The Regent-elect of Umeh Kingdom in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, Meshack Owhe, has set aside Friday, October 23 as a day of mourning for the late former governor of the state, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, according to Punch Newspapers.
In a condolence tribute issued on Wednesday on behalf of the kingdom, Owhe said trading, farming and all ceremonies would be paused from dawn to dusk that day in recognition of what Uduaghan did for the community's development.
Uduaghan died on Monday at the age of 71. Punch Newspapers reports that the former governor's remains have since arrived in Delta State, where tributes have continued to come in from political and traditional leaders.
Why it matters
The decision by Umeh Kingdom shows how far the former governor's influence reached beyond the state capital and the major towns of Delta. Uduaghan governed the state for two terms, from 2007 to 2015, but the mourning declared in a single agrarian community points to a more personal kind of legacy: a road, a school and a traditional title that tied him to a place far from his own Itsekiri homeland.
The regent-elect described the former governor as a patriot, a distinguished son of Delta and one of the most prominent figures of the Itsekiri nation, saying his record of service would not be forgotten in the state and beyond. According to Punch Newspapers, Owhe also said Uduaghan's passing marks the close of an era for Delta State, the South-South region and Nigeria.
A road, a school and a traditional title
Owhe traced the bond between Uduaghan and Umeh to a visit the then governor made to the community on August 24, 2011, which he said followed an online advocacy campaign calling for a road into Umeh.
At the time, according to the regent-elect, Umeh was a farming community that had gone without a road despite repeated appeals to successive administrations stretching back to the days of the old Bendel State. He said Uduaghan's decision to build the Umeh Road brought decades of frustration to an end and opened a new chapter for the community.
The road was finished in 2015 and commissioned on February 14 of that year, Punch Newspapers reports. Owhe described the project as the fulfilment of a long-held wish for residents who had wanted a motorable route linking their community to the rest of Isoko land.
During the commissioning, Owhe's father, HRM Ambrose Odiri Owhe, who was then the king of Umeh Kingdom and has since died, adopted Uduaghan as a son of the community and gave him the traditional title of Ovie-Elo of Umeh Kingdom.
The regent-elect said the former governor's contribution to Umeh did not stop at the road. He said Uduaghan also helped with the upgrading and rehabilitation of a primary school in the community, and that he strengthened the traditional institution by appointing the late monarch to the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, a move Owhe said reinforced the king's position as a guardian of the kingdom's culture.
Owhe said the people of Umeh would continue to be grateful for the projects and for the personal ties the former governor built with them.
State mourning and a family in grief
The kingdom's observance runs alongside the three-day mourning period declared by the Delta State Government, which began on October 19, with flags to be flown at half-mast. Umeh has extended its own mourning to Friday.
Owhe sent the community's condolences to Uduaghan's wife, Roli, their children and grandchildren, his siblings and the wider Uduaghan family of Abigborodo.
Punch Newspapers recalls that Uduaghan served as a medical doctor before holding the offices of commissioner for health and secretary to the state government, and then serving two terms as governor from 2007 to 2015.
The mourning in Umeh is expected to be observed quietly, with normal economic activity in the community paused for the day. Further tributes and details of the former governor's burial arrangements are likely to follow in the coming days.
