The political fortune of Dr Peter Otunuya Odili
Doctors are Future leaders….Dr Peter Odili by Andrew Udechukwu.
Theodore Roosevelt the former American President said it all. “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause, who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
The above oration is a simple way of describing the political fortune of Dr Peter Otunuya Odili, the former Governor of Rivers State. By birth, he hails from Ukwuani, Aboh in Ndoni Local Government Area. He was born on 15th August, 1948, and did early school at home before moving to the prestigious Christ the King College Onitsha, Anambra State. That was where his leadership instinct started as he was the School prefect, graduating with outstanding academic record, with a befitting hall named after him in the school premises. He gained admission into University of Nigeria Nsukka Medical School, and pursued post-graduate course in Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
On arrival back to Nigeria, Peter Odili dropped stethoscope and jumped into active politics. He is a man in whom was exemplified the creative dialectic of opposites often seen in politics. He has bold and courageous character, a lively sobriety anchored on elegance appearance. He believes in conciliation, in natural artifice, and in creative compromise. A performer and reformer of national reckoning, Odili was elected member cum leader of Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly in 1988/89. In 1992, he was elected as the Deputy Governor of Rivers State. After the era of Nigerian Third Republic, Odili returned to national scene, not only as a member of National Constitutional Conference but chairman on State Creation. He later became the National Secretary of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN).
Peter Odili was elected the executive Governor of Rivers State, and he ruled for eight years between May 1999 – May 2007. During his regime, Rivers State witnessed quick turn around, as Odili’s savvy and dynamic approach impacted positively on the Oil State. He is a man whose name can never be mentioned without evoking prudential management. He instituted massive socio-economic development. His potential was characterized by a push for rapid infrastructure, particularly in Power Supply. As a two term Governor, he is remembered for pioneering the National Independent Power Project (NIPP) to bring electricity to the state and for his influence in nurturing subsequent political leaders in Rivers State.
Peter Odili is a man of the people, he ruled the state with visionary instinct, a catalyst and developer of ideas, a touch stone of courage and champion of the oppressed. He fought a good fight to eradicate poverty in Rivers State, and accomplished the set-out objectives before the expiration of his tenure. Apart from connecting Port Harcourt City and other surrounding urban towns to National grid for regular electricity supply, his administration did marvelously on human capital development, which eventually created PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt.He was also known for building a “Rivers Platform,” and a “Restoration team,” — political machinery that influenced power struggle in Rivers State for more than decades. Since he left the seat of power in 2007 till date, Odili has been a mediator cum power broker. He has been an elder statesman in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as well as peace negotiations within Rivers State and entire Niger Delta region. He has been supporting subsequent regimes, ensuring that the governors fulfill their political promises to the people. Currently, in his usual attempt of stabilizing the state, he did not only endorse the present Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, but ensured that his administration reflected positively on the people.
Although his score sheet was outstanding and fulfilling, members of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Nuhu Ribadu requested for proper scrutiny of Odili administration. In 2007 he was allegedly accused of embezzlement of public refund, money laundering and misappropriation of public assets. But he quickly rushed to court and obtained a perpetual injunction that prevented the EFCC from investigating and prosecuting him. He was exonerated from any form of harassment by EFCC and the Human Rights Watch International. He is married to Justice Mary Ukaego Odili in May 1952. And the marriage produced four children — Njideka, Adaeze, Chinelo, and Peter Odili Junior.
