If care is not taken, Mr. Emmanuel Uduaghan would be mistaken for the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. What differentiates the latter from the former are their middle names and perhaps, their photographs. While the latter bears ‘Eweta’ as middle name, the former answers ‘Oritsejolomi’. No doubt, they are family members.
While the governor is a Medical Doctor turned politician, the man in question, Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, is an Engineer and a lawyer in the making. He is also a businessman per excellence, even though he dabbles into politics when need be.
Both Oritsejolomi and Eweta were born with the virtue of true leadership to the Itshekiri ethnic nationality in Delta State, with endless description by various ethnic, political and religious groups.
They hail from Abigborodo town in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. While His Excellency, the governor is married to Deaconess Oritsenere Roli Uduaghan and blessed with children and grandchildren, Oritsejolomi is happily married to Alero. The union has since been blessed with three kids.
Oritsejolomi, the reason for this analysis, is a cousin to Eweta, the Governor of Delta State. His quest for knowledge, wisdom and understanding soon landed him in Plateau State Polytechnic where he studied Electrical/Electronics Engineering. As a business expert, he bagged a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the Prestigious Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma.
Currently, his quest for standard and passion for the Law profession has move him to the Faculty of Law at the Delta State University, Oleh Campus, where he is currently studying Law. He has equally undergone various professional training during the administration of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, former Governor of Delta State, between 1999 and 2007. He served as a Special Assistant to the governor and attended Executive Leadership Training programme in Harvard University. He was also a participant and student of strategic intelligence and VIP protection training programme at Galilee College, Israel.
Besides that Oritsejolomi will soon join his learned colleagues in the Nigeria Bar Association as a lawyer, having acquired other professional degrees in various fields of endeavours as an expert in the construction industry for more than 15 years. He rose to the plum position of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Webster Group of Companies, bringing steady growth and development to it.
Did he deserve the award bestowed on him by the Nigerian Society of Engineers? Because he rose early to the challenges of life by executing projects according to specification and making prompt payment to his Coren Certified Professional Engineers, the Society recently thought of him while marking its 20th Anniversary Dinner and Award Night held at the popular Grand Hotel and Resort Centre, Asaba, the Delta State capital, where an award of Excellence and Extensive Contribution to both Humanity and Society were bestowed on him.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Asaba branch, Engr. Owen Mordi, described Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, as “an efficient and reliable team player who has been able to manage an engineering company for more than 15 years.” According to Mordi, Uduaghan’s passion for excellence predisposed him to the adhere to internationally acceptable best business practice in the engineering industry by employing a good number of certified professionals in his Webster group limited with emphasis on training and retraining of his employees.
“No doubt”, the NSE chair continued, “Mr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is one youth in Delta State who has used good character to climb to the top. Though rich, but preferred to be humble; though powerful, but choose to be speechless. Despite his influence, he prefers due process, a leader who shows perfect courage, perfect honesty, absolute freedom from envy, hatred, nepotism and malice.”
He lauded him for bequeathing a new lease of life to the Niger Delta Youths, asking, has anyone tried to investigate why he chose to serve and shoulder the troubles of others? No wonder, Emma, as he is fondly referred to, in one of his reflections said, “I was born to heal the wounds of others, to unite what has fallen apart and bring home those who has lost their destinies.”
With greater devotion and commitment to this philosophy, he has exercised the most powerful influence for peace in the tense situation, which once held sway in the Niger Delta Region. His faith in the non-violence tenet was expressed, not only in words but in his actions – self sacrifice, as seen in the transformation of various aggrieve youths of the oil rich Delta state and the region at large through his empowerment programmes.
It was therefore, not surprising when Dr. Ngozi Olejeme desired him to be the Director-General of the U & I Development Foundation, a charity foundation, where the welfare of the less privilege reigns supreme. At the NSE award ceremony, Olejeme laid emphasis of the reason for Emma Uduaghan as the only awardee whose track record on service delivery speaks volume as a cooperate professional. She spoke passionately on the need for the Nigerians to firm up structure and utilized our home base construction firm rather than seeking foreign expert to perform contract that can be handle by indigenous contractor in Nigeria.
Dr. Olejeme, who was represented by Dr. Oludare Ogunlana called on both the Federal and State Governments to look inwards, describing Emma Uduaghan as “a symbol of integrity”, whose passion in delivering jobs according to specification has never been in doubt.
Earlier, Engr. Otis Anyaeji (FNSE), who lectured on the theme: Building Sustainable Development, The Role of the Engineers, described Engineering as a conglomerate of various professions, challenging Engineers to redeem the image of the profession from quacks.
Uduaghan’s flair for politics must have informed why he seized the occasion to call on various political groups and supporters in the state to shun ethnic politics in the fast approaching 2015 general election. The call was against the backdrop of the emergence of different political groups daily across the state.
He expressed worry over some faceless groups canvassing for support for their preferred aspirants to succeed his brother. He appealed to politicians, especially those jostling for the soul of the state in 2015, to caution their supporters against ethnic politics, which he said was capable of causing rivalries, acrimony and war of words. He called on all stakeholders in the state to renew their commitment and support the three point agenda of the present administration that has moved away from oil rich Delta State to Delta State beyond oil. He recalled that since inception the Uduaghan administration people-oriented projects have been embarked upon in the transformation agenda of the governor to make the state a modern, prosperous and economically viable geopolitical entity.
Today, various leaders across the nation are jostling to have Uduaghan with them in order to tap from his wealth of experience. He is truly a resource person, especially now that the nation is in dire need of men with deft strategy to blow meaningful wind of change.
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