (of the cake, as they say). There are some communities where, for a contractor to even operate, they have to see the youth for things like ‘Deve’ (Development Fees).

They say for you to drop a bag of cement, it will cost you a certain amount. If you are using 100 bags for that particular project, the cost would be calculated, times hundred. So, these are some of the challenges we are facing.

What strategy are you using to check youth unrest in Delta State?

That is one of the reasons we conceived the idea of Delta Beyond Oil – being able to provide opportunities for youths to get engaged and get employed. They get themselves in all these activities because they are jobless. So, they become recruited into criminal activities or groups that disturb. Let me give you a scenario: if you go to any community or area where a big event is taking place, like a big burial; I tell you that for that period, you would hardly see youth uprising or criminality.

Why?

Because the youths carrying loads from here to there, carrying chairs and tables are being paid for it. So, they are engaged. What I am trying to say is that it does not take too much to keep these youths quiet. That is why we are trying to put up all these structures to get them engaged. And when it gets them engaged, they are less likely to cause problems.

How is your idea of medical tourism in Delta State turning out?

It is turning out very well. Medical tourism is in two segments. One, is encouraging investment in the health sector. Now, we have some private health facilities that are really doing very well. We have a fertility clinic in Asaba that is doing well. We have one or two new hospitals and some laboratories that are doing well. On the government side, our teaching hospitals are doing well.

A lot of patients are coming in. But the interesting part about the teaching hospital is that, in some segments, we are partnering with the private sector. Like our laboratories, we are partnering with a South African firm which brought their equipment and some personnel. So, some patients that would have gone out are now being managed in the hospital. And the effect of that is that, because of these state-of-the-art equipment in our teaching hospitals, some hospitals outside the state are now bringing their patients to come and do those tests. Now, when they come, they may stay one or two nights. And when they stay, they either stay in a hotel or with family and friends. And when that happens, they spend their money in our markets. So, medical tourism in Delta State is growing gradually.

Finally, how do hope to see Delta in five, 10, 15 years’ time?

I want to see a better developed Delta which economy is not entirely dependent on oil. I want to see a Delta where there are other activities, especially in the agricultural sector, hospitality sector, tourism sector, and other areas. I want to see a better secured Delta, where peace and security become a priority.

Also, I want to see a very harmonious Delta, where the ethnic groups see themselves as brothers and sisters.  And I think we are gradually getting there. You would recall that a few years ago, the issue of ethnic disharmony was a big challenge in the state. But right now, it is not too much of an issue.

Do you have any regret so far?

I don’t have any regret. I don’t own my life.

Culled from the Sun