APC Delta Leader, Olorogun Otega Emerhor Deserves Commendation And Not Hate Anchored On Tribal Bigotry
I am deeply touched by the high degree of arrogance and absolute disrespect so far exhibited by some disgruntled elements while attacking the person of Olorogun Otega Emerhor (OON), the Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State.
Some members of the APC Itsekiri group took it upon themselves to use the NDDC board nomination by Mr President to gamble with the enviable reputation of our leader. Very unfortunate.
These young men on errand for their pay masters threw caution to the wind and went all out to cast aspersions, used derogatory words to describe the person and character of a perfect gentleman and a level headed leader who spent huge financial resources, time, talents and energy to build the APC in Delta State.
Their grouse is born out of the nomination of Engr Adjogbe Samuel as Executive Director (Projects) of NDDC by President Muhammadu Buhari. They are of the opinion that an Itsekiri Engineer ought to be nominated by Mr President, pointing accusing fingers at Olorogun Emerhor as the master-mind of the nomination of Engr Adjogbe.
These young men who perhaps were in Kindergarten while Emerhor was already Managing commercial banks displayed crude passion for tribalism, nepotism and ethnicity and in the process hauled insults and abuses on our highly respected great leader, astute politician, business tycoon and first class Accounting graduate of the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
What is really funny about their wild post on social media against Emerhor is that they described him as ineffective and a failed leader. They went further to defame our amiable state party leader by calling for his replacement. Laughable! This is what I call "beer parlour politics."
For the purpose of justice, equity and good conscience, I want to lay bare before the public the following facts about the leadership of OLOROGUN OTEGA EMERHOR in Delta APC :
(1) As at the time Olorogun Otega Emerhor took it upon himself to fund and popularize the party in Delta State, those calling for his replacement were having fun with PDP, its leaders and top government officials in Delta State. Emerhor was available working for APC.
(2) As at the time Emerhor got the party's gubernatorial ticket to run for the office of Governor of Delta State, these young men, majority of them less than 30 years old were errand boys to PDP chieftains in Delta State.
(3) As at the time Emerhor was putting structures in place, recruiting staff and consultants to develop strategic campaign and mass media publicity to further publicize the APC in Delta State, these wine loving young men were busy promoting a PDP aspirant for the office of Governor of Delta State.
(4) As at the time Emerhor hit the streets of Delta State campaigning on ground and via the mass media with super campaign slogans, taking APC daily to homes, towns and communities, these disco dancing young men were busy rocking MICHAEL JACKSON hit songs in Warri and Asaba nite clubs.
(5) As at the time Emerhor was busy campaigning for President Muhammadu Buhari round the state during the 2015 general elections, these professional agitators were busy campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan.
(6) As at the time Emerhor was busy having sleepless nights with his campaign key staff making preparations to receive President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Delta State, these same licensed government accredited agitators were busy working day and night to receive President Goodluck Jonathan in Delta State.
I can go on and on but let me digress a little. These agitators requesting for the removal of Emerhor as Delta State APC Leader cannot be found in any important action photographs campaigning publicly with Olorogun Emerhor during the 2015 general elections or campaigning for President Buhari.
These crude and arrogant agitators waited until their presidential candidate lost out shamefully during the 2015 general elections before hurriedly defecting to APC and immediately commenced expensive lobby for the NDDC EDP position but Mr President said NO. Instead, President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Engr Adjogbe Samuel. This is the sin of Otega Emerhor. This is the reason why they want Olorogun Otega Emerhor removed and banished from APC. Laughable, ins't it? Yeah!
Let me also State here that the work and service profile of Emerhor is unique and superb. None of the agitators can match Emerhor's Personal credentials and pedigree. So, why the noise? Why do you want a man with enviable track records in the management of human, material and financial resources removed as Delta APC Leader so that you can install a mismatch? We need level headed leaders and not YANKEES!
***Olorogun Otega Emerhor 's abridged Profile:
Olorogun Otega Emerhor is the current Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Alliance Group. As a federal government scholar, Emerhor qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1986, after training with the prestigious firm of Price Waterhouse Cooper.
After being exposed to rigorous management training in business schools in Nigeria, UK and Switzerland, he rose to the commanding height of the banking sub-sector of the Nigerian economy. He had successful stints at Citibank Nigeria (then NIB), Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Crystal Bank (later Standard Trust Bank, now UBA Plc) where he served as Pioneer MD/CEO until July 1995.
Olorogun Otega Emerhor became the Chairman of First Atlantic Bank Plc in 1998, renamed First Inland Bank Plc before he resigned his membership in 2012.
At the moment, Emerhor functions as Group CEO of Standard Alliance Group made up of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, Standard Life Assurance Ltd, Standard Alliance Capital and Assets Management Ltd, Standard Alliance Pension Managers Ltd, Standard Alliance Mortgage Ltd (Lagoon Home Savings and Loans Ltd) and Standard Alliance Properties Limited.
He is a recipient of the national honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) and a holder of the prestigious Dr Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award and also the Midwest Personality of the year 2002, among several other awards.
Emerhor is a frontline member of, African Business Leadership Forum; Fellow, Institute of Credit and Risk Management of Nigeria; Fellow, Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies and member, Institute of Marketing Consultants, among others.
Olorogun Otega Emerhor Chaired the boards of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja; Transcorp Metropolitan Calabar, Heroes Furniture Group, among others. He is a director in numerous other companies including Suntrust Oil Ltd. He is a one time Vice President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shiping.
In 2013, upon the death of the then Senator Pius Ewerido, OLOROGUN OTEGA EMERHOR took over the then budding structures of the yet to be registered APC. Since then he has been working with other party leaders across the state, built the APC into a strong and viable party in Delta State.
He contested the 2015 governorship elections under the APC platform.
Olorogun Otega Emerhor had his early education at Ewu Grammar School, Ewu in Delta State in 1979 and he went on to graduate with a first class honours degree in Accounting in 1983 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he clinched most of the prizes in the Department of Accounting and Faculty of Business Administration.
Emerhor won the faculty prizes for the BEST FINAL YEAR STUDENT, Lever Brothers' Prizes for BEST GRADUATING STUDENT; Dr C.C. Abebe Prizes for BEST FINAL YEAR STUDENT, Sir Odumegu Ojukwu's Prize for the BEST DEGREE PROGRAMME FINAL YEAR STUDENT in Business Administration, among others.
CONCLUSION:
From the above intimidating abridged profile of Olorogun Otega Emerhor, it is very clear that those calling for his replacement as leader of APC in Delta State are either blindfolded by tribal politics or envious of his superb credentials, experience and solid pedigree.
Barrister (Dr) Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe is the Director of Strategic Political Communication of Rescue Delta Media Group (RDMG) of APC Delta State. He is Lawyer and full member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).