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Party leader as conscience of the nation

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I think that it is in the Bible; the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 44, I am not too sure now which says “Let us praise famous men”. It therefore follows that God in His very busy schedules and infinite mercy still finds it worthy that we should celebrate great men and their many accomplishments including the works of their hands and voices.

Let us also observe that one William Edward Burghardt had in a letter to his great grandson declared that  “The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work brings to you and the world’s need of that work. With this, life is heaven or as near heaven as you can get. Without this–with work which you despise, which bores you, and which the world does not need- this life is hell”.

One of the very few politicians in our clime whose dispositions to finding endouring solutions to many of our nation’s socio-economic and institutional problems and preferring long lasting solutions thereof is Honourable Godwin Ndudi Elemelu; the Member representing Aniocha North/Aniocha South/Oshimili North/Oshimili South constituency at the lower arm of the 9th national assembly.

Hon. Ndudi Elumelu has a solid background as an insurance and risk management expert, a craft which he had nourished during his days as the Chief Executive Officer of Transglobal Insurance Brokers. He has taken this unique attribute to the political firmament considering how careful that he becomes when it comes to weighing his options. He may have, in his capacity as the Minority leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus at the House of Representatives hold lonely but very strident voice on issues of national importance, one thing is certain and that is to the fact that Ndudi has acquired the mastery of speaking to power;  he speaks as conscience of the nation.  His commitment to constructing and reconstructing workable pathways to getting the work done remains very infectious hence those who are tempted to detest him end up romancing him.

Let us rewind a little. Recall that Ndudi was at his element during one of those legislative sittings, September 2, 2021 to be precise when in his capacity as Minority Caucus leader in the House of Representatives advised that President Muhammadu Buhari should halt the payment of a $418 million suspicious judgment debt on Nigeria. In saying that, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu was expressing solidarity with the position of State Governors, Chairmen of Local Governments and anti-graft agencies on the matter of Nigeria and her debt  burden.

While stressing the need to subject the $418 million judgment debt to a thorough investigation by relevant anti-graft agencies, Hon. Elumelu  was quick to warn then that President Buhari’s action, if not stopped  will amount to an endorsement of corruption.

“The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives cautions against the reported approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment of the $418 million suspicious debt despite widespread national objection by stakeholders, including state governors, chairmen of local governments and anti-graft agencies.

“The Minority Caucus urges President Buhari to note that the consent judgment being relied upon for the payment is cloudy, opaque and raises apprehensions of huge swindle on the national treasure which requires immediate investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”, he said.

The Caucus position as presented by Ndudi Elumelu then which is still valid till date is to insist that the objection raised by the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum  (NGF) in calling for forensic audit into the claims by the creditors must be taken into consideration.

Prior to that, Hon Godwin Ndudi Elumelu have had cause to urge President Buhari to confront headlong, the worsening insecurity in the country as well as the reckless impunity in his government. The Hon member is among the few Nigerians who did not find much to cheer in the recent minor cabinet reshuffle by Buhari. He argued then that the sack of the two ministers was a weak way of diverting attention from the many failures of the All Progressive Congress (APC) led administration in over six years.

He argued further that the sacking of the cabinet members was meaningless, “when the inapt and anti-people policies as well as the corruption and lethargic approach to governance that have become the hallmark of the administration remain.”

The Elumelu led Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives had in a statement said, “Instead of resorting to unprofitable diversionary stunts, the Minority caucus urges President Buhari to take decisive steps to address worsening insecurity and excruciating economic hardship. The President should do this by ending the incompetence, compromises, corruption, exclusionism and impunity in the system under his watch. The Minority caucus holds that governance requires commitment, demonstration of capacity, political will power and broadmindedness at the topmost levels.”

Ndudi resonates with those who would have preferred for government to go the whole hog by carrying out the reshuffle of Buhari’s cabinet at once rather than in a piecemeal fashion considering the need to for the government to do most things differently if it intends to achieve a different result.

It is not that Hon Elumelu is infallible for he still has his own share of contagious issues like the many controversies which trailed the power sector probe when he was chairman, Committee on Power, 2007 – 2010. His own party, the PDP had tried several times to ruffle his feathers as well. He has had two failed attempts at becoming the governor of Delta State.

Yet, he has remained steadfast in the pursuit of his ideals in his privileged position as one of the longest serving member of the House of Reps since his first entry into the Green Chamber in 2007. He was re-elected into the House in 2011 and yet again in 2015. He is currently the Chairman, Committee on Health. He is also member of the following committees: Information, Climate change, Interior, Water Resources, Science and Technology, National Security and Public Safety.

At a time when PDP appeared to have settled many of its contending views and standpoints on issues of leadership and power management at the party’s national secretariat, Hon Ndudi Elumelu has been fingered as one of the party leaders known to be working assiduously hard towards bringing peace to the fold of the once most populous party in the whole of Africa although it is yet to be seen as to how much that this youthful but political heavy weight will go in standing out as a bridge builder.

Born in Jos, Plateau State on February 23, 1965, Hon. Godwin Ndudi Elumelu went through Lagos State School of Arts and Science,  Yaba College of Technology , Edo State University, Ekpoma, where he obtained B.Sc. in Accounting in 1993 before an MBA from the same University in 2000. The same year, he obtained the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (CPA) and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (ACIB) in 2003. He undertook the course of Strategic Leadership Programme from the University of Oxford in 2004, capping it up in 2005 with a certified in Leadership Best Practice Course from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, Post-Graduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership from Oxford University, Oxford and Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from Galilee Institute, Israel in 2017.

For Ndudi Elumelu, whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. It is only left to be said what his next political moves will be. It is certain that this youthful  but colourful politician has done enough ground work as to understand better how to pick his battles as well as the difference between winning a war and winning a battle.

 

 

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