ISSELE-UKU MONARCH, GOV’S ADVISER ON ICT PASSED-ON IN ROAD MISHAP

 THE traditional ruler of Issele-Uku kingdom of Delta State, His Royal Majesty Obi Henry Ezeagwuna, and the Special Adviser to Delta State Governor of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Mr. Sunny Ofili, passed-on in a fatal auto crash yesterday.

The mishap occurred between Issele-Azagba and Ubulu –Okiti on the busy Benin/Asaba highway, a few kilometres from Issele-Uku, the monarch’s kingdom.

It involved a Mercedes Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), popularly called Jeep, which the royal father was driving, and a truck loaded with granite, with registration number FUG 238 XA Edo. Both vehicles were headed for Asaba end of the highway.

The impact of the mishap which occurred at about 2 pm was so severe that the truck lost four of its rear tyres to it, while the Jeep-which tyre screeches were remarkably visible on the tar-caught fire on impact.
Eyewitnesses said that the effort of the monarch to avoid the accident – depicted by the tyre screeches on the tar – failed partly because of the proximity of the vehicles before it ( effort) was made.
They added that early callers who were attracted to the scene by ithe huge noise, to rescue the victim were thwarted by the effects of the huge blaze that erupted.
However, they were able to reach the state fire service which responded and put out the fire though by then, both the monarch and Mr. Ofili had succumbed to the effects of both the accident and the subsequent fire.
To recover their bodies, the firemen, working in concert with the police and men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), had to deploy axes and other sharp objects to cut the mangled jeep to extricate the trapped bodies.
Early public sector callers at the scene, which was thronged by people from Issele-Uku and the adjoining settlements, included the Chief of Staff, Governmnet House, Asaba, Dr. Festus Okubor, and the Commissioner for Energy, Mr, Charles Emetulu.
Like other callers at the scene, both were shell-shocked at the incident, though Dr. Okubor managed to describe it as terribly shocking and sad.

The accident cut short the euphoria that characterised the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to elect chairmanship candidates for the October 25 council election in the state.

Ofili who was eying the state House of Assembly to represent Aniocha North constituency, was said to have monitored the primary election in his council area before embarking on the journey with the monarch.

He had recently been engaged in empowerment of the people of his council area as part of his subtle campaigns for House of Assembly seat under his ‘Liberation Mandate’.

The deceased who was appointed as SA to Governor Uduaghan in 2011, was a two-career professional who excelled both in journalism and information technology.

He worked with the African Guardian magazine under the stable of The Guardian Newspapers. He is a Fellow of the US based Centre for Foreign Journalists and was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of an online newspaper, The Times of Nigeria.

As an Information Technology Engineer, Ofili worked for Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin, Bechtel, and Internet software giant, Symantec Inc., all based in the United States of America.

The highpoint of his career in information technology came when he was asked to design an Enterprise Management System for the United States Census Bureau. Ofili led a team of nine engineers that successfully designed an EMS system that was deployed by the United States Census Bureau for the conduct of the country’s 2001 Census.

Before returning to work as ICT consultant to Delta State Government that preceded his appointed Special Adviser, Ofili was a Senior Engineer with a civilian agency in the United States, the Social Security Administration.

A Microsoft and Cisco certified Engineer, Ofili was the President and CEO of two IT firms, Nigercom Networks Inc and Apogee Technologies Inc.