By Fred Edoreh
No one is perfect, no, not one, but “in the pursuit of perfection, we can achieve excellence.”
Those are the words of Vince Lombardi, reputedly the greatest Coach in the history of the (American) National Football League, the richest and most successful sports organisation in the world.
Lombardi expatiated that the chase for excellence simply entails ‘dreaming the best, aspiring for the best and seeking the best to achieve the best.’
That describes every policy decision, action, projects and programmes of Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori in his quest and commitment to the development and advancement of Delta State.
He recently hit the bulls eye again with the quality and calibre of Commissioner nominees for the ministries of Information, Justice and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
His selection of the commissioners demonstrates that he wants not only to perform but to do so in conformity with international best practices and the application of high professional ethics across the various socio-economic sectors.
The three nominees to complete the cabinet are not only of high professional class, they are a bundle of experience in their different fields and clearly square pegs in square holes.
For the Information ministry, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza comes highly recommended and satisfactory both to the industry and the citizenry.
With a Doctorate degree in Strategy Studies, he was once Commissioner for Special Duties in charge of Projects Monitoring and former Acting Chairman of PDP, Aniocha North LGA, before being elected Publicity Secretary of the party in the state.
Since 2015, he has discharged the office excellently in the promotion of the party unto successes upon successes through several election circles.
The same goes for Ekemejero Ohwovoriole SAN, the nominee for the office of Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the State.
The learned silk has seen it all in the legal practice. After his formative years in a couple of law firms and as part time law lecturer in Lagos, he was appointed Special Assistant to the then Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Amos Utuama in 2003.
After the stint, he left to establish his own private firm, Aequitas Chambers, in Asaba, with branches in Lagos and Abuja.
Highly successful in the practice, he has solicited, advocated and won several landmark cases at both the Appeal and Supreme Courts, while also supporting the growth of young lawyers as well as the advancement of the profession.
He was a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Ikeja Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association and has also served in several regimes of the national Executive Committee of the NBA.
He is a member of the International Bar Association; the Nigerian-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce; the Asaba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture; INSOL International; a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators; an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and also of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN).
What is interesting is that Ohwovoriole is returning to an office he once served as Special Assistant directly to the Attorney General. As such, he is coming to a very familiar terrain in which he is conversant not only with the processes and procedures of governance but also of core legal issues across the state.
The nominee for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kanemala Penewou, comes in the same mold.
He was Special Adviser on the same field to immediate past Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and, as such, eminently conversant with the terrain of local government administration, the histories, traditions, laws, practices, procedures as well as dispute and conflict resolution of chieftaincy matters.
The summation of these selections is that Governor Oborevwori is living by his pledge and commitment to ensure competence, capacity and experience in the appointment of officers of the state for the delivery of efficient and effective service to Deltans.
With the announcement of the nominees, the feeling among Deltans is that Governor Oborevwori has hit the bulls eye, eliciting a mood of reassurance that the administration is on good course.
To hit the bulls eye simply means to be on point and right on target with a statement, decision or action.
“Being able to consistently hit the bull’s-eye leads to clean and ethical kills,” so said Paul Smith, the world renowned expert adviser in Strategic Planning and Capacity Building who has supported the United Nations, NATO and the governments of various leading nations in Europe and the Middle East to achieve positive reforms.
If Smith was in Delta today, he would simply be nodding his head in agreement with Oborevwori’s decisions and actions.
