Olorogun Felix Ibru: Exit of the talk-na-do politician

Olorogun (Senator) Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru, who died at a ripe age of 80 years, no doubt, contributed immensely to the development of not only Delta State but the nation at large.
One unforgettable aspect of his national assignment was at the Senate between May 2003 and May 2007 when he reenacted his alias “Talk-na-do” (No disappointment) made famous while he was the first civilian governor of Delta State from January 2, 1992 to November 17, 1993.
He was then Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment. The exigency of a legislation to address the plight of pensioners through a dedicated trust fund became imperative and the then Senate President, Ken Nnamani reposed confidence in Senator Ibru to deliver on the assignment on record time.
True to his alias, Ibru spurred his committee to deliver on the assignment, which came as an executive Bill to the Senate, to the admiration of the entire Senate. He also received glowing commendation from then President Olusegun Obasanjo.
A true elder statesman and dedicated patriot, his public and private works impacted on national life and would continue to speak volumes of his patriotic zeal, commitment and dedication to Nigeria.
Senator James Manager, who served under the late Ibru when he was governor, as a Commissioner for Social Development, Youth, Sports and Culture and later as colleagues in the Senate in 2003, said he always saw him not as a colleague but a boss.
Manager said: “The death of Chief Ibru came to me as shock. I am terribly, hugely affected. He was a great statesman, a very wonderful administrator.”
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, described the late Ibru as a patriot and political icon who led the state in its embryonic stage, adding that he would be missed by all whose lives he had touched in many diverse ways in his “very fulfilled and achievements-laden life.”
He also described the late Ibru as a renowned politician, businessman and among special people who made very significant and indelible contributions to Nigeria and humanity.
For the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, “though it is saddening to lose a patriot like Chief Ibru, we are comforted by the fact that he set the stage for the new Delta as the first civilian governor of the state. Even though his regime was truncated, he was an unrepentant patriot who, as a senator, worked tirelessly to ensure that the unity of the country was non-negotiable.”
The President, Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, described the former governor as an illustrious and patriotic Nigerian, while extending condolences to the Ibru family, the Urhobo whom he led for many years as President-General under the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), the entire people of Delta State and his friends and associates across Nigeria.
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, “Ibru’s contributions to the growth of democracy in Nigeria remain legendary. He laid the solid foundation upon which subsequent governors of Delta State have continued to build. We shall all miss him.”
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki also described Ibru’s death as painful and a great loss to the people of the state, the Niger Delta, the political class and the entire nation.
A former Senate President, David Mark described the death as “a huge loss to the economic and socio-political development of Nigeria as the country has lost a very disciplined, honest, patriotic and incorruptible statesmen who promoted the culture of integrity and moral uprightness in private and public life.”
The late Ibru, who was an architect, senator and the first Executive Governor of Delta State, was born on December 7, 1935 at Agbarha-Otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State to Chief Peter Epete Ibru and Chief (Mrs.) Janet Omotogor Ibru. He was the second of seven children.
He started his education at the Yaba Methodist College, and later Igbobi College where he was made the Head Boy in 1955. He proceeded to the Nottingham School of Architecture in England where he qualified as an architect in 1962. While at the institution, he was elected the first Black President of the British Council with responsibility for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Therafter, he worked briefly with the Jewish agency, SOCHNUT, on various projects relating to farm settlements and prefabricated buildings in Jerusalem and Haifa.
Ibru later enrolled at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology for post-graduate studies and qualified with an M.Sc (Arch) in 1963. He returned to Nigeria at the end of the year and was employed by the Federal Ministry of Education, as the first resident lecturer in Architecture at the Yaba College of Technology.
He was elected member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in 1969 and was registered by the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) in 1971. He was elected Fellow of the NIA in 1995 and awarded the honourary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the Delta State University, and a Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
Ibru began his business career with the creation of an architectural firm, Roye Ibru Associates. The firm went into partnership with Alan Vaughan-Richards and Associates to establish the Ibru Vaughan and Associates (Planning Partnership). As one of the two principal partners, he was involved in the design and supervision of more than 40 projects across the country.
In 1971, under the auspices of the United Nations, he was invited to Tokyo, Japan as a member of a panel on foreign investment. In 1974, he delivered a lecture at the Harvard Business School, in the United States on Multinationals titled: “Emerging Role Of The African Entrepreneur In The Economy And Its Relationship With multinational Corporations: Competition, Partnership, Cooperation and Absorption.”
His political career started in 1983 when he contested for a seat in the Senate, but lost. He ran for the Governorship position of Delta State in 1991, which was carved out of the old Bendel State with Edo State, and emerged as the first Executive Governor of the newly created state in 1992 on the platform of the Social democratic Party (SDP). He was the President General of the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU).