Unsung heroes of change

When President Mohammedu Buhari (PMB) came out boldly and courageously to cleanse the mentality of state governors in Nigeria against nominating ministers for his administration, many Nigerians misunderstood his stand. But just four months running and with scant directives, PMB’s incorruptible image is the greatest nightmare of corrupt minds still in positions of public trust […]

When President Mohammedu Buhari (PMB) came out boldly and courageously to cleanse the mentality of state governors in Nigeria against nominating ministers for his administration, many Nigerians misunderstood his stand. But just four months running and with scant directives, PMB’s incorruptible image is the greatest nightmare of corrupt minds still in positions of public trust in the country.
It is to PMB’s incalculable credit today that both Christians and Muslims across the country applaud his style of governance. This is in spite of the awful and religiously acidic, partisan hate campaigns against his ascension to Nigeria’s Presidency. Positively too, cosmetic politicians, still hypnotized with the old order, whose briefcases to Aso Rock in recent past, only contained names of family members, loyalists and associates for political appointments are trapped in the middle of the road and also silenced.
Now, in the project “Repair Nigeria,” PMB has sounded it loud that his mandate is angling for sole blame on lapses, failures as well as accolades for the successes of the administration. And his approach is simple and transparent. Buhari wants men and women of proven integrity around him. But his greatest difficulty is how to fish out these few worthy Nigerians, with incontestable integrity from the mesh of an estimated population of about 170 million people.
As I doff my cap for him, I also appreciate that the task is enormous and some clues could quite be handy.
And recounting Nigeria’s contemporary journey and struggles for freedom and an ideal statehood, one remembers many endearing names. There are the likes of Professors Pat Utomi, Geoffrey Obitor Okogbaa, Ishaq Oloyede, Tam David West, Daniel Saror and many others whose credentials speak volumes. Like some of their unnamed peers around the country, these elder statesmen have all paid the price of deprivation and made personal sacrifices to climb the ladder of integrity by their modest contributions to nation-building.
Pat Utomi for instance, is an international scholar and renowned professor of political economy; a management expert and a Nigerian entrepreneur of repute. Though, born in Kaduna state, the capital of Northern political mafia, but Utomi hails from Igbuzo in Oshimili North LGA of Delta state. Having studied in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA), Utomi has carved a niche for himself as a highly successful academic of international fame, mass communicator, politician, astute manager of human resources, public policy analyst and businessman.
The profile of the current Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Wukari (FUW), Professor Geoffrey Obitor Okogbaa would disarm even hardened critics. As a boy of barely 15 years from the slums of Rivers state, Okogbaa took firm control of his destiny, by shuttling out of Nigeria on the eve of Nigeria’s regrettable civil war in pursuit of western education, at a time most parents perceived it a taboo. He landed in America.
And despite biting racial discriminations, Okogbaa studied up to Doctoral level, earning a doctor of philosophy in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, in the state of Ohio. He was enlisted as an Assistant Professor by the University of Cincinnati, in 1984. A scientist of world acclaim, Okogbaa has manifested the wealth of intellect embodied in him, by cornering countless academic awards in America. Testifying to his academic eloquence, Okogbaa was elevated to the position of visiting Professor of Simulation of Advanced Manufacturing System, University of Bari, Italy in 1989 within record time.
Okogbaa’s academic exploits earned his enlistment into “Who Is Who” in Science and Engineering, in addition to Midwest’s, Who’s Who of Intellectuals, Personalities in America among others.
In his class of venerated academics is also the Ogun state born Professor Ishaq Olarewaju Oloyede , a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Illorin.
From the position of a humble graduate assistant, Oloyede rose to become the chief administrator of his alma mater. His diligence is attestable in the fact that unlike others, he obtained all his degrees from the same university. He worked assiduously and conscientiously to get to the pinnacle of its administration within a span of about 30 years.
In 2005, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Prof. Oloyede as co – secretary of the National Political Reform Conference. Also in 2006, he was appointed a Consultant by the National Universities Commission on Educational Reforms in Nigeria.
At the moment, Prof Ishaq Oloyede prides himself as the Executive Secretary of National Inter -Religious Council (NIREC) and also the President of Association of African Universities (AAU). He has authored and co-authored several articles in reputable local and international outlets. These are milestones rare among intellectuals of their ilk and Buhari could tap into their wealth of experience in the arduous of rebuilding Nigeria.
Engr. Onmeje is a member, Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group, (NDMG)