A king that reigned and his subjects enjoyed peace, progress, prosperity, developments and there was plenty in the land to eat will receive blessings from them for his good deeds. Likewise, the one that reigned and there was everything bad will equally, receive blessings in like measure.
            There is nothing with a beginning without and end. Like the morning dew, Ibori’s eight years in office would in a matter of days evaporate into history and against all parochial odds, come May 29, 2007, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan would be sworn in as the next governor of Delta State.
            On 29th May 1999 as well as 29th May 2003, it seemed as though 29th May 2007 would never come, but for Christ sake, that day is only a few days away. That is how the boat of life travels. So what blessings would you pronounce on Ibori, good or evil?
            His Administration, no doubt meant different things to different tribes in the state. From human perspective, Ibori has created different scenarios which may make his exit from office topsy-turuy and by implication, this would definitely influence the type of blessing he receives.
            On the road to the April 14 governorship election, there was so much tempest, so much uproar and confusion in the state as a result of his singular act of daring to present and supporting his cousin Uduaghan to succeed him. His hitherto godfathers turned their backs against him and Uduaghan.
            Before now, to Okumagba and E. Clark, Ibori was their well beloved son in whom they were well pleased at least for supporting them against everything and anything Itsekiri. But right now, things have fallen apart and the centre can no longer hold. They want him cruxified and if possible tried by EFCC and sent to jail simply for not doing their biding this time around by allowing them to impose the candidate of their choice as governor of the state.
            After seven years plus of their dining and wining with Ibori/Uduaghan, of security juicy contracts from them etc, they have suddenly realized that these two are corrupt and have plundered the resources of the state these past years. My question is, did they just found out? Or simply to cause confusion and mischief as usual? These  two characters never fail to amuse me. Their trade mark is confusion and chaos. President Obasanjo  even attested to this in one of his remarks when he visited the state, refering to Okumagba as a trouble maker.
            These putrid accusations leveled against Ibori/Uduaghan by  Clark and Okumagba though leaves much to be desired from these elders, is not a surprise knowing who they are. When an herbalist finds it difficult to cure an ailment, he ask for impossible sacrifices. This is exactly the problem with these two people. They are like Williams Shakespeare’s Brutus who stabbed Caesar, his best friend in the back.
            It was Robert Browing who said “Old men are dangerous, they no longer care what happens to the world. We should not expect them at almost eighty years to learn how to be left handed. They are men of swinging mood who enjoy controversy. Earnest, I wonder if they have conscience at all. If God does mark iniquities who among them can stand?
            The people who should be bitter with Ibori/Uduaghan are the Itsekiris. For almost eight years since they came to power, they and their Itsekiri cabal in government have been playing pranks with the tribe - putting salt mouths and farting into the same mouths waiting for us to swallow. They deliberately compromised everything Itsekiri just to please their so called godfathers all in anticipation of their support at times like this.
            They traded off Warri South West Local Government Headquarters meant for Ogidigben to Ogbe-Ijaw, Warri South Constituency II seat was conceded to one Mr. Omovie, even when the whole world knew that he never won that seat, the speakership position in the state house zoned to Itsekiri was conered after the death of Mr. Francis Megbele, the illegal creation of CDCs in all the three Warri Local Government Areas only, the creation of additional wards in Warri South from 10-12.
            All these and many more were the atrocities of Ibori/Uduaghan and their Itsekiri cohorts against the people just to please Okumagba and Clark, yet they are still not satisfied. Haba! What on earth do they really want?
            I am sure they have now realized that their quibble was simply unnecessary. That their chest thumping too was merely a storm in a tea cup. The Lord has ordained Uduaghan to be the next governor of the state. The people have spoken through their votes and so shall it be.
            People who are too cunning sometimes overreach themselves and get caught in their own craftiness. While spinning webs of intrigue and mischief for other people, they end up being entwined in the labyrinth of their own artifices. They dig a pit for others and fall into it themselves.
            Everybody pleaded with them to sheath their swords, but they refused and instead decided to play ‘sigidi’, the demigod worshiped by all and feared also. But suddenly, he asked those his worshipers to take him to the river for a bath. They refused but he insisted, they yielded to his command, they took him to river and of course, he never returned as he was carried away by the river.
            So, God has a way of exposing the evil machination of man, no matter how hard he tries to concede it. If when the good people of the state prevailed on them to sheathe their swords they have heeded and supported the Uduaghan project, by now they would have been boasting that if not for their support, the victory wouldn’t have been possible. And when the government is eventually put in place, it would have been business as ever, dictating every action of the governor. Where would they hide their faces now? They are no God after all.
            In as much as I do not subscribe to the way Ibori/Uduaghan treated the Itsekiris these past seven years plus - I mean the total neglect of Itsekiri land despite the huge contributions to the revenue acruing to the state and the destruction of all our legacies and all what the tribe stands for; it will amount to the hightest exhibition of intellectual dishonesty for anyone to deny that Ibori, whatever his faults as any human being, has indeed made a positive impact in many areas of government in Delta State since 1999.
            If however Clark and Okumagba insist that the Ibori years in Delta are wasted ones, we may have to begin to pray for more of such ‘wasted years’ in the state if they will indeed bring about the kind of progress witnessed in Delta over the last seven years plus.
            A major area where the Ibori Administration has made a profound contribution is the expansion, modernization and complete reconstruction of major strategic roads all over the state which are now fully equipped with such vital facilities as drainage channels, traffic light and pipe ducts.
            Apart from the expansion, reconstruction and modernization of major highways that criss-cross the state, the Ibori administration has equally invested heavily in the construction of bridges and the rehabilitation and routine maintenance of hundreds of inner urban and rural streets throughout the state.
            Surely, what these elders and leaders describe as Ibori’s wasted years rank far better than the productive years of all previous Governors of the state military/civilian put together. What we reaped from them were only miseries.
            The eight years of Ibori rule were not without positive aspects as we can see. He has done both good and bad depending on how you assess his administration.  He is a man who designs both good and bad schemes with equal celebrity. With Uduaghan taking over from him, I am convinced that there would be light at the end of the long dark tunnel.
            Ibori definitely is leaving office honourably, especially by making sure that he installed a man who he trusted to continue his good works. History would not record him as a man who made a mess of eating an egg, because he got what he wanted.
            To my elders and leaders of thought as represented by Clark and Okumagba, rather than continue fighting and eventually losing face, why not let go, so that you can eat of the harvest. A hunter that goes on hunting expedition with his entire family will be stupid to come back with his kill only to invite his uncooperative neighbours to come and share with him when his family is yet to be satisfied.