Former governor of Rivers state, Dr Peter Otunuya Odili, has been quiet for a while, but continues to be politically relevant. As he turns 68, CHIZOBA OGBECHE looks into his inspiring profile.
For the two-term governor of Rivers state and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Peter Otunuya Odili, it’s been an eventful 68 years. Interestingly, during these periods he has attained enviable achievements and imparted immensely on the lives of many across the length and breadth of the country.
Profoundly humane, the ardent Catholic was born on the anniversary of the Assumption of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, on August 15, 1948, the feast no doubt had hallowing impression on him.
On that day in Ogba, Egbema, Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers state, his parents, Chief Philip Celestine and Princess Janet Okwei Odili, may not have imagined the great heights their baby was destined for.
Young Odili’s enrolment into St. Michael’s School, Oguta II and Sacred Heart School, Onitsha, in 1953 marked the commencement of his intellectual quest which saw him pass through the famous Christ the King College in Onitsha and the prestigious University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, where he studied Medicine.
After his mandatory internship at the University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin, he moved on to be a Resident Staff Physician, Medical Consultation Centre, Port Harcourt, between 1979 and 1980.
Given to entrepreneurship, he went into private medical practice by establishing PAMO CLINICS in 1980 and served as its Resident Clinician-in-Charge between 1980 and 1982.
His desire to add shine to his academic laurels, led him in pursuit of a specialist programme at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. It was in demonstration of his acumen in the medical field that Odili was a personal nominee of then President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, to a 10-member roundtable committee charged with the responsibility of formulating the methodology for addressing the HIV / AIDS crisis in the workplace in Africa.
Convinced he possessed some rare leadership qualities that must be made beneficial to his people through public service which was the appropriate means of replicating his knowledge of medicine in the field of politics and governance, the young Odili bided his time while the military held sway.
When the time came in 1988/89, Odili was elected member and leader of Rivers State Delegates to the Constituent Assembly and was elected to the National Constitutional Conference, where he served as the Chairman of the Conference Committee on State Creation.
Having delivered on confidence imposed in him by the people of Rivers state, in 1992 he was elected as the Deputy Governor of Rivers state, this was, however, truncated by military take-over.
At the peak of the struggle to lay foundation for the 4th Republic, Odili first served as National Vice Chairman, South- south, for the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) and later as National Secretary.
In 1998 he founded Rivers Platform as well as Restoration Team, just as he became the state leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This is even as he was elected executive governor of Rivers state in 1999 and served two terms.
It was in that capacity that he took the country by storm and became a reference point in the nation’s political calculations.
He was at various times the National Chairman, PDP Fund Raising Committee in 2000 and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Housing and Urban Renewal 2001.
Even his ardent critics concede to him that his sojourn in office garnered stellar propensities that have, till date, remained the benchmark for performance in that resource – rich state.
It is on record that before him most part of Rivers state including its capital, Port Harcourt, was not connected to the national grid. The National Independent Power Project (NIPP) that later became a federal fad had Odili, in his capacity as governor of Rivers state, as one of its pioneers.
Also, before him , the Government House, Port Harcourt, the seat of government, was no better than a mere guest house and his time in office saw the structure and its surroundings being transformed into a grand and befitting edifice.
Other landmark projects and policies of his administration, today known as Odili’s legacy of excellence in governance include the free HIV treatment designed to achieve some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); intensive commitment to mother and child healthcare, investments in banks, the Eleme petrochemical industry and the now aborted Port Harcourt refinery deal.
One will not forget to mention that by sheer strength of character and personality, he was able to tame trouble makers and secure lives and property in the state.
It is widely accepted that among his many attributes, Odili is a philanthropist per excellence. Journalists in that state will not forget his N25 million donation to the NUJ National Secretariat Appeal Fund, a land for NUJ House and insurance cover for working journalists.
One positive part of the Odili phenomenon is his large heartedness as well as his proclivity to mentor successors. But it has also led to some personal regrets as captured in his autobiography, Dr Peter Odili: Conscience And History, My Story.
A close associate of his commented that an area that one could easily empathise with the former governor is the numerous betrayals by those he so trusted and brought up socially, politically, financially, academically and even religiously.
In his words, Odili said: “The axiom that you never really know a man until he has power and money came truly alive since my period out of office on May 29, 2007. It has been a most revealing and instructive period of my life.
“People one had taken from point of street contact and made members of family, people one had employed straight from school, people who one had no consanguine relationship with but made beneficiaries of one’s generosity in the midst of want; people who professed absolute loyalty and readiness to sacrifice anything in one’s defence, people who proclaimed that their own children could not do 10 per cent of what Dr Odili did in their lives, the list is in exhaustive.”
Regardless, the former governor has remained the issue in the politics of Rivers state. One may agree or disagree with him. One is either for or against him but there is no room for neutrality on matters of Odili’s politics. That is a measure of his relevance in the state’s affairs.
As a two term ex-governor, he is now an elder statesman in the real sense of the word and the more reason why his voice must be heard regularly so as to eliminate misconceptions and also serve as a guide to younger generation of leaders.
An accomplished sportsman, sports ambassador and sports administrator, who won several laurels in his youth; he was decorated a Papal Knight with the medal of St. Gregory the Great by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He also holds the knighthood of St. John International of the Roman Catholic Church.
Odili is married to another achiever and distinguished professional, Justice Mary Ukeago Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court. Their marriage is blessed with four children.
In terms of chronological imperative, 68, ordinarily, can hardly be said to represent a milestone. But it is not the number of years that count. It is the impact one is able to make on existence. It is often said that in between birth and death are legacies.
Looking critically at his journey of life within 68 years, Odili has his own fair share of those by which posterity will reckon with. As they say, time and posterity will not fail recognize his enduring service to humanity.