By JOHNSON EBIGIDE
Eugene Azuka Uzum Esq is the Director General of the Delta State Orientation Bureau. A former Personal Assistant to former Minister of Steel and Mines, Leslie Obiora, during the Obasanjo Administration in Nigeria.
He was appointed by the governor of the state, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, as his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Orientation and Social Development in 2015, but was immediately elevated to the position of Executive Assistance to the governor to coordinate the activities of the then created Directorate of Orientation in the state.
As it is, a golden fish has no hidden place in a shallow water. Such is the case of the capacity imbued Uzum. Governor Okowa must have followed the passion of Uzum on the delivery of the mandate of the created directorate so much so that he nodded in appreciation, waiting patiently for his second term in office as the governor of the state.
As expected, a new higher organisation to intensify the mental reorientation of Deltans and residents in the state was immediately created by Governor Okowa in 2019 when he got the nod to continue as the governor of the state for a second term. It was the state Orientation Bureau and there was no debating who to head the bureau as Uzum was again announced the Director-General to the appreciation of Deltans.
Again, that bureau has in tandem with the Ministry of Information, headed by another wonderful personality as the commissioner, Mr. Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, bridged the gap between the state government and the public through proactive articulations of the policy thrust of the state government. The public are not only made to embrace the policy direction of the state government, they have been brought nearer to governance through a coordinated interface which has ensured a better understanding of the gestures of the state government towards the uplifting of their welfare.
One major threat to the administration of the Okowa Administration in its second term was the then novel COVID-19 Pandemic. Yes, it was ! The follow up lockdown and the threatening economic disaster had made survival of the people hopelessly insurmountable. However, when all hopes appeared to be lost and the governor himself appeared unconsolable because of the sufferings of the people he had sworn to protect and provide prosperity and happiness for because of the ravaging impacts of the pandemic, Uzum, working with other relevant agencies in the state, had enjoined the people to bear the sudden pain the way the mother bedbug had urged the children bedbugs to bear the excruciating heat of the hot water poured on them with the realisation that everything hot was naturally conditioned to cool down !
From every communication medium through which that inspirational message could get to Deltans and residents in the state, Uzum, using the instrumentality of the bureau, rang the bell so much so that even despondent, the people then saw the need to be hopeful, with the knowledge that adhering strictly to the laid down protocols of the pandemic as preached by the bureau was an outlet to free themselves from being annihilated by the pandemic.
Uzum is indeed a rare breed. From preaching against some unwholesome attitude and practices to gingering the youths to secure their future from being endangered by shunning cultism, drug abuse and other retrogressive demeanour, he has gradually created a peaceful Delta State where the people now think twice before embarking on any act that could endanger the fulfilment of the Stronger Delta vision of the Okowa Administration in the state.
He may not be conscious of his positive impactful approaches in the state and beyond, but the public are. Religious bodies, educational institutions, civil liberty organisations and many other bodies, desirous of uplifting humanity, have been determinedly sorting his presence to add values to their essence through incisive discourses in the state and beyond.
Only recently, he was invited to deliver series of lectures at the Young Political Leadership School Africa Cohort 8 in far away Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. It was a gathering of egg heads from various organisations across Africa and representatives of the UN and some other global bodies to brainstorm on the role of the African youths, especially those in Liberia, in the political development of the various countries in the continent. Not only did Uzum, as usual, showcase his mental alertness, charismatic propensity and deep knowledge through incisive and articulate delivery of the topic on youth inclusiveness in politics, he won the heart of the participants and made Delta State proud through his astuteness and mastery of the use of the English Language.
At the end of the programme, an enthralled participant, Miss Mary Terkula, walked up to Uzum with a black T-shirt, Africa map logo embroidered on its front side, and holding another significant plaque in the other hand, presented both to him in appreciation of the impactful knowledge on her. Others could not do same, but they stood in awe of the man they felt had the knowledge and carriage to be a leader of the people.
Yes, Uzum sums it up that “a leader is that unassuming person, selfless in attitude and building a legion of followers with moral rectitude and strong capacity to positively transform the society towards the uplifting of humanity.”
While congratulating Uzum for the successful outing, we owe Governor Okowa a load of appreciation for his eagle eye in discerning the quintessence of Uzum and placing him on the right podium for the mental reorientation and direction of not only Deltans and residents in the state but Africans and others beyond.