Leadership gains so much from experience even when it is offered on a platter of gold. Quality evolves when power comes through years gained moving from one position to another in an upward journey.
Dr.Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa does not claim to be a magician, he does not know it all. However, what turns him out as a magician is the way he has been able to conduct and comport himself in management, without bitterness.
Okowa is one man who has gone from the grassroots to the centre and understands the three levels of Federal administration. The advantage is that at any given time, he is prepared for the the next level of assignment. That stands him out.
The man did not just dabble into politics. He studied human beings, their behavioral patterns when in adversity, opulence and at the point of death. It is therefore not difficult for him to understand human wants even when they are insatiable.
The world is a ladder. Okowa was born in the village. He moved to the city and found more knowledge in a mega city. From primary school, he went to secondary school. As a student, he also got a Higher School Certificate, from his alma mater, Edo College, Benin City before choosing the University of Ibadan.
After national service, Okowa joined civil service as a Medical Officer with the Bendel Hospitals Management Board. Having studied the workings of government, he tried the private sector as Director, Victory Medical Centre in his Ika vicinity.
Running a medical facility in area populated by more have nots, imbued him with the spirit of sacrifice. As a doctor, it was impossible to demand payment from patients who in all honesty did not have the means to survive if you rejected them.
That was when politics made more sense. The medic reasoned that having lived with the people and attended to some of their needs, there was need to be their voice somewhere in authority.
Joining politics did not mean gunning for the House of Assembly or Government House. Okowa advanced from secretary Ika Local Government Council to chairman Ika North-East Council between 1991 and 1993. With enough experience, he moved up.
Delta State governor James Ibori had identified Okowa’s quality as a pal and ally. From the inception of the Fourth Republic, both men worked together. The former was appointed commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, from 1999 to 2001.
Okowa was not indispensable but remained a key player in the Delta State government. He was moved to Water Resources Development until 2003. During Ibori’s second tenure, he made his friend commissioner for Health.
Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, succeeded Ibori and found that Okowa was a powerful force. Both men, medical doctors, needed to keep Delta breathing. The governor lifted the former commissioner to the position of Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in 2007.
After four years, Okowa set out for more exposure. He had operated at Local Government level and served the State. That was how the journey to Abuja as a Senator began. From the Senate, it became clearer that more work had to be done at home.
Back to Delta Okowa went in 2011 to succeed Uduaghan as governor of Delta State. That is the journey so far and the experience picked from the movement from Owa Alero to Abuja is visible in all that one can attribute to the man who is eyeing the Vice Presidency.
Okowa reminds me of two American Vice President’s, Gerald Ford and Andrew Johnson. Ford was born in July (1913) just like the Delta State governor, July (1959). Ford was born in Omaha, that sounds nearly like Owa. Ford was offered the Vice Presidency.
Johnson was Mayor of Greenville just like Okowa was a local government chairman. The American was governor of Tennessee and also served as senator. Ford and Johnson ended up as POTUS (President of the United States).
We have had two doctors, Alex Ekwueme and Goodluck Jonathan as Vice Presidents. Okowa’s title sounds like theirs. It is not the same though. Ekwueme whose initials read A.I. was a PhD holder. What coincidence that Ekwueme’s middle name was Ifeanyichukwu.
Okowa’s traditional title is Ekwueme. He is a medical doctor while Jonathan spent good time studying about animals and their world in a society dominated by humans. Jonathan was Azikiwe. And Zik was a senator before Okowa.
Obasi, a public affairs commentator, writes from Lagos
