THE MAN WHO WILL BE SENATOR

THE MAN WHO WILL BE SENATOR

When someone wrote “every child no matter the circumstances of birth is a beacon of hope for the future” there was no means of knowing that he was speaking to the life and times of a man whose gentleness and humility knows no bounds even in the face of great wealth and an abundance of all good things life has to offer.
Deacon (Dr.) Domingo Alaba Obende was born and raised in the humblest of circumstances. His is a classic case of the much abused rags to riches cliché but he will never speak about it in the solicitous way made men in Nigeria do. The man fondly called “DD” was born on the 5th day of December 1954 in Igarra, Akoko – Edo Local Government Area in the then Western region of Nigeria now Edo State. He had his elementary education at the Local Authority Primary School (LA) in Igarra before he proceeded to Lagos, where he attended Prestige Commercial Institute, Ebute Metta, Yaba Trade Centre and subsequently the Universities of Benin, East London and St. Andrews, California, United States of America.

“DD”, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria and an MBA Degree in Public Services from the University of East London Business School, London, United Kingdom. In the year 2007, in recognition of his contribution to critical thought, business and the advancement of humanity, he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in Business Management by the St. Andrews University College, Riverside, California, United States of America.

After a life time of success in business, “DD” ventured into active politics and public life at the return of democratic rule in 1999. He joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) where he contested the Edo North Senatorial District Primaries in December 2006 but lost the ticket to Senator Yisa Braimoh in controversial circumstances at a time he was the leading and preferred candidate of the PDP. This and all the intrigues and horse –trading in the PDP at the time did not deter the loyal party man that “DD” was and he still is as he remained in the PDP to shore up its electoral fortune until his continued membership of that troubled and strife ridden party with Godless godfathers became untenable. He could have resigned from politics as his numerous businesses were obviously crying for his attention but being the man that he is, he chose to pitch his tent with the Action Congress of Nigeria as his avowed intent was to serve and lift his people from poverty.
This iconic man will not suffer fools gladly either. In a show of rare insight and awareness in today’s politics, he left the PDP, in his words, to challenge the single leadership structure of the PDP as according to him, any political system that revolves around a single individual cannot ensure a democracy that is genuine and developmental. “DD” believes that only a collective democratic system will bring dividends of democracy to the down trodden and the less privileged who are often left behind in the governance process. See how passionate this man is about the poor and the good of his people!!!

You can therefore understand why something came alive in me on Wednesday, the 12th day of January in the year of our Lord 2011, when word reached me that the Action Congress of Nigeria, our great party in Edo State has elected through transparent, free, fair and largely trouble free party primaries the Man “DD” to fly the flag of the party in the forthcoming General Elections in Edo North Senatorial District. My joy knew no bounds as this means the great man will square up against the dour, uninspiring and now unelectable Senator Yisa Braimoh of the PDP who wasted space and every one’s time for four years that are better forgotten. The only snag for me was that Dr. Tunde Lakoju, a man who likes to think he is the only person in Akoko – Edo Local Government Area went all out against all entreaties and the edifying position taken by the party leaders in the State to contest against “DD”. Well it is his Constitutional right to so do and he has indeed exercised that right but how well he was trounced!!! It is good that he did and in the process unwittingly made his demystification easy. One can only hope he has finally been put in his place and that he will learn to be less obtrusive next time. Why he thinks he is more deserving of the opportunity to represent us in a pack comprising “DD”, Comrade Peter Akpatason, the sagacious labour leader, and the distinguished Retired but not tired Assistant Inspector General of Police, the much loved and respected Chief Mike Okuo beats me silly.

Now back to the man who will be Senator. I am not one to gloat so I will not say that I told you so but nonetheless I will gleefully quote from an earlier paper where I canvassed “fairness and equity demands that an Akoko – Edo person must be senator now. The Etsako and Owan people have had more than their fair share of the largesse of office”. In the same piece I further wrote “on the basis of equity, justice and fair play, an Akoko - Edo person must be senator now. If that is true then this senator with all sense of fairness and responsibility must be an Igarra person. Even in the LGA, the Igarra people have always held the short end of the stick. In recent memory, between 1999 and now, Dr. Tunde Lakoju, who incidentally is also a Commissioner in the present administration of the Comrade Governor and Colonel Tunde Akogun (Rtd) who currently represents the Akoko – Edo people in the House of Representatives have been elected to the House of Representatives. Chief Paul Kehinde Udofe was also Commissioner in the Administration of Chief Lucky Igbinedion. The Late Chief Samson Ekhabafe before his unfortunate demise was Commissioner in 1983, He was Attorney General in the administration of Chief Lucky Igbinedion, He was again Commissioner for Water Resources in the administration of Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor and was factional Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in Edo State. My point is by now obvious. Telling you none of these men hails from Igarra and that in all that time no Igarra man has been elected or appointed to any of these posts will be merely begging the question. So our next senator must be an Igarra person”.

