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Whenever one encounters criticism of governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, two emotions often assail my psyche. Disappointment and amusement.

The chagrin centers on poor understanding of a governor’s bold signature on development. Negative energy is fueled either by stark ignorance or bitter mischief.

On the flip side, it is pleasantly surprising that virtually all Okowa’s critics are beneath him. Tick the box.Check.Best graduating secondary student in old Bendel. A medical doctor at 22.Local government chairman. Commissioner. Secretary to state government. Senator. Governor (first from Anioma).Vice Presidential candidate of the largest party in Africa. Just one man!

Success is not just the cynosure of all eyes. It fires the cynicism of less privileged contemporaries and unnoticeable minions. Legendary excellence capped with trailblazing leadership could be dizzying and overwhelming to an unfortunate onlooker. A fruitful tree attracts all manners of passers-by. A hard reminder of the Sergio Leone characters “Blondie” “Tyco” and “Angel Eyes” in the 1966 Italian epic titled “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. Some people are a wonder unto many. Some actors. So let it be with Arthur!

This explains the Okowa mystique and the green-eyed monster. Frustration never befriends fortune. Sorrow cannot sync with symphony of a sonorous song. Who expects palm wine to have the fragrance of perfume?

My disappointment and amusement with Okowa’s antagonists. Serious and unserious.

The latest arousal relates to a pair of commentaries on Delta state written by Veronica Ogbuagwu and Solomon Ugbeyan.

While Ogbuagwu’s piece bears a  title with a simplistic rhetorical question “Do you care about the future of  Delta?,Ugbeyan  wrote under alarmist metaphor “Delta state still bleeding profusely, Requires Blood transfusion”

If Ogbuagwu is familiar as a Warri based private school proprietress,Ugbeyan ‘s identity  does not ring discernible bell. But what both share in common is the yawning goof in their articles.

In a futile attempt to sound politically correct, Ogbuagwu took a jejune jibe at her governor writing that ‘Delta state is bleeding profusely and level of socio-economic hemorrhage is extremely huge’  She ended her ridiculous hyperbole with a snatch of John C. Maxwell’s  lines “everything raises (sic) and falls on leadership “  How come the former  commissioner for education in Delta said nothing about the woeful failure of national leadership in the past seven years? All sentiments muted even with the tragedy of CHANGE. Silence all because the assessor is APC, corrupted by partisan  bias.

Ugbeyan who vaguely identified himself as barrister in “London” was more rudderless and superficial in his false analysis of Okowa.Commenting as a far flung stranger -element in the affairs of Delta, where a phenomenal governor is working,he rambled that “multi -giant energy company Shell “ has relocated and “Delta Steel company” has closed down,sold while “ prices of commodities” have skyrocketed citing Okowa “s inaction.The man was a senator when Shell shipped out of Delta, no thanks majorly to Warri disruptive ethnic feud.

Gloating  in laughable dissonance, Ugbeyan, left the main issue- national misadventure of leadership that rode to power at the Centre, trumpeting messianic tune now turned a hollow tale. Who will tell the “London” critic that DSC is owned by the federal government? Really what is a governor’s own with lamentable hike in goods and services under a national economy?

Even his reference to maladministration in Delta pales into insignificance with the stellar feat of a sure footed governor, accustomed to prudent management of finances. From the biggest secretariat in the Niger Delta, massive road network, mega bridges, strategic drainages, unprecedented empowerment and political patronage, new schools and litany of related social infrastructure across the state,Okowa has proved his mettle in a resounding scorecard.

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Viewed from any angle, whether from the eyes of the strongest supporter or the fiercest oppose, Okowa is a success story. It takes a high flying chivalrous persona to emerge Vice president of national reckoning out of over 250 million Nigerians. The process of becoming the number 2 leader of Africa’s most populous nation is on course, purposeful, plausible by divine grace.

Here lies the hallucinations of spin doctors baying about a non -existent “bleeding” Delta. A person of Ogbuagwu’s status as an educationist tutored in empiricism ought to have subjected her assessment of the state under Okowa  to verifiable research, not jaundiced politically motivated judgement. For Ugbeyan who saw blood of Delta in London, he is entitled to his comedy.

Challenged by pedigree, power and progress,ubiquitous but ineffectual critics would always call out Okowa.

Pseudo sages and irritable simpletons,sanctimonious moralists and obscure nitwits are catching empty cruise while Okowa is accelerating in a wondrous  roller coaster, beyond human imagination.

For his latest two traducers, dreaming in Warri and London,hypocrisy and naivety can never threaten truth and decency.

CHIAZOR is Executive Assistant on Media to Governor Okowa .