How psychic and prescient this has proven. I am particularly delighted that the good people of Edo North Senatorial District, barring a few who will never outgrow the pull him down syndrome listened to the voice of reason. I do not recall a time when the Trinity (Akoko – Edo, Etsako and Owan people) agreed wholeheartedly on something as they have done on the burning and divisive Senatorial issue. I particularly am impressed with Comrade Peter Akpatason for his pragmatism and farsightedness. His political future is spread before him and I pray it be a successful and edifying one. He accepted that politics is about elite consensus and once it breaks down, there is bound to be trouble. Anyone who thinks that assessing strengths, pruning candidates, aligning, realigning, and realistically stepping down in deserving cases whether to ensure continued cohesion of a political party, forestall breakdown in law and order, maintain peace and guarantee the continued appeal of the party to the electorate is not part of the internal workings of a political party in a democracy had better get another think coming. The Comrade gentleman by his actions in the days leading to and shortly after the political considerations that saw “DD” emerge as the preferred candidate agrees with “DD” on the point that “this is no time for recrimination and it is no time to plot intrigues. This is the time to be focused without wavering. Therefore, every hand must be on deck as we fight for a common purpose”.

We may not know what will happen in the coming days because as they say, in politics, a lot can happen in the course of one day but one thing I do know is that the man who will be Senator is a gracious man. He must therefore be gracious in victory now and in the coming General Elections. It is no time to recriminate. The Senatorial project is an all embracing one. Every one is important whether they bought or did not buy into the idea. We of the Senatorial District must heed the wisdom in the recent words of that fine democrat, President Barack Obama of the United State’s as he counsels his people, a counsel which also speaks to us - “at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds”. Our creed should be that in the struggle to liberate our people from poverty, there are no winners and losers. Let it be that we all won as the good of the Senatorial District is secured.

Interestingly though, “DD” has become the face of hope for the Akoko - Edo people in the same mould Comrade Adams Oshiomole was for the people of Edo North in 2007 when he was the leading and preferred Gubernatorial candidate in Edo State before the abracadabra of the PDP and the kill joy that was Iwu’s INEC denied the people of the State the right to choose who governs them before the heroics of the judiciary vindicated the Comrade Governor’s insistence on the path of rectitude and restored the mandate of the people. The General Elections in April 2011 is “DDs” to lose. The groundswell of support he now enjoys is unprecedented in the history of the Senatorial District; Senator Yisa Braimoh’s scorecard does not inspire confidence and it will be a herculean task for him and the PDP which now enjoys thin support in the State to win the Senatorial District; a critical factor in Nigerian politics is to have the support of Party Chieftains, the State Governor and men of Power and means across the State and “DD” has this in abundance; “DD” represents the change we crave as his relative freshness in politics means that he is untainted with the muck with which the old guard is associated, infact “DDs” candidature is seen in the Senatorial District as a breath of fresh air after the suffocating years of thin ‘gods’ in Edo North and Akoko –Edo politics; “DD” is a courageous, dogged and committed fighter and this he demonstrated in quantum leaps whilst the quest to receive the nod to represent the Edo North people lasted, he neither waivered nor exercised any shade of doubt that one day we will collectively birth the vision he had for Edo North; there is a perception and rightly so that “DD” can be trusted – a man of means, influence and considerable persuasive skills who will get things done for the Senatorial District at the National Assembly.

“DD” is a man of immense goodwill and the good people of the Senatorial District know this and they seem eager to reward a man who they all agree is a gentleman and they know they will do pretty well by him. They know he understands them because he has seen it all. He has been at the valley, he has being to the mountain top, he is humane, urbane and cosmopolitan, he knows that things can be done in a better way, he knows that there is too much mediocrity here and above all the people know that he can do it. For “DD”, a man’s word is his bond and he does not give his lightly. If he says he will do it, you can be sure he will follow through. This man has the light and he will show us the way. This man has shattered the glass ceiling. He will be the first elected Senator from Akoko – Edo Local Government Area. The intangible gains for all of us are better imagined. No longer will it be that any one cannot aspire to a particular office because of untenable reasons, perceptions and ill considered cultural baggage’s.

Personally, I have not met a Billionaire who is more humble and I have met many. “DD” has never failed to spend time with a man like me to ruminate over the state of the nation and on sundry issues that affect our local community any time I catch up with him in Igarra, Lagos and Abuja. For such a man, the three hours I spent with him alone on Christmas day 2010 will ever count for much as I saw a man who was committed and willing to make the sacrifice that will be necessary in the coming days, months and years in the cause of serving the people. “DDs” avowed belief in divine orchestration and in the Almighty God is rare in today’s politician. I will never forget his punching one liner, “Stephen, every one will fulfill destiny by God Almighty”. I cannot but thank God that God’s purpose for this man’s life will not be still born, that this man will fulfill destiny, that with this man, it will be well with the people, that this man truly believes in ‘one people, one community’, that finally the Edo North people will have a man who understands that he is only a custodian of wealth and power and that the good of the people is why noble men venture into politics, it is why men should seek wealth and power.

Finally, may God Almighty reward the man who seek him earnestly, may he bless his cause and cause light perpetual to shine on his path even as the people of the Senatorial District earnestly look forward to the election of the man who seeks to make them ‘one people, one community’, Deacon (Dr.) Domingo Alaba Obende, the Man who will be Senator to the Glory of God.

STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA is a Partner at the Lagos Law firm of Fountain Court Partners.